CHAPTER 1
Fluttershy awoke to a rasping cough. She should have expected this, but with two nights without sleep behind her, she had just dozed off without meaning to. Her patient, a young mouse with a bad cold, was having another cough attack. “Don't you worry. Fluttershy's going to make you some more tea. That'll make your throat feel better,” the motherly mare said before heading to the kitchen of her small cottage.
As she started the stove to boil some water, she reached for her jar of tea leaves, feeling around the shelf without taking her eyes off the kettle. As the pegasus tipped it aside to pour some of the leaves out, she found that it was completely empty save for a few stems. She looked around her kitchen for possible substitutes, but found none that would suffice. Knowing that the mouse would just keep coughing all night if she didn't do something, she wrapped a scarf around her neck, and headed out to gather more leaves.
When Fluttershy arrived at the edge of the Whitetail Woods, the first thing she noticed was that the ground was damp. She vaguely remembered Rainbow Dash telling her something about a big planned storm recently, but she hadn't really been listening to her. 'At least they kept the thunder down.' she mused, not enjoying what happened when it did. The noise was just so loud as sudden that any soft fluffy object nearby often became quickly wrapped around her.
She was on her way to her small grove of tea plants (for some reason, they wouldn't grow right in her garden. An inconvenience, but she'd live), when she noticed two things happen in rapid succession: her hoof struck something hard, and she was falling forward into the mud. Covering her face helped a little, but she still had to wipe her eyes afterward. Turning to see what had tripped her, she was surprised to find a wooden box sticking out of the ground. Her hoof had knocked it slightly ajar, and she couldn't help but want to peek inside. Who would bury something in the middle of the woods where anypony could just trip over it? The yellow mare dug up the box, noting that it was relatively wide and long, but very flat. Opening it fully, she noted the strange patterns on it. They looked sort of like circles, but each one was formed out of a single line that made a very confusing path. 'Maybe Twilight knows what they mean,' she thought before looking into the box.
By the moonlight, Fluttershy could see that there was a wooden mask inside. It had a metal band coming down from the center of the top of it held in place by four bolts. They eyes and mouth were mostly rectangular, but they curved a little and the corners were rounded. On an eyeball, Fluttershy guessed that it could cover the entire face of anypony who wore it. Wanting to get back to the mouse quickly, she closed it up and kept heading to her tea patch.
The recent storm had been a very strong one. Even though it had been a few days ago, the tea leaves still had moisture on them from the downpour. As Fluttershy touched the plants to pluck the leaves, a light sprinkle fell from the rest of the plant, lightly tapping the ground. Normally, she would have stopped to admire the falling droplets, but she just kept picking. She wasn't quite sure why, but she felt impatient for something. 'I must really want to help that mouse,' she decided, nearly pulling an entire plant out of the ground, 'or maybe I just want to get back to sleep soon.' Filling her bag with enough leaves to last a while, Fluttershy started heading back.
When she left the woods, she felt a strange desire. She usually was happy with four hooves firmly on the ground, but tonight she felt like flying. 'Weird. I didn't want to fly on the way here, but now it seems like the best idea,' Fluttershy mused, extending her wings and hovering slightly, 'but why? If I fall from too high up, I could really hurt myself. I got lucky the first time.' As she remembered her first encounter with the land full of so many wonders below Cloudsdale, her body seemed to move of it's own will, flying higher and faster than she was accustomed to.
As she finished humming the song that had popped into her head on that day, Fluttershy noticed that she was in front of her cottage. 'OK, now I'm scared. How did I get here so fast? I should still be passing Ponyville right now.' Not wanting to dwell on this thought any longer, she quickly went inside. Heading to the kitchen, she refilled her tea jar and finished her brewing. After giving the mouse a thimble sized cup, she headed to her bed, where thoughts of the new day tomorrow lulled her gently to sleep.
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Fluttershy woke a few hours after getting back to sleep. She didn't want to, but the eager and loud rapping on the door meant that she didn't have much opinion in the matter. Knowing who it was without even looking, she was still surprised by what she she heard.
