//------------------------------//
// Mask 
// Story: Nightmare Moon's Mask 
// by yoshiXII 
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Pain.

Pain like I’ve never felt before. Even the time with the skull mask wasn’t nearly as bad. Indescribable. Red tinged in my peripheral vision. My tissue ripping, my skin disappearing, organs dissipating, cartilage ripping, bones shattering, neurons shifting, and body parts morphing.

I only closed my eyes, hoping that it would end. The pain drove me to the edge of unconsciousness, but just enough so I wouldn’t pass out. I writhed on the floor until the pain eventually alleviated. I briefly heard a few words: “Hat, terminated. Tunic, terminated. Gloves, terminated. Mask, terminated. Cow figurine, terminated.”  My eyes were still wrenched shut for a few seconds before I opened them again.

I blinked, confused. What I saw was exactly the same place that I left. I was in a small room and the big room with the slab was right in front of me. The stairs and the runes were all the same. The only difference was that the small room had machinery working around me with multiple tubes attached to my body.

Eventually, I stood up. The tubes immediately retracted. But when I tried to stand on my two legs, I collapsed again. I groaned staring at my han...hooves? I looked to my right. A mirror implanted on the wall only displayed the worst. I...was a pony. That’s right, a pony. Not just any pony, though, a unicorn. A young colt with an indigo hide. My disheveled red mane and tail only accentuated how bizarre this phenomena was. I looked eagerly to my eyes. Unfortunately, they were still a solid orange. I gazed down, disappointed as I contemplated what being a unicorn might mean. Could I do magic? Aren’t unicorns technically not ponies? I suppose I would find that out later.

The weirdest part about it all was how everything looked. All of the minute texture from this world was gone. I didn’t notice it at first, but everything seems to look almost cartoony. Why was this? Where did the portal lead me? A world full of ponies.

I awkwardly stood in my new equine state. Being reduced to being upright on four limbs made me feel inferior. The lack of two usable hands would prove unhelpful in my future endeavors. Combined with the lack of my mask and the cow, this trip might not be too pleasant. I felt mortal for once.

Well, I trotted out of the small mechanized room to the big room. A huge grating sound resounded behind me. I whirled around to see the machinery folding back into the same walls as the alternate small room beyond the portal. The portal itself was nowhere to be seen.

Nevertheless, it would do no good to stay in the same room. I had to go and see what I could eventually do in this new land. I walked towards the stairs, but the slab in the middle caught my attention. It too had a glowing screen, but instead of Equestria, it read: “The Undying Lands.”

I anxiously turned back to the stairs and sprinted up them with my awkward four hooves. As soon as I got out, I looked back and it was the same clearing with the same temple in a forest. Why was everything mirrored? Shaking my head, I continued into the forest. Right at the edge of the clearing, a wooden sign stuck out of the ground with graffiti on it. It read, “The Death of Capitalism.”

What did that mean? I had no idea. I didn’t even know if it was potentially helpful. I just had to ignore it and continue with my adventure. I crossed the threshold into the forest.

Somehow, this place gave me an entirely different vibe than the Lost Woods. With that place, it was initially confusing, but it was systematic in its actions. This forest was also alive, but it didn’t feel as amiable. All it wanted to do was trip you up in your moment of weakness. Every twig and every organism wanted to eliminate the hostile presence as quickly as possible. The trees also seemed to be alive and I could swear that on the edge of my vision I could see them snatching at me. It just didn’t feel natural at all.

I meandered my way out, taking caution not to disturb its inhabitants. I was on alert; everything could represent a danger in a place like this. Especially without my cow figurine, I felt especially vulnerable. Who knew how long I was in there, for my sense of logic entirely dissipated in my numbing fear.

After tripping approximately twenty times, I finally made it out into the rest of Equestria. It was definitely different. The small village nestled under a thriving city set in the mountain with a town on top of the clouds. The diverse scenery filled with rivers, hills, and trees. To be honest, it felt exactly like Hyrule. I suppose that should have come across as horrible to me, but seeing the ponies milling about fascinated me. This place also seemed much more expansive than Hyrule, which would prove fruitful when I started exploring. After all, I would have a lot of time now that my cow was vaporized and it wasn’t like I could ask the thing for a new one.

