The Mask of Despair and the Face of Hope

by Wings of Black Glass

Breaking and Entering and Breaking

“We’re here!” Pinkie gestured to the hill and willow in front of us. I blinked and looked around, there was a lonely mailbox here, but no house I could see.

“Uh, really?” Spike was just as confused as I was.

“Yup.” She followed a small dirt path through the grass which goes past the willow. After she passed the tree she stuck her head back around the veil of leaves. “Come on.” Spike and I hurried to join her. Only now could I see the small house settled behind the hill, well hidden from afar by the tree out front.

The house by the edge of the Everfree forest was a little one indeed. It was a squat square with drab brown walls and a roof made of plain ceramic tiles. Something about it seemed off to me, as if it were tilted to one side. The whole thing looked a little sad. The two front windows were shuttered, but the front door was wide open.

“Oh, he must be home already.” Pinkie didn’t wait for me to catch up and bounded for the inviting doorway.

“Pinkie, wait! It’s not polite to just rush on in without an invitation!” She ignored Spike’s outburst and headed in without us. I sighed and hurried over to join her with Spike following.

“Hello, is anyone here?” I called out as I entered the little house. If anything, it looked smaller and even sadder inside. The walls of the single central room weren't painted, being just bare wood. An ugly old stove and sink full of dishes in one corner, a tiny pantry next to that, and an old bed in the opposite corner. A plain circular rug was the only covering for the wooden slats of the floor, with a low table over its center. There was a single open window on the back wall, through which I could see a pond behind the house. Flanking the window were several shelves covered in an assortment of curiosities. There was almost nothing in the way of luxuries or comforts.

“Excuse us, GAH!” Spike gasped in sudden fright as he entered, closing the door behind him by reflex. I turned to see a faintly pony shaped mass of shadows behind the doorway, where it would have been invisible from outside. I flung open the front windows to let more light in, but the figure didn’t move, and I realized what it was.

“It's just a mannequin.” Exactly like one of many Rarity uses to make outfits. Spike sighed in relief. “Why would he even have one?” Spike shruged, unable to answer my question.

“I guess he’s not here.” Pinkie looked around at the various curiosities, and for a moment so did I. A single clock on the wall above the sink told the wrong time and remained still and silent, it wasn’t running. On one of the shelves a small battalion of mostly unpainted toy pony soldiers stood at the ready, in formation. Next to the soldiers sat a ceramic bowl with blue enamel and a crack running down its side. A small collection of ragged books cluttered the shelves on the other side of the window from the toys; I spied a copy of Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy among the tomes. There were a few other nicknacks scattered about the shelves. Above the bed was a half-finished quilt, hung like a tapestry on the wall.

Something glinted on top of the highest shelf, and my curiosity got the better of me. I lifted it down from its perch to take a better look. The object was a silver mask covered in dust, large enough to cover the front of a pony’s face, with a hole for a Unicorn’s horn on its forehead. A pattern of lightning bolts across the surface culminated with two such bolts intertwining around where the horn would be. The left eye was closed, and the right eye socket was damaged, as if its eye had been torn out, the edges around the break seemed pretty sharp. My curiosity sated, I placed the mask back on the shelf where I found it.

“I’ll just leave these here.” I put the recovered books down on the table and looked over at Pinkie, toying with one of the painted soldiers. “We should really go.” Pinkie started to salute with a soldier in her hoof and froze when a shadow’s silhouette crossed the window. I looked back, but could only see the shadow on the floor, the pony casting it was outside, between the door and the window. Everypony stood stock still, not wanting to get caught trespassing. Two envelopes slid in under the door and the silhouette sprouted a pair of wings before jumping into the air, disappearing out of view.

“Phew, it was just the mailpony.” Spike let out a held breath. Pinkie set the soldier back on the shelf. Something about the incident bothered me.

“Wasn’t there a mailbox?” I thought I saw one outside. No one had a chance to answer me before the air was split by a crack of thunder and flash of lightning from the back of the room. Pinkie jumped like she was stung, Spike screamed, I spun to face the source of the spell. I saw a dark pony with black wings spread wide and lightning springing from their eyes, hooves spread wide and ready to fight. Magic energy sparked from a Unicorn horn lowered towards us in an attack stance. I thought it was an Alicorn!

Before I could respond to this threat the next spell was cast and twin bolts of energy lanced out, just to each side of me and Pinkie, hurtling the table and books to the wall. Slowly the figure advanced on us, the bright blue beams hemming us in and forcing us to back away. The beams began to converge, and Pinkie Pie was struck. She screamed as she was thrown towards the door. I snarled, injuring her was more than I was willing to let slide.

