Beneath the Mask

by TheDrunkenJinjo

Chapter 1 - Exposition and Departure

Our story begins on a mild spring day, deep in a forest in the heart of Switzerland. In this forest, all was calm. The birds chirped, the squirrels frolicked, and the streams gurgled. Truly, this was a bastion of peace and prosperity. Every creature, great and small, lived in harmony amongst each other.

“Holy FUCK, how big is this forest?!”

Well, perhaps not every creature. In this forest, there was also a man, who just so happened to be hopelessly lost. This man’s name was Braxton Carr, and while he was not exactly dense, he did occasionally have trouble thinking things out thoroughly.

“How the hell did I forget the map of the area!? Great thinking Brax, you moron,” Braxton berated himself while checking his phone for service yet again. “And of course my phone doesn’t get service in middle of freakin’ nowhere. Noooo, that would be too convenient, right?”

Perhaps a brief introduction to Braxton is in order while he tries to find his bearings. Braxton stood at even 6 feet, with light brown skin, black hair that has been braided into short dreadlocks, and very dark brown eyes that appear to be black at a glance or from a distance. His attire comprised of a simple dark blue t-shirt and dark green cargo pants, with brown steel-toe boots and an ankle-length black trench. A pair of fingerless black leather gloves completed the man's rather eccentric image; well-worn from use, as he was rarely ever seen without them.

A man who, upon leaving his home behind, set out to travel the world. Over the course of ten years, his globetrotting lifestyle had led him to see and learn a fair amount of what the world had to offer. However, for all of his travels, he never seemed to stay in one place very long, and has been known to jump from one destination to another quite frequently and unexpectedly. Unfortunately, that adventurous nature is exactly what has landed him in his current predicament.

Braxton sighed deeply. “I can’t believe I got myself lost in a forest of all places. Worse yet, there’s no path here, so I can’t even go back the way I came!” He checked the time on his phone again. “Oh God, it’s already 5 o’ clock!? Dammit, it’s gonna be dark soon and then I’ll really be screwed. I’ve got to find a landmark or something and get out of this place.”

Braxton swiveled his head left and right and back again, but all he could find were trees, bushes, and the occasional small animal. He let out a frustrated groan.

“Man, every tree in this forest is virtually identical! There’s absolutely no way to tell one from another and -- what the hell?” He cut himself off mid-tirade when he saw an incredibly strange sight, even for him. He was standing about twenty feet away from a clearing with a patch of fog sitting right in the middle of it. The fog itself was strange on it’s own, especially since it was the only foggy area he had seen so far, but the color of it was truly odd. It seemed to be a swirling miasma of colors ranging from purple to yellow to blue and nearly everything in between.

“Whoa, this is some seriously freaky stuff,” Braxton stated as he walked towards the phenomenon. He suddenly felt the air get warmer the closer he got to the fog. “Hmm...this feels wrong somehow. Like, if this were a horror movie, this would be around the part were the killer stalks up from behind and murders me,” Still, he kept walking forward, almost against his will, as though some otherworldly force were willing him to come nearer.

Braxton stood at about arm’s length from the fog now. He was entranced by it’s colors and how they danced within, seemingly chaotic, but, at the same time, acting in perfect harmony with each other. He was only half aware of his actions when he slowly raised a hand up and swiped it through the fog. Pulling his hand away, he saw that a bit of the fog was still twirling around his fingers, colorful as ever, before slowly evaporating.

Braxton stepped back and eyed the fog for a few moments longer before finally coming to a conclusion. “Well, that’s pretty damn weird, but it will make a perfect landmark. No way I could miss something like this if I get turned around again. Now, I’ll just pick a direction and hopefully make it out before sundown,” Just as he turned to walk away, however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head back towards the fog and saw that the colors had become bright, so much so that he had to squint to look at them. And they were getting even brighter.

Braxton shielded his eyes with his hand just as the brightness reached it’s peak, with all of the colors joining to form a brilliant white glow. Then, with a sudden blinding flash, the light completely disappeared, and Braxton along with it. The man was gone, transported to parts unknown, and the forest was calm once again.

