> Masquerade
>  by AlkapwnZ
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: An Invitation.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You open your eyes, surprised to find light coming through your bedroom window. You sit up, surprised to find yourself in your bedroom, under the covers for the first time in months. You often made yourself work late in the night at your uncle's stall in the market, and by the time you managed to drag yourself back home, you had fallen asleep in your couch.

In fact, you don't exactly remember the last time you fell asleep in your bed...

That's when it hits you. You remember that your uncle tried to force another day off on you, but you had refused. So in light of your attempts to overwork yourself again, he had closed the stall early just so you could get back home to sleep. You really hated it when your uncle did this. Your father always said, "Good things only come to those who earn it." You were still saving up for college, and had moved into Ponyville, near your uncle, so you could work in his stall to earn some bits. This has been going on for a few years, and you were determined to earn the money for college.

You already had a good start with your grandmother's heritage, and your parents had already been saving up for you as a foal, adding to it each year. Counting up your money, you only needed about two-hundred more bits to afford it.
Unfortunately, you still had to buy your food, and pay for your bills and rental, leaving you with little cash to put into your savings. The job payed enough for you to live like a normal pony, but you promised your father you'd make it to college. So, you made due with your job and worked extra hours to speed up your saving.

Your uncle kept telling you to slow down, to take a break and have fun for once. You always rolled your eyes at him, and just kept working. There'd be time to take a break when you were in Haywaii, living it up on a vacation you'd earned yourself.
Speaking of working, you realized it was already 7:00 AM. The stall was going to open at 8:00, and it was a 40 minute walk from your apartment to the market. You'd have to hurry and eat breakfast, before you were late.
After practically shoving your breakfast down your throat on the way out, you quickly pull on your jacket and trot off, whistling to the market.

The asphalt sends a shiver up your hoof and up to your spine, and the crisp morning air lets you see your own breath. Winter is coming, and you reminded yourself you'd have to buy a new winter jacket, since your old one didn't fit anymore.
You grimace as your legs burn in protest, still sore from yesterday's endeavors. Alright, so maybe you overworked yourself just a little bit, but you knew it would be worth it in the end. Once you got to college, and earned your degree, you'd be able to get your dream job and live like the princesses!

Then you'd laugh at those who doubted you, and at those who tried to slow you down. You were determined not to let anything get in the way.

You check your watch, surprised to find that it was already 7:23. You had already been walking for more than twenty minutes? You'd have to speed up a little more; you weren't covering nearly as much distance as you normally did. You look around, trying to navigate your location by recognizing your surroundings.

You're walking down a thin brick road, small houses up to two stories tall lining it from front to back. You turn a corner, sighing as you continue your light jog through Ponyville. Celestia's sun was still rising, and it's rays paint the sky with an interesting shade of orange that contrasts with it's natural dim blue, and you can hear the trees rustling as a cool breeze guides the leaves to nowhere.

You shiver a little, feeling goosebumps beginning to form on your skin. You trot a little faster, feeling your heart race with anticipation as you think of how the day would go. Just ten hours of work, maybe deal with an unsatisfied customer, and you'd earn some more bits for your savings. Admittedly, it wouldn't be a major addition, but every bit counts.

"Hiya!"

You jump when you hear the sudden greeting, and turn your head to see a violently pink pony bouncing up to you, a wide grin spreading across her face as she bounds. Her large, inflated mane bounces along with her, and her blue eyes are wide with excitement. You groan inwardly, recognizing this mare as Pinkie Pie. You remember that she worked for the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner, and she was always throwing a party for some tiny, insignificant reason. Not exactly the kind of pony you liked to hang out with.

Not that you had anything against the pink pony. She seemed nice, but she was a little too much pony for you to handle.
What annoyed you about her the most was that she was always trying to get you to smile when you frowned. The truth was, you only frowned when you couldn't work. And it was only when you weren't working that you ever ran into her in the first place.

Pinkie Pie had seemed to have made it her personal mission to make everypony in Ponyville smile, and that included you. Her attempts at making you smile were extremely annoying, and often got in the way of your work. She was, in all respects, a nuisance. But you didn't have the heart to tell her to leave you alone, and if she went on too long, you'd give her a turtle smile just to get her to bother somepony else.

"Oh...hi, Pinkie..."

You try to leave it at that, to treat Pinkie's greeting as a simple hello from a passing friend, rather than an opening to conversation. You turn to continue on your trot, only to find Pinkie suddenly sitting in front of you. You force down a cry, and fall back on your rump in surprise. You still didn't know how Pinkie managed to pull off these reality-bending feats, but you gave up a long time ago trying to understand it.

"What're you up to?"

Pinkie smiles at you, a look of blissful ignorance on her face. You give her a weak smile and supress a groan of frustration. "I'm on my way to work. And, I'm afraid I'm going to be late if I don't keep moving, so if you'll excuse me..." You move around Pinkie, and resume your trot towards the market.

Suddenly, you jump up, unable to keep yourself from crying out when Pinkie's head shoots out of a Ponyhole just in front of you.

"Oh, we can walk and talk! What flavor of ice cream do you like? I like all the flavors, because, why should we discriminate flavors when they're all so tasty and amazing and delicious. I mean, it doesn't make any sense that just one flavor would dominate over all the others..."

You sigh and continue walking, allowing Pinkie to ramble on as she follows you. You don't really listen to what she's saying, but judging on the key words she's using, she's somehow managed to change the subject from ice cream flavors to how colors smell like they look. You don't really understand how that works, but you shrug it off. It's Pinkie Pie.

After what seemed to be hours of walking, you allow yourself a grin when you finally enter the marketplace. You see that a fraction of ponyville was already up, and ponies were hustling and bustling about as they set themselves up at their stalls. You speed up a little more, excited to be finally getting back to work.

Then you groan under your breath when Pinkie suddenly hops out of a small, plastic bin at a stall, using her fourth-wall breaking powers to catch up to you.

"So, I think that salmon are cuter looking fishies than trout, but trout are definitely tastier than the-" "I'm sorry, what?" You can't help but cut the pink pony off, surprised by her sudden change of the subject. "Fishies! Weren't you listening?" You shake yourself regretfully. No, you weren't really listening, but surely anypony would've noticed her changing the subject to something completely unrelated.

"Sorry, Pinkie, my head's in the clouds right now."

Pinkie suddenly hops onto your back, leaning her head over yours to look you in the eye. "No it's not, silly! Her head's in the clouds!"

Pinkie points with her hoof at a gray pegasus with a blond mane and crossed eyes, who you recognized as Derpy Whooves.
Derpy was sitting in a cloud a few feet above some of the ponies in the market, and for some reason, she had her head lodged into the cloud she sat upon. She didn't show any resistance, so you couldn't tell if she had crashed into it, or was purposefully keeping it inside the cloud.

You shake yourself, and look back at Pinkie, who was still sitting on your back. "It's a figure of speech, Pinkie."
Pinkie hops off your back, and she still smiles as if it was her birthday. "Oooooohhhh....I see!" Her expression doesn't change as she says this, as if she was just faking her understanding. You speed up again, hoping that she'd notice somepony else to bother. But she justs hops along beside you, ignorant to your attempts of escape. Finally, with great reluctancy, you stop and turn to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, don't you have to work at Sugarcube Corner?"

Pinkie stops when you do, and she she smiles even wider when you ask. "Nope! Sugarcube doesn't open till 10:00! Doesn't your stall open then?" You hold back another groan, and answer with, "Not every shop has the same schedule, Pinkie. I have to get to work right now, and I'm going to be late if I don't-" You stop when you check your watch while you talk to Pinkie, and you can't help but cry out when you realize the time said 8:17.

You had taken nearly an hour of walking!

You turn and gallop away, searching desperately for your uncle's stall. You couldn't be late! You were never late! What would uncle say? What if you got fired? What if..

"What's the hurry?"

You cry out when you turn around a corner and nearly crash into Pinkie Pie. Was there no escape from this mare?! "I'm late! I have to get to my uncle's stall before I'm any later! Sorry, Pinkie, but I don't have time for this right now!" You run past Pinkie, and you crane your neck to look above the sea of heads, searching for the stall.

"Isn't your uncle's stall over there?"

Pinkie suddenly materializes next to you, and points to the opposite direction, an innocently inquisitive expression on her face. You facehoof, unable to understand how you had managed to forget the stall's location after all these years of walking over to it. "Yeah, it is....thanks, Pinkie. I gotta go."

You dash past her, and you quickly pull off your jacket as you approach the stall. You hang it up on the wall behind its counter, and quickly tie the clerk apron around you. You move up to the counter, and call out behind you.
"Sorry, uncle! I didn't mean to be late, and it'll never happen again! I swear!"

Your uncle steps out from around a small room in the back wearing an apron exactly like yours, and he gives you a puzzled look. "You're not late. I haven't even opened the stall yet."

Now it was your turn to look puzzled. What was your uncle talking about? He always opened the stall at 8:00 sharp!
"Wh-what do you mean? You always open the stall at 8:00!"

Your uncle grins, and he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I told you last night the schedule was changed to 10:00."
You stare at your uncle in disbelief, and then facehoof. "So...no work for another two hours...uncle, are you crazy?! We need to make a living, and right now, we.."

"Nopony is going to be shopping here at this ungodly hour. Besides, I didn't say we wouldn't have work. Today is when we need to take inventory and restock."

Your uncle cuts you off, and you can't help but grin when he says this.

You were one of those ponies who actually enjoyed keeping things organized, and it was starting to bug you how unorganized your uncle's stacking was. Now you could finally tidy things up, after several weeks of nagging him on about it.
You raise your hoof to your forehead in a mock salute, still grinning, and get to work immediately.

You wipe the sweat beading down your brow, panting as you lift a box with Celestia-knows-what inside, unable to comprehend how it could be this heavy. You had finished taking inventory, and your uncle had ordered new products to restock.

Right now, you were taking those products to the storage facility your uncle owned, and despite your uncomfortable predicament, you couldn't help but let yourself grin. This is what work is about. You were proud of yourself, bringing yourself this far, actually earning your college years.

Suddenly, you cry out as you trip on a stone lodged into the ground, and the heavy box you were carrying flies off your back and crashes onto the earth with a loud clatter. You quickly pull yourself back up, not even stopping to inspect your hoof, and open up the box to ensure nothing broke.

You breathe a sigh of relief as you find the fragile products undamaged. It amazed you that nothing broke, after a crash like that.

You hear a chuckle behind you, and you turn your head to find a familiar green earth pony sitting under a tree a few feet away. You smile, and pull the heavy box onto your back again and step towards the earth pony.

"Hey, Venture. Still enjoying the shade?"

The earth pony named Venture chuckled again, and nodded. "Still enjoying working your back off?"

You nod as well, and chuckle as you walk away. You hear the sound of Venture's hooves trotting, and you turn to find the green pony was following you.

"What're you up to?"

Venture speeds up, then slows down when he finally reaches you, the calm look still in his eyes. You had met the laid-back stallion when you had first moved into Ponyville, and he had been the first to greet you. Shortly afterwards, Pinkie Pie had thrown you a 'Welcome to Ponyville!' party.

While you and Venture didn't have much in common, you were able to handle him much easier than Pinkie.
"Just storing our stock. What're you up to?"

Venture tears a strand of wheat out of the earth as he trots beside you, sticking it into his mouth and letting it hang out as he chews.

"Just hangin' 'round. You should really learn to relax sometime."

You roll your eyes and groan. Not this again. Both Venture and your uncle often bugged you about not being more social, or not even trying to have more fun. When would they understand that you were just saving enjoyment for when you got your house in Canterlot?

Right now, you have to take initiative and save your bits for college. Once you got that four-year college diploma, you'd have the chance to be at the top of the world! Working harder than the average pony for the next few months would be very well worth being set for life.

Venture strides alongside you, not even noticing your apparent irritation.
"See, this is the time of life where stress can really take it's toll. It's not healthy to work twenty-four-seven without a break every once in awhile."

You finally reach your uncle's storage facility, and you quickly pull the box off your back and place it on the ground before pulling open the door. The musty smell of dust and cardboard lingers in the air, and you have to squint to see clearly into the dark building.

You spin around and drag the box into the hot, airless room, careful not to knock over any of the stacked boxes towering over you.

"I don't need a break, Venture. I'm trying to save for college, and.."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, diploma future saving college! Dude, these are literally the only words I ever hear coming out of your mouth."

You scowl, annoyed Venture had cut you off, and snort.

"I say plenty of other things."

You and Venture are deep inside the dark building now, and you can barely detect a smirk spread across his face through the darkness. "Like what?"

"Like....like...um...." You draw a blank card.

You couldn't think of anything else you talked about. C'mon, you had to have something! Say anything! You can't just let Venture win the argument like that!

But, you still draw a blank card, and you hope Venture can't see your mouth gaping open through the darkness. You squint to look at him better, and you swear his smirk was spreading even wider. Finally, you manage to snarl,

"Smartass...."

Lame way to end an argument, you admit, but what else could you say? Venture laughs, and he pats your shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll show you how to have a good time."

You shake your head as you walk back out of the dark building, squinting at the sudden daylight as your eyes adjust.

"Great. You can show me after I graduate."

You trot off towards your uncle's stall, desperate to get away from this annoying conversation. As you trot away, you can still hear Venture's hoofsteps as he follows. You hold back another annoyed groan, and quickly take your place at the counter of the stall. You flip the open/closed sign, and you place your front hooves on the counter in a folded position, ready for the customers to roll in.

Venture sits next to a pillar supporting an undercover that folds out from the stall. The earth pony leans his head against the pillar, and nods back off to sleep. You shake your head grinning, chuckling under your breath at Venture's behavior.

Suddenly, you notice a familiar violently pink pony start hopping her way to your stall, and you hold back the usual groan and force a smile.

"Welcome to Ponyville General stall! See anything you like, let me know."

The greeting was customary for all customers, friend or otherwise. You knew Pinkie wasn't here to buy anything; she rarely was. This annoyed you greatly, as she held up any forming lines with her excessively long conversations, often having repeated topic changes every time you tried to point out she was holding the line.

"Hiya! What're your plans?"

You raise an eyebrow, then gesture to the whole stall with your hoof.

"This is all I'm doing today. Sorry, Pinkie, I can't go to any of your parties or gatherings you've got planned."

You lean back in your chair behind the counter, hoping that this was signal enough for Pinkie to go away. Unfortunately, as usual she remained, blissfully ignorantly as to how awkward she was making the situation.

"You sure you don't wanna go to this party? It's being funded and attended by the princesses themselves!"

You fall out of your chair, gasping as your head hits the floor. You quickly pull yourself back up, feeling your cheeks grow warm as you set your chair back up and set everything back to their original, formal positions.

Finally, you sit back down in your chair and give Pinkie a serious look in the eye.

