Stanley Ipkiss was currently working overtime at his desk overlooking several loan claims that seemed to continue to stack up before him as the new intern continued to bring them in by the dozen.  He sighed and looked at a picture of him and his now one year standing girlfriend Tina Carlyle, he smiled at the happy moment that they shared on the beach the day the picture was taken, only for it to vanish when the intern placed the last bit of papers down.

The intern smiled slightly, “Don’t worry dude, last ones of the night”

Stanley just looked at him, “Thank god, any more and I think I might have jumped out the window”

The Intern chuckled slightly as he walked toward the break room; Stanley looked down at the papers and sighed once more because he knew it was going to be a long night.

*

During that night, there were a bunch of students partying down at Edge City beach, the usual night of booze and the occasional hallucinogen along with stories of either fake or real grandeur.  One student was absently throwing pieces of drift wood into the bon fire before them to keep it burning high almost like a tower reflecting their rebellious spirit scorching the normal night sky.  The student then began to absently kick at the sand as he looked for more things to burn; he then stopped as he noticed a loose wave wash some sand away at his feet to reveal a piece of wood with a metal strip attached to it.  The student then pulled the object free to reveal a mask made of greenish brown wood with a strip of metal on the bridge of the nose; the kid turned it over and tilted his hands a few times.  His eyes widened when he noticed a greenish light shine for a few seconds on the inside of the mask going in a blink of an eye from left to right.  He then slowly began to move it toward his face…and then chucked it like a Frisbee at the fire.  The second the mask hit the flames, they flared bright green and surged upwards and out of control, this caused every kid to run away in fear at the spectacle.

*

At the same time of this occurrence, Stanley was walking back home to his apartment when he noticed kids running away from the beach yelling about the fire from hell.  Stanley wouldn’t normally think anything of this behaviour, but when he noticed green smoke rising into the night sky at the beaches shore line he was shocked.

Stanley’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw the smoke, “No…there’s no way…I…have to be sure!”

Stanley then ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward the beach unaware that a storm was brewing overhead.  Soon he reached the sight of the dying fire and immediately stopped at the fire pit as an ominous wind cleared away the ash revealing the infamous mask’s face.  He bent down to pick it up just to be sure that he wasn’t hallucinating, the ridged surface of the familiar wood laid on his hand as his fingers brushed the cool metal strip.  He sighed as he looked up at the sky as if to ask why the object of mischief had returned to him now of all times, the sky answered by hitting both him and the mask with a bolt of lightning.  The students returned to find a patch of steaming glass on the ground in front of their fire pit along with their stuff intact, unknown to any solitary soul within the confines of Edge City, Stanley Ipkiss had vanished from the very face of the Earth taking with him one of the most powerful objects in the universe to an unknown location.

*

Stanley awoke with fresh air gracing his nostrils and the wind blowing past his face…wait a minute, he opened his eyes to see if he was still alive to which he breathed a sigh of relief when he figured out that he was.  This lasted for a full three seconds until he saw that he was falling from about sixty feet in the sky toward what looked like a town.  He began to flail wildly in a feeble attempt to prevent himself from approaching the ground any faster, this failed him completely.  Stanley knew he was approaching his demise, he just wished he would have seen Tina’s smiling face one last time along with his Boston terrier Milo before he became a stain on the ground.  He then started to chant the Lord’s Prayer really fast as he continued his plummet to the ground; he knew there was nothing in the world that would save him from his demise…except one thing.

Stanley looked in his hand and began to sweat, “OOOOH man it’s been a while since I’ve put you on…”, Stanley then shook his head, “NO! Remember all the hoopla that it caused the last time Stan!”

   He then looked down and was beginning to see where his point of impact would be and whined weakly, he then yelled in frustration, “ALRIGHT FINE!!”

Stanley took a deep breath steeling him for what was to come, “Just PLEASE let there be no trouble this time”

Stanley then slammed the mask against his face; the wood then began to stretch and cover his head like it was made of living rubber, soon glowing green cracks appeared as he writhed in mid-air and turned into a living tornado which then touched down outside the outskirts of the town he was going to crash into, the tornado stopped spinning revealing a man with no ears or hair to speak of on his head and the skin of only his head had become completely green, his teeth had become pristine white and he was dressed in a yellow zoot suit with a white undershirt and a black and white polka dotted tie.

The man then sharply inhaled through his teeth as he spoke one word, "Sssssssmokin!”

The man known as Stanley Ipkiss had vanished the second he donned the mask to save his life, in his place now was the bizarre trickster and “hero” known simply as The Mask.  The Mask checked out his surroundings with his usual smiling expression with a glint in his eye, one of trickery and one who was not bound by the limitations of reality.

His smile vanished as he tapped his chin with his left index finger with a thoughtful expression, “Hmmm, how odd”, he zipped with inhuman cartoonish speed up to a sign that said in big letters, “Welcome to Ponyville”, he then continued to speak, “Merely a few minutes ago I was plummeting to the ground at the speed of imagination and then…,” he tapped the sign, “I find myself to be far from home”

He then spun fast in place wearing a Star Trek uniform as he spoke in an impression of William shatner, “It…seems…I…have…ended…up…on…a….planet…not…of….my...own”, he then nodded thoughtfully, “I…will…have…to…asses...this…with…the….up…most…scientific….study…and…calculation…as….to…blend…in”, he then flipped out a communicator, “Spock…if…you…agree…say…yes”

Spock did not respond, “Well time for the traditional method!”

