Anon and the Happy Mask Salesman - Chapter 9

>”You gotta help her! Please, Anonymous!” Spike pleads, looking up at you with sad reptilian eyes.
>You nod, quickly moving her out of the kitchen, and out into the main room, laying her out to be able to check her body signs.
>You place your hand on her neck, trying to find a pulse.
>There! You found it.
“It’s faint, but it’s still there.”
>Spike’s looking from over your shoulder, his eyes never leaving the still body in front of the two of you.
>You turn to look at him, smile, and place your hand on his head.
“She’s going to be alright. But I’m going to need you to do exactly as I say. Is that clear?”
>He nods quickly, stepping back off of you. “What do you need me to do?”
“One moment. I’m going to check her airways, make sure she’s at least breathing before we do anything.”
>You lean down to her mouth, placing your ear to it.
>You hear faint gasps for air, which let you know she’s still at least conscious.
“Alright. She’s still conscious, too; that’s a good sign. But…”
>You look at her horn.
>It’s charred on many of the sides, probably from losing control of that spell.
“She’s still going to need medical attention. Spike, can you go let someone know that we need to get her to the hospital?”
>You turn to look at him for a response.
>He nods. “I’ll tell Rainbow Dash, she’s faster than anyone here right now,” he says, scurrying off.
“Quickly, go!”
>You turn back to Twilight, and cup her head in your hands.
“Stay with us, Twilight, you understand me? Don’t give in, no matter what.”

>…
>Where am I?
>Everything’s dark.
>Except… I hear a voice.
>It’s faint… it sounds like…
>…
>Is that Anon?
>Anon? Where are you?
>I can’t see anything…
>”Kehehe…”
>Who’s there?
>”You think he cares about you? No pony ever cared about you!”
>Who are you?
>”Wouldn’t you like to know? I’m closer to you than you think… Kehehe… haha…”
>Your voice… it’s so familiar… but…
>…It’s different…
>”Don’t think I’m done with you quite yet. There’s still so much I can do, this is barely a fraction of my power…”
>What?! What are you talking about?