“HeyFluttershyguesswhatRarity'slettingmethrowherpartybecauseit'sherbirthdayandsheknowsthatIalwaysthrowthebestparties-”
“Um, Pinkie, could you please-”
“andIknowshelikesfancystuffsoIwenttothelibrarytofindabookonthesubjectandIfoundonefasterthanRainbowDashgoesduringasSonicRainboom whichislikeWHOOSHfastandthere'stherainbowthatspreadsoutwiththesound-”
“Pinkie, I've got a very sick-”
“whichisreallyloudlikethatsoundsystematthatVinylScratchconcertthatIdraggedyouandTwilightandRaritytoandRainbowDashwentwentwithoutneedingmetoaskandApplejackcouldn'tmakeitbecauseshewastakingcareofhersisterandherfriendsthatnightandtheyapparentlyhadapartyoftheirownandspeakingofpartiesI'mthrowingRarity'sbirthdaypartyatCaroselBoutiquetonightandthere'llbechocolateandcakeandfountainsandchocolatefountainsandchocolatecakeandcakefountainsandIreallyhopethatyoucanmakeiteventhoughthisisveryshortnotice! Anyway, what were you saying Fluttershy?”
“I've got a very sick mouse right now and I need you to stay quiet so he can get some rest.”
“Well why didn't you say so, silly?” the pink prancing pony said with a grin that covered the entire lower half of her face. She made a waving motion with her back hoof, and the timid pegasus could glimpse a large brass instrument moving out of sight.
“Um, I tried to but I, uh, couldn't because you were talking really fast about something. What were you saying?”
“As you know, Rarity's birthday is coming up, and I convinced her to let me throw her a biiig party since we've been friends for a while now. I wanted to make it special for her, so I went to Twilight's to figure out what to do, and I saw this reeealy interesting idea in this one book called a masquerade. Anyway, do you want to come?” The pink party pony pulled a clipboard and pen out of her mane at the last part. The paper on the clipboard had a very long list of names, some of which had checkmarks next to them. Fluttershy figured it must be the new way of RSVPing, since Pinkie wasn't allowed to do singing telegrams anymore. Court order.
“Um, what's a mass-ker-aid?” Fluttershy replied, never having heard the word before.
“Iths thiff brearry thfun ssing fhere,” she dropped the clipboard and started over, “It's this really fun thing where it's a party and everypony there wears a mask the whole time. Nopony knows who anypony else is! Though some clever ponies might figure it out.” She turned her head to the side, looking intently as if she were aiming her comment at something. “So will you be there?”
“I'd love to,” the pegasus replied, checking off her name.
“Great! I'll see you tonight!” Pinkie grinned, grabbing her list and hopping out the door. Fluttershy noticed that Gummy had his jaws firmly clamped around Pinkie's tail. Closing the door, Fluttershy went back to the mouse she had left in Angel's care. Seeing that he was doing well, she decided to make breakfast for herself and every other critter in her cottage.
When she finished a few hours later, she decided to take the box to Twilight to figure out what the symbols on it meant. As she lifted it, though, she decided to leave the mask that was inside at home. No need to worry Twilight about silly things like that.
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As she arrived at the library, Fluttershy shifted the box in her bag. She'd delayed for a little bit when removing the mask from it, admiring the craftsponyship on each item. Deciding to look at the mask later, she'd managed to make it to the library uneventfully. She knocked three times on the door, then took a step back.
A pink-purple glow surrounded the door as it swung, and the shy pony smiled as she saw her book loving friend standing in the frame.
“Hey Fluttershy. What brings you away from your cottage without me asking?”
“Um, I, uh, found something last night and I was wondering if you could look at it. That is, if you're not too busy.”
“Of course I'm not too busy. Spike, what's the next item on the list and when does it need to be done by?”
“Next item...next item...'Make mask for Rarity's party. Due by sunset.' I still can't believe you need a reminder after that invitation,” he replied, clearly doing something behind a pile of books. There was a white powder in the area around him, and a bowl of opaque water could be seen poking out around the side of a small tower of literature.
“See Fluttershy, I've got plenty of time. Celestia's barely moved the sun past the 9 AM mark.”
“Oh, well in that case,” Fluttershy sighed, reaching back and pulling the box out, “I found this in Whitetail Woods. It was partially buried.”
Twilight grabbed the box with magic, and pulled up a table and chairs. She sat down, and invited Fluttershy to do the same.
“This very interesting. How far down did you say this was buried?”
“Not too deep, it was partially sticking out. I'm particularly wondering about these symbols. They're just so complex and detailed.”