"The princesses are attending? So this party's taking place in Canterlot palace?"

Pinkie vigorously shakes her head, her annoying smile still plastered permanently on her face.

"Nope! This is a special party, and it's taking place all over Ponyville!"

Venture suddenly seems to have chosen that moment to wake up, and he walks up to the two of you wearing his usual goofy grin.

"Pinkie, if it's taking place all over a city, it's not called a 'Party', it's called a Festival."

Pinkie hops a few times in the air, giggling like a little filly.

"But a Festival is a kind of party! HA!" She stops bouncing and turns back to you, still smiling. "This party is gonna be GREAT! It's called a Masquerade!"

You grin, remembering the history of the Masquerade Festival. It was an old festival originating in Istalia, and it was celebrated every twelve years, taking place in a randomly selected city in Equestria.

The festival took place all over the selected city, and ponies attending wore masks as part of the tradition. Some ponies just wear the mask, allowing their real identity to be known to others, while some wore an entire costume in an attempt to hide their true identity. It lasted the entire night, starting from 7:00 PM and ending as far as 4:00 AM. Nine hours of partying....the thought of spending that much time messing around made you feel a little queasy.

"Ponyville's the host city this time around?"

You remember the last Masquerade festival had taken place at Manehatten, and you couldn't attend it then because A:
A train ride to Manehatten was too expensive, and B:

You were just a ten-year-old colt at the time.

Too young for a party as big as that. Pinkie nods excitedly, her smile growing.

"Yeperonni and cheese! It starts in three days, and Luna asked me personally to spread the news! Anypony can attend, and it starts at 7:00 PM and ends at 4:00 AM."

Venture grins, and he nudges you playfully. "Couldn't have had better timing! He's going to learn how to have fun from yours truly, and the Masquerade is the perfect time to start class!"

You shake your head, frowning at your two friends.

"I'm not going."

Suddenly, there's dead silence as Venture and Pinkie Pie look at you in unison with gaping mouths, and their eyes widened to the point where you could see the whites of them. Finally, Venture breaks the silence with a stutter.

"Wh-what? Why not?! It's a festival, for crying out loud! It's practically a holiday, like Nightmare Night!"

Your frown remains, and you make your statement loud and clear to your friends.

"I'm not going. A party like that'll just slow me down. I don't need a damned hangover to get in the way of work."

Venture scowls at you, and he stands on all four hooves, no longer leaning in his usual comfortable position.

"It's a festival. Shops are closed during that time."

You return Venture's scowl, and you lean in on the counter, closer to his face.

"There'll still be work to do the day after. Trying to recover from a party like that'll slow down the flow of work, and I won't be able to earn bits fast enough."

Venture tosses his hooves into the air, growling.

"FINE. Be your usual stick-in-the-mud self and sit behind a counter, rather than go to a party with your friends. Have fun."
Venture storms off down the street running between the stalls, disappearing through the thickening crowd. You sigh, and you realize Pinkie is still sitting next to you.

Only her hair has suddenly drooped and deflated, like a flower that's wilted, her usual bright pink coat somehow dulled. Her lip trembles, and you feel a tinge of guilt upon sight of her new appearance.

"Y-you're not going?"

You hate having to be the cause of Pinkie's new mood, but you know you have to defend your decision.
"Sorry, Pinkie, I'm not. You know how important it is for me to earn those bits."

Pinkie nods slowly, and gives a sad sigh.

"A-alright....."

The now depressed pink pony walks away, and you sigh sadly at the sight. Don't worry about it; it's Pinkie Pie. She'll find something more exciting than you going to a party soon, and she'll be back to her perky fourth-wall-breaking self.

Why did you feel so guilty?

Suddenly, you forget these thoughts as your first real customer of the day walks up to you, and you give her your usual greeting, forcing a smile. Uncle would be pleased with your decision; he was the only other pony you knew who valued hard-work as highly as you did. He'd support your decision, and you'd be ready to get back to earning your college years!
> Chapter 2: Indecision.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"NO. You're NOT going to just avoid the festival!"

You groan inwardly as your uncle begins to ramble. You had just returned to him from work to tell him your plans for tomorrow, and he wasn't taking it well at all.

"Look, I have to earn the bits for-"

"For college, I know. You keep going on about it. Look, kid, you can't just avoid your friends like this."

You rub your forehead with your hoof, feeling yourself getting a migraine.

"I'm not avoiding them..."

Your uncle scowls, and he looks you dead in the eye.

"Yes, you are. You never go to any of Pinkie's parties, you never go outside for lunch with Venture....you avoid every chance to just hang out with them. You need to hurry up and actually spend time with them, before you lose them."

You roll your eyes in an attempt to avoid looking at your uncle, giving him another annoyed groan.

"I'm not going to lose them, uncle. Besides, you know what ponies do at the Masquerade. I'm not fond of the idea of getting drunk, then partying away like the world doesn't exist. If I attend, I'll wake up with a damned hangover, then I'll be slowed down. I can't afford to slow down now, of all times! I'm too close to slip up now!"

Your uncle hangs his head, and you can hear his hoof hit his face as he facehoofs.

"Now you're just making excuses....you can avoid alcohol. Nopony's gonna make you drink it."

You let out an exasperated sigh, and turn away to return to work.

"I still can't risk it...I've never been good at resisting peer pressure."

You lift one of the boxes inside the stall's storage, and take it back to open it up and refill the containers.

"Really? Not that good, eh? You seem to be doing an alright job avoiding the party."

You scowl at your uncle, and toss the now-empty box into a nearby recycling bin.

"That's different. I'm keeping myself as far from the action as possible. If I'm in the middle of it, then I'll cave. But if I keep myself out of it before I'm given the choice, then I'll be fine. It's as simple as that."

Your uncle sighs, and takes his place at the front counter. You two were changing shifts, and it was time for you to hover aside and help customers find what they need.

"Boy, that is the most ridiculous and pathetic excuse I've ever heard. I trust you, Pinkie trusts you, Venture trusts you....I don't see why you don't trust yourself."

You close your eyes and sigh, remembering the incident that led you to working like this. You had to make it to college, for her sake...
"Uncle, I just don't want to. Why can't you understand and just accept my decision?"

Your Uncle gives you a long, stern look that lasts about a minute, before he closes his eyes and sighs.

"Fine. Have it your way. You can go ahead and keep working yourself to death. But trust me, boy.... if you don't spend time to relax and enjoy time with friends, then by the time you're ready to, there won't be any friends left for you to have."

You snort, finding this highly unlikely. Pinkie and Venture were the ones trying to hang out with you. They've never stopped, even when you asked them to. Why would they refuse when you were finally ready?

You nod, and give your uncle a hoofbump and get back to work. "Thank you."

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You open your eyes, only to squint fruitlessly at the darkness. You can't see anything, or hear anything. In fact, you weren't even sure if you were solid.

Suddenly, you jump at the horrible sound of glass shattering, and you're suddenly blinded by a flashing light of red, white, and blue. You cover your ears as a terrible wail of some kind rings out through the air, and you scream for it to stop.
You suddenly sense the overwhelming smell of blood and alcohol, and you try to cover your nose and your ears at the same time. When that doesn't work, you run off as fast as possible, stumbling blindly through the light, trying to escape the overwhelming sounds and smells.

You can barely see through the blur of lights, and you realize the wailing is only getting louder as you run. You turn the other direction, still trying to escape it all. You trip, and chip a tooth as you faceplant on the ground. You pull yourself back up, only to feel something push you back down and pull your hooves behind your back, leaving you pinned.
You scream and yell, struggling and squirming to get away from whatever it was that was holding you down, when three figures step out, still blurry through the light. You can't make any of them out, but one face stands out from the others.

It's a face of heartbreak. A face of disappointment. A face of hopelessness. You can't bear to look at it any longer, and you scream before you feel blunt force to your head send you out cold.

"I'm sorry!!!"

Your eyes flip open, and you awaken in cold sweat.

You find yourself lying on your couch, as you usually did in the morning. You wipe some of the sweat from your brow, and take a shaky breath before trying to recall your dream. What was that all about? You pull yourself up on your hooves, and check your clock.

5:30

Still a few hours until you had to get up and go to work. You let yourself fall back onto the couch, feeling fatigue weigh your legs down. That dream....you hold your hoof to your head, groaning as you feel another migraine. The same damned dream, ever since that night...

You shake yourself, and manage to pull yourself onto your hooves, despite the burning pain of movement. You walk over to your room, and towards your dresser, pulling on your jogging sweats. Time's like these, you needed to take a short walk to get your thoughts in order.

As you trot through the Everfree, you breathe in the scent of the freshly growing plants all around you, and Celestia's sun peeks over the horizon.

You're walking down a small gravel path cutting through the Everfree forest; Ponyville can be seen through the tree trunks. The forest, being the home of nature it was, was surrounded by all kinds of memorable sights, from beautiful plants to jittery critters. It always rejuvenated you whenever you jogged down this path...all these incredible sights weren't things you could see in a house.

You take a swig from your water bottle, panting from the jog, and trot down the hill towards Ponyville. The small town was already stirring, and you smile at the thought of getting to work after a nice jog.

That was your idea of a perfect day. In fact....now that you thought about it, your jogs were the only times you really relaxed....you sigh, and keep walking down the small street. You can see lights flickering on in some houses, signs that ponies were just getting up now, and you can hear yawns come from windows nearest to you.

You can see Celestia's sun slowly creeping up, and it's rays stretch out from the horizon to embrace the heavens. A few stars were still out, twinkling their goodbyes as they faded into evanescence.You smile at the wondrous sight of dawn, and trot into the marketplace.

A few stalls were opening, but most of the marketplace was still closed. You could see your uncle's stall just a few yards away, and you begin trotting towards it. You pause when you see a television in the front window of a shop suddenly get switched on by the shopkeeper, and you see ENN (Equestria News Network) was on.

You see the anchormare on the screen, and notice she wasn't dressed in her usual attire. That's when you realize the costume she was wearing was meant to celebrate the Masquerade.

"In just a few days time, the 467th annual Masquerade festival will be taking place in the small town of Ponyville, and everypony's excited for it! Many ponies are spending their vacation days on The Masquerade, just to attend!"

You roll your eyes, amazed at all those imbeciles wasting their time on a party. Who would be so naive, so lazy, as to use their vacation days on a holiday?

"Even renowned professor Test Tube, who has announced he is currently taking a break from his study of the merging of magical and non-magical metals just to attend this massive celebration!"

You stop dead on the spot, and whip around and dash to the television screen, unable to believe your ears. Professor Tube was attending?!

He was Equestria's most famous modern scientist, for his studies and theories of the expelling of magic by earth ponies, and discovering SEVEN non-magical metals on the stereotypical pie chart of elements!

He worked at Coltminister University of Canterlot, a university for earth ponies. It was there that Equestria's greatest scientific achievements were reached! If you got in there....any diploma from that school would let you have any job you wanted. If you got accepted...

You can't help but let out an excited giggle. Professor Test Tube was attending the Masquerade! This was your chance!

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You count the bits given to you by your last customer, carefully organizing everything in the cash register. You've been working harder than ever since you saw the news, and you did your best not to get in the way of the ponies putting up the Masquerade decorations all over the market. Only a few more days until the Masquerade came.

You sigh, and put away the last of the bits, annoyed at the fact The Masquerade preparations were slowing down business. Everypony was busy getting ready for it, whether they were shopping for costumes and masks, or putting up decorations in their houses, or both. All the other merchants were technically open, but busy with the decor as well. Even your uncle was getting in on it.

You sigh, and force an eager smile. You had to keep up the hard work! It always pays off in the end. That's what your dad always used to say. You turn, and decide to take a quick inventory of supplies, to estimate how long it would be until you needed more. Granted, you just got new supplies, but it never hurts to prepare.

You scowl when your uncle looks back at you with a teasing look that told you "You know you were wrong, c'mon, join us!" It was extremely annoying. You look away, and get back to counting up stock. It made no sense that your uncle, out of all the ponies you knew, would waste his time at a party. The thought of him lip-syncing to Filly Gaga while dancing like there's no tomorrow made you nauseous. What was worse...was that you were actually considering it. Making him right.

You walk back up to the cash register, done with counting up stock, and see the familiar green earth pony. Venture was still pissed at hearing you weren't attending, and the sight of him wrenched your gut every time. You force yourself to look away, pretending to count up the bits in your cash register. Venture walked past you all the time with a scowl, and you often wondered if he was just trying to guilt you into going. That never worked...but still hurt. Now that you've heard the news....you didn't know what to do.

Venture walks past you while you count your bits, and you avoid eye-contact as he passes you. For the last few days, he's acted this way, and each time you tried to negotiate with him, he grunted and ignored you. He's made it clear he won't talk to you unless you told him you were going to the party, and it really irked you at how he was being so unreasonable. You clear your throat to try to get his attention, and he turns to you with a scowl.  You scowl as well, and walk towards him.

"Venture, it's just a party. Why do you have to be so hostile?"

Venture snorts, and tamps his hoof into the ground.

"It's about more than that, dude! This is about..."

He suddenly cuts himself off, and you raise an eyebrow.

"What?"

Venture shakes his head, and scowls.

"Dude, you've worked your flank off for two years now at that damned stall, and you've never done anything else. It's just ONE night!"

You sigh, and walk back towards the stall.

"Look, Venture, I'll go to a party once everything's out of the way.. Right now, I have to get to college."

Venture rolls his eyes, and snarls.

"College, college, college! It's always about that, isn't it?"

You bite your lip in frustration, and ignore him, getting back behind the stall counter.

"If you're going to get this pissed about a party, Venture, then fine. It won't change my decision either way."

Venture tosses his hooves into the air, growling, and walks off, angrily grabbing decorations in his mouth and galloping off to the town square. You sigh, angry at both Venture and yourself. Why did you do that? WHY did you have to say you weren't going no matter what? Test Tube was attending, for crying out loud!

What were you supposed to do now? If you told Venture your new plans....not only would it be tough, but you might lose him as a friend if he found out you were just attending to meet a teacher from Coltminister. Celestia dammit, why'd he have to be so right?!

You cry out in frustration, and slam your hoof onto the counter, immediately regretting it as you bite your lip and hiss. You pull your hoof back to nurture it, feeling it beginning to throb.

What now? If Venture found out you wanted to attend because of Test Tube, he'd either get pissed off and refuse to speak to you, or become so annoyingly unbearable. Chances were, it'd be the first option. But if you sneaked into the Masquerade and he caught you, then he'd hate you forever! But if you didn't attend, you wouldn't get to meet Test Tube, and hopefully by some completely unrelated chance of getting into Coltminister! Not to mention, YOU HATED PARTIES IN THE FIRST PLACE!! WHY DID LIFE HAVE TO BE SO CONFUSING?!

"Calm down...breathe, breathe.."

