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Prologue: Stanley's Day.1,133 words
Chapter 1: First Day in Equestria1,508 words
Chapter 2: Out of the Frying Pan and into the House Fire4,355 words
Chapter 3: Water Games and Appreciation2,227 words
Chapter 4: Repairs and Explanations2,692 words
Chapter 5: Learnings and Reunions1,441 words

Chapter 5: Learnings and Reunions

"What's going on?!" exclaimed Skillit in his panic attack. "Why are there buildings?! Why are there happy ponies?! Why aren't the sun and moon going up and down like they're supposed to?! Why -"

(Okay, his voice is starting to sound like nails on a chalkboard. Let's look back at Stanley and the rest, shall we?)

A few hours had passed since we left off Stanley and Twilight Sparkle, and now the town was fully repaired (geez, those ponies work fast). Stanley decided to give helping out another try, this time going for a less involved role of handing out water and snacks. Both serving as practice for him using his hooves ("Who'd have thought that hooves could hold stuff like that.") and putting him out of the way of construction and any accidents. Mostly (I'm still confused as to how he got paint all over himself when he wasn't even next to the can). Once everything was finished and cleaned up, Twilight held her end of the bargain and used the memory spell on Stanley. What he saw, though not very surprising to him, still upset him ("He filled an entire house to the brim with water before draining it...and then to reward himself he ate twenty cheese pizzas...I feel sorry for the cook.") After getting cleaned up, he followed Twilight back to the library.

"So, Stanley," said Twilight, "would you mind explaining how you came in possession of the Mask?"

"Well, let's see...I had just gotten kicked out of this newly formed night club, the Coco Bongo. Well, not even kicked out. I didn't even make it through the front door, and I was hoping a friend of mine who got invited in would help me out. He didn't even see or hear me. A-and my car was having engine trouble, so when it broke down in the middle of a bridge...you don't know what a car is, do you?"

"Afraid not," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, a car, uh...d-do you ponies use carriages?"

"Yes."

"Then...imagine a small carriage that can move on its own. You can make it go faster and slower with pedals on the floor. Cars use engines fueled by gasoline and oil to move around, along with other kinds of machinery that, for the life of me, I never really understood."

"Hmm...interesting," she said, magically levitating a notepad and pen to her before writing some notes down. "What happened after your car broke down?"

"Well...I found myself going to the edge of the bridge and saw the mask down in the river below. But it was on top of a bunch of garbage, so it looked like someone was floating on the water."

(BORING!!! Let's have another time skip, shall we?)

"And that's how I ended up here," he said.

"...Stanley, I am so sorry for what you've been through," Twilight said sincerely, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "Why haven't you tried going to a different job?"

"Well...it's all I know how to do. Plus, the pay is decent enough to keep up the rent."

"Yes, but is it really worth sticking around, just to be miserable every day?"

"Well, every day might be a stretch."

"And, couldn't you just train in a different job?"

"W-well, it's not that simple. I-it'd take months, and money I wouldn't have."

(This sounds like it's about to get boring, again. Maybe we should check up on Skillit again?)

"Okay...okay," breathed Skillit, leaning against a tower. "No need to panic. Just, need to find out what's happened...hm, this might take a while. Showing myself might not be the best idea. I'll need to find a history book. Oh, Shadow?"

Suddenly, the shadow he projected thanks to the sun popped off the ground, floating next to Skillit in all its dark, transparent glory.

"We need to nab us a history book or two. Go find one!"

Shadow looked at him before shivering in revolt.

"Yes, I know you don't like libraries, but we need to figure out why Equestria's so...ugh, clean and peaceful. So, go get us a book or two. Now!"

Shadow nodded and took off, while Skillit sat back, thinking on the matter.

"I should probably find Discord, while I'm at it. Maybe he can explain what the heck is going on?"

(Aaaaaand, back to Stanley.)

After a while, Stanley and Twilight had made it back to her library, to find a means of returning him home. Once through the door Twilight's horn lit up immediately, her magic pulling books down to a nearby desk at an alarming speed. One that surprised Stanley.