The purple unicorn leaned towards the box, examining the patterns more closely.
“Well, they're definitely Neighlic in origin. I'll need to look further into it. Spike, bring me Symbols and Sigils of Seafaring Stallions,” she called, scrutinizing the patterns.
“Neighlic?” the pegasus asked, never having heard the term before.
“They were an old civilization that disappeared a few thousand years ago. They were master sailors and clever engineers. They were able to build houses and other building by making artificial hills that were hollow inside. They also pioneered some of the most powerful and primal magic in existence. According to legends, they had spells that could permanently change what type of pony you were, or give you these crazy things like extra legs or another head, or even change your personality entirely. They also are some of the earliest pioneers of diagram magic; using patterns on the ground to help cast spells,” Twilight replied, obviously planning to say more before Spike returned with the book.
“Here you go Twilight,” he said, getting the book as close to Twilight as possible before speaking. She had a habit of telekineticly grabbing any book Spike brought to her, and he didn't want to continue his inadvertent flying lessons.
“Thank you Spike,” she replied, levitating the text in front of her as she read, “ah, here we are. It looks like these symbols, known as Shield Knots, are used to confuse and contain spirits and other incorporeal entities. Judging from how intricate the knots are, this may have been used to contain something the Neighlic people thought was really dangerous. While they may have been amazing spellcasters and engineers, they still had silly beliefs about this sort of thing. Everypony knows that spirits don't exist. Scientists have searched for years and found nothing. I'm just surprised that you found this thing empty. Usually they'd put something in here that they wanted to protect.”
“Um, well, uh,” Fluttershy mumbled, wondering if Twilight should know about the mask she had found inside.
“What is it Fluttershy? Was there something else you wanted to ask about this box? If you don't mind, I'd like to keep it here for study,” the unicorn replied, levitating the box and closing it.
“Uh, sure. I'm not using it right now, so you can keep it as long as you need to.” The pegasus smiled. Why should she worry? Twilight was the best magician in Equestria, except maybe for the Princesses. She'd have detected any residual magic from that mask if there was any.
“Thanks Fluttershy! I guess I'll see you at Rarity's party tonight.” Twilight grinned, sending the box and book back to Spike, who fell over from the impact. “I can't wait to see what mask you'll be wearing. I'll need to get some work done on mine if I want it to be Rarity worthy.”
“Oh, well then I should leave you alone then so that you can get to work. Thanks Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled, showing herself out. 'So the box was keeping that mask safe,' she thought, walking out of the library door, 'but was it keeping the mask safe from us, or us safe from it?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was about a half hour from the horizon, which would initiate Rarity's party. Fluttershy hadn't gotten a mask for the night, she'd been to busy examining the one she'd found. Despite it's apparent simplicity, Fluttershy felt as if the mask were hiding something from her, something big.
What harm could there be? It was just an old mask, yet Fluttershy couldn't shake the feeling that it was bad. Twilight had said that the box was meant to keep the box safe. But was that to keep what was inside safe, or to keep everything else from what was inside? Fluttershy kept asking herself questions like this as she examined the wooden mask. She gave it an occasional poke, but nothing happened other than more confused looks from her face.
To start, the wood hadn't aged a bit. There was no sign of decay, no tunnels where bugs may have made homes. It was as if the mask had just been made a few days ago. Fluttershy figured this was magic of some kind, but why would the same spell also affect the metal band, which was devoid of any rusting or discoloration. Fluttershy didn't know much about magic, but she remembered that Rarity always had trouble making things with metal, and Twilight usually had to work harder to cast spells on metal objects. Whoever made this mask had to have been a unicorn of some sort, and a really powerful one. But if they had been powerful, wouldn't Twilight have a reference of some sort to look up? It was just so confusing! Fluttershy hadn't been this messed up since her modeling career, and she preferred not to remind herself of that incident.
Fluttershy continued to stare at the mask, sometimes rotating it or tilting her head to see it in a different light. She was only moved out of her trance-like state by a soft nudging in her side. She turned and saw Angel holding up a watch with a disapproving look on his face. His open hand pointed out the window, where the last few rays of sunlight were passing over the distant hills. It was almost time for Rarity's party. Fluttershy gulped as she realized exactly the predicament she was now in.
