New day. Get up.
I sighed. After getting around two hours of sleep, I wondered how I would fair. Not that it would be a problem anyways, since the mask could always control me.
I rolled over onto my stomach and propped myself up on my four hooves. Yawning and stretching, I walked out into the glorious day outside. The birds were singing, squirrels were gathering acorn, and ponies were starting their day. How innocent they all were. How much I wished I was them.
In an instant, I felt the tendrils surging yet again. As my horn glowed again, my vision turned black. After a few seconds, I saw the insides of what happened to be the town library. The wooden shelves carved in the tree were filled with an abundance of books. I wanted so badly to go take one and sit down for a nice read. But, the vision shifted to in between the shelves.
Situated there was a pedestal with five necklaces and a tiara adorned with a jewel each. Frequently, I saw Twilight pacing about the library with a small purple dragon. I shuddered a bit, thinking about my dream, but realized this one must be tame. They were both apparently cleaning the library.
I realized that I must be staring at the Elements of Harmony that Nightmare Moon dreaded so much. Why didn’t the mask just decide to destroy those things right then and there?
As I said, it’s more amusing to destroy them individually.
I guess there was no point in reason at this point. At that moment in time, I gave up. From here on in, I’m only documenting what its actions were, along with my own moral and ethical standpoint against this.
Anyways, I felt the mask analyzing the elements present. It randomly chose one of them. The red one shaped as a lightning bolt.
Preliminary analysis complete. Begin search for matching cutie mark.
Cutie mark? I guess that would probably have to be the marks on the ponies’ flanks. What a weird name though, it sounds...girly. Is it a tag for others to recognize?
My vision blacked out again. When it returned, it focused on a single pony. After observing the mark, my vision switched to another pony. This process kept going until eventually there was a match.
A cyan pegasus sleeping on a small cloud. Her disheveled rainbow mane and tail expressed her individuality and uniqueness. Her cutie mark was a white cloud with blue, yellow, and red lightning bolts streaking out under it.
Reciprocal Cutie Mark identified.
My vision turned black for the last time and I saw the familiar view of Ponyville ahead of me. Out of curiosity, I asked the mask why it needed me to act as a vessel.
I don’t. But, it’s better to have a persona for the whole town to fear.
Did I mention how much I hated this thing? Who could do this? I could easily be free, but this mask has to have things its own way.
I felt another brief surge of energy and suddenly I disappeared.
I opened my eyes and somehow I was in the middle of the road outside of Ponyville. How did I end up here? Teleportation?
A solitary cloud floated above my head, just like the one in the vision. I could see a familiar blue pegasus napping quietly on it. She looked peaceful.
It took me a while to realize, but I found that I couldn’t move. At all. I panicked and attempted to move my hoof. Nothing. Was this the mask taking control of my body? Well figures, since it wants to “destroy” these ponies that it would want to do it by itself.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash.”
That wasn’t my voice though. I wondered how it could do that, considering it was using my body, but I trusted that it had to be based on its magic along with it already knowing her name.
Rainbow bolted upright on the cloud and peered at me. “Who are you? Isn’t that a mask of Nightmare Moon?” She shuddered. Apparently she also had some bad experience with this entity.
Rainbow flew down and hovered in front of me, holding her hooves out in an aggressive stance. “Come on, speak. I’ve already dealt with monsters that are cheap knockoffs of the real thing.” She punched the air in front of me.
I chuckled, though it sounded more like granite sliding on concrete. “I suppose you are one of the more athletic ponies. Wants to join the Wonderbolts. Supposedly the Element of Loyalty. Arrogant, yet loyal.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Those are lies. Just how did you figure that out? Is this a prank by Pinkie Pie?”
Actually, no. My horn was glowing briefly and during that time, I presume the mask absorbed all the information from Rainbow. What was it doing? I presumed that it would want to torture the bearers of the elements, but now I couldn’t guess why.
“Ponies like you are pathetic. Why waste away your life to false ideals that you know will never occur?”
Rainbow looked over her shoulder to the nearby bushes on the side of the road. “Pinkie, this isn’t funny. You can cut it out. Call this guy off.”
“Becoming a Wonderbolt,” I said with contempt, “You aren’t anything special. You are another nobody who can’t come to terms with reality. Didn’t mommy tell you not to make dreams you can’t fulfill?”
At that, Rainbow looked back. Trying to be courteous, she said, “Excuse me stranger, but I’m not listening. You can go back and tell Pinkie that it didn’t work.” She flew back to the cloud.
In a flash, I was lying on top of the cloud. Rainbow skidded to a halt right in front of me. “What’s your problem? Can’t you see that I can’t be bothered?”
“Yet, even though you claim to be loyal to your friends, you’re willing to neglect them for your selfish needs. Like forgetting about Pinkie during your time at the Academy."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I was only gone for two days.” She shook her head. “Anyways, this really isn’t any of your business.” She flew off in the general direction of hills dotted with apple trees.