Was this going to be the end of my short travels? Would I ever contribute anything worthwhile to this new pony community? I suppose I would have to find out, whether I liked it or not.

I looked behind me briefly. Surrounding me was the horrid forest again. I shuddered, knowing that if I ever wanted to go back through the Undying Lands, I would have to cross through again. I knew that I was never going back.

I put that behind me and continued forward into the village before me. The soft brown dirt crunched beneath my hooves as I appreciated the animals around me. For some reason, the occasional animal became quite frequent as I approached the rear of some sort of cottage, if you could call it that. The cottage itself was more of a tree than anything else with diverse habitats strewn randomly in front of it. It could be the perfect Kokiri cottage for anyone who especially loved nature.

I walked around the cottage, curiosity piqued. What I saw amazed me. A yellow pegasus. What other mythical creatures would this place offer? This pegasus was a mare with light pink hair. She was flying to each of the habitats and feeding the animals in turn while humming a relaxing tune. What was funny is that it’s weird to see a pony, albeit a pegasus, having a dominant role in comparison to other animals. I don’t know, it was just seeing another animal being superior to others that was surreal since most of the animals in Hyrule weren’t socially segregated. Evolution? Who knew.

Putting my thoughts away, I trotted on over to this butter pegasus with a smile on my face and my hoof raised as a greeting. It took a few strides until she noticed my presence. As soon as her eyes locked onto mine, she uttered a shrill, but quiet meep. It was so silent that I almost didn’t hear it. I froze mid-stride and we held eye contact for a brief second. Then, she flew faster than a regular pony to the opening of her cottage and darted inside, slamming the door. What just happened? Either I made an atrocious impression, this society is full of xenophobes, or that pegasus was simply shy.

I remained in my stance, befuddled. The animals all took a curious look at me before heading on back to their own houses in their habitats or in the cottage. Was I that questionable?

Shaking away my pessimistic thoughts, I slowly resumed trotting to the village. There wasn’t any point in making amends at this point. I just had to hope that she was an exception. Going over the bridge, it was easy to appreciate the lifestyle the ponies before me were having. All of them were working together to help benefit themselves instead of working selfishly. This was what I would call a community. Ponies would be working on a construction project together, there would be bakers managing a single bakery, and ponies in general having no competition. It was as if these animals we took as inferior had somehow managed to have a superior society in comparison to ours. That fascinated me. Even if it seemed primitive, at least it wasn’t at the throats of others.

The village itself was also pretty. All of the cottages were well crafted and wonderful architecture such as an intricate statue was seen a few times. I was automatically drawn toward another house that was built inside a tree situated in the center of town. Hopefully I’d have some better luck with the ponies over there.

Glancing around me, I saw the ponies milling about on the asphalt road that snaked around the cottages. Some of them actually took the time to smile my way and wave. That was astonishing. No other being I have encountered has done that. That simple act in itself was enough to make me happy. I was always the lone wolf who couldn’t make any friends. Things were definitely looking up for me.

In an instant, a pink blur shot in front of me. As we both skidded to a halt, I glanced at her features. She was a completely pink equine with balloons on her flank. What did those marks mean? Before I had any time to figure this out, the pink pony levitated in the air.

“Omygosh, Omygosh! Another stranger?!”

I gaped at her, wondering how she could defy the laws of gravity. Before I could consider this, she “flew” back to the bakery shop with its assorted confections.

I continued trotting again, wondering how weird this town was going to get. Everyone else seemed fairly normal, but who knew. Maybe deep down they were all just as peculiar. Who knew, the society they had was already thriving though. Maybe I’d be able to fit in since I’m also-

There he was. By the clock tower. There wasn’t any mistake. It was the Mask Salesman. Somehow he was here too? He was an ordinary pale unicorn with his signature auburn hair. And the backpack with the masks. Can’t forget that. What was he doing? Well, I wasn’t going to let him off easily. This jerk stole my mask and made me buy it. He was just standing there, almost daring me. I looked for the opening.