“Oh Angel, what should I do? I promised that I'd be a Rarity's birthday party and that means that I need to wear a mask but I was so busy looking at this that I didn't have time to go buy one or make one and there's certainly not any time now to do so and I can't just show up at Rarity's party without a mask but I don't have one and-” she rambled, stopping only when Angel pulled her mane. She looked at him, and he gave her his “Are you serious” look while pointing to the mask that she had just a few seconds ago been unable to tear herself away from.
“But that could be dangerous, Angel. I don't want to get in trouble or hurt just because I was so careless. This whole situation just makes me so frustrated, I could just stomp my foot in anger.” She gave a light tap of her foot onto the ground, not even disturbing the dust. Angel just tapped his watch and pointed from the mask to Fluttershy to the town. She could see a dim light coming from around the Carousel Boutique. She was going to be late if she didn't figure something out quickly! She looked at the mask again. It may have been her imagination, or the fading daylight, or a combination of the two, but it looked as if a flash of green had crossed the mask, and the mouth hole looked to grin, though just for an instant, before going back to exactly as it had been for the entire day.
“*Sigh*. I don't have a choice, do I Angel?”
A simple nod was his only response.
“At least nopony will know it's me, so I won't need to worry that they'll get upset at me for using something that could be important to somepony else.”
Fluttershy turned the mask over so the back was facing up. Again, this may have just been her imagination, but it seemed to be calling to her, asking to be worn.
“I'll see you tomorrow, Angel.” The yellow mare smiled at her fluffy friend before turning to press her face into the mask. As she leaned in, she could have sworn that the mask seemed to reach back, trying to press itself into her face as much as she was doing the reverse.
When the wood first touched her face, Fluttershy immediately felt that this had been a bad idea. The mask tightened around her, growing onto her. Every nerve in her body was on fire, as an ancient magic grasped her and worked its way into her body. Fluttershy could feel her body changing. Into what, she had no idea. Angel ducked under a chair and critters all over the room withdrew from Fluttershy. As the mask grew and wrapped around her head, Fluttershy could feel something reaching through her face and burrowing into her head, wrapping around her brain. She only think of one possible thing to do in the situation. Inhaling hard, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her head was in flux, though, and only a deep groan of pain was able to be heard. A whirlwind formed around her, and she knew that putting on that mask had been a very bad idea. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy pictured herself at Rarity's party, and hoped for the best.
CHAPTER 2
As the sun was setting, Rarity got dressed for the party. Her Veneightian mask hid her identity, but the feathers and jewelry that coated the mask in lieu of paint unveiled it. Her dress also did nothing to help the mystique intended with wearing a mask. It wasn't quite as flamboyant as what she had designed for the Gala, and was much more subtle than her “secondary run” of dresses she had made for her five closest friends. She still remembered the relief she'd had when those Celestia-awful things had gone up in flames.
“Well, Opal, how do I look?” she asked her pet cat. A tired purr was the only response.
“Why yes, I did craft it myself. I just can't believe that Pinkie Pie would go through all this trouble just for my birthday. She must be preparing to bribe me or something. Well, she's certainly doing a proper job of it,” Rarity said, posing for her feline audience, “I wonder if I should have added more gemstones to my mask. From the books I've read it is not unheard of to simply carve the mask entirely out of a single gem.”
“And what should happen if I meet my Prince Charming tonight, Opal? Would I even recognize him under the mystique of the night? Oh, we would dance together and when we stopped he would offer to go get drinks for us even though he'd have no way of carrying two items. And he'd return cleverly balancing them on a single hoof and then I'd use magic to lift one up and he'd remember that he too could use magic and look sheepish...” she rambled, a perfect scenario unfolding in her head. She hardly noticed the decorations being set up in the main floor of Carousel Boutique and outside. Rarity was snapped out of her fantasy when she accidentally stepped on her cat's tail, eliciting a hiss and a swipe.
“Oh Opal, mummy's so sorry.” The white unicorn attempted to cuddle her precious pet, though the fickle feline darted away quickly. “Well, onto the night!” Rarity declared, striking a pose before heading downstairs.
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The first thing that Rarity noticed was exactly how overdone the celebration was. It had Pinkie Pie written all over it: banners, balloons, everything. As the mare of the hour stepped outside, she heard a light music begin to play. Turning, she saw a full band, filled with almost an entire who's who of musical ponies. They were warming up at the moment, but they still sounded amazing.
