> The Masked Human of Ponyville
>  by John Rim
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Masked Child
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle closed the door to her castle behind her as the sun was setting over the horizon. She yawned from lack of sleep, she had woken up very early in the morning to help Rarity with some stress she was having about how she was not making as many suits as she normally did, she had been to focused on dresses to notice. Yet instead of going to bed afterwards to catch up on sleep, Pinkie Pie had stopped her to help her set up a party, which turned out to be for her, which meant she had to party until now. She laughed while thinking about how Pinkie had swung the bat at the pinata too hard, and how much candy flew everywhere. She thought she heard another laugh but thought it was just her echo, the Castle was very large, and empty. She and Spike were the only ones who lived in there, yet there was room for many more, maybe 8, or 12. She wished someone else lived with her, perhaps a nice stallion to start a family with, she liked the sound of that, she especially wanted kids, she loves young colts and fillies. She was cut short of her thoughts about a family by another sound, she was sure that it was not from her unless she had been talking out loud, but she did not recall making a sound such as the one she heard. “Spike? Was that you?” She called, it did not sound like Spike, but she was not certain.
“No, I-I thought that was you.” Spike said nervously, popping his head around the corner of the large room to her left.
“Did anyone come in?” Twilight asked, but before Spike could answer they heard another odd sound, a babbling gibberish of some sort, however the source did not seem to be coming from inside the castle. Spike rushed over to Twilight, wearing an apron and holding a saucepan with soup it seemed like, he was making dinner beforehand. Twilight opened one of the large doors of the castle and was greeted with excited babbling from near her hoof. She looked down and saw a small human child wearing a mask that only covered his face, it was on it’s back and was wearing a diaper. Twilight looked startled and confused, Spike was more scared than startled, yet confused as well. “A human? But I thought that if you came through the portal to our world you became a pony? Why didn’t it change?” She asked, she was scared to touch it, the mask made her think that it might be contagious in some way, she saw that there was a piece of human notebook paper next to the baby, she hesitated for a moment then picked it up with magic. It didn’t look like it was written by anyone she knew, but she was able to read it.

“Dear Princess of Magic:
I hope that you have found this before you have rested, and I hope that my child is well and as healthy as he can be. I have heard that you are kind to everyone that you encounter, and I am hoping that you share that same kindness to my child. I have sent him to you in hope that he will be safe and unharmed. If you wonder why he is a human and not one of your own kind, it it because we did not go through the portal you use, but instead through a different one that will close and can not be reopened after I re-enter it. Do not take off his mask unless it is to feed him., it will grow with him and it will not rust. It is there to hide him from the damage his father dealt to him. Please make him feel normal. He is only 2 months old. Thank you.”

She finished reading the note with a few tears in her eyes, ‘who would harm such a small child?’ She asked herself. She picked up the human and looked into his eyes, the only visible part of his face, the mask did not seem to bother him, but it bothered her. She looked at the note again, to find a good reason for him to wear the mask. She said the part about “the damage his father dealt to him.” 
“What does that mean?” she asked, then she took off his mask and was met with a sight that scared her almost to death, he had many scars across his face, some looked like they were from a knife cut, others looked like burn marks. They were nothing more than scars now, white lines everywhere. She didn’t want to put his mask back on him, but then she thought about what would happen if he was older, what would she say? She didn’t want to tell him that his father did it, because then he would ask where his father was, and-
“Twilight, Twilight!” Spike said, shaking her a bit.
“Yes Spike?” she asked, she was too lost in thought to notice anything around her.
“What should we do with it? There is an orphanage near by, should we drop it off there?” he asked, he was worried that she would be stressed, and that she wouldn’t be able to do her duty as princess and watch over a child. 
“Well, the person left him here, and addressed me directly, she thinks that with me he will be happy. So I think it is only right for us to keep him and help him grow.” She said, however she left out a reason, but she didn’t want to tell Spike, he might feel bad if she said it. She had wanted a child and now she had one, she doesn’t have a stallion to marry, yet, but she had Spike, who would help her no matter what.
“But what about your duties as a princess, and your friends, and what will the town think, what about Lyra?” He asked, he was a bit jealous and thought that she would pay more attention to the baby then to him.
“My duties as a princess aren’t much,  just to go where there is a friendship problem, and he can come along with me on those. My friends will understand, and I can take him with me when I hang out with them as well. The town will be be fine with it, they are welcoming to anyone and everyone. Lyra won’t cause much trouble, and she can be the babysitter if I ever need one.” she said, she thought that this would work out fine, but Spike was still jealous, but he could deal with it if it made Twilight happy.
“Alright, well, dinner's done if you want some.” He said, referring to the liquid in the saucepan. He was quite proud of himself, his cooking had gotten much better after cooking for Twilight and her friends enough times.
“Not right now, I need to get the baby some food as well, we can’t let him starve.” She said, smiling down on the baby he held in her hoof, he smiled back up at her and giggled a bit. “I need a way to carry him, I don’t want to risk him falling off my back, and he might be scared if I carry him with magic. Do you have any ideas Spike?” She asked Spike, he put a hand to his chin and thought about it.