“Twilight? Twilight!”
>Her eyes are open, but they’re jittering around.
>What’s going on?
>”Anonymous? Is that you?” she asks finally, her eyes fixating on you.
“Yes, yes it’s me; don’t worry, you’re going to be alright…”
>You reach out to her, but she smacks your hand away. “How could you let something like that happen to me?! What kind of friend are you?”
“…What? What’re you talking about?”
>”Letting my spell lose control like that, knocking me unconscious… what friend just lets another friend do that to themselves?!”
“Look, Twilight, we’ve all been through a lot this morning-”
>”Oh, is that right? Tell me, Mr. Anonymous, did you get knocked unconscious from that spell? Because if it weren’t for you suggesting some new breakfast food, we wouldn’t have been in that situation!”
“Twilight, I…”
>“‘Twilight, I…’ come on, are you going to say anything else besides wallow around in your uselessness?”
>That’s enough.
>You stand up.
“I suppose last night meant nothing to you, then?”
>”Meant something? Get out of here, Mr. Anonymous. I don’t want to see your face ever again!”
>You feel a lump in your throat.
>You swallow it, turn around, and walk out the door, slamming it behind you.
>Not even ten seconds pass by before you see a blue pegasus swerve past you to get to the library.
>”Hey, watch where you’re going!”
>You don’t even acknowledge her comment as you walk.
>Keep walking.
>Until you reach the outskirts of town once again.
>You want to go home.
>You want to leave this place.
>And if it weren’t for that damned salesman, you wouldn’t be in this situation…
>”My boy! Please, you must help!”
>Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
>You turn around, an angry scowl on your face.
“What do YOU want?”
>”Please!” the salesman quickly places his hands on your shoulders. “Something terrible has happened!”
>Your scowl does not fade; your gaze is unforgiving.
“Hasn’t enough already happened because of you and your masks?!”
>He looks up at you.
>…Wow. This is the first time you’ve ever seen him… frowning?
>Or at least, what you THINK is frowning; the edges of his lips are the only things curving downwards.
>It creeps you out a bit.
>Reminder: get brain bleach once this is all over.
>”Anonymous. I know you’ve not been very open to being a mask salesman, despite all that I’ve put you through,” the salesman says, bowing his head. “But you must do this! I cannot get my mask back on my own!”
>Don’t do it, Anon.
>Don’t you fucking do it.
“Fine. What happened?”
>Godomot onon.
>The salesman’s smile returns, and you instantly regret your decision.
>”It was dark out, so I wasn’t able to get a very good look at who it was, but someone made off with my most precious mask!” he exclaims, turning around to show you the empty space on his pack.
>Wait, it was that evil heart-shaped one?!
“What did they do? What did they look like from what you could see?”
>”Well, from the voice I could tell it was a female, yes. Definitely a young woman. Or…” he snickers, “Pony, in this case.”
>You sigh.
>”Ah, yes. She had a long mane, and from what I could tell she had yellow fur. Does this sound familiar to you?” he asks.
>Come to think of it…
“Yes. Yes it does.”
>”Excellent! I will leave the retrieval to you, then?” he grins at you. “This will be your first true test; a salesman must not let a buyer steal a mask from them. They must always be able to get the mask back by any means necessary,” he says, his eyes opening once again, the two of you locking eyes.
>…Damn, that still creeps you out.
“Alright, fine. I’ll get your mask back.”
>”Wonderful! Now, you must remember, this is a very dangerous mask. Very powerful,” he says, shaking your shoulders a bit to emphasize with each syllable. “You must not let its power corrupt you. I have faith in you, Anonymous,” he smiles at you. “I know you’ll get the mask back.”
>You groan on the inside. Why do you always do this? Why do you always have to be the good guy?
“Yeah, yeah… fine…”
>You rub the bridge of your nose.
“So is there anything I need to know about the mask?”
>”It’s the spirit of an ancient, sadistic beast that consumed the souls of its victims. It’s a very dark, powerful mask. But, the mask is dependent on the spirit of the one it possesses,” he says, stepping back. “The mask has already been weakened previously by another. However, that does not mean that you can treat it as any less of a threat.”
>You nod.
“So are you saying that it could manipulate the minds of others?”
>He nods back. “Very possible. Especially if the mind is very weak at the time.”
>Your eyes widen.
>You know what happened to Twilight.
“I have to go.”
>He nods. “Yes; go, Anonymous. Oh, one more thing,” he says, reaching into his pack and taking out a mask. “If all else fails…”
>He hands the mask to you, and you nod, tucking it away, hidden from sight.
>Just once, you’d like to lead a life of SOME normalcy.
>But nooooo, fate always has to come back and bite you in the ass.
>”Thank you, my boy! Your reward for this will be beyond comprehension…” the salesman says, as he then turns and begins walking away.
“Wait, salesman, wait! How do I beat the mask? Do I take it off the wearer or something?”
>”Have faith…” the salesman’s voice trails on the wind as he vanishes once again.
>Well, great. Now you’ve got something you REALLY need to take care of.
>First things first, though; make sure Twilight is alright.
>Hopefully that outburst from earlier wasn’t anything like the salesman said it was…
>You walk back to Ponyville, looking around for any pony that could lead you to the hospital.
>Any except… Oh no, here she comes…
>”Heya, Mr. Anonymous!” she exclaims, grinning as she flies over to you. “Where’re ya goin’?”
“Trying to find the hospital. I don’t have time to be messing around; have you gotten any word about Twilight Sparkle’s condition?”
>”Twilight? Oh, she’s in her library still!” she grins proudly. “She said something about… hm… ‘Not wanting to have anything to do with that human’, and then she slammed the door,” Derpy says. “Wait… aren’t you a human?”
>You’re already long gone by the time she finishes her train of thought.
>”I gotta stop doing that…”

>End Chapter 9