A thin trickle of guests was coming in. Rarity suppressed laughter as she saw what was quite obviously the first masquerade Ponyville had ever experienced. Many masks were shoddily crafted, and some looked like they were painted on. She saw about seven ponies who had masks that actually looked like time and effort went into them.
As the crowd began to settle in and Rarity began to mingle, she was approached by a bouncing pink Earth Pony who, while outdoing herself on the décor, was somewhat lacking in her choice of mask. Resting on a comically oversized and mustached nose was a pair of plastic glasses with false eyebrows on top.
“So I hear that one mare set this all up,” the pink pony said in a deep voice that (badly) covered her own voice. Rarity nearly spat out her drink upon hearing her, “She must be very talented. You should return the favor somehow.”
“I assure you that I have a most excellent plan for how to repay her,” the fashionista replied.
“Oooh! I can't wai- I mean uh- I'm sure it will be very good,” the magenta mare said, her voice slipping back to normal before she caught it. She bounced off, no doubt to enjoy the rest of the party. Rarity continued to mingle and enjoy herself.
The band had finished tuning, and started off with a slow ballroom song. Within seconds, a purple dragon wearing a tuxedo and mask reminiscent of a crescent moon that covered the right half of his face approached Rarity. She could tell that the mask was made out of parchment, but it had been treated through some process to hold its form.
“May I have this dance?” the dragon said nervously, identifying himself by the sound of his voice.
“Yes you may. And may I say that look suits you very well.” Rarity replied. The dragon's cheeks went red nearly instantly. As they made their way to the center of the floor, he showed a surprising aptitude for dancing, though Rarity could hear him counting under his breath. Still, it was a nice gesture.
Even though he was counting, he proved to be a highly competent dancer. As the song ended, Rarity walked him aside so as to not to interfere with the next dance. “That was quite some dancing, my friend.” she told him.
“Well, not to brag, but I have spent a few years in Canterlot and went to social events there,” the purple dragon replied, polishing his claws on his vest, “shall I go get us some drinks?” he said as he walked over to the punch bowl. As he returned, a glass in each cup, he had a smug look on his face. Understandable, and adorable in Rarity's eyes. He offered her a cup, and she picked it up with her magic.
“So Spike, I had no idea you were such a connoisseur of proper etiquette.” Rarity said, finishing her sip while he was in the midst of his. This resulted in him tipping his cup back slightly more than intended. When he pulled it away, Rarity could tell he was holding back a sneeze.
“Who is this Spike? I am, uh, uh, uhacHOO.” he replied ending by sneezing. As he sneezed, a jet of green fire spread near his face. His mask caught it, and was quickly burned into a green and purple mist headed towards Canterlot. As Rarity turned to look at Spike, he recoiled, covering the part of his face that had previously been obscured by the mask. “AAAAUUUUUGGGH” he cried, running off. Rarity merely rolled her eyes. 'Such drama. Was it really called for? I know I would never do such a thing,' she mused, moving on.
As she walked, Rarity passed a pair of ponies dancing. One wore a black mask that entirely covered her face except for the eyes, while the other had on a pale mask that had a slight pinkish hue on the cheeks accompanied by a handlebar mustache and goatee. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves.
“Y'all call that dancin'? Jus' sit right there and lemme show ya how it's done.” Rarity heard a familiar voice declare. Turning her head, she saw an orange mare with a bandana over the lower half of her face accompanied by a Stetson hat. The mare was in the beginning of what was quite clearly going to be a very wild dance. Rarity quickly intervened.
“Are you quite sure this is a good idea?”
“Course it is. Why go to a rodeo then spend more time in the stands than in the events?”
Rarity struggled for a bit, trying to figure out the metaphor. “That aside, this is supposed to be at least semi formal.”
The freckled farmpony thought for a second, then spoke. “Ah s'ppose you're right. No sense in bringin' a hog to a bake off. Still, could be a mighty fine shindig with a little ol' fashioned dancin'.”
“Perhaps another time, darling. Until then, do try to keep polite company.”
Rarity moved on from the would-be wild westerner. Stopping to adjust her mask, she noticed a shadow pass quickly over the ground. Looking up, she saw the words “Happy Birthday Raritv” in the sky, with a pegasus pushing a cloud to finish the final letter. The cloud sculptor then flew down, landing by Rarity with a definite impact.