“Oh! Doesn’t Pinkie Pie have a baby carrier?” He asked, he thought he remembered Pinkie Pie wearing one to carry the Cake’s twins.
“Great thinking Spike! Here, you watch after him while I go and get it, I would get the baby food while I’m out but I want him to be able to come with me.” She said as she placed the baby carefully on the ground. She smiled at both Spike and the baby and then left to get the baby carrier from Pinkie Pie. Spike looked at the baby and wondered what it’s colours would be if it were a pony. It’s skin colour was not of any human or pony he had seen, except Doctor Whooves,
“Wait, is he the son of Doctor Whooves?” He asked himself out loud, but he discarded that thought, “No, Twilight said something about someone wanting to hurt him, the Doctor wouldn’t let anyone harm his son if he had one, and he seems to only like Derpy, but she’s too nice to harm anyone, even if they’re mean to her.” He said, “Must not be anyone here in Ponyville. Well, Twilight decided to keep him, so I guess it doesn’t matter anymore now does it. I wonder how old he is?” He asked out loud, then he saw the note that was with the baby. He picked up the note and read aloud, “2 months old? Wow, whoever harmed him must really hate him.” At the word hate the baby started to whine a bit, then he started to cry. Spike looked at the baby in shock, he picked the baby up, when he did he noticed how skinny he was, he felt extremely light and looked as though he hadn’t ate in a long time. He felt extremely bad for he felt responsible for making him cry, even though he didn’t mean to, he hugged the baby as he held him and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, I don’t hate you, I could never hate you.” He said, hoping that he would make the baby happy again, and it worked. The baby seemed to have understood him and calmed down. “That was easy, I guess you just wanted to know that you’re cared for.” He said, the baby yawned and started to fall asleep, but before he did Twilight returned from Pinkie Pie’s house with the baby carrier on. 
“I got it! Now I can take the baby with me while I get his food! Maybe he can pick it out himself!” She said happily, she used magic to put the baby in the baby carrier on her chest and then she left the castle again.
“I’m eating this soup, I didn’t make it for nothing, and I’m hungry.” He said, with an agreeing rumble of his stomach.

> The Views of Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight walked around the town with the baby in the carrier, she was trying to think of a name for it and trying to find where to get baby food. “Maybe Pinkie Pie would know where to get some, or maybe the Cakes. What do you think?” She asked him, he giggled and looked around at all of the happy things around him, the houses, the trees, even the ground, he loved all of it it seemed. “Let’s go there first then, who knows, they might have some that we can use.” She said smiling, she was so happy to have a child to watch and care for. She had babysitted before, but that was nothing to having her very own child. The baby continued to giggle at everything and when he saw Sugarcube corner he gave a happy laugh. “Are you excited to go inside?” She asked with a small laugh of her own. They entered the brightly lit building which made Twilight cover her eyes, but the baby just opened his wider. “Is anyone there?” she asked after she adjusted to the sudden change in light.
“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she came around a corner. “I didn’t expect for you to back this soon!” She said happily while bouncing. She seemed to not notice the baby yet. “So what did you need that baby carrier for-” She started, but stopped with a gasp. “Twilight, what is that?!?” She asked, pointing her hoof at the human baby, who was still absorbing everything around him. “Why is it wearing a mask?” She asked.
“This is a human baby. It is my baby.” She said with a smile.
“You had a baby? With who?” Pinkie Pie asked, she had millions of thoughts rushing through her head like a waterfall, but much larger.
“No. I, adopted it.” She said, she didn’t really adopt it, but it was close enough.
“Why does it look weird?” She asked looking at him more closely, he stared back at her in confusion.
“He’s not from here, I think he might have come from the other side of that portal, but he didn’t change.” She said, she was not completely sure about this answer but it was her best guess.
“Then we are going to have to throw a welcome to Equestria party! And a birthday party! And a congratulations on having a baby party! And a welcome home party!” Pinkie Pie said, she was thinking about a way to combine all of them into one big party.
“Thank you Pinkie, but I came over here to ask for some baby food.” She said, and she got a happy giggle from the baby in response. 
“Hold on, I’ll go get you some!” Pinkie Pie said, then she ran off and within a second she was back holding 7 containers of baby food. “Is this enough?” She asked.
“That’s great, thank you Pinkie.” She took all of the containers with her magic and went back to her castle. As she walk going back, she was stopped by a quickly breathing Lyra, she usually took strolls early at night but Twilight was still not expecting her. “Hello Lyra, how are you?” She asked smiling.
“Is that a human? How did you get a human?!?” She shouted, she had believed in humans for a long time and twilight had told her that they were real, but she still had never seen one. The baby looked at her in confusion. “Is it wearing a mask?” She asked.
“Yes he is a human, he was left on my doorstep, and he is supposed to wear that mask to hide the scars on his face.” She said. 