You grab one of the paper bags at the counter, and breathe in and out of it in your anxiety. Let your mind clear....it was a Masquerade, right? Everypony was dressing up? What if you just wore a disguise? That way, you could hide yourself from Venture and your Uncle, and still meet Test Tube in pony.

But...dammit, that wouldn't work. They'd recognize you by your voice if they heard you speaking, and you were a terrible actor. You couldn't do this alone...and you haven't been in a party for so long...they'd tell you apart just by your actions. The disguise was just one half of the plan.

Think, think....you'd need somepony else to help. Who did you know who was good at having a good time, was still your friend, and knew ponyville personalities by heart?

You search your memory for a name other than the one named after a bright red color, but you can't find one. She was the only pony who could help....

You sigh regretfully, and trot away from your stall and towards Sugarcube Corner.
> Chapter 3: Requiem for a Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You walk through the crowded streets of Ponyville, and you see before you a small building with a roof that appeared as chocolate frosting, and a small pink balcony veering over the rest of the street taking the shape of a small, pink cupcake on the top.

You see a small sign hovering under a beam with the bakery's signature pink cupcake, and near one of the corners of the roof you can see a weathervane that appeared as a pony with a candy cane. You roll your eyes at the loud design of the building, and push open the door to the small bakery. The sweet smell of frosting and cake hits your nose as you enter, and you sigh blissfully. It's pleasant, but unusually strong.

The small room you walked into was slightly warmer than normal, with a decoration similar to the exterior of the building with candy cane pillars. The whole bakery looked like a ginger bread house! You sigh, and turn to see a short line of ponies taking orders for the sweets to be put at the buffet tables of the Masquerade.

You smile when you see the familiar violently pink mare happily taking orders at the front counter. Pinkie had obviously managed to have gotten over your announcement of not attending, and you were glad she was back to her old self. But, then you groan inwardly when you realized she might act over excitedly when she found out you WERE attending...And needed her help.

You decide to wait patiently in line; you needed to be alone with her, but didn't want to disrupt her customers. After about half an hour of waiting, you finally reach the counter, facing the pink mare face to face, and her blue eyes widen with excitement when she sees you.

"HI!! Are-"

You stuff her mouth with your hoof in an attempt to keep her silent long enough to listen. You knew it was rude, but she would just start rambling on if you didn't get to the point as fast as possible.

"Pinkie, I need your help. Badly. We can chat later, but please, PLEASE stay on topic for this once. Pinkie promise?"
Pinkie nods rapidly, and since your hoof was still in her mouth, she couldn't say her signature "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" And could only do the hoof-motions that went along with it. You decide that would be enough, since she's NEVER broken a pinkie swear in the time you've known her.

You pull her into a small room nearby, and find the light was off with a few pieces of furniture covered. Either they were painting, or using this room as a storage closet. Pinkie bounces along inside with you, smiling as she waits intently for you to speak, one of the few times she was willing to listen. You decide to not let it be too dramatic, and just tell her.

"I'm going to The Masquerade."

Her blue eyes widen, and before she can gasp, scream for joy, and/or etc, you cover her mouth quickly and abruptly and hiss,

"But Venture and my Uncle CAN'T know!"

She raises an eyebrow, and pulls away gently.

"Why? The more ponies you party with, the more fun you'll have! The more fun you have, the more new ponies you meet, and the more new ponies you meet means more new friends, and more new friends means more SMILES!"

It amazed you that Pinkie could manage to say such long, wordy sentences in one breath, but you didn't linger on it. You sigh, and begin your explanation.

"You know who professor Test Tube is, right?"

Pinkie nods rapidly, and you sigh relieved you didn't have to explain who he was to her.

"Anyways, he's attending The Masquerade, and...well, I REALLY want to meet him. If I get on his good-side, he might recommend me for Coltminister University!"

Pinkie gasps loudly again, and bounces vigorously.

"OHBOYYOU'REGOINGTOCOLLEGEWEHAVETOGETAPARTYREADYAND-"

You sigh, and again stuff her mouth with your hoof.

"No, it doesn't mean I'm going to college. Not yet, anyways. Venture said everything I do has something to do with college, and if he finds out I AM attending, but just to meet Test Tube, he'll hate me forever!"

Pinkie gives her signature gasp again, and her lip trembles.

"And if he hates you forever....he won't be your friend..."

You nod solemnly, glad you were getting her to understand. She nods firmly, giving a grim look of determination.
"Don't worry! Pinkie's on the job! Nopony's losing any friends today, tomorrow, or ever as long as she's around!"

You smile, for once her attitude giving you a positive outlook.

"I need you to show me how to....y'know, act like I'm having fun. With all the rowdy ponies in costumes around, it isn't likely I really will."

Pinkie shakes her head, giggling.

"Silly, you can't act like you're having fun!"

You raise your eyebrows, surprised.

"I...I can't?"

She shakes her head rapidly.

"Nope! There's only one way to have fun, and that's actually having fun!"

You nod your head slowly, disappointed at this.

"Alright..."

She giggles, and smiles.

"First things first....you have to get festive! Dress for the party, and you'll have an even more super-duper fun time!"

You nod, following what Pinkie was getting at, for the first time in awhile.

"Alright...where can I get a costume?"

Pinkie smiles even wider, and grabs you by the hoof before trotting out of the room, out of Sugarcube corner, and into the streets of Ponyville.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pinkie, how much further is it?"

You groan as she trots off at a seemingly random direction, always seeming to pick the last direction you were expecting her to take. The two of you had been racing around Ponyville for twenty minutes already, and your hooves were starting to ache. 

Pinkie giggles, and says with a childish singy-song voice.

"Almost the-ere!"

You roll your eyes, and decide not to question it. Pinkie was your best chance at sneaking into the party, and you just had to trust her. As you and Pinkie run through the streets, evading carriages and ponies while you speed through, you realize Pinkie was leading you outside of Ponyville, and towards the Everfree forest. You raise an eyebrow, and mutter;

"Um...Pinkie, why're we going towards the forest?"

Pinkie laughs, and shakes her head.

"Don't worry! There's nothing to be scared of, and we'll only be going a few feet inside. Besides, the ghosties are pretty funny when you get to know them!"

Again, you find yourself scratching your head at Pinkie's logic, since you weren't scared, but before you can question it, she lets out an excited woop.

"We're here!"

You stop, glad to catch your breath, and take a quick look at your environment. Just as Pinkie promised, you were only a few feet into the forest, and you could still see Ponyville through the tree trunks. Light creeped through the forest canopy, dancing on the patterned leaves of the forest floor. You could hear birds chirping through the crisp morning air, and small animals scampering through the undergrowth in search of food. Quite a serene sight...but you had to stay focused.

You turn to Pinkie, who was bouncing over to random trees and knocking on their trunks, leaning her ear against each one to listen. You sigh, Pinkie's erratic behavior getting to you again. You didn't want to seem rude, but it seemed necessary to ask

"Pinkie, what in the name of Celestia are you doing?"

She turns to you, putting her hoof to her lips, and gives you a harsh "SHH!!"

You close your mouth, a little irked by this, but decide to remain silent and let Pinkie do her thing...whatever that may be.
She resumes her strange pattern of knocking and listening to each and every tree in the clearing. You sit down, bored out of your mind, and decide to ignore her for now and simply admire the beautiful environment. You wait for another twenty minutes for Pinkie to find whatever it was she was looking for, enjoying the strange beauty of the forest. Eventually, you close your eyes, and slowly nod off to sleep without realizing it.

"FOUND IT!!"

You leap a few feet into the air at Pinkie's sudden shout, and yawn.

"Wh-what?"

Pinkie turns to you, apparently at the correct tree, wearing a larger smile than normal.

"I found it!"

She points to the tree, and you see there's actually a small crack in the bark of it's trunk. She pushes her hooves into it, and it slowly widens silently to the size of a pony. She pushes the edges of the crack away from each other, opening a hidden....something. The best thing you could say was that it was a secret hole. It was too dark inside it to tell if it was a secret entrance, or a secret stash of some kind. You pull yourself back onto your hooves, and approach the curious oddity slowly, stopping next to Pinkie.

"And....this is?"

Pinkie rolls her eyes, and reaches her hoof inside, searching for something inside. So it was a stash..did she have a costume already set up for you inside? A little...convenient...

Then you realize that wasn't what she had inside. Pinkie smiles widely, and pulls out of the small hole in the tree a....ball. A small, red rubber ball, the kind used for wall-ball games by elementary schoolers. You groan in frustration, and tamp your hoof into the ground.

"Pinkie, I asked you to stay focused! This ISN'T a ball emergency!"

Pinkie rolls her eyes again, and scoffs.

"Well, DUH. This isn't a stash for a ball emergency!"

Suddenly, you cry out when the earth suddenly seems to swallow you up, and the light of day fades as you sink like lightning into the ground, as if you fell into a quicksand. Only difference was, that there wasn't any sand surrounding you. You simply kept falling through the darkness, air blowing through your mane as you tumbled. For some reason, you didn't find yourself screaming, despite the immense fear you felt in your gut.

It was pitch dark inside whatever you were in, so dark that you couldn't even see your hooves in front of you. You sigh, and wait for the inevitable crash...whenever that may be. As you fall, you suddenly hear a familiar giggle, and you whip your head around, desperately searching for Pinkie, wherever she was inside this place. Suddenly, you feel something smooth against your back, and it gradually slows your fall without harming you. Eventually, it curves, and stops as a floor, the curve acting like a slide. You slide back down to the floor, but before you can get back up, another pony crashes into you from behind, forcing you to skid off into the darkness with a crash. You groan in pain, and hear Pinkie bouncing towards you.

"That was so much fun! Let's do it again!"

You widen your eyes, and shake your head, even though you weren't sure Pinkie could see.

"No! I'd REALLY rather not!"

Pinkie sighs, disappointed.

"Alright then..."

You pull yourself back onto your hooves, still a little shaky from the sudden fall.

"Where...where are we?"

Pinkie giggles, and you hear her bouncing away.

"You'll see! C'mon!"

Before you could point out you couldn't see her, Pinkie was already bouncing away. Not eager to get lost in this dark place, you quickly trot in the direction you could hear her bounce. The floor felt flat and hard, like concrete, and it was wet for some reason. If you weren't careful, you could easily slip and fall onto the ground. You slow down, not eager to slip and crack your skull, but stay at a fast enough pace to keep up with Pinkie, wherever she was. You can take a relatively moderate guess at where she was, based on the sound of her bouncing through the pitch black hall.

You walk seemingly aimlessly through the dark hall for another half hour, and as you tread through the mysterious path, you notice the concrete floor gradually drying, until no trace of water (Or whatever it was) was left on the smooth floor. You keep up the pace, still listening carefully for the sound of Pinkie hopping up and down through the hall, and let out a sigh of relief when it sounds as if she's only three feet ahead of you.

Another half hour passes, and your hooves begin to ache again, but feel yourself become rejuvenated with newfound energy when you notice a small light at the end of the dark corridor, reaching out to you like a mother reaches out to her child. You can see Pinkie's outline hopping along thanks to this new light, and you can't help but speed up, trotting ahead of Pinkie to reach the source. You see the light brighten as you approach it, and you smile when you think you're almost there. Only to be instantly told by physics "You're already there" when you crash into something rock solid with a loud thud.
You can't even cry out in pain, due to your face being stuck to the solid object like a wacky character from a slapstick cartoon. You feel motion of the solid wall, and you swing with it, peeling off it like a sticker peels off paper, and fall to the ground in a daze.

You groan in pain, and pull yourself up, your eyes unfocused from the sudden impact. You stand on all four hooves, and barely manage to look up and see a snow white unicorn mare with a well-managed, curled lavender mane. Before you can even blink, she shrieks, and you feel something fly across the room and slap you in the face when her horn lights up. You barely manage to whimper before conscious slips away from your grasp, sleep numbing the pain of both of the previous impacts.

You open your eyes, greeted by a foreign ceiling in your sight and an ache to your head like a raging buffalo had bucked you in. You groan loudly in your misery, and you sit up, realizing you were in a fancy bedroom that looked like it belonged to one of the princesses, and find yourself sitting smack in the middle of a large, plush bed.

The entire bedroom looked like it belonged to one of the posh mares of Canterlot. You stumble as you crawl off the bed and onto the floor, managing to balance yourself again before walking towards the door. Your entire body ached like hell, but you needed to figure out where you were. You raise your ears when you hear muffled voices in the next room, and you speed up in your approach. You push open the door a notch, peeking through the crack to get a good look at what was going on without being immediately seen.

Through the crack in the door, you barely see Pinkie Pie speaking with the white mare who knocked you out before. You scowl at first, angry that she had hit you with that purse, then you realize that your sudden appearance in her....house, you were guessing, had likely frightened her.

As far as she knew, you could have been a robber, or worse, a rapist. Thinking back to the situation in the strange tunnel, you probably should have waited for Pinkie Pie to step through first, seeing as she was obviously friends with this mare.  You raise your ears to listen in on their conversation, not quite ready to reveal yourself yet.

As you try to eavesdrop, you find it difficult to discern exactly what they were saying, but you had a good idea of what they were talking about. WHO they were talking about. Who else than yourself, the stupid colt who ran ahead of his friend in an ominous tunnel and got beaten by a mare with a purse?

"Sorry Pinkie...came out of NOWHERE....else was I.....to do..."

"It's alright! But....gentle......need your....agreed to the party!"

You suddenly jump as you hear the mare cry out.

"He's actually GOING?!"

It wasn't difficult to hear THAT. As you leaped in the air in surprise, your head hit the door panel, forcing you to cry out and announce your presence. Both mares turned to your direction, the only difference being the mare had a stunned look on her face. Pinkie, however, just smiled wider than ever.

"Oh, goody! You're awake!"

"Yeah, goody..."

You groan sarcastically as the added pain from hitting the door panel worsened your migraine. As you walk over to the pair, the lavender maned mare scoffed.

"Well, darling, you certainly have a knack for surprising ponies, don't you?"

You shrug, stopping next to Pinkie Pie.

"You'd be surprised how unsurprising I usually am."

Pinkie giggles.

"And you'd still be surprising her that way! Boy, you're GOOD. I should ask for your advice on the next surprise party I plan!"

You pause, carefully thinking over the sudden paradox Pinkie just gave you....does that make you surprising, or not, now? 

You groan and bring your hoof to your head, as thinking over such a confusing matter was making your migraine even worse. Neither mares seem to notice as they resume their conversation. The white mare raises an eyebrow as she speaks to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, darling, I simply MUST ask....since WHEN was the carousel boutique a part of a complex underground passageway?"

Pinkie sighs in an exasperated tone.

"Well, DUH, Rarity. It's obvious!"

Both you and the mare Pinkie just called "Rarity" pause, confused once more. Finally, the silence breaks as you speak in response.

"Um, Pinkie...it's really not."

