> Masks
>  by Free2424
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	My body was screaming, but alas, I needed to get up. I put my hands on the grass and got into a sitting position. Grass? I fell asleep on my bed, didn’t I? Where am I? I remember thinking, desperately searching for a landmark or something to figure out where I was.

I regained my composure and got my bearings. I was in a dark and kinda creepy forest. The sun — which was at its zenith — shone through the canopy beautify. However, as I looked farther into the forest, all I saw were shadows: a shiver went down my spine.

I searched the area for any of my belongings. There wasn't much. I was wearing my usual clothes, a blue and dark blue stripped polo shirt, black lose track pants, black socks, and black slip-on shoes. Wait, where’s my wallet?  I patted myself down, checking all the pockets until I concluded that it was gone. Well, I should have expected that.

My archery equipment was also on the ground next to where I was laying. It included a wooden long bow and a quiver that included 20 spear head hunting arrows. I can defend myself at least. I thought.

I slung the quiver over my back and strung my bow, holding it with an arrow at the ready. I think it’s time to figure out where I am. Then, I started walking further into the forest. For every step I took, the forest seemed to get darker. Wow, this place is freaking creepy... Reminds me of Slender. I stopped and looked around shakily. Why the fuck do I think of these things at the worst possible time?!

I walked for a very long time, scared out of mind. I was beginning to lose hope of getting out of there, until I found the edge of the forest and emerged from the darkness. I was thankful that I had not encountered big... or tall and white. Thankfully, the sight in front of me took my mind off of the forest.

I stood on the edge of a 'kingdom'. That's the only word that comes to mind when I need to describe it. 'Kingdom'. It was something out of the medieval era. Houses made of wood, stone and hay lined the many streets. And to top it all off, a massive castle with dark blue roofs and a wall surrounding it was at the head of the town.

To say that I was relieved would have been an understatement. It was a weird, but better than nothing. 
However, my happiness only lasted so long. I went to the first house and knocked. When no answer came, I knocked again, a little more frantically.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?” I went over to a window and peeked inside. The house was barren of any life. Damn, I thought, well there’s got to be people in the other houses. I checked the next house up the road and it gave the same results. So, I checked the next five houses and got the same result. I checked the entire town — the entire town — and still, nothing.

This place is a ghost town. It’s just one creepy thing after another, isn't it? I turned to the castle as the sun cast a red glow over the land and it, giving it an eerie shadow. Yes, yes it is.





I've been staying at the castle, cleaning it up and repairing it where ever I can. Surprisingly, the castle is in relatively good condition, as well as its contents. Books, beds, bows, arrows, swords, shields, anything medieval, it has it. The only weird thing is that there are bits and pieces of modern technology like toilets and sinks.

Also, there are rooms in this castle that don’t really fit. For example, there are the “Music room” and the “Commons room”. The Music room is filled with instruments, ranging from a grand piano to an electric guitar. The guitar however, doesn't seem to need electricity or an amplifier. You just turn it on and play. On the other hand, the Commons room is not that strange, it just feels misplaced. It includes a couch, some cushioned chairs, a coffee table, a fire place, and some book shelves filled with books.

I've been here a week, staying in (what I believe to be) the kings room. I might as well sleep in style, right? The room has a king sized bed with blue and purple sheets. In fact, the room seems to be based around the colour blue. The ceiling is a royal blue while the walls and curtains are a lighter blue. The only things that aren’t blue are the stone floor, a glass door that leads to a balcony, the furniture, and the bathroom.

For the issue of food, all the food I found in the castle is rotten; as a result I’ve been gathering fruits and hunting. However, there is no suitable place to refrigerate the meat, so I have to eat it on the same day that I kill it. For water, there is a river nearby, but the castle has plumbing. I know it’s weird, but I'm not questioning it, it helps. There's also extra clothing, but that not very important. There are mostly tunics and silk pants, but I found a nice cloak.

I started this journal to organize my thoughts and to keep me sane. I don’t plan exploring really far out into the forest until I get some hint as to where I am. The 'where am I' question is still bothering me though. The medieval setting is a little strange, but the contents in the books here are the same. They talk of mythological creatures as if they were real! To list a few, unicorns, pegasi, dragons, hydras, etc. They even give diagrams of the autonomy! At least they can entertain me if I get bored.

If anybody finds this journal, my name is Dalton. I'm twenty-two years old, and I'm freaking right the hell out.

> Chapter 2 - Companionship
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It’s the end of week two and I think I've already gone insane. So much for this journal.

I guess I'll start with the manticore. I spotted it the day after I wrote the last journal. I was trekking through the forest, gathering food, and I saw it before it saw me (thank god) and I managed to hide behind some bushes.

It was at least 8–9 feet tall, with a lion body, bat wings, and a scorpion tail. In other words, it was how it's described in mythology! 

When I got back to the castle, I argued with myself for about two hours on whether or not I was hallucinating. When I decided I wasn’t, it got me thinking: if manticores are real, then what about the other creatures in the books that are in this castle?

Little did I know, my answers would come the next day.





I was practicing archery with my bow and a hay target I found laying around the castle armory. I consider myself good, but compared to professionals, I’m so-so. Anyway, I had been practicing for some time and was quickly getting tired. I was about to stop, when I herd screaming!

"HELP!" it sounded like a girl. I stopped what I was doing and quickly got to the castle wall, running up the stairs on to the wall, at the same time arming my bow. I looked around to find the source of the screaming, it didn't take long.

Standing with their sides to me, were three scaled figures. All of them were bipedal. 

The one on the left was around 6-7 feet tall, and had dark red scales, with lighter red scales from his head to his tail. Did I mention it had wings too? It had a long sword and kite shield and looked... Scared?

The one on my right had black scales, with dark green scales running from its head to its tail. This one was slightly taller than the red one and it too had wings. The creature was holding a dagger and the last creature by the neck.

The third creature was about half the size of the other two, so about 3-4 feet tall. It had dark blue scales with light blue scales running from head to tail (I'm noticing a trend here). This one was un-armed and desperately trying to escape the black lizard’s grasp.

"Let her go, she has nothing to do with this!" The red one spoke. To say that I was surprised would be the understatement of the year.

Okay, I thought to myself, the red one is a guy judging by his voice, the blue one is the girl who screamed, and the black one, judging by his body’s build, is also a guy.

"She helped you escape; therefore she's a traitor to the king!" the black one said. Wow, I was right! I thought, Lucky guess I guess. Wait, what was that about a king?

"She's only ten! You can't sentence her for treason!" The red one argued. 

"You know better than anyone that traitors cannot go unpunished!" The black one spat back. He started to raise the dagger and I raised my bow in response. Easy shot, I thought, I just need to hit his temple, without hitting her.

"Stop!" The red one pleaded.

"Why should I?" The black one responded.

"The king has been acting strange ever since he found that mask, and you know it!" 

"That does not matter! The king’s orders are final, and treason is punishable by death!"

Blindly following orders to kill a little girl without question, this prick needs to be taught a lesson. I pulled back on the string. It’s just like hunting. I needed for there to be no wind to push the arrow in mid-flight. I held my breath and started counting seconds.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Now!

I released the string, and sent the arrow flying. I hit dead on target.

The black creature dropped the girl and she ran off to the red lizard. The black creature stood for a couple of seconds, letting blood run down his neck and across his body, before falling to his knees and then to the ground. His blood started to pool around him.

Now, I've seen a lot of killing in my life, whether it is in movies, video games, or hunting, but killing a sentient being shocked me quite a bit. I regained my composure and started towards the wall’s gate. I usually close the gate whenever I'm at the castle and vice versa, so they couldn’t get in without flying.

I opened the gate and put an arrow on my bow, just in case. I got into a position where I could peak around the corner without being too noticeable. When I peeked from my hiding spot, I locked eyes with the red one for about a second, and then quickly pulled back into my spot. Well, I thought, so much for being sneaky.

"Show yourself, creature!" The red one said. I thought about his command and came to the conclusion that I could shoot him if he tried to kill me. As I step out into the open, the creature's eyes widen. He quickly regained his composure and got into a battle ready stance.

Oh? This is interesting. Judging by his reaction, he's never seen anything like me before. He could easily over power me if he were to reach me. That means humans aren’t seen very often and/or aren’t very heard of. Meh, it's not like it would be any different from my life on earth... I thought. On the other hand, there were no big lizard things walking around with swords and shields! I started to approach the creature.

"Who and what are you!" The big red lizard thing said. I said nothing as I approached. I just needed to be calm, cool, and...

*Trip*

"Gah!"

...fall flat on my face. I instantly heard something running towards me. Well... I'm dead.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" I heard the girl say. I mentally fist pumped.

"Judith, get away from it! It's dangerous!" I heard the male one say.

"Lea, look at is arrows! He's the one who saved me!" Judith said. She pointed to the arrows in my quiver and to the body, to emphasize her point. Then, she proceeded to help me up.

"Thanks, and yes, I'm okay," I replied, getting up while doing so. Silence followed soon after. Curious as to why it was silent, I looked up, and found them with their mouths agape.

"Y-you can s-speak?! A-and in equestrian?!" Lea asked in shock. Judith was in this situation as well. "W-what are you?" She breathed.

"I'm a human, but I could ask you to the same question," I responded.

"We're dragons," Judith stated "but that's impossible! Humans are myths!"

"Ha! That ironic because dragons are myths where I come from."

"And where exactly, do you come from?" Lea said.

“I, uh...” I didn't really want to tell them because it would require explanations that I didn't have. "Does it really matter? I'm here now." Lea looked at me suspiciously. I couldn't blame him. I mean, if I met a myth in my world, I would freak out and probably kill it.

"Sorry, it's just that we've never seen anything like you before,” Judith explained.

"It’s fine..." then something struck me as odd. Their eyes were the same colour: a dark green. "Are you two siblings?" They both were taken back.

"Nobody has ever guessed that! How did you know?!" Judith exclaimed.

"Just a guess?" I responded honestly.

"This doesn’t matter! We need to get out of here before more come!" Lea interrupted. Lea then grabbed Judith’s arm and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Judith said. She sqwermed out of Lea's grasp and came over to me. "Please," she begged "we have nowhere left to go. We tried to help someone important to us and now we're being hunted for it. Please let us stay with you. We won’t cause any trouble, I swear!" I thought about it for a few seconds. They could help me in several tasks around the castle.

"If you help out around here, I don't mind harboring fugitives," The next thing I knew, Judith was killing me by hugs.

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she cheered. 

"Ack! You're going to snap my spine like a twig!" I warned. Note to self, dragons are surprisingly strong. After she "thanked" me, I retrieved my arrow from the body and put it into the forest.





So now they're living with me. Dragons are living with me.

I find them to be very interesting. Judith is going to be a scholar (according to her). She's smart, loves to read, and knows a lot. Lea is the fighter type. He trained in martial arts, melee weapons, but can't use ranged weapons at all.

I guess that means that I'm the ranger of the group. I don't think that I ever described myself. As I’ve said before, my name is Dalton. I'm 22, I'm around 6'2, and I just got out of university. I have brown hair and dark brown eyes. I'm skinny-ish and have some muscle (I was a kinda chubby, but after 2 weeks of running, archery, cleaning, and repairing every day... well, you know). Before I arrived in this land I was actually a musician.

Also, some questions I've had have been answered by Judith and Lea.

#1- I'm in the land of Equestria, to be more specific, on the east end of the Everfree forest (which is, apparently, extremely dangerous, and I've been going in there almost every day).

#2- There are many mythological creatures in Equestria, such as unicorns, pegasi, manticores, and even hydras.

There's something else I want to tell you, but I don't think you'll believe me. Magic exists here. More specifically, soul magic. I can use soul magic. I found this out a day ago.





I was exploring the library (which is huge by the way), browsing the various books, when I came across a very old tome. It was bigger than most books and had a dark green binding. I blew off some dust and inspected the book.

"The Four Masks of Soul:  Mask #1 - The Dragon?" Huh?

Curious, I opened the book and read the contents.

"There are many masks in existence, some masks in this world that have power beyond belief. Many of these masks are augmented with good or evil spirits leading to a bias in the users actions, but there are four masks that allows the user to choose what to use their powers for; the four masks of soul. Each of the masks represent a primary species in Equestria. The first and oldest mask is the Dragon's mask. The dragons, having a strong bond with humans, allowed us to create a mask with their powers, but at a price. To create a mask of soul, you need to seal the soul of the creature whose power you want to control, inside the mask." Wow, this is kinda dark...

The book went on to explain how to use the masks and what the abilities of the dragon were (strength, flight, breathing fire [which is so cool], etc...). It also explained that humans have a magical source within them called soul magic, which can only be activated by certain objects created by humans.

I got to about halfway, and then the book turned into a compartment of sorts. Inside said compartment, was a mask.

A dragon mask.

It looked like a mask from the game “The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask”. The inside was a solid blue. The outside looked exactly like a dragons face, complete with blue scales, eyes, and mouth.

Like the dumbass that I am, I put the mask on.

I’m so stupid. I even read the section of the book of what happens when you use a mask for the first time.

I instantly felt every fiber of my body being burned. I was shining with light as I felt my muscles rip and my bones break, just to be reformed. I screamed in agony until I promptly passed out.

—1 Hour later—

I awoke to being slapped to the face. Not the most pleasant feeling when your body feels like it’s been hit by a truck.

"Wake up!" Judith ordered, "Where's the human?"

"Ow, damn it Judith! What the hell!"

"Shut up and answer the damn question!" Lea now ordered. I was sitting in front of them, tied to a chair.

"Uh, I'm sitting right in front of you," I deadpanned. Judith and Lea shared a look. I could tell some part of them believed me, but something was making them doubt themselves.

"What? What is it?" I was starting to get nervous.

"I think it's best if we show you," Judith said. She then jogged away, only to come back with a hand (or claw?) mirror. She held the mirror to my face.

There was a dark blue dragon like Judith, but the scales on its back were darker than the main scales on its body. It also had dark brown eyes and it seemed to blink whenever I blinked. To make sure I wasn't delusional, I stuck out my tongue. The dragon did the same. I was a dragon.

It was at that moment that I broke.

"..." What the fuck?

"...Dalton?" Judith asked.

"..." What. The. Fuck?!

"Dalton, are you o.k.?"

"Congratulations, you broke him," Lea stated. Judith shot him a glare in response.

"...Untie me," I demanded. Lea and Judith did as they were told. I stood up and stretched my new body.

"You're taking this rather well," Lea noted.

"That's because I know how to go back to my original body," I said with a grin. I felt good. Really good. I could feel extra muscles throughout my body as well as protective scales coating me. I felt like a living tank.

"...Really?" Lea said disbelievingly.

I just nodded, and raised my hand to my face and closed my eyes. I imagined my human body, still wearing the dragon mask. I imagined taking the mask off, and followed the motion. Then, I felt a cooling sensation, like feeling a cool breeze while you're sweaty. I opened my eyes and... Bam! I was human again. 

"Yes! It worked! Victory!" I cheered, throwing a fist into the air. I looked down to the mask in my hand.

"We could use this to help us." Lea murmured.

I flinched, "No, the pain of my body transforming was way too much for me to handle."

"Actually," Judith said holding up the book that the mask came from, "this book says that once you wear the mask once, it doesn’t hurt any other time you wear it," she was holding the book I was reading.

"Oh, well in that case, this power is getting so abused!" I said. Lea just shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm leaving to train," and left he did.

"Wait a sec... there's more than one mask," I realized. "Come on! Let’s look for the other books!"





Turns out that the guy who looked over the masks hid them in different locations, leaving clues to where they are in the books. The clues are in the form of riddles though, and they refer to places around Equestria. I know nothing on that subject, so Judith is working on that. I am trying to help whenever I can and I learn about the different places in Equestria.

We're gaining each other’s trust. Lea is teaching me the Basics of sword play, and Judith is teaching me about Equestria itself. In turn, I'm teaching both of them archery. Judith and I have become close in such a short time, but Lea still is weary of me. 

I heard them arguing a while back about a “problem” that they have. All I managed to catch was that it was about their father and that I could help, Lea flat out refused to get me involved though.

Even though the atmosphere isn’t very friendly here, there are things that I can look forward to. The nights here are absolutely beautiful. The moon is a bit larger (or closer?) and breathtaking. I usually lie in the castle courtyard and stare into the starry sky, admiring its beauty.

Well, I should probably go now. It's around 11pm and I'm getting tired. I want to stargaze before I retire. I cannot wait until I get my hands on the other masks!

P.S. I looked into how there is plumbing in the castle. The pipes and sewage system are magically reinforced to withstand the elements. And I still have no idea know who previously occupied this place.
> Chapter 3 - Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It’s been around a month sense I arrived in equestria. I'm growing more and more intrigued in this world every day that I spend here...

The interesting events of the week started two days after I wrote my second journal entry.





"I've found it!" Judith shouted while bursting through the door to the Commons room.

"Found what exactly?" I asked, annoyed that she interrupted my reading.

"The second mask, of course!" Judith started, "It's hidden in the master bedroom in the abandoned mansion, you know, the one just northwest of here," I had been exploring in and around the forest ever since I arrived at the castle, so I knew what she was talking about.

I nodded and smiled, "You're brilliant, you know that?" She blushed at my compliment. Wait, how do dragons blush through their scales? Expelling the question from my mind, I got up from the chair I was sitting on and stretched, "I guess I'll get going then!"

I ran to my room and quickly got my archery equipment and my mask pouch, which is basically a cloth pouch with a cover that I can clip on to my pants. Then I ran down to the armory and got a short sword with a scabbard, which I strapped to my back. I got to the front gate before being stopped by Lea. 

"Be safe, many dangers lurk in the Everfree," he said.

"I know," I started, "but you forget I go in there almost every day."

Lea chuckled, "I haven't forgotten, but being cautious never hurt anybody." 

I started walking away, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”





It took about an hour to get to the mansion. When I did, I took in the sights. The mansion was overgrown and it was cracked all over the place. In all honesty, it looked like the forest temple from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Huh, I thought, two things from this world that remind me of Zelda. I started smiling at how much it fit the situation; nostalgia was starting to kick in.

As long as I can remember I've loved the Zelda series. I loved the puzzles, the action, and the adventure, but the music took the cake for me though. After reflecting on my past experiences with the franchise, I entered the building.

My trek through the mansion went uninterrupted. I searched the house until finally made my way to the master bedroom. When I entered, the odor of rotting wood and moss reached my nostrils.

The room looked like it belonged to a noble, if all the wood hadn't decayed and moss grown everywhere. A bed was next to the wall on my left, just under a window. A dresser with a broken mirror on top lay on the opposite wall from the bed. Lastly, a closet was in the wall farthest from me.

I started my search, checking everywhere. I looked under the bed, in the dresser, under the dresser, behind the dresser, behind the bed, and in the bed. 

Then I came to the closet. Tugging on the handle, I found that it was locked. Oh well... Looks like its demolition time! I drew my sword and took aim at the locking mechanism. Then I swung it down with all my might. Luckily, it broke the lock on the first swing since the wood had rotted over.

I smiled as I opened the closet. Inside, I found a small chest with a lock on it as well. Damn, stupid locks. After breaking the second lock, I opened the chest.

Inside the chest was the mask. I inspected it for any damage. "No physical damage, but what the hell is this?" I said to myself.

The mask was covered with light gray fur, two big blue eyes, big ears sticking up, and had a muzzle. It looked like something from a cartoon.

Well whatever. It’s time to go home! I thought. I made my way out of the mansion and out into the forest.

About half way back to the castle, I started to feel like I was being followed.

*SNAP*

It sounded like a gunshot to me, even though it was only a twig snapping. I whipped around, my bow at the ready. I faced the bush where the sound came from.

"GRRRRRRRR"

A wolf stepped out of the bushes, glaring and growling menacingly at me. Damn! So much for this being easy. Two more appeared behind me. I was surrounded. Oh, fuck my life... I quickly drew my bow and loaded an arrow on to it.

The one to my right lunged. I rolled to the left, dodging and firing an arrow into its head. I quickly reloaded my bow. One down, two to go.

I turned to the other two as they started advancing. I took a few steps back, but my back hit a tree. What?!

I reached for my sword, only to grasp air. I looked around to find the weapon behind the wolves. Damn! I must have dropped it when I dodged that wolf's attack!

In panic, I implanted an arrow into one of their skulls, leaving myself completely open. No, I don't want to die like this!

The final wolf pounced.

Duck and roll!

Time seemed to slow down and my body moved on its own. Ducking down just in time to dodge the wolf's attack, before rolling forward and turning around to see the wolf recovering from its encounter with the tree. I reloaded and fired before it could launch another attack. The wolf dropped to the forest floor, dead.

I exhaled deeply from my dance with death as I thought about what just happened. What was that voice? It sounded... feminine. Am I finally going insane?

I became frustrated; getting more questions than answers is rather annoying. Saving said questions for later, I retrieved my arrows and sword and left the forest.





"Did you find it?" Was the first thing I heard when I opened the door to the Commons room. 

"Yea, I found it, but I have no idea what it is," I said, tossing Judith the mask. "Where’s Lea? I thought he would've wanted to see this," I asked confused.

"Well he... um, h-he went to see if the rest of the family is okay," she answered, with a little hesitation in her voice. I knew she was hiding something, probably something to do with their father, but I didn't care. It was their business, not mine. If they wanted my help, they would ask for it.

"Okay then, back to the topic at hand," I started. "What is that?" Judith fiddled with the mask, looking it over from various angles, and I started pacing.

"It looks like a... pony. Yes, a pony without a doubt." The all knowing Judith said. I became frustrated for a second time.

“A pony?” I said “What the hell am I going to...” Then an idea hit me. “Hey, didn't you say that ponies were civilized?" I asked.

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"Didn't you also say that there's a pony settlement nearby?"

"Yes, I did, but I don't see where..." She blinked at me as I grinned at her."You want to go to the pony town, as a pony?! You're insane! What if you get caught?! What if they experiment on you?! What if..." I put my hand on her shoulder.

"What if everything goes perfectly?" I asked.

"We don't have any bits though! How are we going to buy anything?!"

"Simple, I'll just sell something like, ahhhh— this!" I said, going over to the shelves and pulling out a book. "Didn't you say that some of these books are incredibly rare? They'll sell for a lot to the right peo— I mean ponies," I said. Judith then found that the floor was much more interesting. "Don't worry, I promise you that I'll be fine." 

She looked up to me with tears in her eyes, and then hugged me. Judith and I, despite our age difference, we had become very good friends. "If you get yourself killed, I'm coming down to the underworld and kicking your ass..."

...and that's why. You see, we both can get rather dark because we understand that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. We understand just fine that people die. For example, she lost her mother to sickness five years ago. As for me... Well, I'd rather not talk about it.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" The hug ended when Lea spoke up, scaring the shit out of us.

"GAH/WHAT THE HELL!" Judith and I exclaimed.

Lea was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a shit eating on his face. "Judith," Lea started, "I didn't know you liked Dalton in that way."

"I do not like him like that!"Judith protested while her cheeks turned red. I just backed away and let them argue it out.

Here's some advice for whoever reads this, never get caught in a sibling argument, it can get ugly pretty fast. I remember some arguments I got into with my brother... I miss him. It’s been 7 years. I don't want to think about it.

Anyway, after the pair stopped arguing, we got down to business. I explained what he missed.

"So," Lea started, "a pony mask?" 

"Yep." I said, "A pony mask."

"...and you're just going to waltz in there as a pony? No backup plan, no weapons, no nothing?"

"Pretty much." I said, while sitting on a couch with one leg over the other and my hands behind my head. "I would probably get arrested if I was caught with a weapon, and I don't want to risk that."

"Well, isn't this the greatest plan in all of Equestria." Lea said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't see anybody else coming up with a plan!" There was silence for a while after that.

"Anypony." Judith said, breaking the silence.

"What?" I questioned.

"Replace body and one with pony, like anypony, somepony, and etcetera. You have to say it to make a convincing pony."

I face-palmed, "This world is going to drive me to insanity." I got up from the couch and stretched. "Well, let's get this show on the road," I said, taking the mask and bringing the mask towards my face. I hesitated. "You guys might want to cover your ears," they took my suggestion and covered their ears with their claws.

I placed the mask on my face, and prepared myself.

To be honest, it wasn't as bad as the first time. Still felt like being run over by a truck, but not as much.

When I was done my transformation, I was sprawled out on the floor. Unluckily, I didn't pass out from the pain, so I felt every agonizing second of it
.
"Dalton?" Judith asked.

I didn't move, I couldn't move, it hurt when I moved. However, I needed to check and see if the transformation worked correctly, so I craned my head to look left, to where my hand was, or at least, where my hand should have been.

Instead of a hand though, a light grey stump was replaced with my hand. I moved my hand, and the stump moved.

"Dalton? Are you okay?" Judith asked again. 

I tried to get up, but I fell on my face every time. Judith eventually came to help me to all fours.

Just a side note: going to quadrupedal after being bipedal for my entire life is an awkward situation. I mean, I needed help standing.

After I got up, and gave myself a good look over. I had a light grey coat with a brown mane and tail. Wait, something is missing... Oh no... A blush crawled on to my face. "I'm naked! Quick, Judith, look away!" I fell back on to the ground and covered my crotch.

"You didn't act this way when you first turned into a dragon!" Judith stated, turned around and covering her eyes.

"That's because I didn't realize before!"

Lea face-palmed and shook his head in disbelief, "You do realize that ponies don't where clothes, right?"

"I don't care! Now, shut up and get me some clothes!"





After that little incident, we called it a night. As usual, I stayed up to stargaze. The night sky is truly brilliant here, it’s like someone takes the time makes it perfect each night.

The next couple of days were comprised of chores, training, and learning to walk and run on all fours.

I decided that yesterday was the day I would go to the pony settlement.





I immediately hated saddle bags as soon as I put them on. They're itchy, uncomfortable, and heavy. Or at least, this one is. Judith managed to find one while helping me clean and thought it would be helpful for my trip.

"Here, you can't go without this," Judith said, placing the book inside the right pouch of the saddle bag.

"Thanks. Okay, equipment check!" I announced, "Mask pouch, check, masks, check, saddle bag, check, book, check, clothes, check! Alright, I'm good to go."

"Are you sure you should be wearing clothes? Ponies don't usually wear clothes," Lea warned.

"Don't worry, I'm positive all they'll do is give me funny looks, and I don't care how they look at me," I reassured him.

We reached the entrance of the forest when Lea said, "I'll walk you to the far edge of the forest, but from there, you're on your own."

"And I'll stay here and make sure no one gets in to the castle," Judith added.

I sighed, "Well, it's now or never. I'll see you later, Judith."

"You'd better..." And with that, Lea and I were off.





I stood in front of a sign.

Welcome to Ponyville. How original. I thought, sarcastically.

I continued down the road that leads from the Everfree to "Ponyville". My nervousness was getting to me. To calm myself, I reviewed my plan. Okay, first I'll locate someone to sell this book to. Then, get a reasonable amount of 'bits' — I think that's what it's called — for said book. Lastly, get what I need and get the hell out of there.

I took a deep breath, and entered the town.

Ponyville had many surprises for me. The buildings were the same as the ones surrounding my castle. Restaurants, vendors, and stores littered the streets, and I'm pretty sure that I saw a life sized ginger bread house. The ponies were a surprise too. Not only were there regular ponies, like me, but there were pegasi and unicorns too. Some were friendly as well, much to my surprise, they greeted me with “Good morning!”s and “How do you do!”s. Although, I did get strange looks though. 

As I was observing the area, I failed to notice the mare walking towards me. Of course, we walked face first into each other, sending us to our rumps.

"Ow, oh s-sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," I apologized. I got a good look at her as I helped her up off the ground. She had an orange coat with a blond mane and tail, both kept in a ponytail, as well as emerald eyes and freckles. She was also wearing a brown Stetson hat, which she was currently putting back on her head.

"S’alright partner," she said with a thick southern accent. "Y'all right?"

"Yea, I'm fine," I said, all the while thinking, Damn, that's a thick accent!

She gave me a curious look, "Ya ain't from 'round here, are ya?"

I chuckled, "is it that obvious?"

"Well," she started, "from the way ya dress, it's purdy obvious." I shrugged, it's not like I care that ponies know I'm not from around here.

I held out a hoof, "I'm Dalton."

She took my hoof, "The name's Applejack," we shook hoofs. "That's a weird name fer' a pony." Uh oh.

"It's really more of a nickname, actually," I lied.

Newly dubbed Applejack raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged and started to walk away. "Anyway, ah gotta get back to the farm, see ya!"

"Wait!" I called. Applejack turned around and gave me a confused look.

"Do you know of anybo— I mean, anypony who would be interested in rare books?"

Applejack tapped her hoof to her chin until she came to a conclusion. "Well, ah would try Twilight at the library; she's a friend of mine." 

"Thanks! I'll be sure to see you again Applejack!" We then went our separate ways. Now then, to the library!

I wandered throughout the town, completely lost. I needed to get directions.

I came to a building that looked like it was made of baked treats. The sign out front said "Sugar Cube Corner". I didn't see any better place to ask, so I ventured forth.When I opened the door I was hit with a wave with the aroma of baked goods.Whoa. I thought. The place was filled with baked goods ranging from vanilla cupcakes to black forest cake. This place put an immediate smile on my face.

"Hi!" a voice in front of me called, "Welcome to sugar cube cor— " the voice suddenly ceased as we made eye contact. The voice came from a pink mare with a darker pink mane and tail, and she also had blue eyes. The mare was standing behind the cashier and I assumed she was an employee. I approached the counter.

"Hi, I'm— " I was interrupted when the mare's pupils grew to the size of dinner plates and she suddenly gasped and ran into the back of the bakery. I was stunned, I couldn't move or form sentences. "W-what just... what?”

"Oh, don't worry darling, that's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie," said a refined voice behind me. I turned to the source of the voice and it appeared to be another mare, who was sitting at a table with a small reptile. A dragon? I thought.

I trotted over to the table. The mare was a unicorn, had a white coat, a curly purple mane and tail, and dark blue eyes. She was drinking tea and the dragon had a cupcake that was encrusted with various gems. Said dragon was small compared to Judith. He's probably just a baby. He had purple scales covering his body and light green scales running from his head to his tail, along with green eyes. 

I bowed my head in greeting, "So, is she usually like that?" I asked.

"No, she just gets excited when somepony new comes into town. By the way, I am Rarity and this is Spike," she said, pointing to herself then to the dragon.

"Hi," Spike greeted.

I smiled. Is everyone here so friendly? I thought. "Hello to both of you, I'm Dalton."

Rarity gave me a confused look. "That's a— " 

I held up my hoof to silence her, "A strange name, I know. It's really more of a nickname."

She smiled, "Oh, I see, how do you spell that?" She asked. Now it was my turn to be confused. 

Why would she need to know that? ...ah, what the hell. It couldn't hurt to tell her how to spell my name! "D-a-l-t-o-n," I said.  I realized that I was getting off topic, "Uh, do you know where the library is? I've been looking for a while now."

"Oh, of course! After all, my little Spikey-wikey lives there!" Rarity responded, cupping her hoofs on the dragon's cheeks. The kid just blushed and looked away from us, twiddling his thumbs.

"Well, I guess I could bring you there if you're okay with it, Rarity..." Spike murmured, still embarrassed.

"It's fine, spike. I don't need your excellent help anymore, darling."

"Alright then, come on," Spike said, heading for the door. I followed in pursuit. 

"Oh, and mister Dalton!" I turned, "Stop by boutique later, I will make you something that doesn't cover up your cutie mark!" Rarity called. Cutie mark? I thought as spike and I exited Sugar Cube Corner. 

We walked for a bit in silence. God damn, this silence, it's killing me! I've got to break it. "So," I started, "you live in the library?" I recalled Rarity saying this in our conversation. 

"Yea, I live there with my foster sister," Spike said, keeping his focus on the road ahead. 

Interesting... "I've heard of foster parents, but a foster sister?" I asked, confused. 

"It's hard to explain," he stated. "What about you?" Spike asked.

I turned to him with a confused look. "Uh, what do you mean?" I replied.

Spike just rolled his eyes. "You know, what do you do? I can't guess because your clothes cover up your cutie mark. Also, why are you wearing clothes in the first place?" he asked. I wasn't ready for the bombardment of questions, so I was caught off guard.

"Well... um..." Oh shit, think fast! Um, job. Job, job, job. I.... I stol—, I mean retrieved the pony mask from the mansion. So... archaeologist? "Well, to answer your first question, I'm an archaeologist." I stated, quite proud of my quick thinking. Wait, there it is again! What’s a cutie mark?

Spike looked at me with a questioning face. "What's an archaeologist?" He asked. 

"Well... um... it's..." I've never had to explain what an archaeologist is to a child before. "...it's like... a treasure hunter!" Thank you, Indiana Jones!

"A treasure hunter? You mean like Daring Do?" He asked.

Daring what now? "Huh?" I asked, dumbly. 

"She's the main character in a series of fiction books. I'm surprised that you haven't heard of her, she's very popular." Spike stated. 

"Oh," Thank god! I really don't want others to look for the masks of soul! They may be my only trump card if I get into a fight!

"We're here!" Spike announced, pointing ahead. I turned my head in the direction he was pointing. In front of me was a literal tree house. I mean, it was a fully grown tree with a door built into the side of it, complete with windows and balconies. "Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library," Spike announced while turning his head to face me and putting his claw on the door knob.

As we entered the library I was astounded by the amount of books it had. The shelves on the wall were packed so tight with books it looked like you couldn't pull them out. There wasn't much else in the room except for a wooden table in the middle of the room with a wooden horse head in the middle of the table, stairs leading to the second floor, and a door that lead to (what I believe was) the basement. "Twilight, I'm home!"

I heard hoofs on the wooden floor upstairs, slowly making its way towards the stairs. “Spike, how many times have I told you not to leave without doing your chores?” came a voice from the stairs. 

“I know, Twilight, but Rarity needed help with a huge order!” 

A lavender coloured unicorn with a sapphire blue mane with violet and rose stripe down the middle and violet eyes came down the stairs and started towards us with her eyes closed. “Spike, I know...” she said, opening her eyes to look at the dragon, but seeing me. “Oh, hello,” the mare said. 

This must be Twilight... “Hi,” I responded. 

“Do you need to pick out a book or...” she started, but I held up a hoof to quiet her.

“I actually have something else in mind, so I’ll just wait over there while you two finish,” I stated, motioning to one of the bookshelves. The pair went upstairs to continue their argument as I looked at several books, choosing only one: “The History of Equestria.” It was a fairly large book, but I only wanted recent events in pony culture. Luckily, it seemed to have a brief summary of the most recent events, so I quickly skimmed over it, looking for the important parts.

Let’s see here, "The purification of Nightmare Moon", "The escape and recapture of Discord", and "The Canterlot Royal Wedding." Which one should I read first... Let’s go with Nightmare Moon. "A year has passed since the elements of harmony, wielded by the student of Princess Celestia herself and her friends, Defeated and purified Nightmare Moon, returning Princess Celestia’s  sister, Princess L—“

“Sorry that took so long. Anyways, how can I help you?” I didn't even hear her come down the stairs! I must really get absorbed into books... I thought.

I closed the book and turned to the mare. “You’re Twilight, right?” 

“Yes,” she confirmed, “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stuck out her hoof and I shook it. 

“The name’s Dalton and before you say ‘that’s a weird name’, I know. I've had several ponies tell me that before,” I said, rolling my eyes. I have a feeling that’s going to get really old, really fast. “As to why I’m here...” I said, reaching behind me into the saddle bag. I pulled out the book and handed (hoofed?) it to her, making her eyes go wide. “I wanted to know if you were interested in buying this book. You know, for the library,” I said, hoping that the book was actually worth something.

Twilight scanned the tome, her eyes wide the entire time. “D-do you know what this is?” she asked, still looking over the book. 

“No... Why?” Please let it be priceless, please let it be priceless, please let it be priceless...

“It shouldn't exist!” I mentally fist pumped. “All of the other copies of this book have been destroyed...” Twilight said, looking depressed. 

“Who and why would someo—, somepony destroy all of these books?” I asked, aimlessly wandering around the library. 

“To erase a culture,” she said in a dark tone. “A long time ago, Discord, when he still ruled, wanted to erase all humans from Equestria. This book was written by a human, ergo, it was burnt.” 

“Humans?” I immediately turned to Twilight. 

“Yes, and he nearly Succeeded. When human population got dangerously low, the princesses' father and mother had to banish them to a completely different dimension for their survival. It’s sad that there is little to no evidence proving their existence any more. They've been reduced to myths...” 

I fell on my rump. The sheer magnitude of this info weighed down on me. “Why? Why would he do something like that?” I asked, completely devastated. I mean, if you just found out that your race almost went extinct at the will of one being, you would be messed up. 

“Apparently,” Twilight started, “Discord felt threatened. Humans were also beings of chaos, but they were very bright minded. Many of the inventions of today were created by humans. That, and that they had a very large population led Discord to eliminate them. He thought that they would replace the draconequus. ” 

“That’s... really depressing...” I stated. “Are... are they all gone? The humans, I mean,” I asked, even though I knew what the answer was already.

Twilight got a sad look in her eyes.  No... please no... It can’t be...  “Yes. It’s a shame, really, they were a very interesting race.” Then the feeling I despise came flooding over me:

Loneliness.

“Hey, are you okay?” Twilight asked, concerned. I didn't realize it before, but I started shaking.

“Y-yea, I’m fine... I’m just a little cold...” I can’t blow my cover... well, not yet anyways, I thought. “So, how much are you willing to offer for it?” I asked, my voice noticeably quieter.

The mare put a hoof to her chin in thought. Eventually, she nodded her head in approval and put her hoof back to the floor. “I don’t have a lot of bits...” my head sunk lower, “but, I have some gems that are worth a lot. How does the equivalent of ten thousand bits sound?” My jaw dropped as I looked up at her. Twilight giggled at the ridiculous face I was making as I responded.

“That sounds wonderful!”





I left the bank with ten thousand bits and a massive grin after cashing in several gems that Twilight paid me for the book. This should do for the time being. Now, let’s go shopping!

I arrived at the market at midday and it was packed full of ponies. Several stalls that lined the street were being overrun. I groaned. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. I trotted into the crowd to find the things I was looking for. As I trotted, a familiar voice called out.

“Dalton! Over here!” I turned to the source to see Applejack waving me over to her. She was standing to a cart full of apples and on the other side of the cart was a large stallion. The stallion had a red coat, a blond mane, green eyes like Applejack’s, as well as freckles. He turned to look at me as I approached. 

“Hey, Applejack,” I said as I came closer, keeping eye contact with the red stallion. Applejack, however, noticed this and put a hoof on my shoulder.

“Ah don’t believe ya met mah brother. Big Mac, this here’s Dalton, and Dalton, This is Big Macintosh,” she said, guiding us towards each other. Oh, so he's her brother. I extended my hoof and he took it with a firm grasp. 

“Good morning,” I said with a smile as I shook his hoof.

“Eeyep,” he responded, smiling back. Well, that's a simple way to put it.

"So, Applejack," I started as I turned to her, "what did you need me for?" I was honestly curious as to why she would want to see me. I mean, we just met.

Applejack smiled, "Since ah was in so much of a hurry, I didn't have the time ta give ya a proper welcome,"she said while rubbing the back of her head. "So how 'bout lettn' me give ya a tour of Ponyville as an apology?"

I don't need any more distractions... I need to get supplies and get out of here! I thought. I raised my hoof to refuse her, but a thought came to me at the last moment. I don't know where I can buy any of the things I need. Maybe she can help me. "I'm going to refuse your offer, Applejack," she seemed a little sad at those words, "but I do need help finding some items I need. Would you mind helping me find them?"

Her mood picked up at those words and so did her frown. "All right," she said, "but only on one condition."

"Okay then," I declared, "let's hear it."

"Ah'll only show ya around if ya'll be mah friend," she said. I was taken aback. all the ponies around us seemed irrelevant now. She... she want's to be my friend? Just like that? Even though she knows nothing about me, she still want's me to be her friend? Wow. Nobody has ever openly wanted to be my friend before...

"I..." I took a deep breath and got my thoughts in order. "Sure, Applejack, I'll be your friend."

"All right then," she spat on her hoof and held it out to me, "let's shake on it!" I spat on my own hoof and shook hers. Why do I feel so... happy? It's not like I haven't made a friend before. So, why do I feel this way now? Applejack turned to her brother, "Hey, Mac, do ya mind takin' over the cart for the rest of the day?"

Big Mac just shook his head. "Nnope," he said in his casual tone.

The rest of the day was spent with my new friend retrieving the things I needed before going back to the castle. It was close to sunset when we where done and I was going over the list of things I got while in town in my mind. Let's see... I got some food I can't get in the Everfree, a flask, medical supplies, a rack that can go over a fire, a pan to cook with because I'm tired of just roasted meat, some seasonings, cutlery and plates, body soap gel and shampoo so I can smell nice again, some rope, and some supplies and tools to help me repair the castle. Oh, and toothpicks, I can't live without them. I've got the essentials and a few other things, I think I'm all set. And I still have a lot of bits left over.

"Hey, sugarcube?" Applejack said, stopping and turning to me. Sugarcube? "Ah forgot to get somethin' done back at the farm, and ah need another hoof to help me out. Would ya mind helpin' me out?"

I looked at her as I put a toothpick in my mouth, "Yea, no problem, Applejack." Applejack smiled and started down a dirt road. Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Maybe I... Oh, that's right! "Hey, this may or may not sound like a stupid question, but what's a cutie mark?" I asked, remembering the conversations I had earlier.

Applejack burst out into laughter, she even fell down and clutch her sides. Until she saw me not laughing with her, that is. "Y-your serious, aren't ya?" I nodded, "Well, sugarcube, ah don't know why ah have to remind you, but cutie marks are the mark on your flank that shows your special talent," she said, pointing to her own flank that showed three apples. "Ya see, ah'm an apple farmer!" she stated with pride.

My mind froze. the only coherent thought going through my mind was, How the fuck did I not see that?! I wonder what mine is... "Uh..." I snapped my self out of my trance. "Thanks. F-for re-jogging my memory, I mean," I said, scratching the back of my head. "So, shall we continue?"

We got to the the farm at sundown. The red light of the sun soared across the apple orchard and on to the farm house and barn that lay in the middle. It was a beautiful sight, the kind of sight that just makes you relax. As we got to the barn, a question came to mind, "What kind of work are we doing, Applejack?"

She just smiled, "You'll see..." However, her smile quickly became a frown. "Ahh, darn it, ah forgot somthin' in the house. Ah'll meet ya in the barn," she said, galloping off. I went to the farm door and opened it. I wonder what we're...

"SURPRISE!" I jumped surprisingly high for someone wearing an fully packed saddle bag. 

I looked at the scene in front of me with amazement. The inside of the barn was covered in decorations and was filled with ponies and food. There was even a banner hung across the ceiling that said "Welcome to Ponyville, Dalton!" Directly in front of me was the pink mare from Sugar Cube Corner with a massive smile on her face.

"HiI'mPinkiePieandwhenIsawyouatSugarCubeCornerIknewyouwerenewinPonyvillebecauseIknoweverponyinPonyvilleandIthoughtyouhadnofriendsbecauseyouwerealonesoIthrewyouapartysoyoucouldmakefriends!" she said in one breath. I stared at her with confusion all over my face.

What the hell was that! I couldn't understand a word she just said! Not wanting to be rude and asking her to repeat herself even though she said it right in my face, I put on a unsure smile. "Thank you?" I half asked half said. I felt a hoof land on my shoulder. 

Turning my head towards the owner of the hoof, I saw Applejack with a smile on her face. "Don't worry 'bout Pinkie, she throws a party for everypony new in Ponyville and for any other reason ya'll can think of," she said. Applejack had a large barrel on her back, which she placed on the ground. "Sorry for being late, Pinkie,but ah forgot to bring the cider," Applejack scratched the back of her head.

"It's okay, Applejack! Now, let's par~tay!" Pinkie announced. 





I had a good time. I ate, drank, and met some new people. Well... ponies technically, but still. Applejack introduced me to her friends. However, she didn't know that I'd already met most of them. The two I didn't meet were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow was gloated that she was 'The fastest flyer in all of Equestria,' and Fluttershy barely talked to me. Other than that, nothing really happened. Rainbow dash got on my nerves a bit by constantly boasting to me. I hate people who put themselves above other people.

Oh yea, that's right. I also found out that nearly all of the ponies in Ponyville have cutie marks, the exceptions being the fillies and colts that haven't earned theirs yet.

Applejack and the rest of her friend let me join in on their conversations and I learnt some of the things that happen around Ponyville and Equestria. They told me about the "Grand Galloping Gala", the return of Discord, and the Canterlot wedding which, apparently, was between Twilight's brother and someone named Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence as Twilight refers to her as. I had to resist the urge to ask if she was into music. I also learned that there are a lot more mares than stallions in Equestria and a few other little things like that.

Anyway, it was incredibly late when I decided to go back to the castle.





"Well, it's late, I'd better get home now," I said as I headed towards the exit, "Thank you, Pinkie, for throwing this wonderful party for me." Man, that was an awesome party! And I don't even like parties!

"Aw, it was nothing! See ya soon, Dalton!" As I walked out of the barn, I could tell that someone was following me. I turned around to see Applejack following me. As she trotted up to me, I could tell that she was a little sad.

"So," she started, "ya mind if walk ya home?" I raised my eyebrows at that and a sly smirk slowly spread across my face. Applejack's expression suddenly vanished, "Ah ain't tryin' to seduce ya, so don't ya be lookin' at me like that," she warned. 

I genuinely laughed. I think I know why I felt weird when Applejack and I became friends. It's because she actually want's to be my friend, and not to just use me and throw me away. Applejack, her friends, and Judith are different than my "friends" back on earth. I smiled at the thought. "Yes, you can if you don't mind walking through the Everfree forest at night." I responded casually.

"The Everfree forest!? Are ya crazy or somthin'!? Why would ya live in there!?" Applejack exclaimed.

I managed to calm her down and answer her questions, "First of all, I'm only a little bit crazy. Secondly, I live on the other side of the of the forest, not in the actual forest itself," I explained. "So, do still want to walk me home?"

"Sorry, but ah can only walk ya to the edge of the forest," she said. 

"It's fine, Applejack," I said. we continued walking and talking until we got to the forest's entrance.

"So, when are ya comin' back?" Applejack questioned.

"I dunno," I answered honestly. Applejack started to look sad, so I put a hoof on her shoulder, "I promise you'll see me again though. I'm a stallion of my word," I gave her a hug and then turned to the forest ahead of me. "Good night, Applejack."

"Good night, Dalton, and be safe," she responded. Then, I began my journey through the forest. 





The Everfree was a hell of a lot creepier at night. the trees seemed to go on forever and it felt like there was something following me the entire time. I could swear I could see silhouettes in the shadows, following my every move, waiting to strike. 

Why, oh why didn't I bring a weapon? I lamented. I quickly picked up the pace and got faster and faster until I was in a full gallop. 

I was half way there. I just need to keep this pace up and— 

*ka-ting*

My thoughts and movement halted as my hoof hit something hard, light, and made of metal. I looked down to the object that had stopped me and saw something that resembled a tiara. I picked it up and looked it over. It was black and was dented and scratched all over. There must be someone nearby...

"Hello?" I called out timidly. I don't want some manticore knowing where I am. Perhaps I should just look around? I put the tiara in my saddle bag and turned my head all around, looking for some kind of life. Nothing seemed to be there until I found some bushes by a tree that had been crushed. I carefully made my way over to the bushes, taking extra effort to be quiet if the reason the bushes were crushed was carnivorous. What I found in the bushes stunned me.

There was an unconscious mare in the bushes. She was slender, with her coat being a dark sapphire blue and her mane and tail — which moved on their own — being a cobalt blue and seemed to look like the night sky. She also appeared to be wearing light cobalt slippers and wearing a black chest plate with a crescent moon on it. Her cutie mark looked like an ink stain with a crescent moon on it. The odd thing was she was larger than most ponies and had a horn and wings, and not just one of the two. She was beautiful, for a pony. However, she was bleeding and had some weird device locked on to her horn.

"Spread out!" I jumped and hid in the bushes behind the mare. "She couldn't have gotten far! We can't let her escape!" I looked out from the bush I was hiding in to see figures in the distance holding torches. I looked back to the mare. She's probably the one they're looking for. I looked back to the figures, and then back to the mare. Oh, what do I do? They could be looking for her to bring her back home, but they could also be looking for her to kill her, I thought. What the hell do I do!?

She's in Danger. Save Her, the voice said.

I thought about the voice's command and made up my mind. It has saved me before, so maybe I can trust it. I took off my saddle bags carefully and turned into a dragon. I held the mare with one arm and grabbed my saddle bag with the other. I took off though the forest, racing back to the castle to see if Judith or Lea could do anything to help this mare.





As the castle gates came into view, I shouted, "Hey, Judith, Lea, I need your help!" I used my wings to give myself an extra high jump on to the castle wall. I kicked the front door open and I ran to my room, knowing that Judith and Lea wouldn't be far behind. I entered my room and put the mare down on my bed, not caring that she would stain my bed with her blood. I changed back into my human form and quickly got the medical supplies from my saddle bag.

"Who's the mare?" Lea said as he entered, immediately going to said mare's side.

"I dunno," I stated, "I just found her lying in the forest. It seemed that there was someone after her and my instincts told me to take her before they found her." I tossed Lea some bandages and some disinfectant. "Here, see if you can do anything for her," I said, walking over to the other side of the bed. Lea tossed me the mare's jewelry and I put it on the night stand. Then, I looked around the room for my other companion only to find that she was not there. "Where's Judith?"

Lea didn't take his eyes off of his work as he spoke, "Asleep. She was pissed that you took so long and decided to go to bed." I sighed. Shit, I forgot that Judith was worried about me. She might have thought that I got eaten by a manticore or something. I took a toothpick from my bag and began to nibble on the end of it.

"This is an alicorn!" Lea stated in shock.

"So?" I asked, looking him in the eye.

Lea looked like he was about to snap at me for a second, but then he calmed down all of a sudden. He sighed, "It's nothing. It's just that they're rare," he explained.

"Okay..." Is there something I'm missing here? Ah, whatever, I thought. "If you need me, I'll be on the balcony," I said. I turned from him and walked into the night.

I leaned on to the railing and looked upwards towards the night sky, admiring it's beauty. However, the stars looked as if they weren't properly placed. It looks like the maker of the night did a half-assed job tonight... I let out a sigh and continued to bask myself in the tranquility of the night. The crickets and sound of the wind blowing through the trees in the nearby forest helped calm my soul, but not my mind.

What the hell is happening to me? I'm hearing strange voices in my head, making friends with ponies, and putting myself in danger, but for what? Sure, it's exciting and a good change from the normal routine, but all I really want is to go home. I don't want to live in this ludicrous world that's filled with beings that could probably tear me limb from limb, do I? Besides, from what I saw of the pony civilization, it was mostly untouched from modern human technology. If someone were to bring guns to this world...

Lea came and leaned against the rail beside me, "I've done all that I can for her. Now, we wait until she wakes up to find out how she got in that condition."

"Alright then, you may as well get some sleep," I said.

Lea went back to the balcony's entrance to leave, but something stopped him. He turned his head to look at me, and after a few moments, he sighed and came back to his original position. "I can already tell that there's something on your mind that's troubling you, so there's no reason to hide it from me," Lea said, looking out into the horizon.

I said nothing at first, but then decided that is wasn't very useful to keep my thoughts inside. "What do you think of me?" I asked, wanting his opinion.

Lea raised his eyebrow, "Well, I think that you are a very strange creature," he explained, "but you are very secretive too."

"Everyone has their reasons," I said truthfully.

"And what are your's?"

I looked up at the moon, "My secrets are too dangerous to shared with anybody," I explained. I shook my head, "But I'm not asking the question that I really want the answer to." I took a deep breath, "Do you think I belong in this world?"

Lea stared out into the night and said nothing. A moment later, he answered my question with a question, "Are you sure that's the question you should be asking?" I opened my mouth to respond, but his question stopped me. Is that the question I should be asking? Lea stood up straight and went to exit the balcony. "Remember, there's a difference between belonging and wanting to stay." Then, Lea left me without another word. 

My mind went over what Lea said. I tried to make sense of it,but my mind was overcome with fatigue. I entered my room and closed the balcony door to keep the cold out. I turned to my bed to turn in for the night, however, the mare — who was now bandaged all over — was occupying the bed. Damn. It looks like I'm sleeping on the couch tonight.





I was floating in darkness that night. Well, in my dreams at least, which is weird because I rarely have dreams: I usually just slip into unconsciousness. Anyway, there I was, just floating through the emptiness. That is until I heard a familiar voice.

Thank you, the voice said.

"I didn't know my subconscious could thank me," I stated.

I heard a giggle through the darkness, Silly human, I thought you would have figured it out by now. Suddenly, the darkness broke apart and revealed a new environment.

I was in the sky, or so it seemed, with the sun shining and a few clouds scattered about. The ground I found myself on wasn't really ground at all: it was water! It spread out as far as the eye could see.

I said the first thing that came to my mind, "Am I Jesus?"

