//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: An Invitation. 
// Story: Masquerade 
// by AlkapwnZ 
//------------------------------//

You open your eyes, surprised to find light coming through your bedroom window. You sit up, surprised to find yourself in your bedroom, under the covers for the first time in months. You often made yourself work late in the night at your uncle's stall in the market, and by the time you managed to drag yourself back home, you had fallen asleep in your couch.

In fact, you don't exactly remember the last time you fell asleep in your bed...

That's when it hits you. You remember that your uncle tried to force another day off on you, but you had refused. So in light of your attempts to overwork yourself again, he had closed the stall early just so you could get back home to sleep. You really hated it when your uncle did this. Your father always said, "Good things only come to those who earn it." You were still saving up for college, and had moved into Ponyville, near your uncle, so you could work in his stall to earn some bits. This has been going on for a few years, and you were determined to earn the money for college.

You already had a good start with your grandmother's heritage, and your parents had already been saving up for you as a foal, adding to it each year. Counting up your money, you only needed about two-hundred more bits to afford it.
Unfortunately, you still had to buy your food, and pay for your bills and rental, leaving you with little cash to put into your savings. The job payed enough for you to live like a normal pony, but you promised your father you'd make it to college. So, you made due with your job and worked extra hours to speed up your saving.

Your uncle kept telling you to slow down, to take a break and have fun for once. You always rolled your eyes at him, and just kept working. There'd be time to take a break when you were in Haywaii, living it up on a vacation you'd earned yourself.
Speaking of working, you realized it was already 7:00 AM. The stall was going to open at 8:00, and it was a 40 minute walk from your apartment to the market. You'd have to hurry and eat breakfast, before you were late.
After practically shoving your breakfast down your throat on the way out, you quickly pull on your jacket and trot off, whistling to the market.

The asphalt sends a shiver up your hoof and up to your spine, and the crisp morning air lets you see your own breath. Winter is coming, and you reminded yourself you'd have to buy a new winter jacket, since your old one didn't fit anymore.
You grimace as your legs burn in protest, still sore from yesterday's endeavors. Alright, so maybe you overworked yourself just a little bit, but you knew it would be worth it in the end. Once you got to college, and earned your degree, you'd be able to get your dream job and live like the princesses!

Then you'd laugh at those who doubted you, and at those who tried to slow you down. You were determined not to let anything get in the way.

You check your watch, surprised to find that it was already 7:23. You had already been walking for more than twenty minutes? You'd have to speed up a little more; you weren't covering nearly as much distance as you normally did. You look around, trying to navigate your location by recognizing your surroundings.

You're walking down a thin brick road, small houses up to two stories tall lining it from front to back. You turn a corner, sighing as you continue your light jog through Ponyville. Celestia's sun was still rising, and it's rays paint the sky with an interesting shade of orange that contrasts with it's natural dim blue, and you can hear the trees rustling as a cool breeze guides the leaves to nowhere.

You shiver a little, feeling goosebumps beginning to form on your skin. You trot a little faster, feeling your heart race with anticipation as you think of how the day would go. Just ten hours of work, maybe deal with an unsatisfied customer, and you'd earn some more bits for your savings. Admittedly, it wouldn't be a major addition, but every bit counts.

"Hiya!"

You jump when you hear the sudden greeting, and turn your head to see a violently pink pony bouncing up to you, a wide grin spreading across her face as she bounds. Her large, inflated mane bounces along with her, and her blue eyes are wide with excitement. You groan inwardly, recognizing this mare as Pinkie Pie. You remember that she worked for the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner, and she was always throwing a party for some tiny, insignificant reason. Not exactly the kind of pony you liked to hang out with.

Not that you had anything against the pink pony. She seemed nice, but she was a little too much pony for you to handle.
What annoyed you about her the most was that she was always trying to get you to smile when you frowned. The truth was, you only frowned when you couldn't work. And it was only when you weren't working that you ever ran into her in the first place.

Pinkie Pie had seemed to have made it her personal mission to make everypony in Ponyville smile, and that included you. Her attempts at making you smile were extremely annoying, and often got in the way of your work. She was, in all respects, a nuisance. But you didn't have the heart to tell her to leave you alone, and if she went on too long, you'd give her a turtle smile just to get her to bother somepony else.

"Oh...hi, Pinkie..."

You try to leave it at that, to treat Pinkie's greeting as a simple hello from a passing friend, rather than an opening to conversation. You turn to continue on your trot, only to find Pinkie suddenly sitting in front of you. You force down a cry, and fall back on your rump in surprise. You still didn't know how Pinkie managed to pull off these reality-bending feats, but you gave up a long time ago trying to understand it.

"What're you up to?"

