The winds did not relent as they attempted to strike me down using the sheer cold. My steps were slow due to the deep layer of snow blanketing the ground. The staggering gusts were also making my movement sluggish.

   Closing in the distance between me and the barrier that served presumably as a method of isolating this place from the brutally cold weather conditions surrounding it, I managed to pass through it. I nearly fainted, or possibly died from the sensory overload the relentless frost.

   Ugh, what am I even saying? Such words are nonsensical, not having a crumb of sanity behind them, yet, those words are accurate to describe my current quandary. Then again, I arrived here with the intentions of freeing a god who is bound in a petrified state, and that's even more nonsensical.

   "Why... why did you position my arrival in a damned place where I could've froze death?" I barely managed to utter as the lingering feeling of cold agony haunted me.

   If I teleported you within the boundaries of this Empire, you would've been noticed by the more... magically sensitive folk living here. The voice answered.

   "Screw... you." I cursed as I slumped downwards to the ground, succumbing to the formidable hold of the cold.

   He did not respond, probably because it is rather difficult for him to communicate with me via telepathy. Well, either that, or is that he is deliberately trying to make this more difficult for me.

   Sighing in despair, I crawled towards a nearby wall, leaning on it for support. Shivering, I waited for the paralyzing cold to depart from my numbed limbs.

   As I waited, I examined the adjacent vicinity. I appeared to be in a corner of some sort between two buildings, that should decrease the chances of the risk of compromising my unnoticed presence.

   That's convenient. Anybody that possesses the ability to conduct rational decisions would be dissuaded by the ominously dark, imposing appearance of this alleyway.

   There were tattered newspapers trashed throughout this eerie alleyway.

   "Pollution. A problem present in all of the universes." I muttered to myself.

   Grabbing one of the discarded newspapers that were relatively nearby to my reclining position, I attempted to decipher the faded texts of the paper.

   I wasn't able to salvage much of the words from incoherence, but the article was detailing some sort of heart made out of crystals, or something. I am not certain, the sentences wilted into a mess of barely visible ink. No doubt that rain blurred the ink of this thing.

   Though, I managed to discover the name of this particular place; Crystal Empire. Eh, what a lazily conceived name, but suiting nonetheless. Considering that I've no further practical use for the newspaper, I squeezed it into a spherical form and casually tossed it away.

   Finally, my limbs finally recuperated from the freezing ordeal. Seeing this, I stood up, dusting myself off as I did. "Finally, I don't think I could go on without feeling my limbs for another minute."

   I could hear it from a distance, the sound of people- er, horse-things traveling along the stone pavement, their hooves making a consistent sound as they continued on trotting.

   The sound of colloquies were pervasive, although, I couldn't decipher any of them, considering that all of the conversations were deformed by other conversations. So, attempting to eavesdrop would be futile.

   Looking back to the lifeless, frozen outskirts of this establishment, I felt grievous for the cup of coffee I had unfortunately dropped upon being teleported here.

   If only I could find it... Maybe- No. It's beyond salvageable now, and I wouldn't want to experience the mercilessness of the debilitating cold again.

   Still, it was a depressing thought. To be aware that out there, in the vindictive, frozen wasteland, there's a coffee lying on the thick coating of snow. Nevertheless, I persevered on avoiding to go back.

   I looked forward to the the streets from the corner that I stood in, scratching my forehead. Well, I would be scratching my forehead right now, have it not been for this dumb mask obstructing my hand.

   Shaking my head, I pondered. How am I suppose to conjure chaos? Will simply igniting a house ablaze work?

   Suddenly, the distorted voice returned, saying, Use... mask... Shift. Into pony's form.

   I couldn't make tails or heads of the voice, it was too warped, but if I had to guess, it's the one who sent me here.

   Although, some of the words were unclear due to them being replaced with a peculiar static noise, I acknowledged what the voice was instructing me to do; give the guise of a pony to myself using the mask, but the question is: how am I supposed to do that?

   Concentrating my vision on a random blue mare passing by, I muttered to myself, "Shift." I don't know why I thought of that word, but I just thought that it would be fitting.

   Apparently, it worked, much to my astonishment. A shroud of foggy darkness enveloped me, and I felt myself morphing into a form that I will probably not ever get accustomed to. As the cloud of inky blackness depart from me, I felt addled.

   No effects- No, wait. Everything seems taller now... I looked around, and I can confirm that everything was seemingly taller now. Upon further inspection, my hands were replaced with hooves, and legs that were colored in a deep shade of cyan. I felt my mane; a silky rose mane.

   "The hell-" My words were cut short as I suddenly realized that my voice was more feminine now. "Huh, mimics the target's voice as well, not bad."

   This is really, really uncomfortable. I mean, I basically switched genders! If that doesn't disconcert you in the slightest, whatever does is beyond me. Well, if it is of any recompense, the imitation succeeded flawlessly.

   Shrugging the awkwardness off, I tried moving forward, but I ended up fumbling a bit, and ultimately resulted in stumbling to the ground face first. If someone was to spectate my miserable display at walking, one would be amused, if not chuckling.