"So," said Twilight, "if it's portal magic we're dealing with, then we'll need some theoretical physics books, some magical physics books, theoretical magic, maybe some quantum physics, and even some old magic. Hm, I may have to consult Princess Celestia about that last one, she'll have more old tomes than I do."

"Princess Celestia?" asked Stanley. "Th-that's the big white horse that -"

"Pony," she said.

"Sorry. Um, big pony with wings and a horn, the one that Fluttershy said rules Equestria. Right?"

"She's an alicorn. But yes, that's her. She and her younger sister, Princess Luna, are the only two alicorns in Equestria, and they both rule. Well, mostly it's Princess Equestria. Princess Luna just came back from the moon a year ago, so -"

"Wait, what? What do you mean, she came back from the moon?"

"Oh, that's because a thousand years ago she became Nightmare Moon and tried to take over Equestria."

(...as interesting as that sounds, I'm going to fast forward again. Gotta keep this story going, you know.)

"So, let me get this straight," said Stanley. "Over a thousand years ago, Princesses Celestia and Luna ruled together, the day and the night."

"Yes," Twilight said, sorting through books she pulled out.

"They can each control the sun and the moon, both if necessary."

"Yes."

"But a thousand years ago, Princess Luna tried to take over, out of jealousy, and became, uh, Nightmare Moon?"

"Correct."

"A-and Celestia's been ruling, for over a thousand years, until Ni-nightmare Moon came back. Only to be turned back into Princess Luna by you and your friends?"

"That's right."

(Oops, fell short. Let's try that again.)

After another few minutes of explanation Twilight was browsing through the books she had pulled off, looking at each one for a few seconds before writing some notes with a quill and looking at another. By now she had a large stack of papers almost as tall as she was, and she was working on a second one.

Meanwhile, Stanley decided to look at the other books in the library. Currently he was attempting to pull out "Basic Pony Anatomy." And failing. As much time as he spent in this world, he hadn't quite gotten the grasp (heh) of how to grab things with his hooves, like how the other ponies did. He didn't have a horn, so magic was out. He was just about to try and grab it with his teeth, when a familiar purple aura grabbed his tail and pulled him away. The source: a Twilight with a slightly incredulous and irritated glare on her face. The kind only a librarian could give, when one of her books was about to be damaged.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked impatiently.

"I-I was t-trying to grab a book," he said, nervous under her glare.

"With you teeth?!"

"I-I can't grab anything with these hooves," he said, holding his hooves up defensively. "I-I-I'm used to using fingers and hands!"

"THAT DOESN'T...wait. Fingers?"

"Y-yes?"

"Then, that means when you - er, the Mask - put those gloves on...you're not really a pony, are you?"

"...no, I'm not."

Immediately the notes that Twilight was levitating next to herself dropped, and an excited look appeared on her face. A second later, she pulled up another piece of paper and quill. And she got uncomfortably close to Stanley and began to ask certain questions ("What species are you? What does your diet consist of? Are you and your species capable of using magic?") Stanley backed away uncomfortably, but Twilight would't give him space. He tried to answer her questions, but she was too fast and left him overwhelmed. For once he was tempted to don the Mask and slip out of there, but he figured that that would do more harm than good. Besides, it was on the other side of the room. Leaving him trapped against a wall by an overly curious mare shooting question after question at him.

"I don't think I'm getting home as quick as I hoped."

Author's Note:

I apologize for how long it took for me to write this chapter. And I cannot promise how long it'll take for me to write the other one. Honestly the only reason I wrote this one was because I'm procrastinating from getting homework done. Sad, I know, but that's truth for you. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

References to The Mask the movie here, which as I understand are mostly canon with the TV show.

(if you want a quick guide to the font colors I used, her you go)

The Mask is on the loose (limegreen)

Stanley has it good (cornflowerblue)

Twilight has it good. (violet)

Fluttershy has it good (khaki)

Applejack has it good (orange)

Pinkie Pie has it good (pink)

Rarity has it good (snow)

Rainbow Dash has it good (cyan)

Spike has it good (purple)

Mayor Mare has it good (#EEDFCC)