After a few seconds, I teleported onto some tree branches. Rainbow was lying under me, clearly looking exhausted. Looking around, she seemed satisfied that she escaped me. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed considerably.
“Only, you aren’t grateful for your friends.” Rainbow jumped and glared at me. “You always think that you’re right and that everything should revolve around you. What’ll happen if you become famous? Will it stop there? Or will you become so full of yourself that you become ignorant of everything in front of you?”
She flew off again, yelling, “I’m not listening!” as she stuck her hooves in her ears. This time, she left to the center of town.
Then, I appeared inside just inside the leaves that made up the tree library with Rainbow sitting above me. “And that infectious attitude has spread across the town. Filling ponies everywhere with hopes and dreams. What will happen to them? Most ponies will not succeed. Yet, you still continue your foolish endeavor.”
Rainbow bolted and this time I was in the darkest corners of a cave. “Rainbow Dash, what’s behind this wall you put on for your friends? After acting superior to everyone around you, are you any better? Is this all an act for yourself? Or have you come to reflect the external savage nature that you yourself despise as well? Your personality is rebellious, yet it’s all a facade. The boundaries that make you are faded and muddled, and as time goes on, it’ll only get worse.”
Now, we were right on the side of the barn. Rainbow peered carefully around, until seeing me behind her. “So tell me, Rainbow. Who are you? Through your fake confidence and bravado, who are you? Who do you plan to be? All I can say is that in all my time, ponies like you have only crumbled. They either live up to their dream, or die trying. Even with their goals fulfilled, it’s downhill from there. Are you one of them?”
Rainbow hovered up, wings flapping furiously. She looked past me, apparently wanting to give chase again. After a second, she collapsed on the ground. “I give up,” she lamented. “Please, just make it stop,” she beseeched with her hooves clasped in a praying position.
I smiled. “Gladly.” My horn glowed for the last time and she was enveloped in it. She looked around her body nervously, before she turned into a sickly black and white creature. Gone were the spirit and the confidence, only despair was present, as reflected by the bland colors in her mane.
Rainbow looked tiredly around her, like a zombie. She took off half-heartedly back to her cloud. Wobbling feebly, it was astonishing to see the life sucked out of her.
I was disgusted. I couldn’t believe that its words could do such a feat. How could it keep on battering her with barrages without any care? It just converted a fun-loving, easy-going pegasus into a slave.
Well, I guess I should have expected that. It did say something about crushing their spirits until they were meaningless. But, unlike just destroying the elements themselves, it decided to break down the ponies. Until they were empty shells that could do no harm. To see how far you could test the limits until they deflated. I honestly felt sorry for the pegasus. Having her deepest secrets revealed and exploited.
Finally, around this point, I had control of my body. I gasped, shaking from head to hoof, as I tried to balance myself. Taking deep ragged breaths, I tried to fight my nausea. Unfortunately, I threw up. Yet again, when the substance was about to hit the mask, it disappeared into nothingness.
I’m...losing myself. I realized that. Now, my sense of right and wrong would be horribly distorted and life itself would be controlled by the mask. I hated this feeling.
But, I didn’t cry. I probably couldn’t after my episode last night. For better or worse, I was losing my sense of humanity. Losing what makes a man a man, or a pony a pony.
The good thing was that at least the mask remained passive. With that out of the way, I went back to the cottage on the edge of the forest.
When I got there, I hadn’t realized just how tired I was. My entire body was aching after that mass usage of energy the mask had. That’s what I was, just a tool for its own satisfaction.
After resting my eyes a little, I was about to go back out into Ponyville, but I thought against it. I couldn’t bear to see ponies again after that. I felt too guilty to even have eye contact.
So, I lay there on the ground of the cottage. I didn’t mean to stay there for the rest of the day since it was only noon, but I fell asleep.
“Why have you forsaken us? Have you come to cleanse our sins with a sinner?”
Four ponies were chanting around a statue in a plain outside of Ponyville. They kept asking mystifying questions as I watched silently. It was a stormy night with the wind ferociously blowing the rain along with the grass.
At once, the ponies turned to face me. Their eyes reflected their astonishment as they trotted toward me. I remained in place and waited.
“Have you come to save us all? Or wash us away in your pity?” they asked as they stood in front of me. They repeated this over and over.
“I’m merely a spectator,” I said, hoping to alleviate their sorrow.
Then, their eyes turned red. They chanted again, but it sounded like they were saying something backwards. They came towards me.
As they came closer, I saw ponies rising from the ground. First you would see a hoof or two peeking out. As they kept digging out of the ground, their entire body was shown with multiple scars and vacant stares. Once they were out, they started walking toward me along with the four chanters.
After a while, I realized what they were saying. Moon. Three days. Save us from the mask. Give us salvation. Help. Help. Help.
I was chilled. I turned around and started galloping, but more ponies rising from the ground impeded my path. The storm blew even fiercer now and it was all I could do just to stay on my feet. Eventually, after turning in every direction, I came to realize that they were forming a circle around me.
I closed my eyes.