Another giggle emanated from behind me, "No, you're not. If you try to walk on water anywhere else, you will look like a fool." A little water splashed up as I whipped around to face the source of the voice. 

A mare with wings and a horn stood in front of me. She had a black coat, a dark purple mane that blew in a nonexistent breeze, and was dressed in a platinum tiara, a chest plate with a full moon displayed on it, and slippers. Her mane and tail seemed to look like galaxies, with little specks of white that looked like stars and different shades of purple that blended so that whenever it moved — which was all the time — it seemed to be a different shade. Her royal blue eyes looked calm and wise as she stared me down. I looked at her cutie mark to see a spiral galaxy, the odd thing was, it was rotating counter-clockwise. She's a lot like the mare I found in the forest. Could she be... "As I said before, thank you."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For saving my daughter's life," she replied. I knew it! She's the mare's mother, no wonder she told me to save her, I thought.

"Who are you and how come I can hear you in my head?" I asked. It's time to finally get some answers.

"My name is Nightfall, but you call me Nox if you wish, and as you can tell, I am an alicorn. As to why you can hear me in  your thoughts, I've connected our consciousnesses for a little while so that you can retain all of my battle instinct. I'm quite surprised that you did not ask where we are! I mean, it is not you average scenery," she said, motioning to the area with her hoof.

I shook my head, "That doesn't matter, as far as I know, we're in a dream. And what do you mean you've connected our consciousnesses? And what's 'Battle instinct?'" I questioned.

"Well, it—" suddenly, a clap of thunder came from behind me. I turned to see a very bad storm heading towards us. "Damn!" she cursed, her formal tone had gone away. "I thought I had more time! Okay, I'm going to give you the short version. For your first question, it's too complicated, and for the second, I'm giving you the skills and knowledge you need to become a warrior without training," she explained.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"In all truthfulness, yes it is, but you don't have the time to train!" she shouted. The storm was on top of us now and the winds were picking up. "Look, you're going to fight someone you really don't want to fight, but you're the only one who can stop him! Anything made by human hand can only be destroyed by human hand!" 

I tried to keep my balance on the waves that were now underneath us. "Remember, your past and Equestria's past can help you in the future! Oh, and if you let anything happen to my daughter, I'll—" I lost my balance and fell into the water.





After that, I woke up. So, here I am, the night after. Nothing really happened today ether: Judith beat the hell out of me when she woke up, Lea laughed at me while it happened, and Nox's daughter is still unconscious. I'm still a bit worried about Nox's warnings, though. "Your past and Equestria's past can help you in the future," is what she said. I guess I'm going to need to research more about Equestria and the human history here...

Oh, I forgot something! Today, I figured out that clothes that I put on one body, will stay on that body. What I mean is that if I wear a green tunic (or something like that) in my pony form and a blue tunic in my dragon form, if I switch forms, then I'll still be wearing a green tunic in my pony form and a blue tunic in my dragon form!  I can't believe that I didn't notice this sooner! I'm going to test to see if other objects attached to me can stay within a certain form.

Hopefully, I'll be able to just go home after this. But, do I even want to go home anymore?

Well, I'm tired, I know that for sure. I think I'll go to sleep now.
> Chapter 4 - Problems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I've always had problems with other people, and with good reason too. People never seem to tell me the important facts first, it's always on a side note like, "Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you that your grandmother's dead," or "By the way, I left the front door unlocked last night and half of your stuff was stolen." I hate it when people do that! It pisses me off to no end! And it's happened to me twice this week!

Sorry for that, I'm just having a very difficult time right now. Let me explain, it started the day after I wrote my last entry.





The sun shone upon the castle courtyard as I fired another arrow into a hay target. I took a deep breath to calm myself further and grabbed another arrow from my quiver. I loaded my bow and looked at the target again, clearing my mind. I raised my bow and pulled the string back, my eyes never leaving the target. I aimed my shot and released.

*Thunk*

I smiled, Right in the middle! I took another deep breath and reached out for another arrow. When my hand hit nothing, I realized I had used all of my arrows. I placed my bow down on to the grass and walked out to the target, grabbing an arrow and pulling it out. I walked back to my makeshift line, picked up my bow, got into a comfortable stance, and loaded an arrow. I relaxed, drew my bow aimed an—

*click, click, click, click...*

The sound of scales on stone reached my ears. I sighed and stopped, unloaded my bow, and turned to see Judith walking towards me along the cobblestone path that leads into the courtyard. We made eye contact and I noticed something: her eyes were red. She's been crying... Worried, I put my bow down and my arrow back in my quiver, then walked over to Judith.

Judith ran to me, wrapping her arms around my midsection and started to weep. Her tears dampened my shirt as I held her close to my chest. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked gently. Judith shook her head, spreading the tears across my shirt. After a while, she managed to calm down enough to speak, so I sat her down on the grass.

"T-today's the day m-my m-mother died..." she said quietly. I nodded my head in empathy, Yep, that explains why she's been crying, I thought. Judith rubbed her eyes, "H-how do you d-deal with it? *snif* I-I mean, you're never going t-to see or h-hear or..." I held her head as she started to cry again.

"Let it out, Judith. Just let it all out," I comforted, running my fingers along her scales and rocking her back and forth. "I know what you're going through right now, and I know what you're feeling. The truth is, the pain never goes away, it always lingers around your mind."

"It's not fair..." she lamented.

"Nothing ever is."

We sat there for what seemed like hours. Eventually, we laid down on the grass together, looking up at the clouds. Judith calmed down enough to joke around after a while. "We need your help," Judith said, catching my attention.

I rolled my head over to look at her, "With what?"

Judith sat up and I followed suit. "My father..." she said in a dark tone. "We should discus this with Lea, he knows more than I do." Judith got up and walked towards the castle. I got up, got my bow and arrows, and caught up to her as we entered the castle.





After pushing my plate out in front of me, I picked up my toothpick and scratched away at the food in my teeth. "So, what exactly do you need my help with?"

Judith, who sat in front of me, sighed, "Can you tell him? I'm not sure how to tell him."

Lea, who sat at the head of the table, nodded. "It's a long story, so get comfortable," he said.

"It all started when our father got his claws on a certain human mask that one of the many dragon archaeology teams had found. Now, they've found masks like this one before, but this one seemed... dark. It seemed to give anyone around it a very bad vibe. 

"Father said that he'd heard rumors of a mask that could grant wishes, and that he believed that the mask they found was the same one. So, he put it on. I still don't know why he wanted to make a wish, perhaps he wanted to bring back mother... but that's irrelevant now.

"The changes weren't immediate, but they did come. He got crueler and seemed to ignore us, but then something happened that nobody ever expected. Our father got dark powers, which he used to become the king. I tried to stop him, but he was too strong! Then, he sentenced me, his son, to death... Judith broke me out, and now here we are. 

"I've been sneaking off to see some friends at Vulkan, the dragon capital. Apparently, they've been setting up a rebellion against my father and keeping tabs on him for me."

I nodded in understanding, "I have few questions, if you don't mind answering them?"

"Ask away," Lea said.

"Okay then, how do you think I could possibly help?"

"Simple," Judith responded, "you've been studying those masks more than we have, and we thought that you might have seen this mask somewhere before. Then, we could find a way to weaken our father and get that mask off!"

"Alright, I see your logic. Can you show me what the mask looks like?"

Judith got up, "I knew you were going to ask this, so I drew a picture. Just wait for a second..." she then ran away. A few minutes later, she came back down and over to me. She slid a piece of paper in front of me with a drawing of a heart shaped mask.

No... I thought, No... this is impossible... it can't be! "A-are you sure that t-this is the mask?"

"Yes. Why? Have you seen it before?" Lea asked, leaning in to hear my answer.

"I only have one more question for you..." I said, my voice getting darker. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"It's our problem, and only our problem. We didn't want to get others involved."

"Only your problem?" Lea looked up at the amount of venom that laced my voice. "Only your problem!?" I slammed my hands on to the table and rising to my feat, "This isn't only your problem, Lea!" I practically spat is name at the end.

"Well then who's problem is it then?! Is it your's?!"  He yelled, rising to his feat. Judith was cowering away from us now.

"The entire world's! This mask has more power than you could ever imagine!" I stormed towards the exit, but turned before I left, "You wanted my advice?! Your fucked!"





I slammed the door behind me and leaned against it. Tears were flowing down my face as I fell to the ground. I had just stormed around the castle for who knows how long, until I confined myself in this room.

Not only did I just find out that one of the most powerful villains from a video game is in a position of power and probably has an entire army at his disposal, but that mere picture had managed to resurface some retained memories of my family. The pain and regret of the past seven years cut through me like a sword through flesh. I managed to look up, to see where I was.

The sight of instruments filled my vision. The music room... I thought. I looked towards the various instruments, but only one of them caught my eye. I composed myself as best as I could and walked over to the black grand piano in the corner of the room.

I sat down on the bench that was placed in front of the piano and lifted the fall (the part of the piano that covers the keys). My fingers grazed the white and black keys as I thought of a song to play. Well, there's that song, but it might make me feel worse... I remembered the first time I had heard that song: it was with my family. Fuck it, I don't care any more... 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I started to play. I thought about my brother and mother. They both died when I was fifteen.

My brother and I didn't get along very well, but I still loved him. Just before he died, we got into a fight, a really bad one. He left to cool off, and the last thing I said to him was "I hate you!" before he left. He didn't come back. He was hit by a bus that was trying to make a red light. When I got to the hospital, he was gone.

A few months later, my mother got hospitalized for terminal pancreatic cancer. I stayed by her side as much as I could. A few months later, she too also passed. She was so kind to my brother and I. She taught us to be helpful, to be compassionate, and to be forgiving, not to be a selfish, narcissistic jackass. 

I lived with my grandparents until I was eighteen, I couldn't live with my father because he left us when I was little. Then my grandparents kicked me out into the world. I finished university and got a part time job. And now, here I am with a bunch of dragons, ponies, and magic.

I ended the song with a sigh, trying to suppress a new wave of tears that threatened to erupt. Why did I have to come here? Why did my family have to die? Why me?

"That was beautiful..."

It took me a couple of seconds to register that someone was talking to me. I wiped away some of the tears that had managed to leak out and turned to the source of the voice. A bandaged, blue alicorn stood in front of me. She's not wearing any of her jewelry, so she must have recently awoken. Her cyan eyes didn't show any signs of aggression, only curiosity and concern.

I turned away from the pony and went back to staring at the keys of the piano. "I tend to play better when I have the motivation," I said, suppressing my sorrow. Well, I might as well get some info from her while she's here, "It's good that you've regained consciousness, how do you feel?"

"Sore, but alive. We thank thee for thy services," she thanked. 

I blinked, Wait, did she just use the royal we and Elizabethan era English? "Don't thank me, it was someone else that fixed you up. I just brought you here," I closed the piano and turned back to the mare. "I don't think I ever got your name miss...?"

The mare brought her hoof to her chest and raised her head, "We are Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and Princess of the night!" Luna announced. 

I rolled my eyes, A Princess!? I scoffed mentally. Jeez, how full of yourself can you get? "Okay, Princess, whatever you say..." I said, putting emphasis on "princess".

"You dare scoff at our title!?" she said, shocked.

I gave a grunt of annoyance, "Look, I don't give a flying fuck who you are, but if you dare think that you're above me, then we're going to have a problem!" Luna took a step back at my tone. "I know for a fact that you can bleed, that makes you mortal, just like me. And because of that, we're even in my book," I said, lowering my tone.

I saw some movement from the door way. I looked up to see a blue blur hide behind the door. I sighed and stood, "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go right a wrong." I walked past Luna and towards, the now visible, Judith. "Where is he?" I asked as I approached.

"Lea always trains when he's frustrated, so he's probably in the courtyard," Judith answered,

"Alright then," I looked back to Luna, who was staring at us with a mix of shock and anger. "I want you to get as much info from her as you can from her while I talk to Lea," I whispered to Judith. She nodded and I left to go make amends.





One, two, three, four, I counted as limbs from a straw dummy came flying off. I gulped as Lea took another swing with his claymore and decapitated the dummy in front of him. Five... Well, I'm going to try and calm down a dragon, who probably wants to beat my face in, and is armed. I'd best get the first word in before he decides that I should lose a few pounds... 

I took a step out of my hiding place, and leaned on the wall of the castle. Lea still didn't notice me, so I took advantage of the situation. "I over-reacted, and for that, I'm sorry," I started. Lea's attention was still on the target as I continued, "It's just...That mask brought up some memories I'd rather forget."

"How powerful is it?" he asked, completely ignoring my apology.

"What?"

"How much would it take to destroy the mask or...to kill the person wearing it...?"

I paused, Would he really go as far as to kill his own father? "Luckily for you, I've never seen the second option done; and for the first...well, I'll be honest with you. It took a deity to stop it, not destroy it." 

"Then how do we kill it!?" Lea turned to me with a mixture of emotion in his eyes, but only one stood out to me: fear. "How do we make sure that it never sees the light of day ever again!?"

Anything made by human hand can only be destroyed by human hand... Nox's voice echoed in my mind.

"Why do you—!?" I retorted.

"Because I've already lost my mother, Dalton! I will not lose my father as well!" he said hysterically. I could see tears start to well up in his eyes. I stood there not being able to speak as Lea fell to his knees. 

I need to do something to cheer him up... I thought as I looked around the area. I spotted a sword and shield at the far end of the courtyard and a idea hit me. I walked over to the weapons and picked them up: the shield in my left hand and sword in my right. "W-what are you doing?" Lea asked shakily.

"If we're going up against Majora, we're going to train our asses off," I explained. I gave the sword a twirl and a swing, getting used to the weight.

"Who's Majora?" Lea asked.

I tuned to him, "Majora is the mask that's corrupting your father. But enough talk," I pointed my sword at him, "have at you!" I waited for Lea to get on his feat before I charged.





*THUMP*

"That makes it forty-two to nothing," Lea stated as he helped me stand. Fighting Lea did cheer him up, but my body couldn't take much more of his beatings.

"I don't care how long this takes, I'm going to win at least once, even if it kills me!" I vowed. I charged at him and swung my blade down. He held his sword with one claw and blocked my attack, but before I could retaliate, he used his other claw to  punch me in the gut, sending me off my feat and onto my stomach.

"Forty-three to nothing," Lea stated.

I groaned in pain, "I retract my earlier statement..." Why am I doing this again? I asked myself. Lea started laughing at my misery, Oh yea, that's right...mission accomplished, I guess. But why didn't my battle instinct kick in? Hmm...maybe it's because last time my life was in danger, and I know unconsciously that Lea wouldn't try to kill me without reason...I'll have to test this theory out later. I might even be able to activate my instinct manually if I'm correct! 

I got back up to my feat slowly and wobbled over to a door back into the castle. I put my sword and shield beside the door and then turned back to Lea, "I'm going to go see how your sister is doing, and then die slowly in bed."

As I opened the door, Lea said, "You never answered my question from before: how do we kill Majora?" 

I stood in the doorway, staring into space as I answered, "Don't worry about it... I'll take care of Majora." I then walked into the castle and began my search for Judith. I guess I'll start with where I left her, I felt a pang of guilt hit me, I feel bad that I left her with that self-absorbed bitch, I hope she's okay... I thought.

As I entered the music room once more, I realized something apparent; "She's not here...where could she be?" I pondered. However, my answer soon came in the sound of laughter, it was faint, but I could still hear it. I left the room and followed the sound of the two voices. It's really helpful having a musician's ears sometimes, I thought. My ears lead me to the library, where I found the door ajar. I walked in, continuing the search for my friend. 

Eventually, I found Judith and Luna sitting down at a table, crowded around a book. Deciding that it would be best to not be seen, I hid behind a nearby bookshelf. "...And then we said, 'Thou likest older mares? We are hundreds of years older than thou!'" The two burst out into laughter. She's hundreds of years old?! It must be a biological trait of alicorns. Well, now that I'm thinking about it, this would explain how she can fluently speak Elizabethan era English...But why does she speak that way? 

"It seems that all males are silly at times!" Judith giggled, "Except Dalton though, he's silly all the time! He laughs at random things sometimes, like when I told him about my brother's best friend, Davion, who's captain of the guard, he was hysterical! He kept ranting about the phrase, 'Who calls the dragon knight?'" I suppressed my laughter, Oh man, I forgot about that! Oh, that was a good day...

"Speaking of the human," Luna started, "is he usually this barbaric to ponies or are we an exception?" 

Judith sighed, "He just doesn't like it when people act like they're better than him," she explained. "When you said you were a princess, he must have thought that you were going to treat him like dirt." Your not far off, Judith...

"That does not mean that we were going to! We were merely stating our title and he had the nerve to snap at us!"

"I guess your right about that..." Yea, she is...I may have acted too brashly, I thought. Judith seems fine with this mare, so I think it's time to go. I quietly made my way out of the library and slowly walked down the stone corridors towards my room.

A massive sigh escaped my lips as I closed my door behind me. The stress of that day was finally taking its toll on me. My eyes traveled towards my bed, only to find the sheets to be covered in blood. Ah shit, I forgot that we let Luna use my bed, I thought. I'm gonna have to clean that up... 

After washing the sheets and making the bed, I went about finding something to take my mind off of what happened. My eye was caught by my pony mask. "Cutie marks are the mark on your flank that shows your special talent!" Applejack's voice rang in my mind. I never did check my cutie mark out... Picking up the mask and putting it on my face, I quickly undressed to see my equine form.

My cutie mark showed a white mask with red and yellow markings depicting an eye with a tear underneath it. ...Well that's ironic... I thought. What does it mean, though? Does it mean I'm truthful? No, it's definitely not that... What about seeking the truth? No, it's not that ether... It nearly covers up my entire flank... Is it hiding my identity? What ever, I'll figure this out tomorrow.