Pinkie sighed again.

"I'll give you a hint...it has to do with my secret ball emergency drop-offs!"

Again, you pause, trying to figure out what in Equestria Pinkie was hinting at. At last, you sigh, and shrug.

"I give up, Pinkie."

Pinkie sighs, and pats your shoulder.

"You'll figure it out eventually."

Theres an awkward silence, and both you and Rarity glance at each other in silent understanding. We never will.  This time, Rarity breaks the silence with an impatient scoff.

"Pinkie, I'm glad to hear your friend has decided to attend such a grand party....but what exactly does it have to do with me?"

Pinkie giggles.

"Well, it's obvious! It's a MASQUERADE party. He needs a costume! And a GOOD one, so his uncle and best friend don't recognize him while he speaks to his modern day idol in secrecy to join his school so he can become successful and super-smarty and be happy and keep his friends at the same time!"

Rarity pauses to take all this information in, and sighs, turning to you.

"Alright....any friend of Pinkie's is a friend of mine. I'll make you the costume."

You smile, and nod gratefully.

"Thank you, Rarity."

Pinkie stops Rarity before she can move, for the first time a deadly serious look on her pink face.

"Rarity, you CANNOT tell anypony about this. We can't risk gossip going around like a wildfire!"

Rarity gasps.

"Me? Gossip? Hardly! Mum's the word!"

Pinkie presses her forehead against the mare's, looking her directly in the eye.

"Not good enough. Pinkie swear it."

You were surprised by the seriousness of her tone, but then again, you remember one time Pinkie caught on fire and and went into some kind of a berserk after one of her friends broke a pinkie swear. If breaking that kind of promise was so important that she, out of all ponies would do THAT, then it must be a binding promise. Rarity smiles, and speaks.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

She quickly executes the appropriate hoof motions as she swears, finishing off by sticking her hoof into her closed eye. 
Pinkie smiles, and hops away, giving Rarity back her personal space.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

Rarity nods, and trots off to a different room. After a few minutes, the white mare returns, horn glowing to carry some measuring tape, several different colored fabrics, some sewing threads and needles, and...glitter. Before you can protest, Rarity immediately forces you onto a small catwalk with her magic, and begins making quick and precise measurements of your body length.

You open your mouth again to request no glitter, or anything girly for that matter, but again you're cut off when Rarity forcefully moves you away with her magic and replaces the catwalk with a mannequin of similar size and shape. The chic unicorn immediately gets to work on the costume, expertly sewing together fabrics around the mannequin's shape.
You open your mouth to speak, but get immediately cut off again by the mare. Rarity whips her head around, her mane bouncing with her motion and swinging out of her face as she hisses.

"LEAVE. I need complete concentration if I'm to get an acceptable costume done in time! If I ever DARED create a costume somepony would laugh at, I would be committing the worst crime in the history of fabulosity!"

You hold your hooves up in defense, slowly backing out with Pinkie, not wanting to somehow tick off the suddenly stressed unicorn. Rarity's horn glows, and the split second you exit the room, the door in front of you slams closed, and you can hear the click as it locks.

You sigh, and sit down on one of the overdressed chairs next to Pinkie Pie as you wait. Time was passing at an agonizingly slow pace, and your ears taunted your eyes and mind with curiosity as they force you to listen to the sound of her sewing and muttering. You thought Rarity would have at LEAST let you make personal requests on the costume's appearance and suchlike.

She had simply tossed you out without a second thought, before you could even ask WHAT she was planning to do with that glitter. As each minute passes, you take a glance at Pinkie Pie, who was sitting in the chair patiently with her lower hooves dangling on the seat like a little filly would, humming a song under her breath. Your eyes turn to the clock just above the front door, the seconds ticking away as time moved on.

11:00 AM

You sigh in boredom, and lean your head back against the chair. You take a glance at Pinkie again, and she's still waiting calmly and patiently. You sigh, and to pass the time, decide to set Pinkie on one of her usual rants.

"Pinkie, quick question; in your opinion, what's the best kind of party?"

You knew you had just set yourself for one of the longest conversations in the history of Equestria, but you were desperate for something to pass the time. Pinkie's eyes widen, and she smiles as she begins her rant, but her hyper-active speech pattern made it nearly impossible to discern what she was actually saying. She kept moving on from different kinds of parties, from normal parties to surprise parties to birthday parties, and even to a....gorilla party? Again, you could no longer keep up with the violently pink pony, and sigh as she chats your ear off for another Celestia-knows-how-long. Finally, you look back up at the clock, and found it was already 2:00 PM.

It's been four hours? It felt a LOT longer. Suddenly, Pinkie finally stops talking when the door opens, and Rarity trots out with her mane somewhat disheveled, a little glitter stuck on her hooves and a look of pride on her face.

"I've finished!"

You grin, and trot inside the room to view Rarity's creation. As you walk inside and the costume slowly comes into your view, you find your jaw slowly dropping as you inspected it more closely. The costume had a sort of blackish lavender color, with a dark red trim to it and a neat little hood that added a sense of mystery to the clothing. It was designed to wrap around your entire body, aside from your face, from head to tail. The hooves had nice, comfortable yet stylish boots on them, the cape set up to hide the wearer's tail without looking suspicious. The whole thing looked incredible....except for one problem.

The whole thing had a hint of glitter at every point. At each nook and cranny, you found lightly placed glitter that mixed with the fabric's color to give an interesting effect. But it was still just....girly. Cool looking, but girly. And to top it off, it didn't even hide your face. You turn to Rarity, who still had a look of pride on her face, nodded.

"Yes, yes, I know it's not PERFECT, but..."

You open your mouth to speak, but you're suddenly cut off when Rarity beams.

"Oh, who am I kidding? This is some of the best I've done, if I say so myself! Hang on, I simply MUST capture this!"

She squeals, and immediately grabs a camera with her magic, preparing to photograph the masterpiece. Suddenly, Pinkie jumps up, blocking the photograph and swiping the machine from Rarity's grasp.

"Ah ah ah! What if somepony sees the photo, and recognizes it from the Masquerade? We can't risk somepony finding out, and that was part of your pinkie swear, Rarity!"

Rarity's lip trembles, and she whines.

"B-but, you can't seriously mean that I can't keep some visual recording of this?"

Pinkie presses her forehead against Rarity's to look her directly in the eye.

"You pinkie swore, Rarity! And a pinkie swear is FOREVEEEEEEEEEEER."

She hissed this last part with some sinister menace, as if to break such a promise would be as terrible as to trip one of the princesses as they passed by. Then again, it probably was. Rarity gulps, and nods nervously.

"V-very well, Pinkie Pie....."

She turns to you, and manages to beam with pride again.

"Well, what're you waiting for, darling? Put it on!"

"Um..."

You try to tell Rarity you didn't really want the glitter, but she cuts you off again.

"Oh, right! Forgive me, Darling. Pinkie, come, give him privacy to put it on."

With that, both mares leave the room, and you groan as you turn to the costume. It DID take her four hours to make this thing....with or without without the glitter, it was still an excellent piece of work. You give in, and go over to the costume, unbuckling it from the mannequin and pulling it onto your own body. Rarity just said it was her best piece of work, and beggars can't be choosers. You look at yourself in the mirror, appreciating the amount of time and effort that was put into this costume. Besides, wasn't the point of wearing it so that nopony would recognize you?

That suddenly reminded you; you still needed a mask, or something that would hide your face. You call both mares back inside, and Pinkie darts into the room the split second you do. She grins, bouncing excitedly.

"You look awesome! Nopony could ever recognize you in that! I mean...who are you again?"

You chuckle at the joke, and turn to Rarity, who was still beaming with pride.

"Thanks, Rarity. It's great, but there's just one problem."

Rarity's pride vanishes the second you finish your sentence, disappointment in her eyes.

"A problem? What in the name of Celestia did I do wrong?"

You answer her question quickly, so as not to upset her.

"No, the costume's perfect! But it doesn't hide my face. I'll need something for that."

Rarity rolls her eyes.

"Darling, this piece of art would be ruined by any kind of mask! That is why I didn't add one."

You groan in frustration, and sit down.

"Rarity, I'm not wearing this costume to look good. I'm wearing it to hide my identity from Venture and Uncle. If my face isn't covered up, the costume fails it's job instantly."

Rarity sighs, and nods.

"Yes...I suppose it will have to do, even if it does ruin it's fabulosity. Hold on...."

Rarity gallops into the other room, and you hear the sound of shuffling cardboard as she explores a small closet at the back of the room. Eventually, she pulls out a small box labeled "Masks". The box was dustier than an attic, and it was obvious Rarity hadn't gone through it in years. She drops the box in front of you, and as you open it up, dust particles fly into the air and enter your lungs, forcing you into a small fit of coughs. After that little situation ends, you begin looking though it's contents. There were masks of all kinds inside, from paper mache crafts to cheap, plastic masks. Most of them didn't go with the costume, just as Rarity had said, and in all honesty, none really struck your fancy anyways. But, you still needed something to cover your face, so you had to decide.

So you sat there, searching through the box fruitlessly for a suitable mask. Eventually, you hear Rarity groan impatiently.

"Just pick something already!"

With that, you quickly grab the first mask within your reach, a white paper mache mask large enough to cover your entire face. It had neat, intricate designs along the the cheeks, and seemed to have been made as a mold for your face. You could see almost perfectly through the eye-holes, and it wasn't difficult to breathe through the mouth hole. In fact, the entire thing was terribly comfortable. You grin, and nod as you take it off.

"This works perfectly."

Rarity nods rather curtly, and you realize she was still upset about the mask ruining the appearance of the rest of the costume. You put the mask away inside your cloak, and turn to her.

"How much do I owe you?"

Rarity scoffs.

"As if I'd charge a friend! Consider it a gift, my dear. Besides, it was quite a...privilege, to create such a masterpiece."

She sniffs this last part, still upset about not getting to photograph it. You nod gratefully, surprised by this.

"Why, thank you..."

She nods, smiling.

"Of course, darling."

You turn to Pinkie, who was rubbing her hooves together excitedly.

"Goody! Now that you're dressed for the part, we can move on..."

You raise an eyebrow.

"Move on?"

She nods excitedly.

"Duh! Now that you have your costume, it's time for you to learn how to have fun!"
> Chapter 4: The Masquerade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You open your eyes, greeted by a familiar cold darkness. No matter how much you squinted, you couldn't see through it.

Where were you?

Suddenly, the horrid sound of glass shattering sends a painfully familiar shiver up your spine.

"No, no...not again."

You gallop away blindly through the darkness, determined not to live through this hell again. You suddenly bring yourself to a stop when you're blinded by the familiar flashing light of red, white, and blue.

"No!"

You spin around, running in the opposite direction, and find the light behind you illuminating your path. Ahead of you was the cold asphalt of a road, littered with broken glass and blood. You wince, and keep running away as a frightening wail rings in your ears, crying out as the glass shards cut into your hooves and get stuck. Your mind felt clouded, your vision blurred by the over-stimulation of your senses.

You kept running, and found everything seeming to move faster than you were, as if you were in a dream like state. The smell of the blood ahead of you intermingled with the wretched smell of alcohol, and the light behind you grew brighter and blurred your vision further as the wailing reached a terrifying volume. You keep stumbling through the dark path, and notice for the first time, Luna's moon shining down on you.

Despite it's ambient glow, no light from it guided you away from the wailing, and you cry out as you trip and crash onto the road. You feel your tooth chipping and broken glass cutting into your face, and you struggle to stand, only to feel a powerful force push you back down. You feel hooves pin you down as your hooves are brought behind your back, and three figures step out of the darkness, this time their faces illuminated by the flashing lights. Your vision was still blurred, but you could make out that they were two stallions and a single mare. The mare's face stood out from the stallions, tears in her eyes as she looks at you with the same face of heartbreak. The same face of disappointment, same face of hopelessness. You couldn't bear to look at it any longer, and you scream before you feel blunt force to your head knock you out.

"I'M SORRY!!!"

Your eyes shoot open, and you find yourself lying on your couch in cold sweat. You didn't even go to the trouble of pulling on a blanket before you collapsed after returning from work.

You pull yourself up, and groan as your legs burn in protest. Now more than ever, you wanted to sleep, but that wouldn't be an option. Tonight was the Masquerade, after all. You pop a five-hour energy into your mouth to try and stay wake, and turn to check the time.

5:00 PM

Today you had to close up shop temporarily for the Masquerade, while everypony went back home to get ready for the massive celebration. You toss a small microwavable bowl of mac-and-cheese into the microwave, and eat up as quickly as you can, your stomach growling from lack of nutrition. For the last few days, you've been focused on only training from Pinkie and getting as much work done as possible.

You had to start eating soon, and there was no better time than the present. Your uncle had noticed how thin you were just yesterday, and had chewed you out for working too hard. Too tired to argue, you had simply nodded and waited for him to finish talking. You grabbed a bite from Pinkie's occasionally, during training, but you wanted to learn as much as possible, so Venture and Uncle would have no way of finding out. Even you had to admit, you were overworking yourself this time, but it would be worth it in the end.

You have to get to coltminister, no matter what. You were willing to do whatever it takes to get in, be it earn bits, conspire with Pinkie Pie, or kiss-up to a genius. In this case, it was all three. You yawn loudly, and turn to your small hallway closet.
The costume Rarity made for you was still hidden inside, yet to be taken out, lest somepony somehow discovered it before the Masquerade. You wanted badly to peek inside at the masterpiece, but you couldn't risk ruining it before the celebration. You sigh, and finish eating your dinner, walking into your bedroom shortly afterwards to get ready.

Your bedroom was neat and organized, but didn't look any different since you moved in. You rarely stepped inside, to be honest, and you could notice a thin layer of dust covering most of the surfaces inside. Even your bed, which was still neatly made, waiting desperately to be used by it's owner. You sigh, and open up your closet, grabbing your jogging coat and shoes. You were too tired for a jog, but these clothes would keep you warm under your costume. You loathed the thought of making the journey to the town square, but you needed to for the Masquerade.

You step out of your bedroom, and walk into your living room, turning on the television set while you waited for Pinkie to come over. As your television set flickers on, you switch to ENN (Equestria News Network) and see the anchormare from before, still wearing her costume in celebration. She gives an enthusiastic smile to the camera, and her voice rings out with its usual perky edge.

"Well, folks, it's here at last! The Masquerade has finally come, and last minute visitors from all over Equestria are leaking into the small town of Ponyville!"

Once she finished this sentence, a small square appeared in the upper left corner of the screen, showing a miniaturized news reporter with several excited ponies gathering in the background, wearing costumes in celebration.

"Let's go to Mic, live in Ponyville, for his report. All yours, Mic."

The small square increased in size until it filled up the entire screen, and you had a better look at the reporter, apparently Mic. He had a short blue mane, spiked with gel, and wore a neat, gray suit that accented his lighter gray fur. He held a microphone in his hoof, and wore a headset that covered his ears. As the screen increased in size, he grinned, and brought the microphone up to his mouth to speak.

"Thanks, Timely! Over here in Ponyville, the weather pegasi are working hard to give us a cool, clear night tonight, and carriages are moving in like crazy from all over Equestria! Look at those amazing costumes, folks!"

You raised your eyebrows as you viewed the visitor's costumes, each one spangled with unique colors, patterns, and designs. They were all beautiful, but you began to worry if you would stand out, now that you saw them. Even the wealthiest visitor's costumes couldn't match the one Rarity made for you.

"We're live here in the town square, and Ponyville's Mayor Mare has graciously allowed us a few minutes of her time!"

Once he finishes this sentence, the camera moves a few inches to the left to reveal a very anxious looking Mayor Mare. The Mayor wore a rather loud costume with a random pattern of bright, mismatched colors, and she was wearing such an excessive amount of makeup it would have made Rarity shriek and fall into a coma. The Mayor was, for some reason, adding even MORE make-up to the disaster she had set upon her face, and didn't seem to realize the camera was on her yet. This lasts a few moments before Mic taps her shoulder, and she spins around.

"What, what is-OH!"

She seems to realize she is on live television, and gives an over-exaggerated smile that only adds to the horror.

Mic gives her a nervous grin, obviously finding it just as unnerving as you did, and brought the microphone back up to his mouth.

"Erm...Mayor Mare, how do you feel about Ponyville being chosen to host the Masquerade?"

Mayor Mare clears her throat as he raises the mic to her mouth, and speaks with her unnerving smile still plastered.

"Well, it was quite a surprise, I must admit. Ponyville hasn't been chosen for the Masquerade in almost a century, and for me to be it's mayor the same year it gets chosen is an incredible honor!"

Mic nods, bringing the microphone back to his lips.

"And what has Ponyville set up for this massive celebration?"

The mayor smiles proudly, and clears her throat again.

"Well, Mic, here for the celebration we have several games set up, such as dunking, rock climbing, tug-of-war, cider-drinking contests, a wrestling ring, karaoke, and to top it all off, we have the traditional dances and costume contests!"

Mic nods, and brings the microphone back to his lips.

"Is it true the amount of ponies attending this year is around a quarter million?"

Mayor Mare beams, and nods.

"Yes, it is! And even more ponies are still coming in from around Equestria at the last minute."

Mic nods, and pulls the microphone back to his mouth.

"Aside from the princesses, what celebrities will be attending?"

Mayor Mare pulls out a small list from her pocket as Mic raised it to her mouth.

"Well, naturally, many celebrities are attending this festival, but there are a select few worth mentioning, such as multimillionaire businesscolts Filthy Rich and Fancy Pants, singer Filly Gaga and the renowned band Saddleback, renowned genius professor Test Tube, and captain of the guard Shining Armor."

He nods, and pulls the microphone back to his mouth.

"Thank you for your time, Mayor Mare. This is Mic Rec, ENN. Back to you, Timely Report."

Just as the report ends, you hear a knock on your door, and you switch the television off. You pull yourself up, and go over to the door, and as you pull it open, you're blinded by a violent flurry of pink and crash down onto your back. Before you could get your bearings, you hear a familiar giggle.

"Came early to remind you not to be late! Can't be too careful, after all!"

You groan as Pinkie gets off of you, and helps you back up onto your hooves.

"Pinkie, you have to be careful! I have neighbors, and..."

You shift your eyes, and pull her inside, locking the door behind you.

"I have neighbors, and I can't risk anypony discovering this and somehow spreading it to Venture!"

She nods rapidly, smiling.

"Don't worry! Nopony saw me! They're already on their way to the Masquerade!"

You sit onto the couch, sighing in a mixture of relief and exasperation.

"There's one problem. How am I going to get to the Masquerade from here without anypony somehow seeing me come out of my apartment?"

Pinkie laughs, and bounces towards your closet without a second word. You raise an eyebrow, and follow her, a small part of you gnawing with uncertainty. She opens your closet door, and grabs the costume quickly before tossing it to you.

"Go get dressed! I'll take care of the rest!"

You nod hesitantly, and walk into your bedroom, leaving Pinkie Pie alone within the rest of your home. As you pull on the masterfully crafted costume for the second time, that small, uncertain part of you continues to nag at the back of your head. Not uncertainty at whether or not Pinkie can get you into the Masquerade, but uncertainty if you'll actually pull off this little masquerade of your own. These past few days, you've been so busy making sure your identity would be kept secret, (And busy taking "fun" lessons from Pinkie) that you didn't even consider what you would actually DO at the party.

How are you going to manage to stay incognito for an entire nine hours?

How are you going to find the professor, and even if you do, be honest with yourself?

How in the name of Celestia are you going to convince him to recommend you for Coltminister?

There was still so much you haven't planned out, and little to no time to think...you take a deep breath, remembering lesson 3 from Pinkie.

"Don't over-think everything! Just be yourself, and the words will come on their own!"

You sigh tiredly as the quote rings in your ears, and you finish adjusting the belt of the costume. Just be yourself....a bit hypocritical for somepony showing their friend how to pretend to be somepony else, so that other someponies won't find out you've been conspiring behind their backs..

You groan as you finish buttoning the shirt of the costume, and you turn to find yourself looking at a small, old photograph, covered with a thin layer of dust. In it, you see yourself, your uncle, and your parents. You were much younger when the photo was taken....in middle school at the time. Eighth grade. You sigh as you remember how innocent you used to be, before the....

You shake your head as you push away those darker thoughts. You had to get into Coltminister. No matter what. You hoped that every time you told yourself this, that it would feel so much more meaningful. So much more important. So why did it feel the opposite..?

You curse at yourself as you finally pull up the hood of the costume, angry at your own emotions. You had to get into that university, whatever it takes! You promised!

Deciding that should end the case of the conflict between you and your emotions, you lift up the small, white mask Rarity loaned you. You run a hoof along the engraved cheeks, unable to comprehend why Rarity would toss such a marvel away into a dusty old closet. You once again put the mask onto your face, the curves and edges seeming to mold into the shape of your face. Just as before, the eyeholes and mouthhole of the mask are perfectly aligned, allowing you to see and breathe through it near-perfectly.

You turn to a mirror hanging on your closet door, observing your reflection's magnificently designed clothing. You would have to thank Rarity again for crafting this piece of art for free. You smile, content with your appearance, and trot out of your bedroom to speak with Pinkie. As you walk into your living room, you find Pinkie looking out at Ponyville from your back door apartment balcony, squinting as she scanned the area. You come up behind her, and calmly tap her shoulder to catch her attention, and she turns to you with her signature smile.

"Almost everypony's gathered at the town square already! Nopony's going to see us walk out of here, but we should hurry there!"

You nod, leading her out of the apartment.

"Alright....how are we going to do this?"

Pinkie turns to you, still smiling as the two of you walk along.

"Whaddya mean?"

You shrug.

Just....what's our story? What do I say if somepony asks who I am?"

Pinkie laughs.

"Just say you're my date, silly!"

You stop, feeling your cheeks grow slightly warm. Good thing you were wearing a mask.

"H-huh?"

Pinkie rolls her eyes, giggling.

"Just say you're an old friend of mine from Trottingham, and you're my date! That way, nopony will be any the wiser!"

You raise an eyebrow, and continue trotting to catch up with the mare.

"But....I can't even do a Trottingham accent..."

She shrugs.

"Then improvise! Don't over-think it, silly filly!"

You groan, a part of you wishing you shared Pinkie's enthusiasm. The highlight of the evening for you would be chatting with the professor, but you weren't exactly a....ponies pony. You disliked parties in many forms, and the Masquerade was the mother of all parties. All the hyper-activity, loud music, laughing and drinking ponies everywhere...the thought of being surrounded by these things for two minutes was shell-shocking enough.

How were you going to last nine hours like this?

Suddenly, your thoughts of doubt are pushed to the back of your mind as Pinkie grabs your hoof, and gallops through the alleyways of Ponyville as she drags you along. You do your best to keep your balance and keep up with her at the same time, with only the light of Luna's moon guiding you through the dark, narrow alleys.

A chilly gust of wind blows against you two through the alley, ruffling Pinkie's bouncy mane and sending small ripples across your costume's cape. Finally, after what seems to have taken nearly half an hour, Pinkie takes a jerky turn to the right and you find yourself within the hustling, bustling crowd of costumed ponies within the town square. This Masquerade has drawn quite a bit of a crowd since the last one, and you remember vaguely watching Celestia's announcement at the celebration on television.

Again, you were just a ten-year-old colt at the time, and your memory remained vague. Suddenly, Pinkie grabs your hoof again as she guides you through the thick crowd carefully, and you eagerly follow, as you notice the princesses sitting on the traditional, portable masquerade thrones. You stifle a laugh as you realize Celestia is dressed up as a jester, Luna a minstrel, and Cadence a chainmail knight.

All such random costumes, each a refreshing appearance for the pony. Then again, the point of the Masquerade was to dress up as something you're not. Then again, only Celestia's costume fit her to an extent. You had heard about her mischievous actions towards some of her subjects, and you noticed plenty of teen ponies referring to her as "Trollestia". You didn't exactly get the point of the nickname, and when one of them tried to explain it to you, they called it a "meme".

Suddenly, your train of thought is interrupted when Pinkie stops, and sits at a small decorative table. As you hadn't been paying any attention, you decide to simply sit down next to her. The costumed ponies all around you chat away excitedly, drowning out anything spoken by the princess. Rather disrespectful, but you suppose it would be difficult to notice at such a large gathering. The princess taps a fork to her glass a few times to catch everypony's attention, but to no avail.

Everypony continued with their conversations, somehow paying her no mind, and then you see Celestia sigh and shake her head. Then, she taps the fork to her glass in rapid succession, the ringing noise that came from it somehow drowning the conversations out by tenfold. You eventually cover your ears, the high-pitched sounds along with the crowd beginning to overwhelm your sense of hearing. Luckily, everypony else also noticed the unbearable noise, and soon all became silent as the princess gave a small smirk.

She put down the fork and glass, somehow miraculously not shattering from the abuse it just went through earlier, and clears her throat.

"Good evening, everypony! Welcome to the 467th annual Equestrian Masquerade! First celebrated in Istalia for the successful ruling of their government, this grand festival is celebrated only once every decade in memorial of the nation's brightest age!"

You smile as you listen intently to the princess's speech, and she begins recounting a brief history of Istalia, including the events that led to the very first officially celebrated Masquerade festival. The tales of these events highly intrigued you, but you easily saw how most of the other ponies attending were bored out of their minds. You sigh, adjusting your mask a bit as you continued to listen to the princess's speech. It goes on for another ten minutes or so, and by that time even you were desperate to get up and leave. But, at last, she ended it with:

"And so a happy Masquerade to you, and to all your friends and neighbors!"

She claps her hooves together, and vanishes in a puff of magic smoke. There is a loud cheer, and you chuckle as you wonder if it was for the beginning of the Festival, or if it was for the speech finally ending. Pinkie cheers louder than most of the others, and she leaps into the air as fireworks went off in the clear night sky, illuminating her bouncing mane and violently pink coat of fur.

You smile at her childish excitement, despite it being hidden behind your mask. Going to Pinkie for help was a smart move. Possibly your best, you had to admit. The mare lands from her leap onto the chair next to you, and smiles widely.

"Finally, we get to party like there's no tomorrow! It took SO LOOONG for the Masquerade to finally get here! I mean, it felt like it took four whole WEEKS instead of just a few days! Isn't it funny how a short period of time can seem SO LONG when something exciting, fun, or really, REALLY cool is coming up?! I mean, I've had my fair share of exciting parties coming up, but this Masquerade is the BIGGEST PARTY EVER!!!!"

You inch backwards a little, Pinkie's excitement beginning to freak you out a little. She looked at you with wide, bright blue eyes, her smile wider than ever. You were beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea, until you're suddenly yanked by the hoof as Pinkie bounds off with you. You cry out as you tumble along, barely keeping your balance as she dragged you. You were careful to make sure your mask didn't fall off, and you balance yourself before managing to protest.

"Pinkie! Where are we going?"

She gives a short giggle.

"You'll see!"

You groan inwardly, and Pinkie drags you along the decorative streets of Ponyville, passing costumed ponies left and right. As she guided you along, you could see basic carnival games along the streets, games of skill and chance for cheap prizes. Stallions playing for their dates, teens betting on victories for fun, many of the things you would normally see at a festival. But you knew this was just a fraction of the celebration. There were many other things set for the festival, such as mazes and a few average carnival rides, but the main festivity was the masquerade dance, a traditional part of the celebration that gave the festivity it's name.

The point of the dance was that everypony dancing would disguise their identities, and take a random partner to dance with until the end of the music. Afterwards, the randomized couple would part, never revealing their faces to one another. It added that deep sense of mystery to the Masquerade that made it so famous.

Suddenly, you are pulled out of your thoughts of the old traditions when Pinkie makes an abrupt stop. You turn to her, panting for breath as you sat. Pinkie was squinting as she scanned the street around you, and you took your chance to take a breath. You were getting sidetracked, you had to find the professor before the night was done anyways. Wasn't that what you were here for? The sooner you got to him and made a good impression, the sooner you could go back home and rest. You couldn't stand another party.

Suddenly, Pinkie grabs you forcefully, and takes you around a corner. You cry out, and pull your hoof back, nurturing it as she had twisted it a bit. Pinkie puts a hoof to her lips to signal you "be quiet" and she peeks around the corner. She sighs, and turns to you.

"Venture's here!"

"What?"

You quickly look around the corner, and see the green stallion wearing a simple costume of dull colors, and he had taken off his mask to take a breather at a table. His mask appeared as that of an old doctor of Istalia during the time of the Masquerade's initial birth, a simple grayish color with it's easily recognizable nose, which was about half a foot long and took on the shape of a bird's beak. It was a good thing Pinkie spotted this....it would be far easier to keep an eye out for the green earth pony now. You sigh with a mixture of relief and frustration, pulling back around the corner to face Pinkie.

"Okay....we're stuck."

The pink mare tilts her head to the right curiously.

"Stuck?"

You nod.

"Venture is at the only exit...and we still have to find Test Tube!"

Pinkie nods, understanding what you were getting at, and sits back. You groan, looking back around to check on Venture. The stallion was eating a simple dinner at his table, and a few other costumed ponies sat around him, chatting away happily. You had your mask, but Pinkie would easily be recognized by Venture even with her costume. He'd inevitably ask about you, as you were with her, possibly jeopardizing the whole plan! You groan in frustration and annoyance.

"We'll have to wait until he clears out..."

Pinkie shakes her head, giggling.

"Don't worry! We still have one other way out!"