Pinkie smiles at you, a look of blissful ignorance on her face. You give her a weak smile and supress a groan of frustration. "I'm on my way to work. And, I'm afraid I'm going to be late if I don't keep moving, so if you'll excuse me..." You move around Pinkie, and resume your trot towards the market.

Suddenly, you jump up, unable to keep yourself from crying out when Pinkie's head shoots out of a Ponyhole just in front of you.

"Oh, we can walk and talk! What flavor of ice cream do you like? I like all the flavors, because, why should we discriminate flavors when they're all so tasty and amazing and delicious. I mean, it doesn't make any sense that just one flavor would dominate over all the others..."

You sigh and continue walking, allowing Pinkie to ramble on as she follows you. You don't really listen to what she's saying, but judging on the key words she's using, she's somehow managed to change the subject from ice cream flavors to how colors smell like they look. You don't really understand how that works, but you shrug it off. It's Pinkie Pie.

After what seemed to be hours of walking, you allow yourself a grin when you finally enter the marketplace. You see that a fraction of ponyville was already up, and ponies were hustling and bustling about as they set themselves up at their stalls. You speed up a little more, excited to be finally getting back to work.

Then you groan under your breath when Pinkie suddenly hops out of a small, plastic bin at a stall, using her fourth-wall breaking powers to catch up to you.

"So, I think that salmon are cuter looking fishies than trout, but trout are definitely tastier than the-" "I'm sorry, what?" You can't help but cut the pink pony off, surprised by her sudden change of the subject. "Fishies! Weren't you listening?" You shake yourself regretfully. No, you weren't really listening, but surely anypony would've noticed her changing the subject to something completely unrelated.

"Sorry, Pinkie, my head's in the clouds right now."

Pinkie suddenly hops onto your back, leaning her head over yours to look you in the eye. "No it's not, silly! Her head's in the clouds!"

Pinkie points with her hoof at a gray pegasus with a blond mane and crossed eyes, who you recognized as Derpy Whooves.
Derpy was sitting in a cloud a few feet above some of the ponies in the market, and for some reason, she had her head lodged into the cloud she sat upon. She didn't show any resistance, so you couldn't tell if she had crashed into it, or was purposefully keeping it inside the cloud.

You shake yourself, and look back at Pinkie, who was still sitting on your back. "It's a figure of speech, Pinkie."
Pinkie hops off your back, and she still smiles as if it was her birthday. "Oooooohhhh....I see!" Her expression doesn't change as she says this, as if she was just faking her understanding. You speed up again, hoping that she'd notice somepony else to bother. But she justs hops along beside you, ignorant to your attempts of escape. Finally, with great reluctancy, you stop and turn to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, don't you have to work at Sugarcube Corner?"

Pinkie stops when you do, and she she smiles even wider when you ask. "Nope! Sugarcube doesn't open till 10:00! Doesn't your stall open then?" You hold back another groan, and answer with, "Not every shop has the same schedule, Pinkie. I have to get to work right now, and I'm going to be late if I don't-" You stop when you check your watch while you talk to Pinkie, and you can't help but cry out when you realize the time said 8:17.

You had taken nearly an hour of walking!

You turn and gallop away, searching desperately for your uncle's stall. You couldn't be late! You were never late! What would uncle say? What if you got fired? What if..

"What's the hurry?"

You cry out when you turn around a corner and nearly crash into Pinkie Pie. Was there no escape from this mare?! "I'm late! I have to get to my uncle's stall before I'm any later! Sorry, Pinkie, but I don't have time for this right now!" You run past Pinkie, and you crane your neck to look above the sea of heads, searching for the stall.

"Isn't your uncle's stall over there?"

Pinkie suddenly materializes next to you, and points to the opposite direction, an innocently inquisitive expression on her face. You facehoof, unable to understand how you had managed to forget the stall's location after all these years of walking over to it. "Yeah, it is....thanks, Pinkie. I gotta go."

You dash past her, and you quickly pull off your jacket as you approach the stall. You hang it up on the wall behind its counter, and quickly tie the clerk apron around you. You move up to the counter, and call out behind you.
"Sorry, uncle! I didn't mean to be late, and it'll never happen again! I swear!"

Your uncle steps out from around a small room in the back wearing an apron exactly like yours, and he gives you a puzzled look. "You're not late. I haven't even opened the stall yet."

Now it was your turn to look puzzled. What was your uncle talking about? He always opened the stall at 8:00 sharp!
"Wh-what do you mean? You always open the stall at 8:00!"

Your uncle grins, and he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I told you last night the schedule was changed to 10:00."
You stare at your uncle in disbelief, and then facehoof. "So...no work for another two hours...uncle, are you crazy?! We need to make a living, and right now, we.."

"Nopony is going to be shopping here at this ungodly hour. Besides, I didn't say we wouldn't have work. Today is when we need to take inventory and restock."