I returned to my original form and slipped into some silken pajamas I had found (yes, I wear pajamas, they're comfy, so shut it). However, I looked out the window and it looked like a clear and beautiful night out. You know what, I think I'll put off going to sleep for now, I thought. I stepped out onto the balcony and took a breath of fresh air. I stood there for what seemed like hours, staring up into the night. The sky, however, started to cloud up. I looked out over the forest to see a blanket of dark rain clouds coming towards the castle. That looks bad...Better get inside.

I closed the glass door and collapsed on to my bed. Now then, it's time to get some good old shuteye... I thought as I drifted into unconsciousness. 





"Dalton!" a panicked voice called as my door burst open.

"Nnnoooooo..." I groaned in protest. It hadn't even been an hour since I fell asleep.

"Now's no time to be groaning!" Judith scolded, "Luna's gone!" That got me up.

I scrambled out of bed, "Oh no, she's not gonna get herself killed and undo all the work we put into getting her back onto her fe— hooves!" And besides, I thought, Nox will kill me if I let Luna die, and she's the only one that I know right now that can answer my questions!

Not bothering to put on some clothes, I raced down towards the main entrance to the castle with Judith not far behind. As we reached the entrance, I turned to Judith and said, "Stay here, she probably went into the forest and I don't want you getting hurt." I opened the door to see rain pouring from the sky, "Oh, come on..." I groaned.

"Be safe!" Judith called as I ran out into the storm. I sprinted down through the town and into the forest, where I was shrouded by darkness. I began my search by trying to track her hoofprints, however her tracks were covered by mud and several other animal tracks. I soon began desperately calling out the mare's name and running around in circles throughout the forest. My hope was eroding, and I would have given up the search if not for the scream, closely followed by a monstrous roar that tore through the sound of raindrops. 

I ran as fast as I could towards the source of the noise and eventually came upon the sight of Luna being backed up against a tree by a manticore. Taking action, I ran in between Luna and the beast and raised my arms, as if to scare away a bear. It roared again shaking the ground beneath my feet, but I stood my ground and gave my own battle cry. 

I reached for my sword, only to find that I left it back at the castle. Then, I reached for my masks, but like my sword, it too was left at the castle. In confusion, I looked back to where my mask pouch should have been.

Bad move.

I was lifted off my feet as I was struck in the torso by one of the manticore's massive paws. I slammed into a tree and heard a sick popping noise as a wave of agony went up my shoulder.

The manticore made its way back over to Luna, who was desperately trying to get the device off of her horn. Ignoring the pain from my chest and arm, I returned to my place between the two. 

The manticore gave a third roar and I shouted back at it, "Come on!" 

Duck! Nox's voice echoed in my mind. I ducked underneath a swipe from the manticore and took the window of opportunity to strike. I shot my good arm out and slid my fingers behind it's eye, clenched my hand, then pulled out with the manticore's eye still in my grasp.

The beast let out an ear piercing roar of pain as it recoiled back. "Come on, cat! Is that all you got?!" I screamed. The monster seemed to be... scared? "What's the matter?! Aren't you ready to die!? Because I am!" The manticore shot me one last glare before scampering into the forest.

I fell to my knees, I just went up against a manticore unarmed and in my pajamas...and I won! My attention turned to the eye still in my hand, I'm keeping this as a trophy, I don't care what anyone else says. I slowly got up to my feet, the pain in my arm and chest was restricting my movement. 

I walked up to Luna, she started apologizing, but I interrupted her. "I'm giving you a choice," I started, "You can keep going through the forest, maybe make it to safety, maybe get eaten by a manticore, or you can come with me back to the castle, get better, and then I'll get you back to... wherever you came from safely. Your choice..." Then, I started walking back towards the castle with one arm limp and the other clutching my middle.

"Wait!" Luna called out. "Will thou wait for one second!?" I stopped and waited for the Luna to catch up to me. She limped over to me and we continued together. I'm glad she's not a complete idiot... As we painfully walked through the rain, the pain from the manticore's strike seemed to get worse withe each breath and step I took. "Art thou alright? Thou seems to be in terrible pain," Luna asked, concerned. 

"Yea I'm in some pain right now," I confirmed, "but it's nothing I can't handle." Luna still had concern in her eyes, but she dropped it.

Eventually, we made it back to the castle. Good god! It took forever to get here! The pain is starting to get really bad! The door was open and Judith was standing in the doorway, waiting for us. She ran out as soon as she saw us and helped Luna inside, leaving me to waddle into the entrance. I saw both dragon siblings looking over Luna, making sure that none of her wounds reopened. I leaned up against the wall and waited for them to finish their examination.

When he was finished, Lea looked to me and visibly flinched, "What the hell happened to you? You look like shit," he stated.

"Believe me when I say it feels a lot worse than it looks." I paused to suppress the pain. "I think I dislocated my shoulder, and my ribs are either fractured or bruised really badly," I groaned. I continued to swallow my pain as Lea left Luna and came over to examine me. 

He started with my arm. His tail came towards me as he took my arm with both claws, "Bite my tail when I put the bone back into place, it will help with the pain." he ordered me. I did as I was told and put the scaly appendage in my mouth. I bit down hard as Lea reset the bone, I nearly passed out from the pain. 

"Th-thanks," I whimpered as Lea went to my ribs next. He examined them, occasionally prodding them with his finger and I would flinch whenever he did. I got bored of watching Lea poke me, so I turned my attention to Judith to see whatever she was doing, but she wasn't there, and neither was Luna.

Lea stood up with a sigh, "Well, your ribs, as far as I can tell, are not broken, but are severely bruised," he explained. "You're going to need to at least try to breath normally and to get sleep. I'll try to find some ice, or something cold to reduce the pain and swelling, but for now, let's get you to bed." He helped me stand and walked me to my room, me using him as a crutch.

"Thanks..."

"You've already said that," Lea stated.

"No, I mean thanks for staying..." I groaned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you could have left a long time ago with Judith...I would probably be insane right now if you had left!" I chuckled, "But you're still here with me, and I'm glad of that..."

Lea let out a hum of understanding, "Well, you may be the only chance I have of getting my father back to normal..." He paused to think for a while. "I'll make you a deal," I turned my head to him, "I promise to keep you alive if you save my father, sound good?"

"Yea," I replied, "sounds good."

We reached the bedroom and I slowly crawled into bed. Jesus, I'm tired...ah, bed! My old friend! I'm so happy to see you again! Not bothering to take a shower, I pulled the sheets over me as I put the eye on my nightstand. "What's that?" Lea asked, pointing towards the bloody eye.

"That's a manticore's eye," I yawned.

Lea seemed to get annoyed at that remark, "You went up against a manticore, in your pajamas?"

"Yep."

Lea face-palmed, "I immediately regret my deal with you..." he said as he left the room.

"Good night to you too, Lea!" I called. Exhaustion eventually took over, and I fell to sleep.





I was awoken from my dreamless sleep by the sound of my door opening. I rolled over to greet my visitor, but I was surprised by who entered. "May we enter?" Luna asked sounding a bit nervous. I nodded my head and she took up a seat beside the bed. "How art thou feeling this morning?" she asked.

"Believe it or not, I've felt worse..." I moaned in reply. "What do you want from me?"

Luna gave a sigh and hung her head, "We..." she paused, "we wish to apologize for the way we've been treating thou. It has been unfair, thou hath gone out of thy way and put thyself in front of a manticore to save our life..."

I thought for a moment about how I should respond, Well, she has caused me a lot of trouble, I thought, but if I tell her to fuck off, she'll might try to run off again and Judith would get pissed at me. On the other hand, if I'm a pushover and let her off scot-free, she might think I'm mocking her apology... "Okay, fine..." I waved my hand lazily at her and rolled over, facing away from her. "Apology accepted, now let me sleep..."

Luna didn't move, "W-what?! Thy words confuse us, human. Art thou not angry with us?"

"My name is Dalton and no, I hold no malice towards you whatsoever. I will if you don't leave right now and let me sleep," I explained. Luna didn't say anything after that. After a few moments, she quietly got up and left.

However, when the door close, a new conversation started. "How did it go?" Asked Judith, who I heard through the door.

There was a pause, then Luna spoke, "We're not sure..."

"What do you mean you're not sure?! Is he angry with you or not?!"

"He said he is not angry, but—"

"Then it went well!" Judith cheered. "Dalton's a very truthful person; if he says he's not angry, then he's not angry! Now c'mon, I want to show you the rest of the castle!" I heard their steps echo through the halls as the walked away. I mentally sighed, If only that were true, Judith. You still don't know what's beneath my lies...

After trying for a couple of minuets to go back to sleep, I eventually quit my efforts and got up. I waddled into the bathroom and took a good look at myself in the mirror. Damn...Lea was right, I do look like shit! Several cuts and scratches covered my face, including a long cut above my left eyebrow that had bled enough to cover the left side of my face. Luckily, the blood had dried and the wound was closed. I should put some antiseptic gel on those cuts before they get infected, I thought. Next was my ribs. I lifted my shirt to see a massive bruise cover the side of my torso that the manticore hit. Ouch...I may want to take it easy for a couple of days.

I washed the dry blood off my face and then disinfected the cuts. Afterwards, I grabbed some clothes —a green tunic and my black track pants— and proceeded to take a shower. I came out much more awake and... well, clean! I stepped back into the bedroom to find my sheet covered with dirt and blood, again. I sighed, I should take care of those first, then I'll figure out what I'm going to do next.

I really hate washing bed sheets here. You wanna know why? Because there's no washing machine here! Really, there's showers, toilets, and even sinks, but no washing machines! So I have to go down to the river and wash them by hand, which is time consuming and annoying. 

I made my way down to the river with the sheets bundled up in my arms. I found myself drifting out of consciousness, listening to the bird songs was putting in a trance. When I got to the river, I failed to notice Luna staring into the water until I was right next to her. "Good evening," she greeted quietly.

I was curious why she was so depressed, but I thought better of it, It's none of my business. "Good evening? Isn't it morning?" I asked. She looked at me with a deadpan face, then she pointed up. I looked where I was directed and saw that the sun was already past it's zenith. "Huh, I must have slept in..." I thought out loud.

I got to work washing the sheets, dunking them into the water and scrubbing them vigorously. I worked in silence until I was half way done, then Luna asked, "Did thou mean it?"

"Mean what?" I replied.

"Thou said, in the Everfree, that thou were prepared to die. Did thou mean those words?"

I stopped and thought about it, but eventually I nodded, "Yea, I did mean what I said..."

"Why art thou ready to die?" she asked disbelievingly.

I sighed and stared into the water, "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'Water as far as the eye can see, and not a drop to drink'?" she shook her head. "Well, back in my world, I didn't have a lot of friends. Now, I usually say that it's because my past 'friends' used me, but I just really didn't like people. It seemed like everyone I met was a narcissistic, snob. I could be in a crowd of people and be paranoid of them all! I felt alone. Completely and utterly alone...and before you say, 'what about your family?' they're dead or dead to me."

"Well, can thou not start anew here in Equestria?" Luna asked.

I laughed, "Yea, I'm sure no one will notice a member of an extinct species walking down the street!"

"Young Judith has been telling us that thou possesses the ability to change form," Luna countered.

"And live behind a mask for my entire life? No thanks, I already have enough issues as it is."

Luna was silent after that. I finished my chore and gathered up the soaking sheets in my arms, which got my tunic all wet. Damn it. I walked back to the castle with Luna in tow. When I reached my makeshift clothes line, which was made up of extra bow strings that I had found, I started to hang up the sheets. My mind began to wander as I completed my mundane chore, She's probably just trying to grasp the fact that I wouldn't care if I died. Speaking of Luna, She never explained why she was unconscious in the Everfree...

"You know," I started, "you never told me why I found you in the forest in the first place."

Luna sighed, it seemed like she was dreading this moment. "We knew thou would ask that eventually..." she lamented. "'Tis a very long tale, would thou still like to hear it?"

"I've got time," I responded. 

"Well then, we must first tell thou the tale of Nightmare Moon..." and so, she told me her tale. She told me about how she was over shadowed by her sister, how she was jealous of her sisters popularity, how her jealousy grew into hate, and how both the hate and jealousy changed her into the being known as Nightmare Moon. After attacking her sister, Nightmare was sealed on the moon by her sister, Celestia, and the "Elements of Harmony" —whatever they are— for one thousand years.

Until a year ago, she escaped the moon and was changed back into her normal self again by the same elements of harmony. "...And now, some of my subjects still think that we are Nightmare Moon in disguise. The night thou found me, they snuck into the castle and tried to foalnap us, to protect our sister. They managed to put a magic suppressor on our horn before we escaped," she said, pointing to the device on her horn. "They chased us into the Everfree, and when we were looking to see if we had lost them..." Luna stopped and looked away, blushing, "...we flew into a tree..."

I chuckled, "Don't be embarrassed, I've had my fair share of running into things." I had finished hanging the sheets and was laying on the ground starring at the sky next to Luna, who was sitting on her rump. On the outside, I was smiling, but on the inside, I was flipping shit, Her story matches the history book in Twilight's library! The book said that Celestia had a sister, but I never got to her name! I'm pretty sure that it started with an... I looked at Luna, ...L... 

Luna returned my gaze, "What? Is there something wrong?" ...Princess Luna...

"Uh... no, nothing's wrong," I responded, returning my gaze to the sky. ...I've been treating a princess like dirt...I'm not gonna lie to myself, I might get beheaded if I let her leave with a bad impression of me, I thought. I sighed and sat up, "Look, Luna, I just want to apologise for the way I've been treating you..." 

Luna put a hoof over my mouth to silence me, "We understand why thou hath had a foul mood these past days, Judith told us," she explained. "This is the reason why we apologised this morning."

I nodded my head in understanding, "Alright then, if you have any questions for me, just ask and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge," I said, getting up and stretching. 

"Actually, um..." she started. I looked at her and looked up at me, "would thou accompany us to the library? We wish to read about human biology," she asked. I complied, and we set off to the library.





After teaching Luna about basic human biology, I gave her a few books on the subject and left to do find Judith. I wanted to start looking for the third mask of soul right away. After all, it wasn't going to find itself. I wandered the halls of the castle looking for the little blue dragon, until I heard a faint noise. Is that... a piano I hear? I thought. I made my way to the music room to find the source of the noise. 

I found Judith sitting in front of the piano, pressing random notes with one of her claws. I walked up and sat beside her, "Whatcha doing?" I asked.

She looked at me, then back to the piano, "My mother used to play the piano. She would always play it so beautify, and I would wonder how she could make people happy with just music..." she explained.

"So, you're reminiscing?" I asked. She nodded and I asked, "Well, do you want to learn?"

Judith looked at me with wonder, "Yes, I would!" I started teaching her the piano. I showed her the different finger movements, keys, chords, and scales. I taught her about classical, jazz, and a bunch of other types of music. 

Now, I don't teach music, but I think that I did a pretty good job. I told her she would need lots of practice and she said she would practice every day if it would make her as good as her mother. She was smiling as she learned, which made me happy that I could make her happy. Eventually, her claws started to cramp and she stopped, but before we left to go searching for the mask, she asked me to play her a song. So, I did.

I let my hands soar over the keys as I played a calming tune for her. I imagined myself glide through the night sky, gazing at the cities and towns that were below me, and admiring the natural beauty that lay before me. 

"That was amazing..." Judith complimented when I finished.

"Thanks, it's one of my favorite songs to play," I stated. "Now can we look for the mask?"





The riddle was pretty easy. Apparently, the mask is in some human ruins in the frozen north, just below The Crystal Empire. Luna over heard us and told us that she had been there before on a archaeological expedition. It was soon deemed too dangerous because the ruins were filled with booby traps. She told us that they sealed the ruins off when they were done so that nobody accidentally stumbled into it.

So I need explosives. Yea, explosives, like dynamite. We talked to Lea and he said that there were some sticks of dynamite in the armory at Vulkan, but we would have to sneak in and steal it. I don't like that choice, but it's the only one I have.

Well, there you have it. The rest of the week was spent planning with Lea on how we were going to sneak into Vulkan, and trying to repair the relationship between Luna and I. I still take a moment at night to stare into the sky and be awed by its beauty.

Well I am exhausted. I think I'll go to bed now.

P.S. I found out that I can transport more items with me somewhere if I change form before hand, equip them, then turn back. So, to dumb it down, I can carry my sword and shield on my dragon form, and my hunting equipment on my human form. 
> Chapter 5 - Risk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Why...? Why must people die?





The room was dark, pitch black, even. The curtains were closed, and the door was shut. I was sitting up against the back of a stone chair, a throne to be exact. The room behind me was large and spacious, with decor adorning its walls. But, I really didn't care what the room looked like: it was my sanctuary. A place where I could feel secure and comfortable. I was alone in the darkness; completely invisible to the outside. The only people who could find me were the people who knew me well enough to know where I am, or the people who live or have lived in the darkness.

In other words, just the way I like it when I'm depressed.

There's a simple explanation really: it was the day my mother died. It's amazing how close Judith's and Lea's mother died  to mine. In fact, now that I think about it, there are many similarities between myself and the siblings, but I digress. Yup, that day marked the end of my happy thoughts and the start of painful memories.

Anyway, there I was, silently crying in the darkness, when a beam of light shined from behind the throne. "Hello?" a voice called out. "Is anybody in here?" There was a pause and I remained silent as the door eventually closed. I wasn't in the mood to see anyone, obviously, but they probably wanted something from me. Just as I was deciding to see what they wanted, the sound to hooves on stone echoed throughout the room. I mentally sighed and waited for the person to leave, not wanting them to see me completely wrecked with grief.

The sounds gradually got louder and louder. I was getting nervous that I would be found, until it stopped. I could tell they were staring directly at the throne; I stopped breathing to quiet myself further. Minutes passed and nothing moved. It felt like time had stopped. I closed my eyes wishing that they would go away, like a scared child hiding from "monsters." Some voice inside my head told me that they wouldn't find me in the dark, that I was safe. That did help, until the sounds resumed. I curled into a ball, hiding my face in my legs.