You raise an eyebrow, and turn to the mare.

"There's another way out?"

She nods, giggling.

"Look!"

She points at a small entrance to one of the mazes built for the Masquerade, and you read the sign above it.

"Luna's Labyrinth"

You realize the entrance was designed after princess Luna, and it was more than likely the rest of the maze did as well.
Before you could protest, Pinkie yanked you by your forehoof, and dragged you into the dark, mysterious pathway.
> Chapter 5: Luna's Labyrinth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stumble a bit as Pinkie drags you along the dark maze, and you look back at the maze entrance, the warm glow of the party fading as you were dragged along. You look at Pinkie Pie, who was still smiling excitedly as she bounced through the dimly lit streets, which were covered up and decorated to appear as the halls of a dungeon. Nervousness and uncertainty permeated your gut, as you couldn't recognize which street you were in because of the decor. Pinkie didn't seem fazed at all by this, as she was still bouncing as she always did, her usual smile plastered on her face.

You and the mare delved deeper into the maze for another half hour, and you finally put your hoof down and force the both of you to stop in another small corridor with red torches lined down the walls. "Pinkie, stop! We're lost!"

She tilted her head a little to the right, looking at you curiously. "We are?"

You nod, getting frustrated once again. "We've been running through this damned maze for over half an hour! We should go back to the entrance. Venture should be away from the other exit by now. It's obvious we won't find the maze exit in time to find the Professor!"

Pinkie giggles, shaking her head. "Silly, don't worry! My trusty Pinkie Sense can lead us out of this maze!"

Now it was your turn to tilt your head in curiosity. "Pinkie Sense?"

"Yep! It's when I get all these funny twitches and feelings on my body that predict the future!" She nodded like it was the surest idea in the world.

You paused for a moment to take this in, eventually hanging your head. "Are you even..."

"No, I'm not kidding you!” Pinkie declared with a grin. “My friend Twilight couldn't even figure it out. Whenever my tail twitches, it means something is going to fall! When my back gets all tingly, it means it's my lucky day! I even get combos, sometimes! It just works, so trust it!"

You sigh, adjusting the mask on your face. "Fine, fine....what does your Pinkie sense say about the exit?"

"No idea!"

"But....then how is it going to get us out of here?!" You look at her with a mixture of frustration, confusion, and disbelief.  

"I dunno! I can't control it; it just comes on its own!" Before you can argue with her further, Pinkie suddenly covers your mouth and pulls you around a corner. You give out a muffled yelp of a surprise, but she quickly shushes you, putting her poofy tail to her lips to emphasize. She peeks around the corner, and whispers "He's here...."

You groan in frustration, but this too was muffled by Pinkie's hoof. She calmly releases you, allowing you to look around the corner and see for yourself. Sure enough, there was Venture, wearing his mask and calmly strolling about the maze without a care in the world. You pull back around the corner, and whisper urgently to Pinkie. "Okay, NOW the entrance is blocked. What's the plan, miss sixth-sense?"

Pinkie rolls her eyes, and patted your head jokingly. "Silly! We move in the opposite direction until my Pinkie sense tells us where to go next!" You nod hesitantly, and ever so quietly, move away from Venture's direction down the corridor.

You took a moment to admire the decorated streets, amazed at how much they truly appeared as that of a dungeon. Luna's Labyrinth had a few decorations that referred to the princess it was based on, with stand-still robotic figures of Nightmare Moon, Luna's evil counterpart, appearing on occasion. Rather cheap to be honest, but most of it was pretty detailed. You remember Luna's Labyrinth was only a recent addition to the Masquerade, as another way of honoring Princess Luna's return to the kingdom. The Masquerade was first celebrated a few centuries after she was imprisoned within the moon, so this was actually the princess's very first Masquerade.

You let your mind wander into wondering how she was spending the Masquerade, while you walked along aimlessly with Pinkie Pie. Wait....hold on, where's Pinkie Pie?! You feel your heart skip several beats as you realize you were no longer walking along with the perky pink mare, and instead were completely on your own in the Labyrinth! You must've wandered away from her direction without realizing it while you let your thoughts wander! DAMMIT! Calm down, breathe, you can handle this.....this is no time to panic. You just have to retrace your steps, and seek out Pinkie Pie quickly before Venture finds you. You turn around, only to find yourself faced with three different corridors. You had no idea which one you just came out of.

Okay, so maybe this WAS the time to panic. You then begin running aimlessly through the maze, your breathing escalating as your panicked calls for Pinkie echo throughout the streets. Soon, you no longer care which direction you're going, your panic rising beyond common sense just as your heart rate ascended further.

"PINKIE?! PINKIE PIE?!" You cry out, stumbling blindly through the dimly lit streets. Your heart felt as if it would burst any moment, and every corridor you ran through looked just like the last.

You couldn't tell how far you ran, or how close you were to the exit, or even how long you've been lost. You had no clue where to go, or what to do. You just kept running, feeling the blood pound in your ears as your panicked cries grew more desperate by the second. Your hooves ached for a rest, but you pushed through, searching desperately for your only friend in this Celestia-forsaken party. Hardly an hour had passed before things went wrong! You never should have done this; you should've just stayed at home to rest and get back to earning bits. Hard work is the only way to get anywhere in this world!

As you galloped around a corner, your vision was blurred as you crashed into somepony else in the maze, sending you tumbling backwards. You grunted as you fell onto the solid concrete, your mask nearly having fallen off. You quickly adjusted it back to its original position before pulling yourself up, brushing off the dirt on your extravagant costume. You turned to whoever you had crashed into, set to apologize before you froze in place upon seeing his face.

Venture grunted as he pulled himself back up, brushing himself off. "Sorry about that... I heard somepony yelling, and I ran inside to see what was wrong," he pulled his mask back up and pulled it onto his face. "Were you the one yelling?"

Just perfect, you berated yourself. Your yelling had probably jeopardized your efforts completely! Now what were you going to do? The second you spoke, Venture would recognize your voice and everything would fall apart. You stood there, mouth agape as you struggled to figure out your next move. Good thing you wore a mask. Think, think...

Before Venture could question your sudden pause, you gave your response using the best Trottingham accent you could muster. "Ah, yes, I, uh, was looking for my, erm... date," your face burned underneath your mask as you said ‘date’. "She and I got separated in this bloody maze, and I was just calling for her."

That's it. You're officially screwed. There was no way in Tartarus that Venture was going to buy your offensive attempt at appearing like a visiting Trottingham citizen. You weren't able to read Venture's face through the mask, and as his pause drew on, you were about to apologize and reveal your face.

"Ah, I see! Maybe I can help out," Venture chuckled heartily, before you could say anything else. "Where were you two last together?"

As Venture walked up, you managed to hold back a surprised chuckle. You had no idea how or why Venture believed your wretched attempt at masking your voice, but then again you'd best not stare luck down. You gave a short cough and looked away.

"Well, uh, I really don't know..." you fidgeted with your front hooves, "I just ran through this place without thinking, honestly..."
Venture laughed gently. "Well, I'm sure she'll come up," he turned around and started walking off. "Come on, I'll show you the way out. We'll get somepony to help you find her."

You didn't necessarily want to stretch your luck in actually fooling Venture with your fake accent, but you did need to find a way out. Besides, Pinkie couldn't have gone too far. You'd be able to go look for her after you got out of this labyrinth.
As you trotted alongside Venture down the dimly lit road, the relaxed stallion turned to look at you. "So, what's your name? You're from Trottingham, I take it?"

You scratched the back of your head as you struggled to think up a fake name to give Venture. You certainly couldn't give him your real name, after all. "Erm... my name's Ember Topaz," you remembered the name of your old friend from high school. "And yes, I came down here from Trottingham. Bloody place was getting old, and I thought Ponyville ought to be an interesting place to go visit, especially during this famous Masquerade."

You didn't want to overdo your accent, but you couldn't forget to use it either. You felt a drop of sweat beginning to trickle down your spine, as you worried about how long Venture was going to try to chat with you.

The stallion grinned and gave a chuckle. "Nice to meetcha, Ember. I'm Venture. So, tell me about your date," he gave you a gentle nudge, eager for details. "What's she like? Is she from Trottingham too?"

You blushed underneath your mask once again and gave a nervous chuckle, trying to think of a possible description to give your "date". It's certainly possible Venture might run into Pinkie, so it was likely best not to lie too much about her.

"Well, she lives here inside Ponyville," You fiddled with one of your boots. "We were pen pals for a few months before the Masquerade, and we made plans to meet here during the Masquerade. A perfect opportunity, as we had both believed."

Venture smirked. "Well, that's fine and dandy, but what's she like? I live here in Ponyville too, maybe I know her?"

Before you could answer, Venture gave a grunt and moved on ahead, and you realized you both had finally reached the Labyrinth's exit. You gave a sigh of relief as you departed the structure to greet the welcoming lights and sounds of the Masquerade.

You saw this was a different location than where you entered the Labyrinth, and for once you were glad to be in the middle of a loud and obnoxious party. "Thanks for getting me out of there," you turned to Venture with a relieved smile behind your mask. "I'll be honest, being alone inside such a place isn't exactly settling."

"No problem!" Venture chuckled heartily. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends."

Uh oh. You couldn't come with Venture, you couldn't risk him somehow figuring out the truth. You needed to hurry and find Pinkie Pie, then try to find Professor Test Tube. You couldn't afford to waste any time!

"Ah, thanks for the offer, old chap," You took a nervous step back, trying to look nonchalant. "But I really ought to find my date. You know how mares are..."

You started to walk off, but froze as Venture put a hoof on your shoulder. "Oh, c'mon, man!" he groaned. "We'll find her, but this is just a party. Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends, and we'll all look for her together, alright? You'll find her a lot faster if more ponies are searching, after all!"

You held back a groan, knowing Venture's logic pretty much destroyed any excuse you could think up off the top of your head. You sigh and turn back to look at him. "Sure, I could use the help." You fake enthusiasm as Venture gave a wide grin.
"Alright! Let's go, we haven't all night!" Venture turned to lead you off. "Don't worry, we'll find her soon enough, Ember!"

As Venture turned and started to walk off towards the midway, you gave an exasperated sigh and followed closely behind. As you walked alongside your friend, you looked about the midway, getting your first good look at the games and lights set up for the Masquerade. You saw ring tosses and dunking games as usual, but you also noticed an outdoor bar with ponies drinking and laughing together and the sharp scent of alcohol made you wrinkle your nose. You pulled away from the small group, keeping close to Venture in hopes to avoid any possible confrontations with the drinking stallions.  

You turned to look at Venture, and you saw he was already heading off inside a nearby building. As you trotted forward to enter and follow him, you felt your heart skip when you recognized the building as Sugarcube Corner! The decorations around the restaurant had thrown you off for a second; they made the candy-themed building appear as an old-era Istalian restaurant. As you stepped closer to its walls you smelled fresh, dry paint emanating from the bakery. How the Cakes managed to give Sugarcube such a dramatic change in such a short period of time was beyond you.

You heard Venture call for you by the fake name you had given him, and you shrugged off your wonderings as you finally stepped inside.  As you passed the threshold, you found the interior had undergone a similar change, despite the familiar sweet smell of cupcakes throwing you off. The restaurant was packed with several groups of party-goers, and you cringed at the loud noises of clanging mugs and laughter. You walked around the tables to follow Venture, doing your best to keep up.
You hoped that Pinkie would come by Sugarcube Corner soon; there was no telling how long you could continue to fool Venture before you slipped up on your accent. Wishful thinking would only get you so far, but it was the most you could hope for at the moment.

Venture finally sat down at a small table crammed into a corner of the restaurant, sitting beside three other costumed ponies. You quickly took a seat on Venture's right, an uneasy feeling filling in your gut as the other ponies looked up from their meals as you sat. You gave each of them an awkward glance, and Venture placed his hoof upon your shoulder. "Guys, this is Ember. Ran into him inside Luna's Labyrinth!"

The first of the three ponies, a mare in a jester's outfit with navy blue fur, gave a snicker. "I assume he got lost?" She teased.

You frowned behind your mask and coughed, mentally reminding yourself of your alibi. "Yes, and I got separated from my date," you spoke in your false accent, your heart racing with worry as you kept focus on the accent. "I'm afraid I don't know where she's gone... "

Venture smirked. "And that's where we come in," he spoke to his three friends. "He'll give us a quick description, and we'll get on the move!"

Venture turned to you, and you began to internally panic as you struggled to think up a possible description for your "date" without getting Pinkie caught. You couldn't afford Venture trying to stick around with Pinkie Pie the whole night; that situation would only extend the amount of time you were going to spend around Venture, which would increase the possibility of you slipping up.

Finally, after what seemed to be forever, you quickly spoke. "She wears a long red dress... with, uh, ankle warmers the same color. She also had a pair of cat ears and a feline mask," You hoped desperately that none of them noticed you were pulling this description out of your tail. "Her fur's pure white, and her eyes are bright orange, as well as her mane with a green stripe." You bit your lip, hoping this description was enough to be believable.

The mare in the jester costume gave a short laugh. "Sounds like you scored with her!" She gave you a nudge, giggling.

The other ponies at the table chuckled in agreement, and Venture stood up with a grin. "Alright, guys! Let's get going! Can't let the love-birds be separated for too long tonight!" He teased.

The ponies gave another quick laugh, and they all stood up and headed on outside of Sugarcube Corner. You lingered behind, only to feel Venture's hoof on your shoulder. "C'mon, the group'll split up. They'll cover more ground that way, and we'll find her in a jiffy." He smiled assuringly.

You saw your golden opportunity and jumped for it in an instant. "Gotcha! I'll cover the fairgrounds around city hall!" You were about to head off, only for Venture to grab your shoulder once again and hold you back.

"I'll come along!" Venture grinned.  "Maybe we'll run into my step-dad, and he saw her somewhere nearby. I remember he was hanging around nearby there."

It took all you could muster to not give out a loud groan. Damn this persistent stallion! Why did he have such an interest in you? Wasn't it enough he already had his friends running around looking for a fake pony? You sighed and gave a reluctant nod. "Sure... I suppose I could use the help," you started off alongside Venture. "Let's hurry over, alright?"

You made a mental note to ditch Venture the second he wasn't looking. You knew it was rude, but you were getting desperate. You had already spent more than an hour separated from Pinkie, and you needed her help to find Test Tube!

Venture gave his three pony friends quick instructions on where in Ponyville to look, and you both were off towards City Hall. As you walked alongside your friend, you recognized many of the local ponies bustling about inside the town, mingling with the flood of visitors surrounding them. You saw a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane in a Wonderbolts costume racing around the sky with several other pegasi from around Equestria, and you saw a light-yellow filly with an Apple-red mane in a cute mobster outfit playing tag with a couple of her friends. You smiled gently at the sight of familiar ponies having a fun, innocent time at the Masquerade.