“Why does he have scars?” Lyra asked, “Why would anyone harm a baby? Unless it deserved it. Are you sure it is safe?” She asked. She was excited, confused, and scared of the human.
“It is completely safe, why would you think otherwise?” Twilight asked, she felt a bit upset that Lyra would think that a baby could have deserved scars.
“I think you should tell the mayor, then she can decide whether or not it is safe, or weather or not it should stay here.” She said with a small bit of hostility in her voice, she was now more scared of the human then she was curious of it. The baby seemed to be able to tell that there was tension and started to cry a bit. Twilight was angry at Lyra at this point, she was angry that she would think that a baby could be dangerous, and she was angry that Lyra had made the baby cry.
“I think you should leave us alone, you have made this innocent baby cry, and you are accusing it of being dangerous. Not even changelings are dangerous at birth! I’m going back to my castle, and I do not want you to follow me if you are going to tell me that my baby is a threat.” Twilight said, then she continued her way back to her castle. Lyra was still a bit scared of the human and wanted to make sure that it was safe. She then ran as fast as she could to the mayor's office.
Twilight got back to her castle and went to the kitchen, Spike wasn’t there and neither was the soup he was making. She laid out the baby food on a table and got a small spoon. “Ok, now which one do you want?” She asked the baby, he pointed at a random one and giggled happily. She also giggled. “Alright, that one it is!” She said happily, then she sat him down on the table and got the baby food he pointed to. She took off his mask and was again greeted with his scarred face, but she ignored it. She opened up the baby food and put a bit on the spoon then fed it to him. She kept this up until it was all gone. “Oh! I still need to name you don’t I? I can’t just call you a baby or him for the rest of your life.” She thought about how to name a pony, their names usually have something to do with the colour of their mane and fur or the end up being about their cutie mark, but he has neither. She tried to think about a name but then she remembered his note, ‘Don’t take off his mask unless it is to feed him’.  “I know what I’ll name you! I’ll name you Masky.” She said happily, and she got happy laughter in response. “Well, I think we should head to bed now Masky.” Then she put him in the baby carrier and took him upstairs with her to her room. She entered and looked around, she didn’t have a bed that he could sleep in, but she did have some extra pillows and blankets, she went into the other room and got a pillow and a blanket for him, she laid them down on the floor and gently put him on top of them. She wrapped him up in the blanket and smiled at him then went to bed herself. Masky fell asleep almost instantly, but Twilight didn't, it took her a while to get comfortable before she fell asleep.
She woke up the next day to the sound of someone knocking on her door, she got up and saw that Masky was already up, but Spike wasn’t, obviously. She put on the baby carrier and put Masky in it, then she went downstairs to the kitchen. She put Masky on the table and saw his mask on the table. “I forgot to put that back on you didn’t I?” She asked, not expecting a response, then she put his mask back on him and went to open the door. When she did she was greeted by the Mayor and Lyra.
“Hello Twilight, Lyra has told me that you are currently in possession of a possibly dangerous object, is this correct?” The Mayor asked.
“It is not dangerous or an object, it is my child.” Twilight said with a hostile glare towards Lyra on the word child.
“It’s not yours! It’s a human! You probably just found it!” Lyra exclaimed angrily.
“What is she talking about?” The Mayor asked Twilight.
“Come in, I’ll show you, but you can’t get scared or make it cry, it’s only a baby.” She said.
“Alright, I won’t.” Mayor said, then she entered the castle, she admired how big it was until Twilight went into another room, Mayor and Lyra followed and they saw Masky on the table wearing a mask. “What is that, and why is it wearing a mask?” Mayor asked, a bit startled.
“That is Masky, my child. The reason it is wearing a mask is because of this.” She said as she walked over to Masky and took off his mask so that they could see his scars. “He was given to me by someone not from here, his old father did this to him for no reason at all, I found him with the mask on and the note that came with it said to keep his mask on, and it was addressed directly to me.” She said, now hugging Masky.
“Well, if whoever left him wanted to give him to you specifically then I guess you are it’s new guardian. But you have to be able to take care of him.” Mayor said, she was a bit unsure about this, but she knew better than to argue with a princess, and it was obvious that Twilight wanted to keep the child, so she decided to let her.
“What?!?” Lyra shouted, slightly scaring Masky and fully waking up Spike, which was quite a feat. “But that thing could be dangerous! How do you know that is wasn’t sent here to kill us all!?!” She shouted, which upset Masky, Twilight, and Mayor slightly. Then Masky started to cry, which made Twilight furious, and made Mayor angry. 
“You are being completely unreasonable, he is just a baby, and from what I am aware of, a baby could never purposely be a danger to anyone! I also don’t have a good reason to trust you, every year you think up of some new and crazy theory that always ends with everyone dying, and they always turn out to be false, your human theory just so happened to be real, but we have known that for a while since Twilight told us they were real.” Mayor said matter-of-factly.
