//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Masked 
// by Steel Zephyr 
//------------------------------//


CHAPTER 2


As the sun was setting, Rarity got dressed for the party. Her Veneightian mask hid her identity, but the feathers and jewelry that coated the mask in lieu of paint unveiled it. Her dress also did nothing to help the mystique intended with wearing a mask. It wasn't quite as flamboyant as what she had designed for the Gala, and was much more subtle than her “secondary run” of dresses she had made for her five closest friends. She still remembered the relief she'd had when those Celestia-awful things had gone up in flames.
“Well, Opal, how do I look?” she asked her pet cat. A tired purr was the only response.
“Why yes, I did craft it myself. I just can't believe that Pinkie Pie would go through all this trouble just for my birthday. She must be preparing to bribe me or something. Well, she's certainly doing a proper job of it,” Rarity said, posing for her feline audience, “I wonder if I should have added more gemstones to my mask. From the books I've read it is not unheard of to simply carve the mask entirely out of a single gem.”
“And what should happen if I meet my Prince Charming tonight, Opal? Would I even recognize him under the mystique of the night? Oh, we would dance together and when we stopped he would offer to go get drinks for us even though he'd have no way of carrying two items. And he'd return cleverly balancing them on a single hoof and then I'd use magic to lift one up and he'd remember that he too could use magic and look sheepish...” she rambled, a perfect scenario unfolding in her head. She hardly noticed the decorations being set up in the main floor of Carousel Boutique and outside. Rarity was snapped out of her fantasy when she accidentally stepped on her cat's tail, eliciting a hiss and a swipe.
“Oh Opal, mummy's so sorry.” The white unicorn attempted to cuddle her precious pet, though the fickle feline darted away quickly. “Well, onto the night!” Rarity declared, striking a pose before heading downstairs.

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The first thing that Rarity noticed was exactly how overdone the celebration was. It had Pinkie Pie written all over it: banners, balloons, everything. As the mare of the hour stepped outside, she heard a light music begin to play. Turning, she saw a full band, filled with almost an entire who's who of musical ponies. They were warming up at the moment, but they still sounded amazing.
A thin trickle of guests was coming in. Rarity suppressed laughter as she saw what was quite obviously the first masquerade Ponyville had ever experienced. Many masks were shoddily crafted, and some looked like they were painted on. She saw about seven ponies who had masks that actually looked like time and effort went into them.
As the crowd began to settle in and Rarity began to mingle, she was approached by a bouncing pink Earth Pony who, while outdoing herself on the décor, was somewhat lacking in her choice of mask. Resting on a comically oversized and mustached nose was a pair of plastic glasses with false eyebrows on top. 
“So I hear that one mare set this all up,” the pink pony said in a deep voice that (badly) covered her own voice. Rarity nearly spat out her drink upon hearing her, “She must be very talented. You should return the favor somehow.”
“I assure you that I have a most excellent plan for how to repay her,” the fashionista replied.
“Oooh! I can't wai- I mean uh- I'm sure it will be very good,” the magenta mare said, her voice slipping back to normal before she caught it. She bounced off, no doubt to enjoy the rest of the party. Rarity continued to mingle and enjoy herself.
The band had finished tuning, and started off with a slow ballroom song. Within seconds, a purple dragon wearing a tuxedo and mask reminiscent of a crescent moon that covered the right half of his face approached Rarity. She could tell that the mask was made out of parchment, but it had been treated through some process to hold its form.
“May I have this dance?” the dragon said nervously, identifying himself by the sound of his voice.
“Yes you may. And may I say that look suits you very well.” Rarity replied. The dragon's cheeks went red nearly instantly. As they made their way to the center of the floor, he showed a surprising aptitude for dancing, though Rarity could hear him counting under his breath. Still, it was a nice gesture.
Even though he was counting, he proved to be a highly competent dancer. As the song ended, Rarity walked him aside so as to not to interfere with the next dance. “That was quite some dancing, my friend.” she told him.
“Well, not to brag, but I have spent a few years in Canterlot and went to social events there,” the purple dragon replied, polishing his claws on his vest, “shall I go get us some drinks?” he said as he walked over to the punch bowl. As he returned, a glass in each cup, he had a smug look on his face. Understandable, and adorable in Rarity's eyes. He offered her a cup, and she picked it up with her magic.
“So Spike, I had no idea you were such a connoisseur of proper etiquette.” Rarity said, finishing her sip while he was in the midst of his. This resulted in him tipping his cup back slightly more than intended. When he pulled it away, Rarity could tell he was holding back a sneeze.
“Who is this Spike? I am, uh, uh, uhacHOO.” he replied ending by sneezing. As he sneezed, a jet of green fire spread near his face. His mask caught it, and was quickly burned into a green and purple mist headed towards Canterlot. As Rarity turned to look at Spike, he recoiled, covering the part of his face that had previously been obscured by the mask. “AAAAUUUUUGGGH” he cried, running off. Rarity merely rolled her eyes. 'Such drama. Was it really called for? I know I would never do such a thing,' she mused, moving on. 