***************

Worlds away, in the magical land known as Equestria, the resident librarian of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, was indulging in her favorite pastime: studying. She was not studying any normal subject, though. After the recent invasion of Canterlot, she was devoting all of her time to researching Changelings.

As she was flipping through yet another tome, she noticed her young dragon assistant waddle down the stairs from the corner of her eye. “Spike! Great timing! Can you please find me the book on the history of changeling culture? I need to find out more about how their society functions,” Twilight said while levitating another text from the shelf.

Spike tossed the book to Twilight, which she caught with her magic. “Twi, don’t you think you’re taking it a bit overboard with all of this studying?” He said with a worried tone of voice. “I mean, you’ve barely left the library since we got back from the wedding. You should take a break and spend some time with your friends,” Twilight stopped flipping pages and turned to him with a stern expression.

“I can’t take a break, Spike!” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia entrusted me to learn as much as I could about changelings and report my findings to her, so that we’ll be more prepared in case they try to launch another attack on Canterlot. For the good of Equestria, I have to keep working!” She exclaimed as she began reading once more.

Spike rolled his eyes and groaned loudly, knowing there was no changing the unicorn’s mind. Still, that didn’t keep him from trying. “C’mon, Twi, I’m sure the Princess wouldn’t mind if you spent a couple of hours outside. Being cooped up in this library isn’t healthy,” The young dragon walked over to Twilight side and put a claw on her shoulder. “Rarity told me that she was putting together a picnic with our friends today. We should go and have some fun!”

Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when she saw the almost pleading look in Spike’s eyes. She could tell he really was worried for her well-being. After a short internal debate, she decided that maybe a few hours outside wouldn’t hurt. She could make up for it later.

Twilight sighed resignedly. “Maybe you’re right, Spike. A few hours out with the girls might do me some good,” She said, giving in to the young drake’s pleas. Spike’s eyes lit up and he smiled broadly.

“Awesome! I’ll go get ready. This’ll be great, Twi, you’ll see!” he said, jogging towards the kitchen.

The lavender mare’s face shifted to a wry smirk. “But be ready to work extra hard helping me make up for it when we get back!” Twilight called to him. Her smirk turned into a smug grin when she heard him stop and groan in defeat. Twilight closed her book and went to prepare, not knowing that the day had much more in store for her than a simple picnic.

***************

Meanwhile, at a large apple farm on the outskirts of town, three young fillies sulked into a small clubhouse after returning from their latest venture. These three were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, collectively known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they were pretty bummed out, to say the least.

“Well, that was a total bust!” Scootaloo announced as she sat down on the club room floor. “I should have known trying to get our cutie marks in torch juggling would be a total waste of time! Great plan, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom shot Scootaloo a glare. “Me?! It was your bright idea to juggle eight of ‘em at once! If you hadn’t tried to show off, it woulda worked fine!” she said, stomping her hoof for emphasis.

Scootaloo glared back incredulously. “Well, if you actually put some effort in, I wouldn’t have had to try and pick up your slack!” She said, crossing her forelegs.

“Girls, stop it!” Sweetie Belle cried, trying to diffuse yet another argument. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is; we aren’t going to get our cutie marks sitting here arguing! Besides, we already tried that, remember?”

The earth pony and pegasus sighed deeply, remembering and regretting that wasted afternoon. “Yeah, you’re right, Sweetie Belle. This is just so frustrating! No matter what we do, it never gets us our cutie marks!” Scootaloo complained. “I’m so sick of waiting! I was sure we would’ve gotten our flower girl cutie marks a month ago at the wedding in Canterlot.”

“Yeah, me too,” Apple Bloom agreed. “And not only did we not get our cutie marks, but the Changelings nearly took over Canterlot!”

Sweetie Belle shuddered at the mention of the insect ponies. “Those Changelings were really scary. If I ever see another one, it’ll be too soon!” She stated.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened suddenly in realization. “That’s it!” She exclaimed, jumping up and startling her companions. “ I know how we can get our cutie marks!”