The Mask then whipped of his star trek disguise in favor of his previous outfit and zipped into town at inhuman speed.  He soon appeared stopped on a bench as his mouth widened and took in the sights, ponies of all colours were walking the streets not taking notice of the strange individual lurking in the shadows.

He then slapped himself causing his head to do a three sixty, “Holy pastels Batman!”

He then noticed them talk which caused him to repeat his previous action, “And they talk too?!”, he then looked at the reader, “How weird is that?”

He then zoomed up to a pink pony with a yellow mane and a lily in her hair and tattooed on her flank with a smile as he leaned against air in a casual fashion, “Excuse me miss, could you point me to the nearest phone booth and or tourist trap to figure where I might be currently…”, he wiggled his jaw slightly, “…Sssituated?”

The pony looked confused as she turned around, “excuse me?”

Mask just smiled as he gave a casual half wave, the pony then screamed in absolute fright which alerted everypony else who soon followed her lead, they all immediately dropped what they were doing and ran into each building, the whole time this was happening The Mask continued staring at the empty space where the pony had been standing with the exact same expression.  

Soon everypony was indoors with the shutters locked and doors shut, The Mask blinked once, four seconds later he took on a offended look and yelled in a frustrated voice as he stood completely straight and shook his fist in the air, “IT’S BECAUSE I’M GREEN ISN’T IT!?”

He then shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets and strutted down the street with his usual smile, he then noticed three fillies’ playing ball in a park nearby completely ignoring the panic that took place.  He then sauntered up to the park, one had a yellow coat with a red mane and a pink bow in her hair with orange like eyes, the other was white with a grayish mulberry with pale, light grayish rose streaks and had a horn, and the last was a dark orange with a purple tomboyish mane with wings.

The Mask’s heart literally melted in his chest cavity at the adorable ponies at play, they reminded him a lot of Milo, except Milo didn’t wear a bow, or have wing, or had a horn, or talked in English...  

His train of thought was interrupted when he saw the ball pop at his shoes; he looked at the fillies’ who were a bit frightened at this new creature that towered over them with a green face.  The Mask looked at the orange one which stepped forward somewhat reluctantly and puffed out its chest.

The orange one then announced bravely, “I am Scootaloo of the cutie mark crusaders”, she then gestured to her friends in turn, “this is Sweetie Belle and Applebloom and we shall defeat you monster!”

The Mask then took on a hurt expression and began to sob as he fell to the ground, Applebloom looked at Scootaloo, “Scoots, ah think you hurt its feelings”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Monsters don’t have feelings dodo brain”

Sweetie Belle then pointed with her hoof a the monster, “I’m pretty sure he’s crying and that those are tears”

Applebloom cautiously approached the creature, “Excuse me”

The Mask ceased his crying immediately and spoke in his regular voice with a smile, “Yes?”

Applebloom and the CMC looked very surprised at his sudden mood change but continued, "Are…you okay?”

The Mask stood up immediately and spoke in a comical tone, “Of course my small friend”, he then pulled out a tear dropper from his lapel pocket as he spoke in a mock Shakespearian voice, “I was merely playing the part of a depressed monster who had become face to face with the mighty warrior Scootachoo”

Scootaloo looked annoyed as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom laughed, Sweetie Belle then spoke through her laughter, “Your funny!”

The Mask examined his nails in pride, “I know”

Applebloom stopped laughing, “What’s your name mister?”

The Mask then spoke in a dramatic ye olde voice, “I am known by many names, The Emerald Knight, Oz The Great and Powerful, The Charming Man of Green Skin, That Jerk, Idiot, Moron”, he then spoke the last name with much more power, “THE BRINGER OF PIE!!”

He then reached into his coat and pulled out a pumpkin pie, “Want some?"

The fillies were still smiling as they shook their heads causing The Mask to stow it away, “And I slaved over a hot supermarket all day”

He then slipped back into his monologue, “BUT THE TABLOIDS CALL ME!!!!”

He then got down on one knee and extended his hand, “The Mask”

The CMC shook his hand has Sweetie Belle spoke enthusiastically, “Mr. Mask, how did you pull the pie out of your coat? I’ve never seen magic like that before!”

The Mask scoffed, “That wasn’t magic…”, and he then picked up their ball and blew into it fully inflating it, The CMC were in awe at the spectacle until The Mask reached into his sleeve and produced an oversized pin, he then popped the ball only to reveal a much larger yellow ball with white letters scribed on it, “Cutie Mark Crusaders”

He then bounced it a few times with a smile of satisfaction, “THAT was magic”

He then passed the ball to Scootaloo as she stared excitedly at it as she bounced it, “we can have this?”

The Mask nodded, “It’s yours isn’t it?”

Sweetie Belle then tugged at his pant leg, “Mr. Mask, can you show us more stuff”

The Mask thought for a second then spoke in a Mafioso accent, “Sure thing kid, I like you three, you got moxy and I respect that”, he then gently scooted her off of his pant leg still speaking in his accent, “So sit down and relax, and don’t tug on the suit ya wrinkle the materiel”