As she walked, Rarity passed a pair of ponies dancing. One wore a black mask that entirely covered her face except for the eyes, while the other had on a pale mask that had a slight pinkish hue on the cheeks accompanied by a handlebar mustache and goatee. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves.
“Y'all call that dancin'? Jus' sit right there and lemme show ya how it's done.” Rarity heard a familiar voice declare. Turning her head, she saw an orange mare with a bandana over the lower half of her face accompanied by a Stetson hat. The mare was in the beginning of what was quite clearly going to be a very wild dance. Rarity quickly intervened.
“Are you quite sure this is a good idea?”
“Course it is. Why go to a rodeo then spend more time in the stands than in the events?”
Rarity struggled for a bit, trying to figure out the metaphor. “That aside, this is supposed to be at least semi formal.”
The freckled farmpony thought for a second, then spoke. “Ah s'ppose you're right. No sense in bringin' a hog to a bake off. Still, could be a mighty fine shindig with a little ol' fashioned dancin'.”
“Perhaps another time, darling. Until then, do try to keep polite company.”
Rarity moved on from the would-be wild westerner. Stopping to adjust her mask, she noticed a shadow pass quickly over the ground. Looking up, she saw the words “Happy Birthday Raritv” in the sky, with a pegasus pushing a cloud to finish the final letter. The cloud sculptor then flew down, landing by Rarity with a definite impact.
“So what d'ya think? Pretty awesome, huh?” The pegasus said, her cyan coat cut off at the neck by a leather helmet and aviator goggles.
“Very nice. I take it you planned the whole thing beforehoof?” Rarity replied
“Nope. Just something that was suggested to me a few seconds ago. Still can't believe that it worked out. I actually delayed a planned storm to tomorrow just to pull this off,” the pegasus said smugly, turning to look at Rarity. There was something wrong, but Rarity couldn't put a hoof on it.
“I do hope that it won't be like the last time you missed a planned storm, dear. It was quite a workload that night for the ponies removing loose branches.” Rarity replied, eying the pegasus's headgear carefully. She spotted the problem; the helmet was on backwards.
“Well, you almost got everything right,” Rarity muttered under her breath. She magically grabbed the helmet and started spinning it around.
“HEY! What are you doing?”
“I'm fixing your mask, dear. You can't walk around like that.” 
Rarity finished , and could have sworn that the chromatic maned mare was trying to turn it back around with her hooves.
“It was fine the way it was. It's not like anypony would have noticed.” She muttered, trotting off. Rarity shrugged and moved on, wondering how she could even consider any sort of crime against fabulosity when she knew that it irritated her.
Rarity had only two more ponies that she especially wanted to speak with, and she had a good idea where to find at least one of them. Passing a mare and a filly wearing a paper bag and a cardboard box with eye holes respectively, she approached a purple unicorn who seemed to be observing the party more than participating in it. Her mask was made of ceramic, and had some form of diagram that Rarity recognized as some sort of archaic spell ritual. Around the edges and eye holes were runes of some ancient language.
“Hey Rari- uh-friend. How are you enjoying the party? I haven't been to something like this since I was dragged to one in Canterlot a few years ago.” the unicorn said, her smile evident even through the mask.
“It must have been marvelous there, darling. Such sophistication, such glamor. I suspect you were enjoying yourself there as well, correct?” Rarity replied.
“Not really. I had been reading Helpful Healing and Home Healthcare. I was in the middle of some important part when my assistant literally dragged me away from it. We don't talk about what I did to him anymore. It was really embarrassing for both of us.”
“Then I shall pry no further into it, dear.” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. A white mare with a leather mask that extended into a beak strolled by, accompanied by a stallion wearing an utterly blank and featureless mask.  
“So do tell me, have you seen a pegasus with a yellow coat anywhere about? I expect that she would be wearing a mask made at least partially out of leaves.” Rarity asked.
“I can't say that I have. And when I saw her earlier today, she seemed fine. Maybe she's taking care of a patient?”
“Perhaps, though she does have assistants that could cover for her at least for a few minutes.”
“I'm sure she's fine. Just wait and you'll be able to find her.”
And wait Rarity did. She continued to mingle, dance, and converse for a good fifteen minutes. She was starting to grow worried. Not being able to make it was one thing, but it was highly unlike Fluttershy to give no warning whatsoever about things like this. 'Perhaps an emergency has arisen.' Rarity thought to herself as the band finished a slow, loving song and moved on to a jazz riff. Rarity recalled the song from her adolescence and found herself reflexively moving her hooves in a dance.
“Ooh! This is my jam!” she heard a familiar voice say, though it was not the expected one. Looking at the stage, she found not a pink Earth pony, but a cyan pegasus vying for the stage. After what appeared to be a short argument, the lead singer and guitarist handed over their microphone and guitar.
“Deep down in Equestria close to Neigh Orleans/ Way back up in the woods among the evergreens” the pegasus began to sing. The party goers began to dance, though a small bubble formed around a deep red-purple pony wearing a floral mask to match her Cutie Mark. Evidently, she knew this song very well.
“There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood/ Where lived a young earth pony named Johnny B Goode” the song continued. Rarity found herself dancing as uncontrolled and wildly as anypony else. She pushed her worries back in her mind, and enjoyed the moment.
“Who never ever learned to read or write so well/ But he could play the guitar just like ringin' a bell.” As the pegasus finished the first verse, the crowd began to sing along with the chorus.
“Go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Go Johnny go go!/ Johnny be good.” everypony sang. Apparently, Buck Berry was more popular than one would think. Even some of the foals were singing along. Rarity managed to control herself for a second, and used the time to escape the crowd. Finding Twilight, she decided to ask about her missing friend.
“Twilight, darling, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere? I am truly beginning to worry now.”
“I wish I could say I've seen her here, but I haven't. Do you think something's wrong?”
“Hopefully not, but even if she is safe, we should probably go check on her. She is our friend, after all.” Rarity replied with concern heavy in her voice. Rainbow Dash had moved on to the next verse, and showed no sign of slowing down. “You gather Applejack, I'll get Pinkie, and once Rainbow Dash has finished her little performance, we'll all go together to Fluttershy's cottage.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Twilight replied, wandering off to search the crowd. Rarity quickly followed suit.
Rarity found for Pinkie in the most likely place: at the center of the crowd. She was cheering on the floral masked pony with enough enthusiasm to fulfill the needs of a dozen other ponies for a year. “Pinkie, may I have a word?” Rarity asked, pulling Pinkie slightly aside.
“Sure! Kumquat!” she replied in her usual happy voice.
“I'm being serious here. We can't find Fluttershy, and we're worried something might be wrong with her. It's probably nothing, but it would be better to have all of us go check on her.”
The partying pony's mane seemed to puff down slightly, and her gaze seemed to become more focused.
“Alright, I'll just be a sec.” Pinkie replied, darting through the crowd. Her usual response wasn't used, and Rarity figured that meant that Pinkie was genuinely concerned. 'If Pinkie's concerned, this could be a problem.' Rarity thought, trying to work her way out of the crowd as well.
As Rainbow Dash finished up the final chords of the song, the musicians took their instruments back and resumed their positions, beginning a slow-ish club song. A purple magic grasped her and pulled her from the stage to where the rest of the group was gathering.
“What the hay was that for? I could have gotten off the stage myself.” she cried as she was dropped in front of the rest of the group. They had all raised (or lowered in Applejack's case) their masks.
“But could y'all have found us, sugarcube?”
“Yeah. I mean, it would take more time, but I'd still find you.”
“Well time isn't something we have. Fluttershy's not here and has given no indication as to where she might be or if she's OK. I thought you of all ponies would be the quickest to realize, Element of Loyalty and all.” Twilight informed Rainbow Dash in a “Matter of Fact” manner.
“Hey, I was busy paying tribute to Buck Berry, if you hadn't noticed,” Rainbow Dash defended herself, pointing a hoof at the stage, “But now that I know the situation, let's get going!”
As the group prepared to leave, a commotion caused the crowd to gather on the edge of the party. It appeared to be something on the horizon, but it was hard to tell from where the group stood. Forcing their way to the front, the Fluttershy Rescue Squad, as Pinkie had named them, was able to get a good look at what was going on. A small whirlwind was heading down the path towards the Boutique, throwing chunks of the ground behind it in its wake.
“Everypony stay calm. It's still far enough away that I can stop it.” Twilight said. She focused her magical energy, and manifested a wall of force about three quarters of the way to the whirlwind's current position. With a smug look, she turned to the rest of the group. Their jaws were hanging loose. “It's really nothing, girls, just a basic reapplication of a Shield.”
Applejack just shook her head and pointed a hoof at the wall in response. The umbral unicorn turned to face behind her, and her jaw promptly dropped. The whirlwind had evidently burrowed underneath the wall and tunneled to the other side before re-emerging, as if some sort of outside force were directing it.
“That shouldn't happen,” the magical protege said, a note of worry creeping into her voice,”no no no no no, this shouldn't be possible...” 
“So what's the plan now?” Rarity responded, the whirlwind now about 30 seconds from the main crowd.
“Uhm...” Twilight thought to herself, quickly running out of time and ideas. “RUN!”
As Twilight shouted the last idea, everypony else seemed to have already had the idea. They quickly backed up, each individual attempting to be the first away from the impending disaster, though nopony took their eyes off the nearing whirlwind. When it was about to reach the party, it slowed down, kicked up a cloud of dirt, and stopped. When the dust had cleared, everypony could see exactly what had caused it.
A pegasus with a long red mane and tail was standing before them. She was wearing a yellow dress and matching hat with a feather in it that seemed to extend more than it should. What really stuck out, though, was the mare's oversized head, which was a vibrant green color and was currently flashing a very large and toothy smile. Opening her mouth, the mystery mare let out a single word in an energetic and confident voice.
“Sssssssssssmokin'.”