“Really, how?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well, those bugs can shape shift into anypony they want, right?” Scootaloo asked with a sly tone of voice.

“Riiiiight?” Apple Bloom said slowly, not knowing where the pegasus was going with this.

“So, who’s to say they aren’t hiding out in Ponyville right now, posing as a regular pony? I bet if we find and catch one, we’ll be heroes, and get our cutie marks in Changeling hunting!” Scootaloo rationalized, buzzing her little wings in excitement.

Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up. “Hey, yeah! If we can catch a Changeling, we’ll get our cutie marks for sure!” She agreed.

Sweetie Belle was not so enthusiastic. “I-I don’t know, girls,” She stammered. “I don’t think hunting for Changelings is such a good idea.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and huffed. “Come on, Sweetie Belle, don’t be such a chicken,” She taunted.

“Look who’s calling who a chicken!” Sweetie said indignantly. “I just don’t think that actively looking for those gross bugs is such a good idea. Besides, what would a Changeling hunter cutie mark even look like?”

Scootaloo thought for a second before responding. “I dunno, but it has gotta be awesome!” She exclaimed.

“Yeah, Ah agree. C’mon, Sweetie Belle, this could be our one chance to find our special talent, and we can’t do it without ya!” Apple Bloom stated.

Sweetie Belle thought about it for a few moments, but under the peer pressure of her friends, she found she just couldn’t say no.

“Alright, let’s do it!” Sweetie Belle said with a determined look in her eyes.

Apple Bloom smiled and nodded to her unicorn friend. “Scootaloo, grab the net. We got us some Changelings to catch!” She said turning to the young pegasus.

After fetching a gigantic butterfly net roughly twice her size, Scootaloo returned to her friends and they, after sucking in a lungful of air each, all shouted at the top of their lungs:

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHANGELING HUNTERS YAY!”

And with that, they charged out of the clubhouse door in a beeline towards the soon-to-be not-so-quiet town.

***************

The first thing Braxton felt when he regained consciousness was something soft tickling the left side of his face. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was laying face down in a patch of almost unnaturally dark green grass.

“Oh, man, I feel like I just tried to kiss a freight train,” He groaned as he pushed himself to his knees. Shaking off the last of his grogginess, Braxton stood to his full height and got a good look as his surroundings for the first time. He saw that the woods surrounding the clearing he was in, while very dark and ominous, had an almost cartoonish look to them. “Whoa, this does not look like the forest I was just in. Everything’s way too... obtuse,” He stated, looking around.

“Not only that, but this place feels... off somehow. Like it’s breaking some kind of law of nature just by existing,” Braxton said, unable to pinpoint exactly what made this place seem so strange. As he took in his surroundings, questions began to pop up in his head. “How the hell did I get here? And why on earth was I knocked out? The last thing I remember is that weird fog and then... hmmm. Nope, I got nothin’,” He stated as he tried to recall what happened.

Eventually, Braxton gave up trying to remember and mused on his current predicament. “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter at the moment. My situation still hasn’t changed. I’m still lost in the woods, albeit a slightly creepier version, and I still need to find a way out.”

Looking around once more, Braxton spotted a well worn dirt path at the edge of the clearing. “Eh, good a place to start as any,” He said as he began walking down the path, hoping it would lead to the exit.

“Damn, I have seriously gotta stop talking to myself.”

Author's Note:

Alright, chapter one is done! I consider all criticism constructive, so write a comment below and tell me what what you think! Y'know, if you wanna.

...Please?

Comments

[Sabban]

A worldly traveler gets lost in the woods and stumbles his way into Equestria.

Equestria is already full of those guys.

[doctor_n]

Ahh yes. A map, never forget the map.

[Fucks Ungiven]

Well by the looks of the perfect grammar and easily read paragraphs I can deduce you found a proof reader

[AnonPony]

Or he's British.

British people speak perfect English. Always.