   "This is definitely problematic." I muttered to myself, struggling to retain firmness of my footing.

   It seems that learning another species' motor movements seems to be unavoidable to grasp even the slightest mastery over this peculiar mask. Ugh, well, I better get started then...

   Finally, after several attempts later, I finally learned the most efficient way to operate the motor skills of this damned form, and no, it is definitely a lot more complicated than you might anticipate.

   It was excruciatingly tedious and repetitive, but I finally managed to learn how to properly move in this form. I can't accurately describe how I managed to learn this, but nonetheless, I managed to accomplish it!

   With a smug grin of confidence, I walked out of the alleyway and into the streets, bumping to several ponies on the way there. So, I began to walk along, blending into the myriad of ponies.

   I noticed something peculiar about these horses- er, ponies is that they have images displayed at both of their flank-region. The purpose of these tattoo-like images exceeds my knowledge, but if I had to guess, it's some sort of ritual for obtaining these tattoos, or it's just some sort of fashion trend.

   But I could care less, I am here for a task, and that task is to cause some anarchy. Thing is however, I am not exactly sure on how to cause aforementioned anarchy. That proves to be troubling, but I will find a method of doing so eventually.

   I guess I could just deck someone in the face? Would that even work? Looking around, I eyed at my victim, a random unsuspecting pony.

   Testing out my theory, I swiftly swung my hoof at his face. The collision made a sickening crunching noise. The impact made him stumble backwards as well, wincing at the pain. A cascade of pity washed around my mind, making me hesitate.

   The crowd of ponies suddenly stopped, witnessing the assault of this undeserving individual for no apparent reason. Slightly panicking, I pierced through the cloud of doubt, Iadding a quick buck from my hind legs to further the damage inflicted.

   Everything seemed to slow down, making things more dramatic, thought, things got even more unbearably dramatic when the crowd that gathered to spectate this beat-down collectively gasped at the finishing blow.

   I might have placed an excessive amount of force into that strike, seeing that the poor pony flew several feet backwards. Oh, and I might have induced a comatose state into that pony.

   Looking around sheepishly, I took notice that the majority of the ponies stopped and looked at me, their jaws agape. Seeing this, I slyly crafted an improvisation.

   "And that's what you get for cheating on me!" I yelled out just before galloping out of the area. Brilliant. Oh so brilliant was that flawless deception. I sarcastically spoke to myself.

   I looked backwards, I've ran- well, technically galloped a considerable amount of distance but the crowd still hadn't dispersed yet- oh wait, they're examining the stallion that I just submitted into unconsciousness.

   The crowd was now murmuring to themselves, though, I couldn't exactly hear what the topic of their discussion, it's pretty obvious that they're probably talking about me; questioning my sanity.

   I stopped galloping, seeing that I've traversed a considerable distance already. I began to slow down to a simple walk, making me once more indistinguishable from the crowd of ponies.

   I took cover behind a conveniently placed wooden crate. Hopefully, nobody caught a glimpse of me, but the chances of that is rather slim. I'm pretty noticeable with this shiny coat...

   Nice... one. Look, my... is running out. I'm... dying faster... than I thought. Farewell. I heard the voice spoke once more, it progressively got more inaudible as it spoke. Noting the choice of words of the voice, I can finally confirm that the owner of the voice was that man that sent me here.

   "It appears that I'm all alone now." I muttered to myself, feigning a bit of fear and reluctance in my voice.

   Nonetheless, that did not dissuade me into peeking out from the wooden box. Spotting yet another random pony after a short length of time. The pony was, once again, a mare. Perhaps I could repeat my previous tactic? It deems to be actually viable.

   The mare had a green mane, red coat, and possessed a horn. A unicorn perhaps? Anyways, this time, the mare was conversing with another pony. A stallion, to be specific. If I had to guess, they are dating, or something.

   Aw, isn't that just adorable. Horses... having dates with other horses. Ugh, what am I doing?! Wait-

   I took notice of something, every single one of the ponies had a gleaming body. They had sparkling shimmers surrounding them entirely. If I had to remark in snide, they appear to be made out of Crystals-

   Oh, isn't that just fitting? These crystal-based beings reside in crystal-based houses which are located in a place called "Crystal Empire." This is such a sadistically cliched world.

   Returning my focus on that pony I stalked earlier, I analyzed her. I pondered, is the mask's shape-shifting ability able to utilized while already under the guise of being? Well, I technically still am wearing the mask. The mask may not be visible, but it's definitely there.

   "Shift." I spoke inaudibly.

   Once more, I morphed into the targeted pony. My mane, tail, coat, and other features copying the pony, however, this time, it was more subtle and more swift; the shroud of darkness did not occur when I stole the pony's appearance. Heh, I guess it has something to do with my current form.

   When already in pony form, it doesn't take much to morph into another pony. I noted mentally.

   Well then, time to break some hearts... And perhaps some faces. Next Chapter: Chapter 2. Target Marked... Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes