Twilight Sparkle was currently walking through the now deserted streets of Ponyville with a complete look of confusion on her face, the only time she had seen this before was when Zecora first showed up in Ponyville and when a disaster was ahoof.  She walked up to the first house she arrived in front of home to the pony Lily; she knocked twice and waited after hearing an “eep” from within.

Twilight knocked again, “Lily are you home? It’s me Twilight”

Lily slowly opened the door with a look of fright, “Oh thank Celestia it’s you Twilight, there’s a monster in town and its horrifying!!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?”

Lily began to wave her hooves in the air frantically, “It was what I said it was! It was six feet tall wearing a yellow suit like a pony but it stood on its hind legs naturally and looked a bit like a monkey! Its skin was pink and it’s head had no ears or hair at all and was completely green!!”

Twilight raised her hoof, “Slow down, how exactly can something have both pink and green skin let alone no hair and ears”

Lily raised her voice to the point of cracking, “I DON’T KNOW!!”

Lily then grabbed Twilight and began to shake her rapidly, “You have to get rid of it, you and your friends are always good at this stuff”

Twilight stopped herself from being shaken any further, “I’ll see what I can do, just remain calm and tell me where this “monster” went”

Lily pointed down the street, “It headed toward the park”

Twilight nodded, “alright, I’ll gather the my friends and contact the princess for The Elements just in case things go out of control, then I’ll go and investigate”

Lily thanked Twilight as she locked herself back in her house leaving Twilight to run down the street thinking if there was really a monster in Ponyville.  But if there was, it would have to answer to Twilight and her friends.

*

The Mask was currently dressed in a Jedi robe with wrinkles and a white beard holding a real lightsaber in his hand as he swung at thin air and spoke in an old man voice, ”And then he said to Vader if you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”

A second person appeared wearing Darth Vader’s outfit and slashed The Mask in half causing him to collapse into a heap of nothing but robes, Vader then span in place revealing The Mask as he normally looked as he spoke in a relaxed voice, ”Aaaaaaaaand scene”

The CMC applauded The Mask as he bowed several times, Scootaloo immediately spoke, “What happened next?”

The Mask scratched his chin as he whipped out a folding chair from his back pocket and sat down lifting the pegasus onto his knee, ”Weeeeeelll, the plans got to the Rebels who then attacked the Death Star and Luke blew it up with the photon torpedoes he had to use and the Rebels were victorious and they all lived happily ever after”

The Mask paused for a second, “until The Empire Strikes Back came out”

Sweetie Belle immediately hopped up, “Ooh ooh tell us that one”

The Mask then stood up and kicked the chair to the side as he put Scootaloo down and spun around and appeared wearing Darth Vader’s outfit once more as he spoke in an impression of James Earl Jones’ voice, ”very well"

*

Twilight had gathered all of her friends except for Applejack who was currently involved in her usual afternoon activity of harvesting apples as they approached her.  

Rainbow Dash immediately flew up to her and tapped the farm pony on the shoulder, “Hey AJ”

Applejack turned to look at the cyan pegasus, “Yeah?”

Rainbow pointed to Twilight as she approached to which Applejack took on a concerned expression, “whats goin on Twi?”

Twilight immediately debriefed her on the situation to which her concerned expression turned into a look of worry, “Horseapples, ah knew that the screaming I heard had to be about somethin”

Rarity was hopping in anxiety as she too was deeply worried, “Why oh WHY did I let Sweetie go to the park today, I just KNEW something bad was going to happen!”

Twilight waved her hooves in a calming fashion, “Don’t worry, your sisters will be safe as long as we know what we’re dealing with”

Pinkie Pie bounced over to the purple unicorn, “well my left eyelids twitchy which means there is danger in Ponyville”

Fluttershy looked at her left eyelid as it did an involuntary looking twitch almost like Pinkie was trying to blink but was unable, “oh, so that’s what that means”

Twilight and the rest of the elements struck a determined pose as she stated strongly, “Let’s get underway”

    *

The Mask was still dressed as Vader as The CMC watched his performance, there was also a Luke Skywalker dressed Mask that Vader Mask was currently staring down as he spoke in his Earl Jones voice, “Join the Dark Side Luke”, Luke Mask shook his head and spoke in a mock wimpy Mark Hamill voice, “I’ll never join you, you killed my father”, Vader Mask then lowered his saber and raised his free hand and then proclaimed powerfully, “No, I am your father

Luke Mask spoke in a progressively wimpier dramatic tone, “That’s not true, that’s impossible”, Vader Mask spoke once more, “Search your feelings you know it to be true”, Luke Mask then took on an even wimpier dramatic tone as he yelled in mock anguish, “Nooooo!, Nooo!”