“That’s…” With the first word I threw up a shield before us. “Enough!” With the second I launched the barrier forward towards the attacking pony. Where my projected barrier hit the beams, thunder and lightning cracked again as the spells clashed. The dark pony was flung backward, smashing into the wall. Something like glass shattered as the attacker gasped in pain. The beams vanished, and it took an instant for my eyes to readjust to the relative dimness in the little house. Beneath the shelves lay the dark purple Unicorn from earlier, cloaked by his long black coat and suddenly devoid of wings, now I wasn’t sure I had seen them at all. He seemed too stunned to do anything threatening. “Are you both alright?” I didn’t deviate my gaze from the defeated pony, more than a little surprised it was so easy to overpower him; if he was an Alicorn he should have put up more of a fight.

“Woo, I’m OK!” Came from Pinkie, clambering to her feet.

“Yeah, I’m not hurt.” Spike coughed a little but seemed otherwise unhurt. The purple pony on the floor started to gather himself.

“What was that about?” I demanded he answer, and he glared up at me. From this distance I could see his coat was old and somewhat ratty.

“I left the path to the door open. You could have just left.” With some effort he stood, bashing his head against the lowest shelf and grimacing anew. The toy soldier Pinkie had been toying with fell to the floor, breaking off its right foreleg. He glanced down at it seemingly stoically, but I saw his eyes twinging slightly with irritation. “I’m not the one who has to explain.”

“Huh?” He pointed an angry hoof at Pinkie.

“I’m not the one breaking and entering.” A short moment of silence passed. “This is my home. The way I see it, I was defending myself.” Pinkie Pie started to say something, and somehow I knew she was just going to make things worse.

“Alright, alright. Everypony can calm down. No one is going to attack anyone else anymore. We can talk this out like rational ponies.” I took command, speaking firmly but without anger. Pinkie shut her mouth with an audible snap, and the dark pony seethed for a few deep breaths more before visibly relaxing out of his fighting stance.

“Very well.” He was clearly still vexed with us but made no aggressive moves. “Still, I insist you explain yourselves.” He turned his gaze from Pinkie to me. “Her behavior does not surprise me, but I would have thought trespassing was beneath the venerable Princess of Friendship.” There was no hiding the sarcasm in that last bit.

“Actually, we were returning some books you dropped earlier.” I lifted the tomes momentarily from where they fell so that he could see them more easily. “And the door was open.” His eyes narrowed and he glanced in annoyance at the doorway. “We were just leaving when you showed up.”

“That explains why I couldn’t find them.” He lifted the soldier and its amputation from the ground, examining the damage. “Apology accepted.” It did not escape me that I had not, in fact, apologized yet. He righted the table and books, set the injured toy down and then gestured around the room. “Thank you for bringing me my books. Welcome to my hovel.”

“A hovel?” I almost laughed, almost. “That seems a bit excessive. It's not that bad.”

“The roof leaks when it rains.” He sighed and glanced around. “The door doesn’t latch properly. The foundation is cracking, and the entire building sags to the east.” He paused and returned his eyes towards us. “It’s a hovel.” Pinkie Pie stifled a giggle. “Now if you would, please leave.” He seemed to have to concentrate past his annoyance to be even that polite and stood a bit more stiffly. The door swung open of his accord, shimmering in his neon blue magic aura. The Unicorn’s eyes turned down from the door to the broken soldier figure. “I have repairs to make.”

“So…” He affixed his narrowing eyes on Pinkie Pie when she spoke. She got the message and said no more before heading out the open doorway. Spike followed closely behind her, mildly leery of the irritated Unicorn. Then the dark stallion turned his eyes to me. I nodded, and turned away, shutting the door behind me. It started to swing in on its own and I pulled harder so it would latch properly. The three of us headed away back towards town in silence, but I paused by the mailbox.

“Just a moment.” Spike and Pinkie shared a look as I trotted back to the hovel. His saddlebag full of pears had been dropped by the door, apparently forgotten. I could see the stallion through the window, and knocked on the frame. The dark Unicorn looked up from the jar of glue, pulled out from under the pantry, and the toy soldier before him with a curious expression. “Excuse me, but I never got your name.” He mumbled something as he walked over. “I’m sorry, what? I didn’t hear you.” The Unicorn inside seemed unable to look me in the eye.

“Sable Stardust.” The window closed between us.

---

“Somepony has a temper.”

“That’s what I said, after I met him.”

“He is overly defensive, isn’t he?”

“Well, we were not exactly… invited in.”

“Not very friendly either.”

“It all makes sense, considering what we know now…”

“Yeah, I guess it does…”

Comments

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

“The roof leaks when it rains.” He sighed and glanced around. “The door doesn’t latch properly. The foundation is cracking, and the entire building sags to the east.” He paused and returned his eyes towards us. “It’s a hovel.” Pinkie Pie stifled a giggle. “Now if you would, please leave.” He seemed to have to concentrate past his annoyance to be even that polite and stood a bit more stiffly. The door swung open of his accord, shimmering in his neon blue magic aura. The Unicorn’s eyes turned down from the door to the broken soldier figure. “I have repairs to make.”

Jeez, rude much?

[Luckyfanisaac]

“It’s just a mannequin.” Exactly like one of many Rarity uses to make outfits.

Something glinted on top of the highest shelf, and my curiosity got the better of me.