//------------------------------//
// The Plan 
// Story: Nightmare Moon's Mask 
// by yoshiXII 
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Hello.

Who are you?

Who am I? Nightmare Moon.

And this is your mask I’m wearing?

Yes, I’ve been waiting for a new vessel for a long time. I suppose you will have to suffice.

Vessel? Are you trying to tell me that you are controlling me?

You sound betrayed. Is this not a desirable fate?

No, it’s not. I’m going to take off this mask as soon as I’m conscious. You have no power over me.

*An amused laugh*. I’m afraid that won’t be happening. You see, I have so much more power than you could dream of. Together, we can have so much fun watching ponies suffer. And if you don’t agree...I’m afraid that this body will only be owned by me. You would be terminated.

Why would you do this? Who can be this cruel?

Cruelty? I beg to differ. It’s all part of my delight. I’m just a manifestation of everyone’s nightmare, to put it simply. What’s the point, anyways? Why stand up for ponies? Worthless, the lot of them. Let me show you just how fragile society really is. Let me show you what will happen in the aftermath. After seeing this countless times, it never ceases to amaze me how amusing this all is. With my power, I am unstoppable.

It’s inevitable then. I can never escape and ponykind is supposedly doomed.

Yes. Rather than give you the illusion of choice, I will decide for you. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it and find it enjoyable.





I shuddered.

As I opened my eyes, I found myself still standing and peering through the narrow slits in the mask. Was the conversation I just had a momentary lapse? Or was it all in my head?

Go to the edge of the Everfree Forest. If you fail to obey or step out of the line in any way, I will be forced to take control.

Why did it have to be this way? Why did this amazing town called Ponyville have to be destroyed? Was it my fault?

A fuchsia unicorn with smiling flowers on her flank trotted next to me. She looked curiously at me. “Are you okay, mister?”

I must have been standing like this for a long time. I wondered how weird I looked with this mask on. “I’m fine.”

The unicorn smiled. “I’m Cheerilee, the local school teacher. If you want, I could give you a tour of the town.”

I was about to make an excuse to leave the town, but I thought against it. This mask was just going to have to wait. If it was going to destroy the town, it would be good to learn more about it. I tried not to think about rebellious thoughts for fear of the mask knowing about it. “That would be nice.”

Some interesting places she took me were Sweet Apple Acres, the town library in the tree, Carousel Boutique, Sugarcube Corner, the school, and the windmill. Cheerilee was a fantastic guide and provided historical insight to each place. Never did I actually feel bored, since she was so energetic about teaching me about the town. It made me feel like I was part of the community. I almost forgot about the mask.

Eventually, we stopped in front of the library. The sun was setting and Cheerilee obviously had a great time giving me a tour. She talked a little about what benefits I could have by living in the town. I kept on a bright face and though I genuinely enjoyed this, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. But what could I do? What would I do? Apparently nothing. It was like looking at a dead civilization. And I knew the mask could make that claim, seeing as it could hold that much magic and power.

“So, there. That’s the general history of Ponyville. If you have questions, you can come by the school after class time. I hope you’ll consider staying.” Cheerilee gave me a smile, before leaving to a cottage on my right.

I stood there, contemplating what it all meant. So, I was now a puppet. Beforehand, I was a free traveler. Because I put on that wicked mask, I have succumbed to its ways. What if it stayed on the ground? Would it manifest in a different way? Why did the Salesman have this mask in the first place? Was it a setup? Or was this mask originally part of this region, though the Salesman happened to pick it up?

Well, the mask didn’t offer any answers, so I was stumped. I would have gladly taken a spare cottage in any part of the town, but the mask ordered me to go to the edge of the forest. Back to that dreaded place. What else could I do? I made my way back across the bridge and went to the right of the pegasus’s cottage.

I walked right up to the imposing trees frowning upon the small blades of grass. After waiting for a few seconds, a strange sensation passed through me.

It felt like tendrils were licking my insides, but gradually working their way toward my head. Each tendril would start at different places and go at different speeds. Eventually, they all made it to my head, more specifically my horn.

At a random point, some of the tendrils surged into my horn. I gasped as I felt all my energy converging on that point. I glanced up and saw my horn glowing a bright yellow. In front of me, two trees were enveloped by the same light and were uprooted. They were both laid on the ground, before they were broken apart.

At this point, the glow around my horn grew even brighter and more tendrils of energy surged into it. The individual pieces of wood were covered with their own glow now. Leaves were shaken off and then the pieces of wood converged before my eyes. Together they knit together like a great puzzle. After much ordering, they finally came to resemble a cottage. Albeit, a cottage without a door or furniture but still a cottage that was made in about a minute.

I stood there with my mouth open. Did I do that? The entire spectacle with the tendrils and the light from my horn seemed to suggest that, but this wasn’t my conscious decision to do such a feat. Was it the Mask? Yeah, it probably used me.

I crept into the cottage. Peering inside, there wasn’t anything in it at all. What was the point of a shelter if I was going to sleep on the ground?

I suppose I’ll tell you everything, even if there’s no point. I’ve been waiting for a collaborator of sorts to help me with my “project”. Even if you don’t help, I can still be sure that I will succeed. It’s always nice to inform someone of my brilliance.

First of all, there are the two Princesses. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Luna controls the moon and Celestia controls the sun. Each day they must lift the moon and the sun at the appropriate time.

Then, there are the pegasi. They control the sky to make sure that everything over Ponyville goes accordingly. They only control the clouds and the rainbows.

Finally, there are the six elements of harmony. Within them is an ancient power that has the power of righting the wrong. They have bearers to fully expound on their potential. They are the sole guardians, though live normal lives as regular ponies. 

Why was he telling me this? It wouldn’t help me at all.

These are all factors to my plan. The only real threats, however, are the elements of harmony. I can easily overpower the Princesses. The pegasi aren’t strong enough and won’t see it coming. The elements are the only ones that can stop this.

What was the plan?

To disable the six elements one by one. That way there will be no interference. Then, I’ll be able to unleash the moon to crush Ponyville, Canterlot, and Cloudsdale. It’s foolproof.

My eyes widened. That was its plan? To cause the moon to destroy three cities? It seemed underwhelming to me, there were much more aggressive ways to destroy the world. This still horrified me to no extent. What was the point?

I heard an amused chuckling from the mask. Was there anything I could do? Should I just give in?

We’ll begin tomorrow. Honestly, I enjoy breaking them slowly to see their fragility. There’s a certain art to it, almost like crafting the Pony Lisa. Every town’s never the same; every world can be destroyed in a different way. Spreading destruction across the universe, isn’t it great?

My eyes widened. Who was this embodiment of this mask to have such widespread power? For that matter, how could it travel?

To this, I had no answer. I almost felt that was better. Better not to know anyways. I would rather focus my attempts in escape. I only hoped that it would find a better vessel in Equestria, or that it would leave my body once the deed was done. Even my supposed individuality that the Jaok complimented would have no chance against this.

Sleep on the ground, little one. We have much work to do.

I lay on the soft grass that was the floor. It was soft and cool. After the horrible incident with the plains, I thought I would despise it. But now, it served as reality. It kept me conscious that there was a world out there.

I didn’t sleep for a while. I couldn’t. Thoughts kept racing in my head like the clopping of galloping ponies. About my adventures thus far. It made me wonder what all of the Deities were doing. What prevented them from halting this plight of Nightmare Moon? What about the Jaoks? Aren’t they the regulators in all of this?

I reached up and tried prying the mask off to the best of my abilities with my hooves. It didn’t budge. It almost felt like my face and the mask were one. Panic surged through me and I had to take a few breaths to calm down. What did everypony think when they saw me? Was I a monster in their eyes?

Even though I knew my inevitable fate, it wasn’t until this moment that I started crying. But when the tears reached the edge of the mask, they disappeared. I couldn’t even despair without the thing interfering.

This was all my fault. Why did I pick up the wretched mask in the first place? Couldn’t I see how deadly the mask was from its aura? Why did I have such a love for masks?

But then, this was also the Salesman’s fault. He had the mask on him, yet he wasn’t affected. Maybe it was because he was immune to the power of the masks. He picked up the mask. Whether to destroy it or to utilize it, I have no idea. But, yet again, my reckless nature caused this chain of events.

Well, what was the point of beating a dead horse (not literally)? Even though I wasn’t thinking at this point, it still took me hours of tossing and turning to finally sleep.






“Why? You killed us all. How could you?”

I looked down to see a familiar fuchsia unicorn. My word, the entire lower half of her body was torn off. Her forehooves were clasped around my right one. Her eyes were delirious and mad, as if I was an abomination.

This wasn’t in the cottage. Where was I then? I looked past Cheerilee. Floating above the center of town was the mask. Its laughs filled the entire village. Directly beneath it were rivers of torrential blood filling the entire village. Various ponies had differing injuries and were being carried off by the waves.

“This isn’t my fault, I swear,” I said as I looked back at Cheerilee. All she did to acknowledge me was shoot a dirty look stronger than a dagger in my heart. I reeled back, trying to get away from Cheerilee, but she held on.

I grimaced while looking toward the flying city above Ponyville. Over there, torrential hurricanes and lightning struck the city. Pegasi flew about and tried to contain themselves before being blown away or struck into ashes. The buildings fell over to crush ponies below.

Over in Canterlot, a dragon roared. Ponies ran frantically away from its flames. After causing some destruction, the infrastructure started to collapse. Slowly, the city in the mountain inched its way down before it turned to a tumultuous descent. A loud crash resounded through the world like an explosion.

“Isn’t your fault, is it Solus?” Cheerilee’s face changed into Saria’s. “Is this just another prank of yours?” A distasteful sneer tainted her features.

“That’s right, Solus.” Midol stood to my right as a pony. “Or should I say ‘Skull Kid’? I always knew you were different, but now you want to end the world? That’s even crueler than my antics.”

I felt cold steel against the left side of my neck. Looking to my left, I saw Link as a pony standing as mute as ever. He held the sword and gazed at me like it was his duty to finish me off. Blood trickled down from where the sword cut me.

“Why are you guys doing this? You know what happened. I’m innocent. It’s not my fault.” Even as I said it, I doubted the legitimacy of my words.

To this, they laughed. Until all I could hear was their laughter. Laughing when they burst into flames. Laughing as the mask laughed. Laughing as I stood there helplessly. Laughing.






I gasped. Looking around me, I saw the four walls of the cottage. It was just a dream. Just a dream. At least, that was what I told myself.

Lying there, I cried. Tears came down as the dreaded morning dawned on the village that was oblivious of the horror to come. I only hoped that I could cry for every pony.