The Masquerade was usually set up mainly for older ponies, but it was a pleasant sight for you to see the Masquerade altered so younger ponies could enjoy themselves without any chemical influences. You remembered how many of your classmates from highschool used to drink, especially during gatherings like this.

You were suddenly pulled out of your thoughts as Venture gave an excited whoop. "There's my step-dad! C'mon, I'm certain he can help!" With that said, Venture grabbed your hoof roughly and dragged you towards the open doors of City Hall.

As you and Venture entered the building, you gave a sigh of relief as you found it had significantly less ponies than the previous buildings you had been in. You found a few ponies were lined up at the bathroom doors, some getting drinks from the fountain, and others taking a breather at the benches lined up against the walls. You were glad to be in here; even with Venture beside you, the lack of lights and obnoxious sounds were a refreshing change from the usual bustling crowd of the Masquerade.

Venture grinned and led you further down the hall, and you saw somepony in a rather unique costume chatting with some stallion in a Robin Hoof outfit. The pony sat inside a small wheelchair that had been given a few extra parts to give it the appearance of a race-car. He wore a race-driver's helmet, the visor tinted a darker shade to hide his face.

Venture grinned and led you over to him with a rather proud smirk on his face. "Ember, I'd like you to meet my step-dad!"

As the mention, the stallion in the rather awesome costume rolled up to face you. You heard a chuckle underneath the helmet, and he quickly pulled it off. "Ugh, stupid thing's so stuffy..." he looked up with a kind grin, and your heart skipped several beats as you instantly recognized his face. The stallion held out a hoof and chuckled.

"Pleased to meet ya, Ember. My name's Test Tube. Though, you can just call me Test."
> Chapter 6: Complications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stammered as you shook the hoof of one of your personal icons, still in shock over the fact that he was your friend's step-father. How could this be?

You managed to remind yourself of your alibi as you finally spoke. "Y-you're Professor Test Tube!" You could barely hold in your mix of excitement, nervousness, and fanboy joy. "I-I..."

Venture gave a loud, annoyed groan. "Oh, Celestia, it's Princess Twilight all over again..." He facehoofed.

The professor gave a merry laugh. "Venture, please, don't make a fuss," he turned to you with a smile. "So you've heard of me? Do you have an interest in Arcane Studies as well?"

You nodded rapidly, quickly stopping yourself so your mask wouldn't fall off. "Yes, sir! I-"

"No need to call me "sir", it's just Test."

You gulped and nodded, mentally berating yourself for calling the professor "sir". "Yes, erm,Test," it felt awkward for you to casually refer to your hero by his first name. "I've had an interest in studying magic since I was in middle school. I read your book ‘The Ethereal in a Walnut’, and I was blown away by your theories on the expulsion of magic from earth ponies!"

As you and the professor entered conversation over recent discoveries in the field of magic, you thought carefully about the situation you'd been thrust into. The professor was your friend's step-father, and now he too saw you by your alibi. You bit back a sigh as you realized how this made everything even more complicated. The professor thought you were some Trottingham stallion named Ember Topaz, and if you revealed your true self to him, it would mean revealing yourself to Venture. You'd lose Venture as a friend if he found out, and now it seemed there was no way to avoid it. Dear Celestia, now what're you going to do?

Suddenly, Venture walked up with a chuckle. "If you two are done chatting, there's something I need to ask ya, pa."

The professor frowned and nodded, rolling up with his wheelchair. "What is it, Venture?" He headed towards the exit.

Venture trotted alongside his stepfather, and you struggled to keep up. The stallion grinned as he spoke. "Ember here got lost in Luna's Labyrinth, and got separated from his date. A white mare in a red dress, I believe. Green eyes, orange mane. Am I right, Ember?"

You couldn't quite remember what description you had given him, but it sounded close enough. "Yeah, that's right." You nodded.

Venture smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I was right. Seen anypony fitting that description, pa?"

The professor gave a sigh and shook his head. "Apologies, but no, I'm afraid I haven't." He rolled out of City Hall and moved down the nearby concrete ramp, using it to get down onto the street.

You and Venture quickly followed, and you faked disappointment. "Aww. Oh well, perhaps I'll have better luck searching for her elsewhere then?" You had to get away from these two for just a little bit, at the very least, so you could have some peace and quiet to figure out what you were going to do next.

Venture grinned widely and tapped your shoulder, pointing towards the Ponyville outskirts. You remembered that that was where the Masquerade rides were set up, due to the outskirts' fairly flat landscape. You saw several towering machines, such as the Skyscreamer roller coaster, the Rainboom drop, and the Brainshambler Ferris Wheel. You felt queasy at the very sight of them.

Venture gave a smirk and turned to face you. "I say we go on one of those famous rides! C'mon, Ember, it's not too long a walk!" With that, Venture headed off, pulling you in tow.

Seriously, what was with ponies these days dragging you around by your hooves?
You protested against Venture's decision as he dragged you along, desperately trying to get him to let go. Despite your efforts, he constantly replied with "Relax, it'll be fun! You'll thank me later!"

The professor rolled alongside the two of you, chuckling at the conflict quietly.
Soon enough, the three of you reached the outskirts, and you all stopped in front of the Rainboom Drop. You craned your neck to view the top of the ride, butterflies in your stomach. You couldn't believe the height of the monstrosity, you swore it was reaching up to Luna's Moon. The line leading up to the ride was several yards long, and a sign at the very back of the line said the wait was about thirty minutes. Venture ran over to the end of the line, and you sighed reluctantly as you joined him. You gulped as you heard the screams of the ponies falling with the ride, the fear building up inside of you becoming unbearable. Finally, you pulled back. "Sorry Venture, but uh, I'm no fan of these kinda things..." you quickly leapt away before Venture could pull you back, sitting back with the Professor.

Venture groaned with annoyance. "Oh, come on! It's not that big of a deal!"

You shook your head rapidly, rooted to your spot. "I'm sorry, Venture, but I can't do this. I can't go on one of those things..."

Venture rolled his eyes and sighed, moving forward in line. "Alright then, have it your way. Have fun sitting by the sidelines." With that, he continued moving up in line, vanishing from your sight as more ponies joined the line.

You sighed, and turned to the Professor, smiling underneath your mask. Finally, you had your first chance to just chat alone with your idol! You didn't think it'd be this easy, but here you were!

Now you just had to just impress him with your knowledge of his field and be as charismatic as possible. If that would even work.

You opened your mouth to speak, but you were stopped dead in your tracks when the professor suddenly jolts up, pulling out a small phone from a pocket inside his wheelchair. He sighs and turns to you. "Apologies, Ember, but the princesses require my assistance. It was a pleasure to meet you!"

Before you could respond, Test Tube rolled away in his wheelchair, pulling on his racing helmet as he vanished into the crowd. You groaned and stood up, kicking a nearby stone in frustration. Dammit, you were that close! You were so close to your goal; now you've lost him again!

Relax, it's not that big of a deal, you told yourself. You knew what costume the professor wore, so it wouldn't be too tough to try to find him again. You still had another six and a half hours until the Masquerade ended!

You stood up and stretched, heading off towards the nearest water fountain. Your mouth was as dry as a desert from your long chat with the Professor earlier. As you moved along, you noticed a few ponies glancing at your costume, a somewhat impressed look on their faces. You tried to ignore them as you reached the fountain and began to drink, silently hoping your costume wasn't attracting any more attention. You hated it when you caught the eyes of others around you, even when they were impressed; it made you nervous and feel like a show-off.

As you wiped off your lip after the refreshing drink, you turned around only to suddenly face a violently pink blur tackle you into the dust, nearly knocking away your mask. You cried out as you came tumbling down, cushioning the fall of the pink mare. You heard Pinkie's wild giggle as she bounced back up and sat on your chest, peering down at you with her wide, blue eyes. "Found yooou!"

You looked back up at Pinkie, your own eyes wide with surprise at her appearance. "P-Pinkie! Where did you come from? Where in the hay have you been!?"

As you looked upon Pinkie, you realized she now wore a green dress designed to look like alligator scales, despite being clearly fake. She had a strange hood for the dress pulled down at the back, and you swore you saw a gator snout sticking out from it.
Pinkie grinned widely at your questions, and took a deep breath before starting to speak. "Well, I was following my Pinkie sense when you disappeared, and then I smelled chimichangas, and I followed the smell until I reached the exit and started nomming on all the chimichangas I could eat then I ran into Applejack and we started having an apple dunking competition I won of course and won this gator costume that reminded me of Gummy then I realized you were still missing and started searching the whole town for you and then I saw you walking around with Venture and waited until you were bothseparatedbeforetacklehuggingyou—“ She cut herself off, taking another enormous breath. “—asIhadjustafewminutesagoandstartedexplainingsohereIam!"

Your back ached from the crash, and thanks to the mach speed explanation you now had a headache. You decided not to think too hard on figuring out what Pinkie had said and pulled yourself up, adjusting your mask and dusting off your now dirtied costume. "I'm just glad I found you again. Venture-"

"Oh, really?" Pinkie gave a sly grin, leaning in.

You stopped in your tracks for a second and gulped, feeling the skin under your mask grow warm. "Y-you know what I meant, Pinkie. Anyways, I need you to listen. I ran into Venture while we were separated, and..." you got into a quick, brief explanation of what you had been doing while they were separated, about how you had fooled Venture with your false identity and met his step-dad, who turned out to be Test Tube himself.  

Pinkie nodded, thinking for a moment before grinning. "No problem! I know where we can find a map of the whole festival! All we have to do is scope the place out for your professor! Just leave it to Pinkie!"

Before Pinkie could dash away this time, however, you quickly grabbed her hoof. "Wait! Pinkie! We can't get separated again. The Masquerade is too big for us to coincidentally find each other again. Besides, what'll you do if Venture sees you? Surely, he'll try to tag along with his friend!"

Pinkie suddenly pulled up her hood and over her head, revealing it was a zip-up hood as she masked herself. "Nanananana... GATORMARE! He'll never be the wiser!"

You couldn't help but crack a grin at Pinkie's costume, amused by her solution. "Okay... if we're both playing dress-up, I don't think we'll get caught. But even if we get a map of the Masquerade, how is it gonna help? It's not like it's gonna show us where Venture and the professor are."

"Nope! But it offers the next best thing!" Pinkie grins. "The festival events schedule! You said the professor left to help the princesses, right? So we'll just go to the next event they'll be participating in! He'll be there with them!"

Your eyes lit up with excitement, and you gave Pinkie a tight hug, lifting her in the air and spinning around with glee. "That's perfect!" You cheered, quickly putting her down and pulling away from her. "Alright... time isn't our friend here, so where do we get the map and schedule?"

Pinkie took a moment in silence, and you couldn't see her face under the gator hood while it was zipped up. Before you could open your mouth to speak again, however, Pinkie suddenly jolted up, bouncing with her usual energy. "O-oh, I know where we'll get it! Just follow me!" With that, she darted off, and for once you wished she had been dragging you along.

You quickly ran through the crowd, careful not to crash into anypony while struggling to keep up with your date. You ignored the protests of the ponies you passed, focusing only on keeping up with Pinkie. You could still see the gator hood bouncing up and down among the crowd, the snout flopping irregularly with it.

As you kept moving, you suddenly slipped and fell forward, tripping over the hooves of a pony to your left. As your body met the ground, you weren't able to prevent yourself from faceplanting against the concrete sidewalk, and as your head collided with the ground, you heard a loud snap that rang around the immediate vicinity for all to hear.
You groaned and sat yourself back up, rubbing your sore face. Good thing it had been cushioned by the mask. Wait...

You looked back down at the ground, and you found the mask lay where you had fallen, broken into two.

Before you could even react to your sudden disaster, you heard a familiar voice behind you carry a worried undertone.

"You alright, kid? You took quite the fall there."

You pulled down your hood over your face as much as you could, anxiety wracking your gut. Of all the unlucky situations where you ran into your Uncle, it had to be when your mask broke.

Thoughts rapidly darted in and out of your head, your only strategy while you panicked was to keep your face hidden from your Uncle. You felt your mouth go dry, and you stiffened as you felt his hoof grab your shoulder.

"Hey, you okay? What's wrong? Lemme see if you broke anything."

You felt him exert force against your shoulder to try and get you to turn around, and you instinctively yanked away and grabbed both pieces of the mask, before just flat out bolting.  Adrenaline from the fear of being discovered by somepony who knew you filled your bloodstream, and you ran off in the general direction of Pinkie Pie. At least, where you thought she was. You stopped at a bench and sat down, looking down at the broken mask in your hooves. Perfect. Just perfect. What were you gonna do now? Without a mask to hide your face, it'd be even easier for you to be caught by Venture or Uncle!

You looked up carefully, keeping your hood down as you scanned the area for Pinkie Pie's gatorhead. Your heart fluttered when you saw her hopping away from a small concessions stand, a folded piece of paper held in her costume's snout. You quickly got up and shoved both pieces of the broken mask into the interior of your costume, galloping towards her and stopping her in her tracks. "Pinkie... we... I need your help..." you gasped for air, still exhausted from your fleeing.  

Pinkie gave a childish giggle, pulling out a map as she unzipped her hood. "Got the map! Hope you're- wait. Where's your mask?"

You sighed and reached into your costume, pulling out the broken pieces of the mask. Pinkie gave her signature gasp and suddenly dragged you into the nearest alleyway, doing her best to keep your face hidden from passing ponies. "How'd you break your mask?!"

You gave a brief explanation as to what had happened when you had tripped while trying to keep up with her, and about your unfortunate encounter.

Pinkie suddenly looked down as you finished your explanation, guilt spread across her face. "I'm sorry... "

You were taken aback, confused by the sudden apology. "Sorry? What in Equestria for?"

Pinkie looked back up, suddenly smiling brightly. At that same instant, she suddenly dashed off into the crowd, moving rapidly as she yelled, "WAIT THERE!"

You almost instinctively ran after her, but you gave a sigh and sat back in the alley, waiting as she had said. What in Equestria was with this mare?

You began to grow impatient while you waited for her, but sat back and took the time to take in your surroundings. This area was set up to be some kind of food court for the Masquerade, stables set up for ponies to sell all kinds of junk food and drinks. There was also a small gift shop just a few yards away, a few young ponies looking around curiously. The crowd here wasn't as thick as the rest of the town, but it was still busy enough to get lost in. You only hoped Pinkie wouldn't get lost in it herself.

Suddenly, you saw the familiar gatorhead bouncing around over the top of the heads of the crowd, and you gave a short sigh of relief as Pinkie returned. Before you could ask what she had been doing, she snatched the mask pieces and pulled out a small bottle of superglue, quickly setting the sticky adhesive and pushing the pieces together. "Now I just hold it here for twenty seconds..."