A pair of hooves stopped beside my curled form, and the silence was broken by a simple, "Art thou alright?" I turned my head slowly to the intruder, locking eyes with her. I thought about what had happened to me over the past few weeks— no, scratch that, my entire life.

"No, Luna, I'm n-not alright, I'm far from it," I started. "E-ever since I've been fifteen years old, my life has been complete shit. My mother and brother died, leaving me alone and confused. I barely restrained myself from killing myself to end my loneliness... and just when I thought I had pulled myself together, POOF! I end up in a world full of myths —that I know nothing about— and more alone than I could possibly imagine!" I paused, pinching the bridge of my nose and swallowing my sorrow, "A natural fear of humans is not knowing, so hopefully you can imagine how afraid I am right now. On second thought, why am I even telling you this?! I know nothing about you, other than your name and occupation!"

A moment passed before Luna sat down beside me. "We were born on the twenty-second of October," she stated, "and our favorite colour is green."

"Huh," I sniffed, "our birthdays are close; October seventeenth for me."

"And as for thy preferred colour?"

"..."

"Please tell us, we only wish to help."

"...Royal blue, and before you say anything, it's a coincidence."

Luna giggled, "Is that the real reason for our saving? Were thou enticed by our beauty?"

"You wish..." We continued like that for a good half an hour before I realized I needed to go with Lea to Vulkan. 

I learnt a lot about Luna, we actually have some things in common like, we both really suck at dancing. She told me about her childhood adventures with her sister, and in return I told her about my life as a musician and the many gigs I did while in university. Talking to her was refreshing, and I plan on doing it more in the future. However, like many good things, it came to an end when I had to leave.





"We're almost there!" Lea called back as we flew over a vast plain towards a massive volcano. I could see the huge city climbing the side of the volcano all the way to the lip, where a castle sat. Hopefully this will go smoothly... oh who the fuck am I kidding, something's gonna happen, I lamented. 

We landed just outside the outskirts of the city and took a short break. "We need to wait here for an associate of mine to get us into the city unnoticed, so get comfortable," he explained. 

I sat down and leaned against a nearby boulder, then began to check the equipment I'd brought. Let's see, I thought, taking out my supplies, the dagger is there —that's good— taking a sword and shield would be a great way to get me arrested. What else... ah, emergency toothpicks! I placed one in my mouth and immediately started to nibble on the end of it, That's better! I also should have my bow and a few arrows on my human form, just in case. I really hope it doesn't come to that... I put away the dagger and toothpicks and called out, "Hey Lea!" He turned to me, "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when it's time to move." He nodded in confirmation, and I dosed off.

...

...

*THUMP*

I groaned as I woke to the sight of rocks and pebbles. Damn, I must have fallen over in my sleep, I thought while pushing myself off the ground. I'm not going to get much sleep like this. I wonder how long this is going to take... "Hey, Lea, how long 'til this associate of yours gets here?" I called. The only answer I got was a cool breeze blowing by, "...Lea?" I got up and looked around to find that I was alone. Great! I'm alone right next to enemy territory! Thanks, Lea!

"Hey you!" a deep voice called out. I turned to see a rather scary looking —and fully armed— gray dragon marching towards me. He was about as tall as Lea, if not more, and was glaring at me with blood red eyes.  Oh, here we go~! "What are you doing out here?" he said in a stern voice.

"..." oh god no, please no, not now! Please don't crap-out on me now brain!

"Well?"

"..." Say something for fuck's sake! "...napping."

"What?" he asked.

"I was napping, sir," I confirmed. Oh yea, like he's goi— 

"Oh," he started scratching the back of his neck, "sorry. The king's put guard on high alert, so we need to investigate all suspicious activity," he explained.

That worked!? "Huh, is that so?" I questioned.

He rolled his eyes, "Yea, all he said was,—" he cleared his throat and said in a posh accent, "— 'a new threat has arisen against the dragon race.' Never said who or what it was..."

"And um," I started, "when did he say this?"

"A few weeks ago... you didn't know?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, uh... I'm not one for gossip, hehe..."

The dragon narrowed his eyes, "It's not gossip. The king outright announced it to the city."

Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck! "...Is that so?"

By now he was glaring at me, eyeing me head to toe. "I never got your name..." he stated, walking menacingly  towards me.

I slowly started walking backwards, "I-isn't it rude to ask someones name without telling your own?"

"My name is Davion and I'm the Captain of the king's guard." Davion quickened his pace, and so did I.

"Oh, well, m-mister Davion, it was great meeting you, but would you look at the time! My friend, Lea, is waiting for me elsewhere. Good day!" I said, quickly turning around and walking away as fast as I could.

"Wait!" he ordered. "Did you just say 'Lea'?" I slapped a claw to my face, Dalton, you fucking— My thought was interrupted when I was suddenly tackled from behind and I quickly found a knife at my throat. "So," he started, "you're one of those spies I've been hearing so much about, huh? You don't look like much... I bet you found one of the letters Lea sent me and thought it was a good idea to tail me. Well guess what that bought you. A one-way ticket to Tartarus!"

"Wait! You're his associate!? Holy shit, this would have been a whole lot more convenient if Lea would have told me you're his associate!" I complained.

A few seconds passed before Davion asked, "You're his solution to the mask?"

"Yes, I am. Now, could you please get off of me?" I asked. We both got up and I wiped some dirt that had gotten on to me in the scuffle. "I came here with Lea to get explosives so that I could have access to a part of something that may be able to defeat Majora," I explained. That is if the masks can help against Majora.

"Who's Majora?" Davion asked.

"The mask," I bluntly replied.

"Okay? Where's Lea?"

"Believe me, if I knew, I wouldn't be here." I let out a large sigh, "Look, Lea probably found another way in, and knew you would come here to let me in. He might meet up with us later," I explained. Davion looked at me with unease and I groaned, "Look, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that we both want the same thing: to destroy Majora. Standing here isn't going to get anything done. So, could we please just go?"

Davion sighed and gave in, "Fine, follow me and stay close." As we walked, I managed to get a closer look at Davion. He was wearing a harness to carry his sword, kite shield, some small knives, and two pairs of really thick handcuffs. His main coat of scales were steel gray and the scales running up his back were dark red. Plus, he had way more muscle tone than either me or Lea. However, he lacked wings, which in retrospect is kinda weird because Lea, Judith, and myself have wings...

Anyway, we reached the city limits where there was a checkpoint. Davion turned to me, handcuffs in hand and said, "Here, put these on." I did as I was told and bound my wrists together. As we reached the checkpoint, the guards turned to us and saluted. "I'm bringing this one in for suspicious activities," Davion stated. 

One of the guards let out a massive sigh, "Even the Captain has to do this mundane bullshit... All right, — " he tuned to me, " — what were you doing?"

I shrugged, "Napping."

"...Napping?" the guard confirmed. I nodded and he face-palmed, "Oh for the love of..." He shook his head and motioned for us to continue. Even the guard thinks the king's orders are unusual, I thought, Interesting... They must fear him if they're still working for him.

I took in the magnificent sights Vulkan as we walked. The streets were cobblestone, and the various buildings were stone. The city was built on the side of the of the volcano, so the walk to the castle — which was at the lip of the volcano — was mostly uphill. Think of it kinda like a stone shanty town, but more busy and crowded.

As we reached the castle gates, Davion took the cuffs off of me and said, "When we get inside, stick with me, or you'll be screwed. No one will question you if you're with me."

"Duly noted," I responded. "What happens if we run into the king?"

"We won't. He has a meeting with the griffon king."

"Good. Lead on!" I said. We walked through the gate and turned to the right and we walked through a garden. That's as much as I saw because we were walking pretty fast, almost jogging.

As we reached the back side of the castle, I saw a small, single-story building guarded by two guards in the corner of the grounds farthest from us. "There it is..." Davion said. "Any idea how to get inside?"

"Wait, you didn't come up with a plan before I got here?"

"All I was told to do was to let you in."

I slapped my claw to my face, "Oh for fuck's sake... can't we just walk in?"

"No, the king ordered that if anyone goes in without authorization, they should be considered a traitor."

I groaned, "All right, give me a sec." I looked at the armoury more closely. I noticed there was a small alleyway along the back and side of it. Perfect, I thought. "Actually, I might have a plan, but it involves you knocking out one of your guards."

"I'll do whatever it takes to bring back the real king!" he replied.

"Then when I give the signal, take out the guard on the left. But first I need to get into that alley." He walked me passed the guards and towards the entrance of the alley. Luckily, there was no one around except for the two guards, who didn't see us go into the alley. Davion leaned against the wall of the armoury as I carefully walked to the other side. I peeked around the corner to see the guard standing there.

All right, I thought, now for— ah! Here we go. I picked up a decent sized stone and threw it on the ground in front of me. I heard the guard murmur "huh?" before turning around and heading into the alley. I turned and motioned for Davion to knock out the other guard. He disappeared around the corner and I turned back to the guard coming towards me. I pressed my back up against the wall and waited.

Time seemed to slow down as I waited for the dragon to walk around the corner. I could hear his steps get closer and closer. It was almost time. Any second now... The guard's foot stepped out into my vision. As he took another step, I leaped on to him, wrapping my arm around his neck and squeezing as hard as I could. There were choking sounds and he desperately tried to get me to stop, but I didn't, and eventually he stopped moving. I let go and started to pant.

Tossing the guard off of me, I got up and dragged him over against the armoury wall. Davion came around the corner with the other guard and put him with his partner. We both made our way over to the entrance of the building and I opened the door, "I'll only be a second, but keep a look out, just in case."

I entered the armoury and was assaulted by the sight of weapons. Long swords, short swords, spears, halberds, crossbows and bolts, and bows and arrows were scattered around the room. There were also wooden crates buried beneath the weapons. The explosives would probably be in one of the crates, I thought. Starting with a crate at the back, I pushed the weapons off of the top and opened it: shields. Wrong one... Next! I repeated this pattern until I finally got the right one.	Eventually, I came to a old looking crate. I opened it to find a dusty cloth covering what was inside. I held my breath and pulled the cloth off. 

What I saw inside made me snort in amusement: A dozen small bowling ball sized, dark blue spheres that had a silver disk and rope on top of it. I should of seen that one coming from a mile away, I thought. I used the cloth to wrap the bombs up and slung it over my shoulder.

I was about to exit, but then... "...they were dead tired, so I relieved them," I heard Davion say. I put my ear to the door and listened, "Besides, it better than patrolling the outskirts. Right, your highness?"

Your highness!? "I don't care for guards who leave their post, however, even if he managed to get into the castle, he wouldn't stand a chance against me. I'm already far more powerful than he could possibly Imagine," a deep voice said. I looked around for something I could look through, but there wasn't anything big enough. "Good day, guard."

"Good day, sir," Davion replied. I put my claw on the doorknob, If I can just go now and catch him off guard, I can destroy the mask! I thought. But... can I really do this!? I'm not a hero... I'm just... some guy... I hesitated. That one moment turned into several minutes. ...no, there's to much at stake. If I fuck up now, it's all over! I need to plan my attack if I want to win!

I slowly opened the door and exited. "Lets go," I said abruptly.

"...What happened to you in there? You seem different than before..."

I paused, "I heard you and Majora talking."

He gave me a puzzled look, "You mean the king?"

"No. Judging by what he said, he's already completely controlled by Majora." We made it to the front of the castle. However, guards were gathering at the front gate. "And judging by all those guards, he knew I was in there. He's toying with me." I took the bombs off of my shoulder and leaned against the castle, using one claw to massage my temples. "Think, Dalton, think! How do we get out of here!?"

I can't alert the guards because I need to find Lea, so the gate is out of the question. I looked for any other escape roots. The castle wall is covered with guards, and the front of the gate is probably covered too. UUUUHHG! Fuck! FUCK! FUCK! If I don't get out of here, EVERYTHING I've done until now will be for nothing!

"Any Ideas?"

I glared at him, "Would you just —" I stopped. Davion was kneeling down behind a cart of stones.

Oh.
My.
Fucking.
God.

"Davion, you... the cart... genius!" I snuck over to him and started pulling the cart, "Help me with this."

"What? The cart? Why the cart?" he questioned. 

I angled the cart with the gate, "On three, we're pushing the cart and jumping in before we become visible. If this works, we can jump out while it's still rolling. The guards won't see us, so they won't know who to look for. After that, we'll stash the bombs and look for Lea," I explained.

Davion gawked at me, "You realize you're insane, right?"

"Well, do you see any other way out?" I asked. He sighed and shook his head, "Good. Now then, on three..." 

"One," we got ready to push. My heart started to race and adrenaline coursed through my body.

"Two," a insane smile swept on to my face.

"Three!" We pushed the the cart as hard as we could, sending it flying towards the gate.

I jumped into the cart and buried myself in the stones, concealing myself. It was only after I heard the guards yell in confusion and surprise that I realized, Wait, the entire city's on a mountain. So that means... The cart rolled out of the castle courtyard as I peeked out the top. ...Oh no...

We started rolling down the volcano at break-neck speeds. I hid back in the cart and started to count to ten. When I reached ten I yelled, "Jump!" and leaped off the left side of the cart. I hit the ground in a roll and immediately ran to the nearest alley with Davion in pursuit. We caught our breath while listening to the sounds of panicked yelling and a large crashing noise.	When we were ready, we took off again to make sure that we weren't found. 

As we wandered the back alley looking for Lea, I asked, "So, where do we start looking?"

Davion closed his eyes for a moment, "There's one place I can think of, however it's probably under surveillance."

"Better start there then," I said. Davion took the lead and we walked through the labyrinth of alleyways. 





We got lost once or twice... maybe twelve times, but we eventually got to our destination. We stood behind a rather average, two-story stone house. There was a door and two windows, one large window on the second story and a small one next to the door, but that wasn't all. A guard leaned against the back of the building next to the door. "Damn..." I whispered to myself. I looked back at Davion, "Give me a sec, I got an idea."

I pumped my self up and ran at the guard. He stumbled in surprise, but quickly regained his footing. I stopped just in front of him, hunched over and panting severely. The guard began to ask if I was alright, but I cut him off, "A group— ah —of guys just tried— hah —to mug me!" I pointed off in the direction I came from and said,"They're down that street!" The guard affirmed that he would catch them and ran down the alleyway. I stood up straight and mumbled, "Idiot..."

Davion came out of the shadows and to my side. He looked at me and we nodded to each other, then I reached for the door. I opened the door and walked in, followed closely by Davion. We walked into a living room with two couches, a coffee table, and a fire place. However, the fireplace held no fire. Instead, there was a small fountain of lava heating the room. To our right was a door and further ahead was the entrance and a staircase. "I'll check the house, you stay here," Davion ordered.

I sighed, "Fine, but hurry up." Davion went to the stairs and gave me one last look. I rolled my eyes, "I'll be here when you get back. I'm not stupid enough to leave." With that, he ascended the stairs and I was left alone to do whatever I pleased. I walked over and knelt by the fireplace so that I could inspect it further. The lava seemed to come out of the wall and fall into a small pool in the base of the fireplace. Neat, I thought, I didn't think dragons had awesome stuff like this! I guess looks can be deceiving... well look who's talking.

*CRACK*

Without warning, something collided with the side of my head, shattering as it sent me flying.	I reached for my dagger as I hit the ground belly first with a loud thud. 

However as soon as I drew it, my assailant pinned my body and claw, taking it from my grasp. I struggled as much as I could to get onto my back, but it was futile.

"STOP!" a feminine voice cried. A few moments later, I felt the weight pinning me to the ground disappear. I immediately got to my feet and wound up to strike my opponent, but instead, I was greeted to the sight of  a very confused Lea with a dagger in his claw and the lack of a certain coffee table. 

My eye twitched as I furiously glared at Lea, who couldn't look me in the eye. "Er... sorry. I thought you were a guard," he apologised. My glare didn't lighten. Lea looked over to Davion, and they switched places. 

As Davion came close he asked, "Are you alright?" 

I turned my glare to him and was about to shout at him, but I realized something and got the most delightful idea. Davion must have realized this because he suddenly started to backed away. I asked in a very calm and respectful manner, "Does Judith know about Lea's girlfriend?" He blinked a couple of times, but eventually shook his head.

A sinister smile crept over my maw, Excellent, my hunch was right! Lea wouldn't go to anybody who he couldn't trust in the slightest, so it would be logical to assume that this woman is his girlfriend. I glanced back over to Lea, Soon, I will have my revenge... Very soon...

"Well! Since we're all back together, let's get going," Lea said.

"Lea," the dragoness warned, "be careful..."

"I give you my word that I will," he consoled. He leant down and locked his lips with hers, making me shake my head and walk through the back door.

I leaned against the back wall of the house, where the guard once stood. Davion soon followed me out and joined me. "Don't like that kind of stuff?" he asked.

It took a minute, but I eventually nodded my head, "Yea. Makes me feel alone..."

"I know what you mean," he empathized. "You know, I used to be jealous of him. He could have anything he wants. Gems, dragonesses, everything at the tips of his claws..." he sighed, "it must be awesome to be a prince."

"That's only because his father took the throne," I scoffed.

Davion looked at me, '...he never told you? His father was originally the king."

I blinked not once or twice, but thrice until I realized what he said, "Wait, what!?" 

Davion opened his mouth to speak, but he soon closed it without saying anything after looking behind me. I turned my head to see Lea standing there with a smile upon his face. "Ready to go?" he asked me.

I turned away from him, "...Yea. Let's go," I said. He's a prince! That makes Judith a princess as well... Fuck! I'm living in a castle full of royalty!





We luckily made it outside of the city without incident, where we said goodbye to Davion. Lea and I then made it back to the castle at around midnight. Lea went to check on his sister and then went to bed, but I had too much on my mind. I was lying down in the castle courtyard, staring at the stars and the moon.