“Get out of my house, now!” Twilight said angrily and intimately, which scared Lyra and she ran out as fast as she could.
“Well, I think that we should tell the rest of the town about him so that they aren’t scared.” Mayor said.
“Ok.” Twilight said, then she tried to calm down Masky. “Don’t listen to Lyra, you would never do that. I love you too much for you to possibly be dangerous.” She said as she cradled Masky, and he calmed down and was happy again.
“I think he is happy as long as he knows that he is cared for and is loved.” Mayor said.
“Well, at least I know how to calm him down now.” Twilight said, then Mayor smiled at her and left to arrange the town meeting. Twilight put Masky back on the table and got him a cup of baby food. She took off his mask and did the same thing as last night. After he was fed she put him back in the baby carrier and headed back upstairs, but she was interrupted by another knock on the door. She stopped and stared at the door, then she looked at Masky, she was worried that it was someone who would insult him again, but then she thought, ‘If it is then they had better prepare for a rumble.’ Then she went and opened the door and saw her 5 best friends, who all but one gasped, that one was Pinkie Pie.
“What is that!?!” Four of them asked, Pinkie just giggled.
“It’s a human baby that Twilight found on her door and adopted and named Masky because of his mask that he wears to cover up his scars.” She said happily, which made everyone stare at her, even the stallion that was passing by. 
“That’s correct.” Twilight said, and Masky laughed in joy at Pinkie Pie’s knowledge. She sat down in front of him and smiled.
“I think he likes me!” She said happily, and Masky grabbed her nose. They both laughed happily.
“Umm, why did someone give you a baby?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.
“Here, this should tell you.” She said, and she gave her the letter that was with Masky, Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and she and the others read the note silently while Pinkie Pie played with the baby. After they read it they all had at least one tear in their eye, Rarity was crying and Pinkie Pie was bawling.
“Why would someone want to harm a baby?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“I’m not sure, maybe they were just a bad parent.” Twilight said, and after she did Spike came down the staircase holding his blanket. 
“Twilight, what are you doing? Oh! Hey guys, why are you all here?” Spike asked in surprise after seeing the others.
“We were going to ask if Twilight wanted to have a picnic with us at the park, but it would appear that she can’t. Babies are hard work.” Rarity said.
“This one doesn’t ask for much, all he needs is food and to know that he is loved from what I can tell.” Twilight said, and she got a happy giggle from Masky, who was still playing with Pinkie Pie. 
“He could come with us!” Pinkie Pie said happily.
“That’s a good idea!” Twilight said happily, “Come on Spike!”
“Alright.” Spike said sleepily, then he dropped his blanket and went with them as they left the castle. They went to the park and set up the blanket and the basket then started setting food out, Twilight had Spike bring a container of baby food so that Masky could eat if he was hungry.
”So Twilight, what are you planning to do with the baby?” Applejack asked while picking up an apple.
”Well, I`m going to keep him obviously.” Twilight said as she took Masky out of the baby carrier and gently set him down on the blanket. He laughed happily and slowly crawled around the blanket.
“Aren’t you going to tell the princess?” Asked Rarity as she watched Masky crawl around, he crawled very similarly to the way baby ponies crawled, except he didn’t have hooves, or fur.
“Of course I’m going to tell the princess, I only got him last night and I didn’t want to bother her this late at night.” Twilight said, happily watching Masky crawl around, he seemed to be having a great time. She knew that the note said not to remove his mask, but she wanted to see his happy face, she was trying to decide what to do when she was cut out of he thoughts by spike poking her. “What?” She asked in confusion.
“I asked if you are going to tell Celestia today.” Rarity said, and Pinkie pie laid down next to Masky and played with him, making him even more happy.
“Well today Mayor is going to be having a town meeting so that everyone can see Masky, and so they can tell me what they think of him.” Twilight said. She was a bit worried what the rest of the town would think, but she told herself that everyone in the town was kind and accepting, and that they would be happy for her.
“Well I know that I love him, he’s so cute!” Pinkie Pie said as she lifted Masky up, making him laugh even more.
“I think it’s awesome that you have a baby and all, but what about us? Will you have time to hang out with us still?” Rainbow Dash asked sadly, but trying to hide it as best as she could.
“Of course I will still hang out with you all! Just now there will be a baby with me, until he grows up that is.” Twilight said happily. Then she thought about him growing up, what will she do with him once he does? Will he be able to find a special somepony? She quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of her head so that she didn’t freak out in front of Masky.
“What about when there is a friendship problem? Or worse, an attack! Then what will you do with him?” Applejack asked.
“He can come along if there is a friendship problem, he can learn from it, and Spike can take care of him if there is ever an attack, but that probably won’t happen again.” She said confidently, the chances for another attack from Tirek, or Discord, or the Changelings are low.