You couldn't help but smile gratefully at Pinkie, knowing she had just saved you a load of trouble in grabbing the superglue. Come to think of it, this wasn't the only time she had saved your flank from trouble. She gave you the fun lessons to help you blend in the crowd, got Rarity to hook you up with the incredible costume, not to mention her quick thinking helped you improvise your plan after losing the professor.  You began feeling guilty of all the times you had tried to avoid her, for considering her a nuisance until you needed her. And she still helped you out after all that.

Pinkie smiled as she finished holding It together, putting the repaired mask into your hooves. "There we go! Good as new!"

You smiled thankfully and paused a moment, before leaning in and giving Pinkie a tight hug. "Thanks, Pinkie. For everything. You've been a great help."

Pinkie stiffened in your grasp, and you noticed her breathing grow shallow for a moment. "Of course... it's been no... no problem!" She returned the hug happily, and after a few moments you realized you were letting the hug linger. Feeling that familiar warmth spreading across your face, you quickly put on the repaired mask in the middle of the hug, eventually pulling away. The mask still fit you relatively well, but the ridge of dried glue that ran over the broken crack dug slightly into your skin, but not enough to be noticeable.

You smiled beneath your mask and turned to Pinkie, who suddenly pulled out the map of Ponyville's Masquerade set-up. "Lookie here, we got the events, the entire town's set up, we may as well be pegasi in the sky!" She smiled excitedly, moving over a bit to let you look. You were surprised by how much the Masquerade had going on all over the town, recognizing many of the decorated locations, from the streets that had become Luna's Labyrinth to the outskirts turned Fairgrounds, where you had escaped Venture while he had been lining up for the rides earlier. You also found many other unique set ups around the town's hot spots, including Sweet Apple Acres getting set up as a smaller Fairground for fillies and colts, the local pavilion set up as the dancefloor for the traditional Masquerade dances, due to its flatter landscape, and the Midway, where Venture had gotten you out of Luna's, was set up not too far from where you were, the entirety of it set up along Manestreet.

You looked over the events set for the night and felt yourself grow dizzy from all the different things planned by different groups, some going on at the same time as others. All kinds of things were set, from a hoofbag race by the farm, to a super-concert featuring multiple popular bands, and even a special star-watching event out over by an open meadow in the outskirts, a ways away from the rides taking up most of the immediate vicinity.

Pinkie suddenly pointed her hoof at one of the events, grinning excitedly. "Look! The princesses are going to be attending the Everfree Scavenger Hunt! That looks like a lot of fun!"

You turned the paper quickly to look over the event's description, seeing that all the princesses were attending as referees, including Princess Twilight. If you were lucky, the reason the princesses needed the professor's help was because it had something to do with the Scavenger Hunt.

You give a brief nod, folding up the map and tucking it into your nearest pocket. "Alright, Pinkie, we're going to the Scavenger Hunt. But we're not going to play, okay? We never know if we might be wrong, and the professor turns out to not have anything to do with this."

Pinkie groaned, leaning back anxiously. "Oh, come on! Its a Scavenger Hunt! Can't we play for just a little bit?"

"Ugh..." you gave a low groan, thinking it over. Pinkie had been a huge help in the last few days, especially in the last couple of hours. You turned to the map in thought, seeing the hunt was taking place in the Everfree's edge, the safest part of the forest. It could be fun, but you couldn't let yourself get distracted...

After a few moments of debate, you finally caved when Pinkie started giving you puppy-dog eyes. Her wide blue eyes seemed to stare into your soul, begging for just a few minutes of playtime... Gah, screw it. "Alright, alright, fine, we'll play the darn hunt..." You sighed, hoping you wouldn't regret the small waste of time.

Pinkie, on the other hoof, immediately cheered and zipped up her gatorhood. "Hurray! Let's go, it starts in ten minutes!" With that, she grabbed your hoof, and quickly she dragged the two of you at record speed towards the meeting spot by the Everfree, while you struggled to warn her not to attract any attention. Your uncle had already seen your costume, if you ran into him he'd certainly try to figure out why you had bolted. Despite your warnings, Pinkie constantly assured you wouldn't be caught as she led you along, her path of choice annoyingly lengthy and elaborate, and by the time you two actually reached the clearing, you could hear somepony was already a few minutes into their speech.  Finally, she released your hoof, stopping a few yards away from the gathering group of ponies near the small stage set-up, and you saw the announcing pony was none other than Princess Cadence herself, the shine of her artificial knight's armor glinting in the moonlight.

You and Pinkie set yourselves up near the edge of the crowd, close enough to listen but far enough not to be noticed. You saw Princess Celestia was only a few feet behind Cadence on the stage, accompanied by four guards as they all listened politely. You didn't quite pay attention to what was being said, more curious as to why Luna wasn't with her sister. You could see many creative costumes, from panthers to robots, and from television characters to mock celebrities, but you could see neither the professor's racing helmet nor the princess of the night among the sea of heads that was wedged between you and the stage. You turned to Pinkie, who was silently listening to the speech, and whispered into her ear. "I can't see the professor anywhere around here, Pinkie... I think we might have misjudged."

Just as you spoke, you were surprised when Cadence had suddenly ended her speech and stepped back off the stage, and the genius himself rolled up from backstage, pulling off his helmet as he accepted the mic Cadence offered. "Hello, my little ponies! As Princess Cadence just said, this scavenger hunt won't be any pushover!"

You gave a grin at the sight of him, but you quickly turned to Pinkie as she suddenly bounced. She squealed in excitement, shaking you a bit. "Oooh, this scavenger hunt looks so fun! I can't wait!"

Before you could correct Pinkie that their goal was to join the professor, Test Tube continued his speech. "This scavenger hunt is a free for all, but you can work in pairs! Keep in mind, while the lists may be short, each item will be difficult to find! You all have one hour to collect, and if you and your partner succeed in collecting everything on the list and bringing it to Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and myself, the referees, then you'll win one of the Grand Baskets!" He stepped back and allowed Celestia to show off the basket prizes lined up on the table behind them.

As the princesses took over the stage and allowed the professor to sit back at the referee table, Pinkie was bouncing with excitement, quivering with the energy of a shaken bottle of soda pop.  You eventually lost your patience and shook Pinkie's shoulder, finally grabbing her attention. "Pinkie! I know you're really excited about this whole Scavenger hunt, but we don't have the time for it. We came to find the professor, remember? I don't have an hour to spare, if I'm going to have any chance of impressing him."

Pinkie groaned, disappointment in her eyes. "But... we've been at the Masquerade for hours now, and we haven't participated once in anything around here! Can't we do just one fun thing? Together? Pleeeeaaase? You already said we could!"

You frowned and shook your head, knowing you had to stand your ground. "I can't risk getting separated again from the professor, Pinkie. We were lucky it turned out he was at this event..."

You began to trail off as Pinkie gazed at you with wide, pleading eyes, begging. "You said we could, though..."

You mumbled the rest of your protest, but guilt started to fill you in the core as her unrelenting gaze froze your lips. Here was a party animal, at the greatest party of all time, and here you were depriving her of her own fun. No! You can't back down. You're so close to your goal, you can't give it up now!

But what would you do next, hm? How do you plan to impress the professor? And even if you did, how would that improve your chances of getting into Coltminister? And how would one hour of fun with the mare who got you this far do any harm?

No. You need to use your time effectively! You know how damaging time wasting can be to your goals! Remember the last time you let others pull you into this limbo? Remember what you told your own uncle? The temptation is too great to... But it's just an hour of scavenger hunting. It’s not anywhere near like the situation you were in last. Besides, you already said you would. You can't back out after that. The professor himself is one of the referees. This could help out immensely in the long run.

Finally, you caved in. "Alright, we can-"

The next thing you know, you hear Pinkie's excited squeal as she tackled you in a flurry of pink, giving you a peck on the cheek. "YAY! C'mon, we'll work as a pair! Let's grab our list!" With that, you were pulled back onto your hooves, still in a daze. Did that all just happen? Did Pinkie actually...

Before you could ponder further on the subject, Celestia sat at the referee table and Cadence had the stage once again. "Remember, everypony, this is just a game! Everypony participating will still win at least one of the Small Baskets, and this whole game is set up to be a fun challenge. The lists are all unique, so it's up to you and your partner, if you have one, to find your own items! You'll find the lists set up on the table over there! Good luck, and have fun!" With that, Cadence stumbled back over to the referees’ table, the armor hindering her movement.

As the crowd of ponies started grabbing their lists from the table, Pinkie hopped away and into the crowd, eventually coming out with a list in mouth. She quickly hopped over and sat before you, putting the list down and spreading it out for the both of you to see.
Pinkie grinned as she began reading it aloud before you could look for yourself. "It says we have to find two apples, at least a gram of any pewter object, a plastic crown, a blue plant, a baseball, and a red tie. This is gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie giggled as she looked up at you from the list. "Don't you think?"

You looked back at Pinkie and shrugged indecisively, for once unsure of what you thought. "I... guess... I'm not really sure."

Pinkie smiled and put her hoof around your shoulder, giggling. "Remember my lessons? Always try something new! You'll never know what you like until then!"

You paused and sighed, knowing there was a grain of truth there. "What're we waiting for, then?"

Pinkie grinned happily and bounced away, for once moving at a pace you could match. "I know where we can find the apples, easy-peasy! Follow me!"

As you followed Pinkie across the flat landscape of the Ponyville outskirts, you took this time to enjoy the sights, looking out at Ponyville from the outskirts. The lights danced in the moonlight, the sounds of the festival in your ears. You saw the Rainboom Drop towering over the whole town, the decorative lights dancing along its structure. Suddenly, the machine finished bringing its riders to its peak, and you shuddered as their screams met your ears as they fell. No way would you ever get on that thing.

As you brought your attention back to Pinkie Pie, you saw that Sweet Apple Acres wasn't too far away now, the landscape around the farm set up as the miniature fairground for fillies and colts described on the map. You could detect the faint scent of caramel and warm cider as you approached, your hooves sinking slightly into the fertile ground around the farm. You could hear the laughter of the young ponies playing around the farmland, noticing a small roller coaster specifically for younger ponies in action. There were games and laughter everywhere around you, from an apple-bobbing game to a paintball targeting ring; everything a young filly or colt could want out of a celebration. As you and Pinkie walked past the childish games and attractions, and towards the farmhouse in the middle of it all, the wind rustled your cape and the apple trees nearby. You turned to Pinkie and nodded in understanding. "I gotcha. We're gonna borrow two apples from Granny Smith, right?"

To your surprise, Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! Not exactly!"

You stood there, confused as you stumbled a bit forward. "Uh... what do you mean by ‘not exactly’, then?"

Pinkie grinned as she hopped away into the farmhouse, giggling. "You'll see! C'mon!"
You walked on inside beside Pinkie, worry and stress starting to take its toll. You knew that you'd get to have an excuse to talk with the Professor again after this, but you still felt something was nagging at the back of your mind, as if you had forgotten something and a part of you was trying to remind you of it. Yet no matter what, it couldn't be done...
You shook your head and pushed the feeling into the back of your mind, looking over the farmhouse interior. You found the farmhouse was just as large on the inside as well as outside, lanterns lit and hanging from its ceiling over the ponies below.

You saw the building was set up with several makeshift attractions. In one corner, you saw several fillies were playing in a fairly large ball pit, the colored spheres occasionally bouncing out and rolling into a corner. At the very end of the farmhouse, a concession stand was set up, a large, red stallion with a split green apple for a cutie mark attending it. He seemed to be selling apple-themed foods and desserts, as well as souvenirs. At the very center of the farmhouse, there was empty space except for an old-fashioned radio on a stool, playing Cotton-Eye Joe. This was where most of the partying in the farmhouse took place, and many costumed visitors dancing to the rhythm of the music. At the corner nearest to you, chairs and tables were set near a water fountain, a place of rest for the tired dancers.

Suddenly, you felt Pinkie place a hoof on your chest, stopping in place. "Wait here and I'll go get my friend! Don't go anywhere; I'll be back in a minute!"

You nodded at Pinkie and sat yourself down on a wooden chair in the resting area, watching as Pinkie hopped away towards the concessions stand to talk with the large red stallion.

As you waited patiently for Pinkie to return, you watched the dancing ponies with intrigue as the song played on loop. None of them seemed to get tired of it until the last second, when they were gasping and gulping down a drink in the resting area. Ponies smiled and laughed as they danced with their partners all around, and you had to wonder how such erratic and chaotic movements could appeal to anypony. As you watched silently, you noticed a mare in a jester's costume dancing around the radio with the others, doing a strange dance. She seemed to be mimicking the movements of some sort of bird, her navy blue fur and mane moving in flow with her dance. Wait...

You froze in place as you realized you recognized the mare as one of Venture's friends, who had been sent on a wild goose chase for your false date! If she saw you with Pinkie, it could ruin everything!

You quickly got up from your seat and started heading for the door, trying to hide in the crowd of ponies that were walking in and out of the farmhouse, quickly getting outside. You had to find someplace to hide out at until Pinkie noticed you were gone and got out of the farmhouse. You quickly ran towards the nearby apple orchard, stopping by a nearby tree. The hill you were on let you get a good view of the farmhouse, and you'd easily be able to pick out a bobbing gator head among the ponies.

As you waited quietly in the orchard, you noticed there were a few other ponies moving about among the trees. Some were couples trying to get some privacy, others having a midnight picnic of sorts, and some just hanging around. You didn't care necessarily, as your focus was on the farmhouse for Pinkie Pie. But you'd soon regret ignoring the nearby ponies.

As you were camping out at the hilltop, you heard the sounds of hoofsteps coming up behind you, and your blood froze as panic and anxiety took you.

It was your Uncle, dressed up as some sort of doctor as you now saw. You cringed as he looked down at you. "Hey, I remember you. Back over near the concessions stand. You fell over yourself and ran away when I tried to help. Why'd you do that?"

Why. Why does Lady Luck despise you so much. Out of the quarter million ponies at this insane celebration, you had to come across your own damn Uncle twice?! Calm down, think, you can get out of this... You felt your mouth beginning to go dry as you fought to speak, your anxiety from possibly getting discovered getting the better of you.

Suddenly, you realized you were only standing there, Uncle looking at you expectantly.
Curse your weakness. You quickly spun around and found yourself trying to flee from your uncle once again as you sped through the apple orchard, stumbling over yourself. The costume Rarity made for you, as great as it looked, was not something to be galloping in.

Suddenly, as a final spit from karma, you tripped over your cape and ran face first into the trunk of an apple tree. Your vision began to blur as you looked up at the night sky, fully aware the glue on your mask had been shaken loose and allowed the pieces to fall apart.  You gave a low moan as the pain spread over your forehead, and through the blur you could see your Uncle's concerned face as he bent over you. "Why do you always run from your problems, boy?"

You could only groan as darkness surrounded your vision, a warm liquid trickling down your face.