“So what d'ya think? Pretty awesome, huh?” The pegasus said, her cyan coat cut off at the neck by a leather helmet and aviator goggles.
“Very nice. I take it you planned the whole thing beforehoof?” Rarity replied
“Nope. Just something that was suggested to me a few seconds ago. Still can't believe that it worked out. I actually delayed a planned storm to tomorrow just to pull this off,” the pegasus said smugly, turning to look at Rarity. There was something wrong, but Rarity couldn't put a hoof on it.
“I do hope that it won't be like the last time you missed a planned storm, dear. It was quite a workload that night for the ponies removing loose branches.” Rarity replied, eying the pegasus's headgear carefully. She spotted the problem; the helmet was on backwards.
“Well, you almost got everything right,” Rarity muttered under her breath. She magically grabbed the helmet and started spinning it around.
“HEY! What are you doing?”
“I'm fixing your mask, dear. You can't walk around like that.”
Rarity finished , and could have sworn that the chromatic maned mare was trying to turn it back around with her hooves.
“It was fine the way it was. It's not like anypony would have noticed.” She muttered, trotting off. Rarity shrugged and moved on, wondering how she could even consider any sort of crime against fabulosity when she knew that it irritated her.
Rarity had only two more ponies that she especially wanted to speak with, and she had a good idea where to find at least one of them. Passing a mare and a filly wearing a paper bag and a cardboard box with eye holes respectively, she approached a purple unicorn who seemed to be observing the party more than participating in it. Her mask was made of ceramic, and had some form of diagram that Rarity recognized as some sort of archaic spell ritual. Around the edges and eye holes were runes of some ancient language.
“Hey Rari- uh-friend. How are you enjoying the party? I haven't been to something like this since I was dragged to one in Canterlot a few years ago.” the unicorn said, her smile evident even through the mask.
“It must have been marvelous there, darling. Such sophistication, such glamor. I suspect you were enjoying yourself there as well, correct?” Rarity replied.
“Not really. I had been reading Helpful Healing and Home Healthcare. I was in the middle of some important part when my assistant literally dragged me away from it. We don't talk about what I did to him anymore. It was really embarrassing for both of us.”
“Then I shall pry no further into it, dear.” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. A white mare with a leather mask that extended into a beak strolled by, accompanied by a stallion wearing an utterly blank and featureless mask.
“So do tell me, have you seen a pegasus with a yellow coat anywhere about? I expect that she would be wearing a mask made at least partially out of leaves.” Rarity asked.
“I can't say that I have. And when I saw her earlier today, she seemed fine. Maybe she's taking care of a patient?”
“Perhaps, though she does have assistants that could cover for her at least for a few minutes.”
“I'm sure she's fine. Just wait and you'll be able to find her.”
And wait Rarity did. She continued to mingle, dance, and converse for a good fifteen minutes. She was starting to grow worried. Not being able to make it was one thing, but it was highly unlike Fluttershy to give no warning whatsoever about things like this. 'Perhaps an emergency has arisen.' Rarity thought to herself as the band finished a slow, loving song and moved on to a jazz riff. Rarity recalled the song from her adolescence and found herself reflexively moving her hooves in a dance.
“Ooh! This is my jam!” she heard a familiar voice say, though it was not the expected one. Looking at the stage, she found not a pink Earth pony, but a cyan pegasus vying for the stage. After what appeared to be a short argument, the lead singer and guitarist handed over their microphone and guitar.
“Deep down in Equestria close to Neigh Orleans/ Way back up in the woods among the evergreens” the pegasus began to sing. The party goers began to dance, though a small bubble formed around a deep red-purple pony wearing a floral mask to match her Cutie Mark. Evidently, she knew this song very well.
“There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood/ Where lived a young earth pony named Johnny B Goode” the song continued. Rarity found herself dancing as uncontrolled and wildly as anypony else. She pushed her worries back in her mind, and enjoyed the moment.
“Who never ever learned to read or write so well/ But he could play the guitar just like ringin' a bell.” As the pegasus finished the first verse, the crowd began to sing along with the chorus.
“Go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Johnny be good.” everypony sang. Apparently, Buck Berry was more popular than one would think. Even some of the foals were singing along. Rarity managed to control herself for a second, and used the time to escape the crowd. Finding Twilight, she decided to ask about her missing friend.