“You seem to have everything under control.” Rainbow Dash said. They continued to talk to each other and eventually Pinkie Pie stopped paying attention to Masky and started talking with them. He looked around for something new to do and then he saw a bunny hopping over to fluttershy. He made some babbling noises and tried to move towards it, but he was not sure how to crawl yet, so he just patted his hands on the ground, he looked around and saw that no one else had hands. They just had circle things. His mom was closest to him so he turned to her and grabbed her missing hand. Twilight stopped talking and looked down at Masky and smiled. She lifted up her hoof and Masky looked at the bottom of it. Their hands weren’t the same, he put his hand on the bottom of her hoof and seemed confused. Twilight saw him but didn’t know what he was thinking or what it looked like he was thinking because of his mask. 
“Why do you need the mask so bad anyway? It’s not like you will be hurt if you don’t wear it.” Then she took off his mask. His scars were visible to all the world now, and when Twilight's friends saw his face they gasped.
“Oh my! I knew he had scars but I didn’t know that they were as bad as this!”  
Fluttershy said started. The others were startled as well but they didn’t say anything. 
“I know his scars are bad, but He’s not going to be getting any more, I’m going to make sure of that.” Twilight said, then she picked up Masky and gave him a hug, that he returned happily. 
They heard the Town Bell ring, announcing a town meeting, and they all got up, and Twilight put Masky back in the Baby carrier. “Let’s go introduce you to the town!” Twilight said happily, and the others agreed. Then they went down to the town hall, but they didn’t join the crowd outside, they went inside and waited for the mayor to tell Twilight when she was supposed to come out. She was a bit nervous about this, she had been in town meetings before, she’s even hosted a few. Yet this time was different. She wasn’t announcing an award, or telling everyone what has happened in Canterlot recently, no, she was introducing her child. Her human child to the public. She knew that they were accepting and would welcome him into their community just as a new pony, but there was still a voice in the back of her head, agonizing her. Telling her how they might not accept him, that they might be scared, how they might view him as an outcast, or her, or both! She was quickly snapped into reality by Applejack shaking her.
“Sugarcube, are you alright? You seem nervous.” She said, trying to help her friend the best she could, but she forgets her own strength sometimes and realised she might have just scrambled her brains. “Uh, sorry ‘bout that.” She said, letting go of Twilight.
“It’s alright, I’m fine, just a bit concerned that’s all.” She said. 
“Concerned about what? I would be happier thank the baby seems to be right now if I were you.” Rarity said, smiling at Masky, who was looking around at everything. Twilight was going to say something but she was cut off before she could.
“Now that we are all gathered here, I would like to show you what this meeting is about. Twilight, please come out and show the town our newest member!” Mayor Mare said over the speakers.
“Well, here we go.” Twilight said. Then, with Masky in his little carrier, she and her friends came out onto the stage to show the town Masky. Once they saw him, everyone went silent. Not even a bird chirped, for even they were silent and watching from rooftops. “Hello everypony. I am here to show you all the newest member of the town. My baby, Masky.” She said, only to receive more silence, however now there were a few ponies murmuring amongst each other.
“What is it?” One Pony asked.
“It is a human, from a different place, where i don’t know.” She responded, and in response multiple ponies started talking out loud and started asking questions at once.
“What’s a human?”
“How did it get here?”
“Why is it here?”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Does it have a disease?”
“What does it do?” ll of this made Twilight very stressed, and he bent down and tried to hide herself and masky under her hooves, Her friends saw this and Applejack yelled above all,
“EVERYPONY BE QUIET!” She shouted, scaring everyone into silence as requested. “Now ya’ll an ask yer questions one at a time.” she said. After this, Twilight looked out of her hooves and saw they they were all quiet, then she got up and looked around at the ponies, then she saw a light blue pony with a darker blue curly mane and tail holding up his hoof and shaking it frantically.
“Pony raising your hand, I take it you have a question?” she asked.
“Yes I do!” He said cheerfully, looking at the baby in comical awe, “ Why was the baby requested to stay with you specifically?” He asked, and he seemed to have asked a question that multiple others had on their mind, based on their facial expressions.
“Well, where he came from, his father was, unkind to him, very unkind. So the mother took him to me so that he can hopefully live a semi-normal life, and so that I could teach him about friendship.” She said, Masky was busy looking around at all the ponies, there was such a large jumble of bright colours that greatly interested him. Another pony raised her hoof, she was the filly known as Applebloom, Applejack's little sister. “Yes Applebloom?”
“How is it going to go to school? The tables are meant for ponies.” she said.
“Well, I’m sure we will figure out something.” She said with a smile. “ Are there any other questions?” She looked around again and saw a light green hoof rais, which she knew was Lyra’s. “Yes Lyra?”
“Is it dangerous?” he asked with sass obvious in her voice. The question made multiple ponies mumble amongst themselves, but not to loudly as to not anger Applejack again.