I lunged at him. Instantly, we both went tumbling into the ground. Rubble and dust rose up and I coughed. After I rubbed my eyes, I looked down and found that I was on top of him and he was belly up. Pinning down his upper hind legs with my own, I was aware that some local ponies gathered to watch, but I was too furious.

At first I had the upper hand with his initial shock. I landed hit after hit using my fore hooves on his face and his chest, though I didn’t seem to be doing that much damage as his skin was unscathed. Soon, he realized who I was. It took one glare from him and a bright purple light from his horn to send me flying into a cottage. The wall behind me stood firm and my head banged against it. I don’t know what magic he used, but it was certainly powerful.

I groaned, sinking down onto the ground against the wall. Blood trickled down the left side of my face. The salesman simply got up, brushed dirt off of his immense backpack, picked it up, and left. I found myself viewing through red and white spots. Blurry ponies came right up to me. I heard snippets of conversation, though all they only talked about my condition and my weird eyes. I faded away into the darkness.



My eyes flickered open. A purple unicorn slowly came into focus.

“Excuse me mister, but who are you?”

Who am I? That was a good question, and not even one that hasn’t been asked before.

“I’m a nobody. I’m sorry for the trouble,” I rasped.

The unicorn squinted at me. “Don’t say that. Just don’t do that again. Our village, Ponyville, would be more than willing to welcome you in if you still want.” She looked at the other ponies gathered. “Who was that stallion, anyway? We tried to go after him, but I think he teleported.”

I sighed. “Like me, we’re travelers. We just happen to be enemies. It’s complicated.” It was the half-truth.

The unicorn gazed curiously at me, as if dubious of my answer. “Well, my name’s Twilight Sparkle. I’m living in the town library in the tree if you need me. We don’t get strangers much anymore. What’s your name? You have to be someone.”
“My name is Skull Kid.”

“Pleased to meet you. We’ll just leave you to explore the town by yourself, if you’re fine with that.”

I nodded. Twilight turned around and left without another word. As the crowd followed, I could tell that she was extremely interested in my eyes, but knew better than to ask about it. All the better.

I picked myself back up. This town once again started back up, though I was sure that they were waiting to welcome me into the town. I didn’t know what I was going to do then. Would I stay? Where would I stay? Would the ponies hate me for this incident? I didn’t think so. I was so embarrassed by this, though, that I honestly thought that it would be better if I left to travel. These people didn’t need to see the tragedy that was me.

Finding my legs proved tricky. Propping myself up, I found that my hind legs were a little shaky and threatened to collapse at any given moment. I managed to stand up and regain my balance. After a bit, I limped on over to the middle of the concrete road, wondering where I just came from.

Then I saw it in the corner of my eye. The mask. The Salesman must have dropped it. Not any ordinary mask, but one that gave off a mystical aura. An intricate darkly colored face with a horn sticking from the mask itself. Its eyes shined bright blue. Unlike every other mask I’ve ever seen, this one had every detail carved intricately. It felt almost alive.

I trotted on over to it and picked it up awkwardly with my hooves. Turning it over, I couldn’t imagine who could have carved this. This surpassed even experts in its design. It almost seemed not made by any man or pony.

I had a surge of nostalgia for how my old skull mask had helped me. What would this mask do? Would it make me even better than the last mask? Would I be able to remain anonymous as always? Or would the townsponies hate me for it? I looked around, but they didn’t seem to notice me.

Without thinking too much of the consequences, I irrevocably set my life into stone. You know how the Jaok was telling me about my potential for unequivocal good or irrefutable bad? Well, I can say that this decision was not for the good. In fact, no matter what, no matter how much I try to make this up, it will always stay with me. The next events that happen will never be the same. The clock tower behind me chimed twelve times, foreshadowing what was about to happen. How valuable time would be. How significant it would become. If I could undo this moment, I would. But now, I was essentially done for. My dreams would never come true and I would take down the ponies around me as well.

I put on the mask.