“Twilight, darling, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere? I am truly beginning to worry now.”
“I wish I could say I've seen her here, but I haven't. Do you think something's wrong?”
“Hopefully not, but even if she is safe, we should probably go check on her. She is our friend, after all.” Rarity replied with concern heavy in her voice. Rainbow Dash had moved on to the next verse, and showed no sign of slowing down. “You gather Applejack, I'll get Pinkie, and once Rainbow Dash has finished her little performance, we'll all go together to Fluttershy's cottage.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Twilight replied, wandering off to search the crowd. Rarity quickly followed suit.
Rarity found for Pinkie in the most likely place: at the center of the crowd. She was cheering on the floral masked pony with enough enthusiasm to fulfill the needs of a dozen other ponies for a year. “Pinkie, may I have a word?” Rarity asked, pulling Pinkie slightly aside.
“Sure! Kumquat!” she replied in her usual happy voice.
“I'm being serious here. We can't find Fluttershy, and we're worried something might be wrong with her. It's probably nothing, but it would be better to have all of us go check on her.”
The partying pony's mane seemed to puff down slightly, and her gaze seemed to become more focused.
“Alright, I'll just be a sec.” Pinkie replied, darting through the crowd. Her usual response wasn't used, and Rarity figured that meant that Pinkie was genuinely concerned. 'If Pinkie's concerned, this could be a problem.' Rarity thought, trying to work her way out of the crowd as well.
As Rainbow Dash finished up the final chords of the song, the musicians took their instruments back and resumed their positions, beginning a slow-ish club song. A purple magic grasped her and pulled her from the stage to where the rest of the group was gathering.
“What the hay was that for? I could have gotten off the stage myself.” she cried as she was dropped in front of the rest of the group. They had all raised (or lowered in Applejack's case) their masks.
“But could y'all have found us, sugarcube?”
“Yeah. I mean, it would take more time, but I'd still find you.”
“Well time isn't something we have. Fluttershy's not here and has given no indication as to where she might be or if she's OK. I thought you of all ponies would be the quickest to realize, Element of Loyalty and all.” Twilight informed Rainbow Dash in a “Matter of Fact” manner.
“Hey, I was busy paying tribute to Buck Berry, if you hadn't noticed,” Rainbow Dash defended herself, pointing a hoof at the stage, “But now that I know the situation, let's get going!”
As the group prepared to leave, a commotion caused the crowd to gather on the edge of the party. It appeared to be something on the horizon, but it was hard to tell from where the group stood. Forcing their way to the front, the Fluttershy Rescue Squad, as Pinkie had named them, was able to get a good look at what was going on. A small whirlwind was heading down the path towards the Boutique, throwing chunks of the ground behind it in its wake.
“Everypony stay calm. It's still far enough away that I can stop it.” Twilight said. She focused her magical energy, and manifested a wall of force about three quarters of the way to the whirlwind's current position. With a smug look, she turned to the rest of the group. Their jaws were hanging loose. “It's really nothing, girls, just a basic reapplication of a Shield.”
Applejack just shook her head and pointed a hoof at the wall in response. The umbral unicorn turned to face behind her, and her jaw promptly dropped. The whirlwind had evidently burrowed underneath the wall and tunneled to the other side before re-emerging, as if some sort of outside force were directing it.
“That shouldn't happen,” the magical protege said, a note of worry creeping into her voice,”no no no no no, this shouldn't be possible...”
“So what's the plan now?” Rarity responded, the whirlwind now about 30 seconds from the main crowd.
“Uhm...” Twilight thought to herself, quickly running out of time and ideas. “RUN!”
As Twilight shouted the last idea, everypony else seemed to have already had the idea. They quickly backed up, each individual attempting to be the first away from the impending disaster, though nopony took their eyes off the nearing whirlwind. When it was about to reach the party, it slowed down, kicked up a cloud of dirt, and stopped. When the dust had cleared, everypony could see exactly what had caused it.
A pegasus with a long red mane and tail was standing before them. She was wearing a yellow dress and matching hat with a feather in it that seemed to extend more than it should. What really stuck out, though, was the mare's oversized head, which was a vibrant green color and was currently flashing a very large and toothy smile. Opening her mouth, the mystery mare let out a single word in an energetic and confident voice.
“Sssssssssssmokin'.”
