“All the world’s a stage, and its creatures merely players.” Heh. You have no idea how true that is for me. You see, my family is rather… different. “But every family is different,” you’ll say. And that’s true as well, but my family takes it to an extreme. My family took the quote I just said, and made it our philosophy. They twisted it a bit though. We are all playing our parts, yes, but our method is different. Many think that an actor puts on a mask, taking roles that are not their own. They are wrong though. Each time an actor acts they do not hide; they expose themselves. That is true for me as well.
Perhaps I should explain. I have a persona out in the public. I’m known as a shy, demure, animal keeper. I chose the shy and demure role, but the animal keeper came later in life. That is the mask I wear. Everypony in my family has a mask. Some of them are diligent construction workers, others are suave womanizers, and a select few are caring doctors. There are times when we take the masks off though. Those times are when we’re with each other, and when we’re ‘working’. See, we need to separate our public persona from our jobs. If complications happen from during work, then we have a backup identity to fall back on. Otherwise, we’re just on the world’s stage, being who we aren’t. Right now, I’m acting, and I am who I am underneath the mask. You should consider yourself lucky, very few get to see who I really am.
Hmm, that felt good. I’m glad I could get that off my chest. Thank you for listening.
*
A faceless, yellow, blank flanked pegasus mare was standing in front of a panicking stallion. He was suspended in mid-air by unicorn magic. On both his right and left were two unicorns, like the pegasus, they were faceless and blank flanked. The mare turned away and began pacing. Sweat was falling from the stallion’s forehead.
“Y-y-you’re welcome,” he stuttered. “C-could you please let me go then?” The mare laughed. The laughter sent shivers down his spine. She stopped and turned her attention to him. Despite not having a face, she looked intimating.
“I don’t think I can do that,” she said. “You have information that me, my father, and my Family need. I can’t let you go.”
“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you anything you need to know!” he screamed. The mare waved her hoof back and forth in a mocking manner.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You must think I’m an idiot,” she said. “I know you have a reputation for lying. So a friend of mine is going to help talk with you.”
“Friend?” The mare whistled. A hissing reached his ears. From behind, a large snake slithered its way up the mare. It hung on a stretched out foreleg, staring at the floating stallion.
“This, is Mr. Coils,” she explained. “He likes to hug ponies. He’s going to give you a big hug, and will let go when you’re ready to tell the truth.” She reached out and touched the stallion. The snake slowly wrapped himself around the stallion’s body. His eyes widened. She put her hoof on the ground as Mr. Coils squeezed the pony. His face contorted in pain and the mare tapped her chin.
“Hmm, ironic,” she said. “I have to put on a physical mask, to remove my psychological mask. Strange isn’t it?” The two unicorns nodded. The mare looked at floating stallion as his face twisted. Unknown to him and the two unicorns, she was smiling underneath her mask.