“He is only a baby, he can’t be dangerous, and I will raise him to know what is right and wrong, so he will not be dangerous to any of us, I will make sure of that.” She said confidently, which made the ponies calm down, considering that she was a princess, the Princess of Friendship at that. Nopony else raised their hoof to ask a question, so Mayor Mare concluded the meeting,
“With no other questions then I would like for you to all welcome our newest member of Ponyville, Masky Sparkle!” She said, and at that, everyone cheered for Twilight and Masky, and Twilight smiled, Masky did as well, however it was hidden by the mask. Twilight thought it was odd why no one asked why he wore the mask, however she assumed it was because his name was Masky. Suddenly Pinkie Pie pulled out a party cannon and fired it into the crowd, which was a non-verbal way of saying, ‘I’m throwing a party!’.
“I’m throwing a party!” Pinkie Pie shouted, which was not a surprise to anyone. Pinkie ran to Sugarcube corner, however it was more like she teleported, for within a blink of an eye she was there. Most of the ponies followed her, however a few went back home, for it was still fairly early. The Party was a usual Welcome to Ponyville party, however she called it the Welcome to Equestria Party. There was cake, cupcakes, balloons, games, and a few gifts for Masky, all of which were from her, because she had known about Masky as soon as Twilight needed the baby carrier, but how exactly she new about him completely, no one knows, and no one will ever know. Masky absolutely loved the party and enjoyed his share of the cake, he tried to eat a piece with his mask on but it just made a splat and confused him. Twilight giggled and lifted his mask enough to show his mouth so he could eat, he tried again and he was successful, everyone cheered and made him happy. Twilight thought about it and decided to declare today as his birthday. 
“Today shall be Masky’s birthday!” She said happily, then quickly looked at Pinkie Pie, “Not another party, he needs to see the town.” She said, “But we can continue this one.” She said before Pinkie Pie got sad. As they continued the part no one noticed a small Discord looking at Masky in particular from the ceiling.
“Hmm, he is different from a normal life form, I can tell. Now i don’t mean the part about him being a human, but he is, odd. I’ll need to get a closer look, but not now. Later.” He said, he could detect an odd something reflecting off the baby, nothing dangerous, but it was still something.
> Discord's Discomfort
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the party everypony went to their house and said their goodnights, except for Twilight and Masky. She wanted to take him around the town, show him where everything was, and where everypony lived. Discord had remained hidden during the entire party, which killed him to have to do, but he had business to attend to regarding the human child. As Twilight and Masky went around town Discord silently followed, waiting for a good moment to go up to them. He needed for them to be alone and where no one would get suspicious of the baby, because he wanted to make sure that the baby grew up as normal as possible. They arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage and they stopped.
“This is where my friend Fluttershy lives! She’s going to help me take care you you for a while!” Twilight said to Masky, he seemed to enjoy this news for he giggled and made happy noises after she said this. Discord saw this as the perfect time to introduce himself. He snapped his fingers quietly and teleported as a small version of himself into the mailbox and opened the flap. 
“I’m here too you know.” He said, pretending to sound annoyed. 
“Oh, sorry, Masky, this is Discord. He is a magical Draconequus who lives with fluttershy.” She explained to Masky, who was staring at the little Discord.
“It’s rude to stare you know.” Discord said, and he appeared in front of them at full size. Masky looked at both of their hands and held out his with his fingers stretched out. “Yes yes, our hands are similar, but that’s not why I’m here.” He said with fake annoyance, although he thought that it was adorable what the baby was doing, but he would never admit it. 
“Then why are you here? To take him?” Twilight asked, holding Masky with her front hooves.
“No, I’m here to, check something. I can feel a strong force of some sort coming off of him, but exactly what I’m not sure. I need to have a look at him, just to make sure it’s nothing dangerous.” He explained to Twilight while looking at Masky with a claw on his chin.
“Masky can’t be dangerous, he’s just a baby!” Twilight said harshly, taking what he said the wrong way.
“I know that, I’m not saying he’s dangerous now, if he is a harmful creature it will take him awhile to find out that he has power. As a baby he can’t harm, but as an adult he would have the potential.” He tried to explain the best he could. Masky stared at him with awe, while no one would be able to know this for he couldn’t speak, he liked this odd creature, he had hands like his, he looked weird, he had magic, and he seemed funny. Discord seemed to really enjoy the attention he was receiving.
“Oh, I guess I know what you mean. Ok, you can have a look at him, but if he is hurt then you are going back to being a statue!” She said defensively. 
“Yes yes I know, you’ve used that threat on me too many times to count.” He said with boredom. Then he snapped his fingers and Masky was in his paw, he squealed with laughter at the odd feeling of instant transportation, it was new, different, exhilarating. Discord smiled at this, he liked this baby, he seemed to know what a good time was. He gently removed the mask and was shocked when he saw the baby’s cut up face. “Ah! Twilight what did you do to him!” He exclaimed startled.
“It wasn’t me! It was his original father!” Twilight said, hurt that Discord would think she would do such an awful thing to a baby.