What am I doing here? Why am I pitching myself against Majora's mask? I can't beat him. I'm no hero, or knight, or adventurer. I'm a musician and nothing else! Sure, I may have some weird fighting instinct that kicks in whenever I'm in danger, but still! I don't have enough strength for this! I have no power whatsoever! *sigh* Maybe I should just run away... 

"We are glad someone other than ourself enjoys the night," a familiar voice said. I turned my head to find Luna laying on her hooves, staring out into the sky. I ignored her and turned my sight back skywards. "It is obvious that something is troubling thou. What ails your mind?"

I hesitated for a moment before confessing, "...I'm going to die..."

"By the Mask that corrupts young Judith's father?" Luna confirmed

."How—?"

"We asked Judith where thou and Lea were travailing to, and she explained the situation. Let it be known that when we return to Canterlot, we will help with this crisis to the extent of our power."

I paused and then sighed, "If I fight Majora, I'll surely die. I'm just not qualified to do this kind of crap..."

"Going back on thy feelings, are we?" I gave her a questioning look, "We believe it was, 'Aren't thou ready to die? Because we are!' or something like that."

I sighed again and looked back up, "I don't know anymore..." I closed my eyes, "I just don't want to lose what I've gained here." Silence then took over the conversation. It lasted a couple of moments before I asked, "What would you do in my situation?"

The blue mare thought about it for a while before replying, "Even if only one were to believe in us, we would fight." I felt her hoof gently rub my shoulder, "We know that thou can think of one who believes in thy victory over Majora."

"...I can think of two, actually."

"Then remember those two whilst fighting the demon," Luna suggested.

I sighed for a last time before getting up. I turned to the princess with a light smile, "Thanks."  She smiled back as I passed her on my way to the castle. Time to get some sleep.





"You're leaving right after breakfast?" Lea asked as we walked down towards the dining hall. I had found him before he went to get something to eat for two reasons. One being that I needed to tell him that I was going to get the third mask right away.

I nodded, "I don't have the time to relax. Every passing moment lets Majora drain your father, making him more powerful. I've convinced myself that the masks of soul are the only things that can make me win in a fight against Majora." We walked through a set of large double doors and came into a room where a long, wooden table sat accompanied by chairs and our other two companions. "By the way," I said noticeably louder, "you never told me that you had a special someone!"

The second reason was that I wanted to make his life a living hell.

Lea stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me as I continued walking away. I pulled out a seat next to Luna who was reading a book, but looked at me when we walked in. "What art thou doing making Lea's private life loud enough for all to hear?"

"Revenge," I said nonchalantly.

Lea finally looked away from me as a cracking sound came from the other end of the room. Judith was holding a fist in her claw and glaring daggers at Lea. "Explain. Now," she ordered in a very dark tone. Lea looked back to me with a pleading look. I smugly smiled and flipped him the bird. All hope faded from his expression and he turned back to Judith, who was now standing on the table in front of him. Judith jumped on to Lea and started attacking him viciously while yelling, "Tell me who it is!"

I started laughing at his misfortune and I actually fell over in my chair because of how hard I was laughing. Luna sighed and gave me a disappointed look. "H-h-he deserves i-it!" I explained. The mare shook her head at me and returned to her book.

"There is a train that runs from ponyville to the frozen north. After that, you'll need to head north-east until you find a mountain that looks like it is wearing a crown. We thought thou ought to know," she said. I tried to suppress my laughter as I got up off the floor and walked out of the room.

I headed towards my room to prepare for my next quest.





The frosty bite of the cold on my cheeks and the dampness of my clothes made me nostalgic of my home on earth as I trek through the northern tundra. After getting off the train, I tried to make it to my destination by flying as a dragon, but I immediately lost all of my strength. I guess dragons are susceptible to the cold. Anyway, I had to make it there by foot which made it far more difficult since there was a blizzard blowing through just as I was arriving.

Honestly though, why even have a train here, I thought. Not that I'm complaining. What did Luna say again? A mountain that's wearing a crown... I looked around the white fog caused by all the snow blowing around. Damn, I can't see a thing! Why did there have to be a blizzard right now? 

I sighed and continued to push through the storm. I can't even see three feet...! My thought deteriorated as a giant shadow loomed in front of me. A mountain stood in my path that seemed to rise above the sky itself. At it's peak, several massive icicles were shooting out from all directions. Never mind. After regaining focus from the magnificent sight, I continued forwards to the base of the giant and sure enough, a pile of boulders greeted me there.

I dropped the bag into the snow, pulled out three bombs out of it and began positioning them. One in the center of the cluster of boulders, and the other two on ether side of the first bomb, but on the ground. I quickly changed into a dragon, lit the fuses, changed back into human form, and dove quite a far distance away. And then the sound of success bellowed in my ears.

*KA-BOOM!*

I smiled as I saw the debris from the barrier flew over my head and out into the blizzard. I looked at the hole that now lay at the base of the mountain. Deciding that I should get it over with, I continued into the void.

The cavern had been travelled before, since the walls had intricate patterns cut into it and the floor had been stomped flat. My footsteps echoed through the tunnel as I made my way farther and farther into the mountain. Eventually, I saw a opening at the far end of the tunnel. However, I failed to notice the small, smooth pressure plates in front of me until I stepped on them. 

Suddenly, an arrow tore through the air in front of my eyes and implanted itself into the wall. 

I turned my head slowly, brining my sight to the thing that almost ended me. After a few seconds of staring at the arrow, I let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding. My eyes trailed down from the arrow to the remains of someone who was far less lucky than me. I gulped and turned away from the skeleton, only to realize that I didn't see that the entire hall was filled with them! An assortment of bones belonging to a variety of species, all lining the floor of the tunnel.

"Aww man..." I moaned. But, I had to get through that gauntlet of booby-traps and get that mask for Lea and Judith! Taking a few steps back, I jumped on the balls of my feet to limber up. I got down into a starting position, and after a few seconds of self motivation, I sprinted down the hall.

Duck! Jump! Roll! Cartwheel! Nox ordered. I don't know how I did the latter, but it got me through that death trap. The passage opened up into a cylindrical staircase where the stairs wound up to the top. I sighed and ascended the tower, having a few close calls with falling off the edge while on my way.

. Eventually, I got to the top of the spire where a old wooden door waited to be opened. As I pushed through the door, dust burst from the other side, making me cough and gag. On the other side however, was a magnificent, semi-sphere shaped chamber with an altar in the center. The alter held —you guessed it— the gryphon mask, in all it's glory. A large beak stuck out of the front and two blue eyes on top of that, with brown feathers surrounding them. Chuckling, I made my way over to the mask and picked it up from it's pedestal.

The door suddenly slammed closed. I turned to it, only to have my attention taken away as a very loud cracking sound came from the floor. I froze as the sounds continued, but they stopped as quickly as they began.

My last thought before the floor caved in was, Oh n—. As a last resort, I put the mask in my hand on my face. And then I fell into the darkness, screaming in pain as I did.





I awoke to the familiar sounds of metal wheels bumping up and down in a rhythmic pattern. I opened my eyes to see a dark green carpet staring back at me and aching all over my body. I was laying face down on a wooden bench and for some reason, there was an eagle's claw laying on the floor. Oh wait, that's my claw, I thought as I reached to pick it up, but instead pressed it harder into the floor.

"Ya' gave gave us a right good scare there, mate!" a Irish accented voice told me.

"Pardon?" I asked as I looked up to see two figures. One was a earth pony. Dark green main and tail, green coat, Light blue eyes, and a magnifying glass hovering over a rock for a cutie mark. The other was a gryphon, who had his arms crossed and was very burly. He had a red main coat of feathers which were also highlighted with yellow here and there. Also, he had a brown eye, the other was closed off by a scar. 

The pony chuckled, "Well, ya' went and, gosh darnit', ya' fell on us!"

I raised an eyebrow at this. The gryphon saw this and explained, "We heard an explosion not too far away from where we were, so we decided to check things out."

"To see if anypony got hurt, ya' see," the pony added.

"Uh huh," I hummed. "Who are you?" I asked, pointing to both of them.

The pony rolled his eyes and put a hoof to his fore head, "Oh, silly me! Where are me manners, I'm Tablet Flip, and the grumpy one here is Marcus Stonebeak! And who might you be?"

I blinked, Fuck, not this shit again... "Uh..." Think dammit! I need to think of a name before—! ...Wait a second... "...I don't remember... I can't remember anything!" I put a claw to my head and started breathing heavily.

Tablet Flip held out his hooves, "Oh no! Don't try to stress yourself over this, that won't do nothin' good!"

I got up from the table and headed to the door that lead to the next car, "I... I think that I need some fresh air..."

"You come back when you're ready to talk, lad!" The pony called as I exited the car with a smirk. 

I quickly tore the gryphon mask from my face and replaced it with the pony mask. You may think, "Why didn't he just leave?" That's mainly because I didn't know where I was or where I was going. If I waited for just a bit longer, I would be in a town and I could figure out what to do from there.

I opened and entered the door to the next car, now in a pony form. The car was empty, except for a stallion with a brown scarf around his neck reading a newspaper. The stallion had a white coat, light blue eyes, and a dark blue mane with a lighter shade running down the middle. His cutie mark was a Dark blue shield with a purple, six pointed star in the center and three more blue stars above. I noted that he had dark bags under his eyes as he read his newspaper.

Not wanting any attention, I sat down immediately on the bench to my left and scooted down to the window. I peeked over and looked back at the stallion. Good, he still doesn't know I'm here, I thought. Relaxing a bit, I looked out the window. Unfortunately, all I could see was frost, snow, and mountains. I must still be in the Frozen North. That means I got here a while ago... and that I'm leaving, I smiled, for free!

My joy only lasted a few minutes, however. The door I came to opened and my head whipped to the noise. The green pony from before walked through the door with a worried expression on his face. His head swivelled until he's eyes met mine, "You wouldn't happen to see a gryphon walk through this here car, would ya'? He's a big one, brown eyes, blue-tipped feathers?"

I smiled and politely shook my head; I didn't want him to recognize my voice and get suspicious. Tablet Flip frowned, "Alrighty then." He then walked off towards the other end of the cart, but before exiting he asked the other stallion— who was already aware of his presence — the same question. He too shook his head, letting Tablet continue on his marry way.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when that nuisance left and looked back out the window. Holding back my excitement, I thought, Finally! Time to get—! "I didn't know that anypony was in this car but me!" a smooth and semi-deep voice said from my right. I mentally seethed, God dammit! He must have notice me when that dammed Irish pony talked to me! And to top it off, he's a surfer-dude! "I'm Shining Armour. You mind if I sit with you?"

I turned to Shining with a fake smile, "No, I don't mind." If I get the chance, I'm going to fucking tear your head off, I thought to him. I motioned for him to sit, and he did so with a smile and a "Thank you."

"So, what brings you to these parts?" he asked. This is exactly why I didn't want you to notice me... I thought at him again.

"Business," I told him.

He Laughed, "What kind of employer would send somepony all the way out here?!"

"I'm an archaeologist. I came here to acquire something."

"I see. Well then, what's your focus?"

"...Excuse me?" I asked.

Shining rolled his eyes, "You know, which history is your specialty?"

"Oh," I hummed in understanding, "I guess that would be human then."

His eyes opened in surprise, "Human? Huh, not many research that field..."

"Really?" I asked. "Why's that?"

"It's generally considered myth," he gave me a quizzical look, "but you're in the field. Don't you already know this?"

"I'm actually relatively new to the field," I half-lied.

"That makes sense. So, what did you get?"

Uh... I thought, I can't show him! The mask is on my human form! "Well, it's... confidential. Plus, it's really boring anyway."

"Hrm," he groaned. "All of the interesting things are."

"I didn't take you for the knowledgeable type," I admitted. After all, he was a surfer-dude.

He smiled, "Well, it's mostly so that I have some topics for conversation with my sister." Shining started to chuckle, "She's annoyingly smart. I actually brought her a human artifact that my fiancé had found, and she flat out told me it was junk!"

"Why's that?" I asked with sudden curiosity.

The stallion reached over into his saddle bag and pulled out a bundle of cloth, "Take a look for yourself." He slid the bundle over to me and I took it in my hooves. The item inside the cloth felt hard and smooth, like plaster or something. I unwrapped the cloth to find two black slits glaring at me from their yellow background. It had pointy ears and nose, all tipped black. The mask of a certain fox was in my hooves and it stared into my soul. I felt that it was... alive. "She said it had nothing to go by to tell if it was of human origin," Shining stated. I turned over the mask to find that the interior was completely yellow, except for the two small holes located in the slits of the mask. Like Shining said, there were no markings, just that calming yellow.

"...Why do you say it's a human artifact?" I questioned, looking back up to him.

He smiled, "Well, that's because it was found in a human ruin!"

"I see..." I was completely enticed by the mask. I didn't want to let it go. "Um... would you be willing to part with it?"

Shining smiled, "I don't see why not!" I reached for my money, but I quickly found that it wasn't there. Shit... The stallion held up his hoof, "It's fine, you don't have to pay me anything." A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

Suddenly, the train jerked back as if it were stopping. A brown stallion walked into the car dressed in a fancy looking uniform and told us that we would be arriving in Canterlot before leaving. "Well," Shining started, "this is my stop."

"You live here?" I asked.

"Yea, and I work here too," he answered.

"What do you do?"

"Oh, I'm captain of the royal guard." My eyes widened. That means he knows Luna's sister!

As the train was pulling into the station, I asked, "Hey, this is going to sound really suspicious and weird, but could you tell princess Celestia that her sister's fine?"

He turned to me with a confused expression, "How do you know that?"

"Let's just say a rather big, clumsy, blue bird told me," I said.

The guard stared at me for a moment before nodding and leaving the car. Some other ponies made their way into the train, but I didn't care. I leaned my head against the window and as the train left the station, I started falling asleep.





As I walked through the forest in my human form with my bow drawn and an arrow on the string already, I couldn't help but feel worried. I remembered that Majora knew where I was in the castle, so what was stopping him from finding me? That thought alone made me uneasy. but for some reason the forest was more unnerving than before. I could barely make out the moonlight peeking through the canopy. I slipped my newly acquired Keaton mask to try and subdue the uneasy feeling building in my chest. For some reason, it worked. 

The pitter-patter of rain suddenly erupted around me, striking down the unusual silence of the forest. I was getting close to the castle and as I did, my uneasy felling grew and grew. Picking up the pace, I ran to my temporary home.

When I breached the clearing into the town, I spied for any inconsistencies in the regular in the surrounding environment. I noticed that the castle had no lights on. I was confused by this because I always left the candles lit, even at night. Oh god, I thought as I ran into the town, please let them be safe... I can't lose anyone else! I ran as fast as I could through the rain towards the castle. In my haste, however, I tripped over my feet and fell.

If I hadn't, I would have missed Lea.

My hands landed in a sea of red. I smelled blood and nothing else. I looked for the source and not too far away sat the red dragon I've come to accept as a friend, blood pouring from him like the rain.

"L...LEA!" I ran over to him and kneeled down in front of him, tearing off my mask and letting it drop to the ground. The blood came from a would on his chest. It looked like he had been impaled. I shoved my hands on to the wound and pressed as hard as I could. As I did, my hands were covered by his warm blood.

"...J...Ju..." My head snapped up to see his glossy, tear-filled eyes. One of his claws slowly made its way up on to my wrist. "P...promise..." he said, "...pro-t-ect...J-jud-ith..."

Tears started to fill my eyes now, "You can do that yourself, god dammit! Don't leave us! Judith needs you! I need you!" His breaths were getting shallower.

Lea chuckled.

Then, he stopped breathing all together.

After a few moments, his warm body became cold.

And like that, he was gone.

I sat in the rain, looking at my third loved one to die early.





Luna said that I had started screaming, but I don't remember anymore. All I remember is feeling him pass on. When Judith and Luna found me and him, Judith passed out.

She must be awake. I can hear her weeping from the other end of the castle.

Why must people die, and leave the living to suffer?
> Chapter 6 - Alone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I've forgotten what it feels like when a part of your soul is torn from you, and all that's left is an empty, black void. I wish it was just me, but now Judith's suffering too... Hell, I've caught Luna tearing up as well.

I shouldn't have left the castle. I should have realized sooner that Majora knew where we were and would send someone to kill us. I could have stopped this, but instead I dug my friend's grave, literally... The grave isn't pretty, but it's done. I buried him next to the river, with his sword as a grave marker.

After that, I had some thinking to do. Since Lea's not around anymore and Luna has that weird ring around her horn, I can't leave Judith at the castle anymore. I can't take her with me out into the world, it's hard enough looking out for myself. So, that leaves the question:

What now?





I sat in the commons room staring into the open fire in the fireplace. My mind wandered the different possibilities of where I could hide Judith safely. However, the best place I could come up with was risky as hell: Lea's girlfriend's house, but after what just happened I threw it from my mind like the others.	I hung my head and sighed in defeat. Not only did I let my friend die, but now I was failing his last wish. 

The sound of the door opening brought me back to reality. I looked up to see Luna, who had recently removed her bandages, walk in to the room and close the door behind her. I sat up, "How is she?" Judith had spent all morning mourning her brother's death.

"Asleep." I sighed in relief as she continued, "Hath thou thought of our next actions?"

I shook my head, "No, nothing I think of seems to be safe enough for all of us..." I slumped back over and rested my head on one of my hands. 

Luna sat on the couch close to me and draped her wing across my shoulders. "Perhaps Judith could seek protection in Canterlot?" The alicorn suggested.

I hummed in thought, "Hmm... Possibly. You also seem to have healed fully, so it might be in our best interests that we move both you and Judith tomorrow," I said, turning my head to look up into her sapphire eyes.

However, my head sunk back down to it's original position. "Is something the matter?" Luna asked with a hint of concern.

I bit my lip, "...I can't help but feel responsible," I admitted. "If I had just waited instead of hurrying to get the masks, I... I could have..." I started choking up and tears started to well up in my eyes. "And now, b-because of me, Judith is s-s-suffering," I lamented.