Your uncle cuts you off, and you can't help but grin when he says this.

You were one of those ponies who actually enjoyed keeping things organized, and it was starting to bug you how unorganized your uncle's stacking was. Now you could finally tidy things up, after several weeks of nagging him on about it.
You raise your hoof to your forehead in a mock salute, still grinning, and get to work immediately.

You wipe the sweat beading down your brow, panting as you lift a box with Celestia-knows-what inside, unable to comprehend how it could be this heavy. You had finished taking inventory, and your uncle had ordered new products to restock.

Right now, you were taking those products to the storage facility your uncle owned, and despite your uncomfortable predicament, you couldn't help but let yourself grin. This is what work is about. You were proud of yourself, bringing yourself this far, actually earning your college years.

Suddenly, you cry out as you trip on a stone lodged into the ground, and the heavy box you were carrying flies off your back and crashes onto the earth with a loud clatter. You quickly pull yourself back up, not even stopping to inspect your hoof, and open up the box to ensure nothing broke.

You breathe a sigh of relief as you find the fragile products undamaged. It amazed you that nothing broke, after a crash like that.

You hear a chuckle behind you, and you turn your head to find a familiar green earth pony sitting under a tree a few feet away. You smile, and pull the heavy box onto your back again and step towards the earth pony.

"Hey, Venture. Still enjoying the shade?"

The earth pony named Venture chuckled again, and nodded. "Still enjoying working your back off?"

You nod as well, and chuckle as you walk away. You hear the sound of Venture's hooves trotting, and you turn to find the green pony was following you.

"What're you up to?"

Venture speeds up, then slows down when he finally reaches you, the calm look still in his eyes. You had met the laid-back stallion when you had first moved into Ponyville, and he had been the first to greet you. Shortly afterwards, Pinkie Pie had thrown you a 'Welcome to Ponyville!' party.

While you and Venture didn't have much in common, you were able to handle him much easier than Pinkie.
"Just storing our stock. What're you up to?"

Venture tears a strand of wheat out of the earth as he trots beside you, sticking it into his mouth and letting it hang out as he chews.

"Just hangin' 'round. You should really learn to relax sometime."

You roll your eyes and groan. Not this again. Both Venture and your uncle often bugged you about not being more social, or not even trying to have more fun. When would they understand that you were just saving enjoyment for when you got your house in Canterlot?

Right now, you have to take initiative and save your bits for college. Once you got that four-year college diploma, you'd have the chance to be at the top of the world! Working harder than the average pony for the next few months would be very well worth being set for life.

Venture strides alongside you, not even noticing your apparent irritation.
"See, this is the time of life where stress can really take it's toll. It's not healthy to work twenty-four-seven without a break every once in awhile."

You finally reach your uncle's storage facility, and you quickly pull the box off your back and place it on the ground before pulling open the door. The musty smell of dust and cardboard lingers in the air, and you have to squint to see clearly into the dark building.

You spin around and drag the box into the hot, airless room, careful not to knock over any of the stacked boxes towering over you.

"I don't need a break, Venture. I'm trying to save for college, and.."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, diploma future saving college! Dude, these are literally the only words I ever hear coming out of your mouth."

You scowl, annoyed Venture had cut you off, and snort.

"I say plenty of other things."

You and Venture are deep inside the dark building now, and you can barely detect a smirk spread across his face through the darkness. "Like what?"

"Like....like...um...." You draw a blank card.

You couldn't think of anything else you talked about. C'mon, you had to have something! Say anything! You can't just let Venture win the argument like that!

But, you still draw a blank card, and you hope Venture can't see your mouth gaping open through the darkness. You squint to look at him better, and you swear his smirk was spreading even wider. Finally, you manage to snarl,

"Smartass...."

Lame way to end an argument, you admit, but what else could you say? Venture laughs, and he pats your shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll show you how to have a good time."

You shake your head as you walk back out of the dark building, squinting at the sudden daylight as your eyes adjust.

"Great. You can show me after I graduate."

You trot off towards your uncle's stall, desperate to get away from this annoying conversation. As you trot away, you can still hear Venture's hoofsteps as he follows. You hold back another annoyed groan, and quickly take your place at the counter of the stall. You flip the open/closed sign, and you place your front hooves on the counter in a folded position, ready for the customers to roll in.

Venture sits next to a pillar supporting an undercover that folds out from the stall. The earth pony leans his head against the pillar, and nods back off to sleep. You shake your head grinning, chuckling under your breath at Venture's behavior.

Suddenly, you notice a familiar violently pink pony start hopping her way to your stall, and you hold back the usual groan and force a smile.

"Welcome to Ponyville General stall! See anything you like, let me know."

The greeting was customary for all customers, friend or otherwise. You knew Pinkie wasn't here to buy anything; she rarely was. This annoyed you greatly, as she held up any forming lines with her excessively long conversations, often having repeated topic changes every time you tried to point out she was holding the line.

"Hiya! What're your plans?"

You raise an eyebrow, then gesture to the whole stall with your hoof.

"This is all I'm doing today. Sorry, Pinkie, I can't go to any of your parties or gatherings you've got planned."

You lean back in your chair behind the counter, hoping that this was signal enough for Pinkie to go away. Unfortunately, as usual she remained, blissfully ignorantly as to how awkward she was making the situation.

"You sure you don't wanna go to this party? It's being funded and attended by the princesses themselves!"

You fall out of your chair, gasping as your head hits the floor. You quickly pull yourself back up, feeling your cheeks grow warm as you set your chair back up and set everything back to their original, formal positions.

Finally, you sit back down in your chair and give Pinkie a serious look in the eye.

"The princesses are attending? So this party's taking place in Canterlot palace?"

Pinkie vigorously shakes her head, her annoying smile still plastered permanently on her face.

"Nope! This is a special party, and it's taking place all over Ponyville!"

Venture suddenly seems to have chosen that moment to wake up, and he walks up to the two of you wearing his usual goofy grin.

"Pinkie, if it's taking place all over a city, it's not called a 'Party', it's called a Festival."

Pinkie hops a few times in the air, giggling like a little filly.

"But a Festival is a kind of party! HA!" She stops bouncing and turns back to you, still smiling. "This party is gonna be GREAT! It's called a Masquerade!"

You grin, remembering the history of the Masquerade Festival. It was an old festival originating in Istalia, and it was celebrated every twelve years, taking place in a randomly selected city in Equestria.

The festival took place all over the selected city, and ponies attending wore masks as part of the tradition. Some ponies just wear the mask, allowing their real identity to be known to others, while some wore an entire costume in an attempt to hide their true identity. It lasted the entire night, starting from 7:00 PM and ending as far as 4:00 AM. Nine hours of partying....the thought of spending that much time messing around made you feel a little queasy.

"Ponyville's the host city this time around?"

You remember the last Masquerade festival had taken place at Manehatten, and you couldn't attend it then because A:
A train ride to Manehatten was too expensive, and B:

You were just a ten-year-old colt at the time.

Too young for a party as big as that. Pinkie nods excitedly, her smile growing.

"Yeperonni and cheese! It starts in three days, and Luna asked me personally to spread the news! Anypony can attend, and it starts at 7:00 PM and ends at 4:00 AM."

Venture grins, and he nudges you playfully. "Couldn't have had better timing! He's going to learn how to have fun from yours truly, and the Masquerade is the perfect time to start class!"

You shake your head, frowning at your two friends.

"I'm not going."

Suddenly, there's dead silence as Venture and Pinkie Pie look at you in unison with gaping mouths, and their eyes widened to the point where you could see the whites of them. Finally, Venture breaks the silence with a stutter.

"Wh-what? Why not?! It's a festival, for crying out loud! It's practically a holiday, like Nightmare Night!"

Your frown remains, and you make your statement loud and clear to your friends.

"I'm not going. A party like that'll just slow me down. I don't need a damned hangover to get in the way of work."

Venture scowls at you, and he stands on all four hooves, no longer leaning in his usual comfortable position.

"It's a festival. Shops are closed during that time."

You return Venture's scowl, and you lean in on the counter, closer to his face.

"There'll still be work to do the day after. Trying to recover from a party like that'll slow down the flow of work, and I won't be able to earn bits fast enough."

Venture tosses his hooves into the air, growling.

"FINE. Be your usual stick-in-the-mud self and sit behind a counter, rather than go to a party with your friends. Have fun."
Venture storms off down the street running between the stalls, disappearing through the thickening crowd. You sigh, and you realize Pinkie is still sitting next to you.

Only her hair has suddenly drooped and deflated, like a flower that's wilted, her usual bright pink coat somehow dulled. Her lip trembles, and you feel a tinge of guilt upon sight of her new appearance.

"Y-you're not going?"

You hate having to be the cause of Pinkie's new mood, but you know you have to defend your decision.
"Sorry, Pinkie, I'm not. You know how important it is for me to earn those bits."

Pinkie nods slowly, and gives a sad sigh.

"A-alright....."

The now depressed pink pony walks away, and you sigh sadly at the sight. Don't worry about it; it's Pinkie Pie. She'll find something more exciting than you going to a party soon, and she'll be back to her perky fourth-wall-breaking self.

Why did you feel so guilty?

Suddenly, you forget these thoughts as your first real customer of the day walks up to you, and you give her your usual greeting, forcing a smile. Uncle would be pleased with your decision; he was the only other pony you knew who valued hard-work as highly as you did. He'd support your decision, and you'd be ready to get back to earning your college years!