“Oh, well still, that’s sad. But we can’t worry on that right now. I need to make sure of something.” Discord said, and he held up the baby to his face, eye to eye, and stared at him, looking into him. Masky laughed in joy at this. Discord stared hard into his eyes, looking deep into his soul, he saw chaos in the child, it was fun but also dangerous. He stopped looking   “I shan’t tell you what I saw for it will give spoilers.” He smiled a nervous yet happy smile at Masky, who returned a smile. “He is alright for the most part.” He said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Then he teleported Masky back into his carrier.
“What do you mean 'most part'?” Twilight asked, a bit worried.
“I’ll only say this, don't make him angry.” Discord said, mischievousness in his voice.
“What does that mean?” She asked, very worried now.
“Let’s hope you never find out!” He said mischievously, then he made a psychotic laugh and disappeared in a cloud of smoke he summoned. Twilight was worried about this, but she decided to pass it off as Discord just trying to scare her, for now. She giggled at his enjoyment of teleportation. Most ponies didn’t like the feeling of it the first time it happened, but he did seem to enjoy most everything, so she just enjoyed his enjoyment. After she made sure he was secured in his carrier they went back to her castle for rest. However discord did not have sleep on him mind, instead he was thinking about what he saw in the small child. “He could prove a real danger very easily, but I have faith in Twilight. Her and her friends helped me. So she can definitely raise a child to be good.” He said to himself. Then he popped to his bed to sleep. 
Twilight and Masky made it back home and got ready for bed. Masky had his dinner and was put in his crib, then Twilight went straight to her bed. Twilight slept a bit uneasily that night, she couldn't help but wonder what Discord meant by what he said, "What did he mean?" She asked herself, she knew that ponies could get a bit irrational when they get really mad, but why would that be bad? She decided not to think about it any more so she could get some better rest.
> Lunar Advice
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Twilight woke up, calm and completely ready for the day because of her well rest. She turned onto her side and looked off of her bed at spike in his little bed. She smiled and got out of her bed. She felt that today was going to be good day, then reality kicked in, “I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL THE PRINCESS!” Twilight yelled, causing Spike to jump out of bed and cling to the ceiling, and caused Masky to be really confused.
“Twilight you scared me! Big time!” Spike stuttered while still clinging to the ceiling, showing no sign of getting down any time soon. However what he said fell upon non-existent ears, for Twilight was already halfway to her writing room. Masky was in his crib, laying down with extreme confusion in his head. He had no idea what was happening, why it was happening, or why his pajamas looked like they weren’t meant for him. All other thoughts left his head once he thought about his pajamas. He instantly started to play with his sleeves since they didn’t have openings for his hands, and his feet since they weren’t shaped for feet. He liked them though, they looked like his mom, which meant he looked like his mom. He laughed and made happy babble while he pretended that he was his mom. Although his mom was currently many rooms down and was writing a letter to Celestia.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I have to speak to you about something very important very urgently.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

As soon as she was done with her short but direct letter, she went straight back to her room, where spike was now on the ground, but he was shaking. As soon as she she saw him she said quickly,
“Ineedforyoutodeliverthisletter!” However she had said it too fast for him to understand.
“Ah!” Spike exclaimed as he jumped up, but only a small jump. “What?” He asked, for he was too startled to understand and she spoke far too quickly.
“I need you to deliver this letter to celestia!” She said, urgency clearly evident in her voice. He could tell she wasn’t going to calm down until he did, so he sighed,
“Fine, I’ll deliver the letter.” He said, slightly bothered. He took the letter and with a puff of green flames, he magically delivered it to Celestia. “There, happy?” He asked, a bit annoyed at twilight since she had not only woken him up, but scared him, and made him deliver a letter this early in the morning, and for him sending and receiving letters wasn’t the most joyful experience, especially in the morning.
“Thank you Spike, now I just have to wait fo-” She said, but before she could finish the sentence, spike cut her off by belching green flames and summoning a letter from those flames. “Oh! That must be her response! I wonder why she didn’t just show up in person though?” She asked herself aloud. Then she picked up the letter with magic and read it.
Dear Twilight,
I am awfully sorry but I am currently on a trip to Manehatten to deal with their complaints about not getting much of my attention lately. So instead of me Luna shall be paying you a visit, I hope she will be able to help you.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia

“Oh, Luna will be coming, well that’s ok! I like seeing Luna! I don’t get to see her very often.” Twilight said. Then as if on cue, there was a knock on her door. “That must be her now!” She said happily, then she teleported to the door and opened it. “Hello Princess Luna!” Twilight said happily. However Luna was looking concerned rather than happy.
“Sister told me you required urgent assistance, what is it that is so important?” She asked, a little worry could be heard in the way she spoke.
“Oh, yes, it’s in the other room.” Twilight said, then she turned around and walked to the room that Masky was in, and Luna followed, getting ready for a possible attack. Twilight opened the door and went in, holding the door open for Luna, when Luna entered, she saw the crib that masky was in, but she couldn’t see masky yet. She was extremely confused.
“Is it an evil being that can disguise itself as a crib and eat babies?” Luna asked, she no longer looked worried, only confused.
“No, it’s, um, how-, mmh, it’s um, it’s my, baby.” She stuttered out, having obvious trouble trying to find out what to say and how. Luna was absolutely shocked and used her wings to boost her to the crib, her jaw was hanging open and she was looking directly at the baby Masky, who had stopped playing with his pajamas and was looking right back at Luna, his mask had been knocked off as well, so she saw his full, scarred face. He was looking back at Luna with a large smile, he was fascinated by her mane and coat colour. He laughed and laughed at her, she was so much fun to watch! Luna on the other hoof, was not as pleased.
“H-how did you give birth to this? What is it? Who is the father? How did we not know about this before hoof? You aren’t even married!” Luna said, her royal accent really kicking in, and she turned to Twilight in complete shock, who was blushing out of nervousness and a bit of fear, she rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.
“I’m- I didn’t- I’m not the real mother. Someone dropped him off at my door two days ago, I don’t know why he’s not a pony, it must have been the magic that brought him here. This note was with him, but I don’t know anything other than what’s on it.” Twilight said worried, she was worried that Luna would try to take the baby, or examine it, or banish it, or attack it, or…
“I do not know how to handle this situation, nothing like this has ever happened before. This is something for Celestia, I will get her immediately, but she can’t come or else the ponies will get more angry.” Luna seemed to de debating with herself. Twilight was far too worried to notice anything, and Luna was too busy talking to herself to notice that Masky was still laughing at Luna. He tried to get her tail so he could mess with it, but it was too far away. However that didn’t stop him, he kept on trying to get the wooshy tail as he laughed at it. Luna finally noticed that Masky was laughing, and turned around to look at him. She saw his happy, harmless face, and heard his carefree baby laughter. She had decided to take up the task on her own. “I believe that I can handle a simple baby, it can’t be that hard.” She said aloud. Twilight was still worrying. Luna picked Masky up with her magic and when she did he laughed with joy at the wonderful feeling of magic. Luna picked up a small toy with her magic and poked Masky with it. He giggled and tried to grab the toy, but since his hands were covered up he couldn’t, but he still had fun patting at the toy. Luna put the toy down and performed a spell which checked him to see if he had any dark magic in him, it showed nothing, however there was a small something that was in his head. “That’s odd.” Luna said, then she looked closer at the something and saw a small bit of destruction in him. “I wonder what would cause that?” She asked herself, so she looked into it, and saw a baby Masky trying to hit someone who had just pushed twilight, although he couldn’t do much he still tried. She left the small section of destruction and looked at Twilight. “He seems to like you very much, and he really doesn’t like it when people are not nice to you. But to be sure I want to test something out. I’ll need you to hold still for a second.” Luna said to Twilight, turning Masky to face her.
“Oh, um, ok.” Twilight said, then Lun walked up to Twilight and pushed her, not by much, but enough to move Twilight. As soon as Masky saw this he started to tear up and tried to bat at Luna, even though he couldn’t reach her. So she moved him close enough to hit her, and waited a bit. He continued to lightly hit Luna until she gave a little hug to Twilight, then he stopped and was laughing again.
“He seems to really like you and he also seems to forgive ponies easily. He doesn’t seem to be dangerous or have and malicious intents, in fact the only thing I think he knows for sure is whether or not you are safe. I would say that as long as no one tries to be mean to you then he should be fine.” Luna said, while Masky was playing with her mane, he was having a lot of fun batting at her mane, it felt weird and looked fun. Luna gave a little laugh at his careless fun. “In fact, I don’t think he could hurt anypony, he is too easily distracted.” Luna said, then she floated Masky over to Twilight, and he was really happy about this, because he laughed the whole time. He liked this blue pony, they were a lot of fun.
“Oh thank you Luna, I was worried you were going to take him away and run tests and stuff on him!” Twilight said happily while hugging Masky.
“I couldn’t do that, no matter what he is he is alive and has feelings, and it doesn’t seem to be evil aside from protecting you, so there would be no need to.” Luna said, which made Msky look at her now. He laughed and tried to touch her mane even though it was too far away. Luna gave a small smile at his attempts and decided to let him mess with her mane, since he can’t actually mess it up. She used her magic to place him on her back and let him floof her mane. He loved this and laughed happily as he did so. “I’m sure you will be able to raise him well. I’ll tell Celestia about him, and a bit of advice, make sure to keep yourself safe with him around, because otherwise he won’t hesitate to try to protect you.” Luna said to Twilight, then she teleported Masky onto Twilight’s back.
“Thank you so much Luna, I don’t know how I could possibly repay or thank you.” Twilight said while floating Masky back to his crib.
“There’s no need, I’m happy to help.” Luna said, then she popped back to the castle in Canterlot. Masky laughed at her sudden and magical disappearance, and Twilight gave him a hug of joy.
“Let’s go to the kitchen and have breakfast.” Twilight said happily, then she took him downstairs to the kitchen.