Luna used her wing to pull me close, than she wrapped her forelegs around my neck and hugged me tight. "We all hath to bear our share of burdens," She comforted, "We all wish to go back and change our errors. Some more than others..." 

I stood up suddenly, startling Luna. "I... I know. It's not the fact that I can't change this mistake that makes me upset... It's the fact that I let it happen in the first place," I explained. "Lea trusted me with not only his life, but Judith's and his father's as well... and I let him die! I betrayed him!" I said while clenching my fists.

"Thou art scolding thyself for actions thou could not take! It was impossible for thou to save him! When will thou realize that?!" asked the blue mare.

I stood there for a moment before leaving the room. She may be right, but Lea's dead and I was the only person here with the power to save him. That's a fact, I thought as I walked. 

Pushing a door open, I walked out into the courtyard where the sun was beginning to set. Don't lose your way, human. Letting your anger and pain control your actions will surely get you killed, Nox warned. I ascended the castle wall and on the edge, staring out into the orange and red horizon. 

I sighed, "It's not that I'm angry. It's just... they're putting their trust in me and I don't know why. I couldn't save Lea... so how can I save a kingdom?! I'm not a hero! I'm not even that brave! I'm just some guy! I— !" I stopped when the realization hit me, "I'm just some guy who ended up here for some reason..."

Something was caught in my throat as I continued, "I'm not like you, Nox. I-I can't be confident about doing something that I consider a death trap!" I put my head in my hands as I quietly cried, "I just want to go home!"

Nox didn't speak as I sat there and cried. Finally, after about five minutes she spoke to me in a cold and calculating tone. Then leave. Run away and don't look back.

"W-what?" I asked, confused.

This situation calls for someone who can believe in the impossible and doesn't care only about themselves. Run. Run and smell the world burn behind you.

"...I can't just abandon Judith."

Then stop complaining and do what you must, she finished.





There wasn't a single thing in the Everfree that made me unnerved. The sounds of nature were far quieter than they should have been. There was no rustle in the trees from the wind, and the scamper of predator and prey alike were gone. The only sound for miles were our steps as Luna, Judith, and I ventured to Ponyville in promise of sanctuary. With my bow at the ready and the Keaton mask hiding my face, I walked behind the two as we followed the path.

"Are we there yet?" Judith asked while holding herself tightly. "This forest is giving me the creeps."

"We're almost there," I confirmed. "I think you'll like Ponyville. There's a dragon there that's only a little younger than you, and the town's folk seem to be nice enough."

Judith looked to the ground sadly. "I don't want to meet another dragon... I want to see my brother."

I cringed at her painful words and looked away from her. Silence rained over our group for quite a while before Luna spoke." We see the edge of the forest ahead," she announced.

A wave of melancholy washed over me. This would be the last time I would get to see Luna and Judith. However, they both would be safe in Canterlot from Majora and his minions. I was happy that they would be safe, but they were still my only source of contact. Without them, I would be alone.

As we reached the edge of the forest and Ponyville came into sight, I stopped as my two friends continued. Judith noticed and turned to me. "Are you coming or what?" she asked.

I shook my head and she stopped in her tracks. "You and Luna are going into Ponyville alone. I'm not coming with you," I said.

Tears started to well up in Judith's eyes as she pointed to the ground angrily. "Get over here, now."

My eyes started to do the same as I shook my head for a second time. "No. Go with Luna, you'll be safer with her."

Judith bolted over to me with tears running down her cheeks. "No! You're coming with us too!" she yelled as she started to pull on my arm.

"I can't," I stated.

"Why not!?" Judith cried.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me after kneeling. "Judith, look at me!" She looked at me with her teary eyes as I held her shoulders. "I couldn't save Lea!" I cried with her. "But I can still save you! Please don't make this any harder! Go with Luna and live!"

Judith wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. "Please, don't die! Please, don't die! Please, don't die!" she repeated over and over again. I began to push her off and as I did she begged, "No! No! Promise me I'll see you again! Please!"

I pushed her off of me and looked her in the eye. "Okay. I... I promise."

A blue wing hugged Judith and pulled her away from me, allowing me to stand. Judith hugged Luna's foreleg as the princess looked to me. "Good luck," the mare said.

"Thanks. You too." With that I turned and walked back into the forest. I couldn't bear to watch them leave, so I left first. However, I turned back to the two after a few paces despite the pain. When I did though, they were already gone.





*ring ring*

My head shot up from the table in front of me. I was back at the castle and I was more paranoid than when I first arrived in this world. When I got back here, I berated myself for being an idiot. I had forgotten to look for the forth mask while I still had help. 

*ring ring*

And now, I thought I was going insane. There was a phone going off somewhere in the castle, and I was positive that there weren't any phones in this castle or world.

*ring ring*

Yet, there it was. Begging for anyone to answer it. Probably me.

*ring ring*

With my hands shaking, I got up and found my bow which I had put on a nearby shelf. I made my way out of the room and out into the hall.

*ring ring*

It was coming from the centre of the castle; probably from the throne room. Why would there be a phone in the throne room? I made my way down the hall.

*ring ring*

The large double doors were in front of me now and I couldn't help but shake. I drew my bow and loaded an arrow. I then slowly pushed on of the doors open and walked inside.

*ring ring*

There it was. It was on the throne itself. The phone seemed to be modern. I got up close to inspect it further.

*ring ring*

It was my phone. There was no caller identification. There was only two options: answer or ignore. 

*ring ring*

Absent mindedly, I dropped my bow and picked up the phone.

*ring ring*

I pressed the button and brought the phone to my ear. "...Hello?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You forgot to close the door."

The door slammed behind me, making me jump and turn around. There was no one there. The lights suddenly went out and the curtains closed on their own, making it pitch black. I ran to the door, but it was blocked from the outside.

"What's the matter? I thought you liked the dark."

I turned and put my back to the wall.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!"

"Now why would I do that? Are you scared?"

"YES!!!"

"Then tell me who I am. If you guess wrong, well..."

His voice sounded so familiar. Almost as if I knew him since birth.

"MAJORA!!!"

"...hehe— hehehehehehehe—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH—"

The phone suddenly died right there, and I was left alone in the dark.

That is, until I heard footsteps.

"No. I'm something much worse." It was as if the room itself was talking to me.

I closed my eyes, covered my ears, and sank to the floor.

NOX! NOX, HELP! I'M GOING TO DIE!

There was no response.

Something touched my foot.

I started crying in fear.

I felt something wet drink my tears.

Someone started to caress my body.

Was this insanity? Was I insane?

When I opened my eyes, I got my answer.

The room was lit. On the throne sat I, but also at the door. There I was, sitting smugly as I cowered in fear. At the same time, however, he was not me. His eyes were red blood with yellow irises.

"Why are we here? You don't seem to care at all," I said sadly.

"I don't know... Leave me alone!"

"I can't just leave myself alone."

"Then find a way! I'm going to die soon," I told myself.

I smiled honestly. "I care to much about us to leave. Besides, where would I go? I only have you."

"Majora is going to kill me..." My head sunk lower.

"Are you afraid to die? I thought you didn't care."

"No, I'm not," I admitted. "I'm more afraid of pain."

"Pain is what teaches us. Don't fear it."

"But, I don't want to hurt anymore..."

"Then fight."

I looked up angrily. "With what!? I don't have power! I don't have skill! I don't have anything!"

"Moron, you have power. Nox will abandon you and leave you for dead when all's said and done."

"..." Would she? I thought.

I sighed sadly and shook my head. "Well then, get going to Vulkan."

I looked up at myself. "Why?"

"Because you can't do anything here."





The streets were busy behind me as I stared at the door. She was the only person I could think of who would lead me in the right direction. I knocked on the stone door with the scaly arm of the dragon mask and I waited for it to open. The dragoness that I was expecting opened the door. She was pink with red eyes. I guess I never noticed before... maybe because I had just had a coffee table smashed over my head. "Oh! It's you!" she said with a smile. "How's Lea and Judith?"

"...Can I come inside?" She looked worried as I said this. The dragoness moved and let me into her home, and I felt a little bad that I was about to crush her heart. I sat on the farthest of the couches and sighed.

"Can I get you anything?" she offered.

I looked her in the eyes. "No. Please sit." She did so without a word and I closed my eyes, trying to find a way to break the news to her gently. "...Lea's dead." Needless to say, I didn't find one.

Her claws slowly made their way up her face and over her eyes as her lips tightened into a frown. The dragoness sniffed as her tears leaked through her claws and and down her arms. "...Damn it, Lea. You promised you would be careful..." she sobbed. I didn't know what else to say or do. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to speak again. "Is... Judith gone too?" the dragoness asked quietly.

"No," I confirmed. "She's being sheltered by a powerful friend of mine in Canterlot. She'll be safe there."

"That's good," she sniffed. "At least she can grow up."

After a few more moments, I built up the courage to tell her the real reason I was there. "I know this isn't the greatest of times, but I need to know if you've heard of something called a mask of soul."

She sniffed a few more times. "One of the nobles is an antique collector and he holds parties every month to display his collection. There was gossip that he had a special mask that he had recently acquired. He might be displaying it at the party," she explained.

"When is this party?" I asked gently.

The dragoness looked me in the eye. "Right now. He usually holds it in his mansion, which is near the castle."

I stood and started to make my way to the door. "Thank you, and... I'm sorry."

"What for?"

My eyes were locked on the handle of the door as I spoke. I don't think I could have looked her straight in the eye. "I was the only one who had the power to save Lea, and I put myself in a position where I couldn't protect him. I'm the reason he's dead." I turned the handle and walked out the door, quickly closing it behind me. 

Merging with the crowd on the street, I made my way towards the castle. As I got closer, I noticed that a larger and more elegantly dressed part of the crowd was going towards a large mansion that wasn't too far away from the castle. I cursed my luck under my breath. If It was near the castle, it's safe to assume that Majora knows about it, especially since it holds the last mask.

A dark green and rather curvy dragoness who was wearing a beautiful black and red dress bumped into me from behind and shoved me out of the way. "Move it," she growled. I opened my mouth to angrily respond, but her face was contorted into one of pure rage. Whatever she was about to do, it was going to be violent.

Ignoring her, I moved closer to the mansion and eventually got in front of the building where several nobles were chatting or making their way inside. The guards at the door were letting anybody go in it seemed, so I managed to sneak past by looking like I belonged. It worked, amazingly, and I got inside without a problem. Now to find that mask...

Several glass cases lined the walls of the home and each one held at least one piece of history. Searching the ground floor while simultaneously weaving through the crowd, I happened upon a relatively empty corridor with a single glass case. I looked into the case to find a black dog with long, pointy ears and aqua-coloured eyes staring back at me.

Great, I thought, now what? If I break the case, I'll be found out immediately. I guess I could fight my way out... but then Majora would know I'm looking for the masks. Hmm... I pondered my options, and I came up with nothing. However, luck was on my side. 

"Quite an eye you have there, good sir," came a voice from beside me. Startled, I quickly turned and backed away from the dragon. He was around the same height as me, but his build was skinnier. He was also a similar shade of blue to me, had dark, yellow eyes, and a suit on. "Nobody seems to find human artifacts interesting anymore... it's quite ironic, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uhh..." I absent-minded said, "yes, it is."

The posh looking dragon chuckled, "To think that our great race would forget about a very valuable and powerful friend."

"It is a shame..." A question entered my mind and I turned to my new company, "Say... you wouldn't be the owner of this mask, would you?" 

He turned to me with a shit-eating grin and said, "And if I was?"

"Well, let's just say I know someone who enjoys pieces of history like this, and he would be willing to trade another invaluable object for it." The castle has plenty of books that are worth a lot.

He hummed in satisfaction, "Luckily for your friend, I do own this mask and I would be willing to trade for it." Mentally, I squealed. "I want a golden egg that's called the Aurea ovi. However, it was found by a filthy bandit in the gryphon kingdom. You get me that egg, and I'll give you the dog. Deal?" The dragon stuck out his claw. I took his claw and shook it. "Deal." I then noticed a metallic gleam from behind my business partner.

It was the dragoness from before, her anger in full view. With a dagger raised above her victim's head, she began to bring it down. Time slowed as I stepped forwards towards the host— who was giving me quite the confused look —and caught the dragoness' arm. Her eyes widened in shock and soon after anger, but I had already begun to push her arm around her back. She must have realized what I was trying to do because halfway she began to pull the arm in the same direction. A moment later, and I heard the familiar sound of a sword slipping into a sheath. 

"There you are, Honey," she said in a rather sultry voice. She took advantage of my arm being around her back and put her one around mine, creating our getaway. Her eyes then changed from ones of hate to threatening ones. I knew what she wanted me to do, and that she had leverage over me by taking the host "hostage."

"Yes," I managed to sputter, still in shock from the attack. Clearing my throat, I continued. "I was just making arrangements with our host here."

"Is that so?" she asked, shooting me a dangerous look. "Do tell."

"Well I can tell you at home, Darling," I said through gritted teeth. "If we linger any longer, we might not get home for dinner!" Making sure I had a good hold on the dragoness, I looked over to my business partner who seemed to be enjoying himself watching our little spat. "If you'll excuse us."

He bowed and bid us farewell as I forcibly guided the attacker out of the mansion and into the streets, where she broke free of my grasp and walked ahead of me. I tried to catch up to her, but she manage to round a corner into an alleyway and catch me off guard. The dragoness quickly pinned me against the wall of the building by punching me in the gut, throwing me into the wall, and then pushing her arm against my throat. I began to reach for the arm, but her other claw caught my wrist, allowing only one hand to reach the arm.

"Who the hell are you!?" my assailant spat. "What business do you have with Cain!?"

Seeing not other option to get out of the situation, my claw dashed to my face. I ripped the mask from my face and shrunk down to my human size, freeing me from the hold. In the dragoness' shock, I rolled through her legs and grabbed her dagger from her back, throwing it down the alley as soon as it was free. Quickly becoming a dragon again, I now pinned the dragoness to the wall the same way she pinned me.

She looked at me with anger and more noticeably, fear. "W... what are you?"

"For whatever reason you have to kill this Cain person, it can wait," I stated, completely ignoring her question. "I need that mask and I can't be found out."

The dragoness let out a small laugh of disbelief. "You think I can wait to kill that fucker? No, he dies tonight."

"Then everyone dies in a few weeks!" I warned. "If I don't get that mask, your king will lay waste to this world!"

There were a few moments of silence before either of us spoke. "He killed my daughter," the dragoness admitted in a quiet, pained voice. "Do you honestly think I can let him live after that?"

"I'm not asking you to let him live," I stated, "I just want you to postpone his death for a few weeks." I slowly loosened her from the wall and stood back.

After retrieving her blade, the dragoness looked at me sternly for a moment before sticking out her claw. "Call me Liz."

"I'm D—" I stopped suddenly. It was like my voice suddenly gave out as soon as I thought of my own name. "...Keaton, the fox."





Elizabeth, or Liz, is now staying at the castle with me. I have to keep a close eye on her now that she knows that I'm human. Besides, she's wanted for a rather high bounty in Vulkan. She's very proficient with a pole arm and can kick my ass from here all the way to the other side of the world.

This is mainly because Nox hasn't spoken to me since my... incident in the throne room. I'm also not sleeping at night anymore. There's this feeling I get every time I sleep that something is encroaching into my mind. I know it sounds far fetched, but I can't shake the feeling. I've also noticed that I don't feel sleep deprived either, like I've been doing this for my entire life.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do anymore... My mind and body are changing in ways that I can't describe. It must be the magic in this world, slowly seeping into my body and mutating me into... something else.

What's happening to me? What am I? Why can't I say my own name?








> Chapter 7 - Confusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There is something wrong with me. I can feel something inside of myself reaching out, begging for escape, like its life depends on it. Not only that, but I've began to sleepwalk too. I must have wrote that message last night... Only Elizabeth and I were in the castle, and that script seems familiar to me.

But I shouldn't be writing this right now. I have to get ready to leave for the gryphon kingdom today. Liz is coming with me, too. I'm going to need her help to look into this golden egg. Something's been bothering me as of late about this whole situation, though. If that noble needs the egg, then why hasn't he hired some mercenaries to get it from those bandits? I feel as though he were waiting for me, no one else.

I can't think about it for too long, I need to go and get ready. I'll write after I get back.





That was it. The rest of the pages in the book were torn out violently, as if someone were furious with it's contents. He knew the rest of the story. Dalton got the last mask and was ambushed by the guards. He was brought to prison, and after a few days a rebellion broke out. Judith used the cover of the fighting to break Dalton out. Then he slew Majora by jamming an arrowhead into the beast's eye. However, he was mortally wounded and almost died right there.

The young boy traced his fingers over the remains of the pages sadly. Most of his answers were still out there, and the only way to get them were from the source...

Keaton.

It was impossible for Keaton to be roaming around, the boy thought, because the book revealed him to be none other than Dalton, the first human in Equestria. Dalton lived with the princesses, so there was no way for him to sneak out of the castle without them knowing about it. It was impossible for him to leave without the princesses noticing his absence for an entire day. If that were the case, then who was the one wearing Keaton's mask?

Who had saved the boy's life?

Who had given the boy the knowledge to wield a sword?

Who was Keaton?

The thing that aggravated the boy the most was that he now had more questions than answers... Who was Elizabeth? Why hadn't Dalton mention her before in his story? With a sigh, the boy placed the book down. He needed to go and confront Keaton. However, a flash of red from the pages caught his eye. He quickly flipped to the back of the book, and he found a message. 

A chilling, horrifying message, that proposed an idea that he had never even considered to be possible. It was written in blood and hastily written.

A voice startled the boy, and he quickly slammed the book shut and threw it into his bag. Grabbing the bag, he ran out of the room and into the world with a new fire in his heart.

Something was wrong with Dalton, and he was going to find out the truth.
> THE TRUTH
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


DALTON IS DEAD



ONLY HIS GHOST REMAINS