The CMC gasped collectively as the truth was revealed, but the scene stopped as Vader Mask began to breathe haggardly, Luke Mask then stood up and spoke in frustration and annoyance, “This is the last time I work with this guy!”, he then left in a huff, “Amateur!”

The Mask then pulled off his Vader helmet as he gasped for air, “How does he breath in this thing?!”  

He then spun in place reverting back to his old clothes as he handed the helmet to Applebloom as he spoke in the voice of an award giver, “Here you go, a genuine helmet worn by the dark lord of evil, show your friends, scare your enemies, or FILL IT with food”

Applebloom then put the helmet on her head as she began to stumble around due to the size since it was only built for a human head, yet this did not stop the filly from trying to sound threatening, “Ya’ll shall join the darkside or perish!”

Scootaloo just raised an eyebrow and turned the helmet around so it was backwards, much to Applebloom’s misfortune, “Hey Scootaloo! Ah can’t see!”

Scootaloo just laughed as Applebloom dropped, The Mask sauntered over and plucked the helmet off Applebloom’s head and put it on Scootaloo’s head backwards, “I SEE your point Applebloom”

Sweetie Belle laughed at the stumbling Scootaloo who soon dropped as well, “HAHAHA! I’ll never end up like that”

The Mask pulled the helmet off of Scootaloo’s head as he turned to look at Sweetie Belle and spoke in a Vincent Price impression, “I’m afraid your next my dear”

Sweetie Belle screamed in mock fear as The Mask began to chase her around the park, not noticing her sister and the rest of The Mane Six approaching.  Soon when the six mares crested the hill and saw the spectacle before them they assumed the worse, both Applebloom and Scootaloo were passed on their backs with their eyes spinning and Sweetie Belle who was currently walking around with the helmet on her head and stumbling around with The Mask standing victorious at catching his query.

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack then yelled loudly in The Masks direction, “HEY!!”

The Mask whipped around with his trademark smile, “Hello!”

Rarity immediately recoiled in fright, “what in Equestria is that thing? It’s so ugly!”

The Mask then became offended, “Hey! I take offence to that”

Rarity waved the remark off, “I meant your outfit. That shade of yellow does not go with that tie or those shoes”

The Mask straightened his tie and spoke in a mock Rarity voice, “These clothes are of the finest make miss, I’ll have you know they were imported from a place which name currently escapes me", he paused as he looked the unicorn up and down, “Also, that style is soooo last century"

The Mask then zoomed up in a flash and spun around Rarity and popped back to his original spot, Rarity’s mane now resembled the bride of Frankenstein’s hair, “is that a little over the top? I’D LIKE TO THINK SO!”

Rarity turned her head and looked in a puddle of water and screamed in anguish as she fainted in horror, The Mask just smiled, “Ah, another satisfied customer, now where was I? OH right”

The Mask then plucked the helmet off of Sweetie Belle and turned to look back at the now serious looking mares, he then turned to whisper at the reader, “I have the distinct impression that they don’t like me”, Rainbow turned to Twilight, “who is he talking to?”

Twilight ignored Rainbow’s comment and stepped forward as she addressed The Mask, “Do you know somepony by the name of Discord, It seem you have the same abilities as him”

The Mask rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he turned his back to them, “hmmm, sounds like a cool guy, we should sit down and swap stories sometime”

Rainbow Dash, having heard enough, rushed straight at The Mask…who literally bent out of her way like a rubber man, “Now that was rude”, he then span In place as he transformed into a matador outfit and spoke in a deeper Spanish voice waving a red sheet, “Toro, Toro!”

Rainbow exhaled steam from her nostrils as she rushed him much faster than last time, The Mask set his jaw and locked her steely gaze with his own, The Mask then stepped to the side as he raised the sheet yelling, “Olay!”, Rainbow then proceeded to smack straight into a tree that appeared out of nowhere getting a collective gasp from her friends.

The Mask then transformed into a doctors outfit and checked the lump that was on Rainbow’s head as her eyes were spinning in their sockets, “Ooooo, that’s got to hurt, don’t worry I’m a doctor!”, in a blink of an eye he wrapped Rainbow Dash from head to hoof in bandages and placed a dog cone on her neck, he then transformed back to his regular clothes, “Okay so I lied! I don’t know a thing about medicine and….hey what are you all doing with the bling?”

The second The Mask transformed back into his regular clothes, Twilight had roused Rarity from her unconscious state and fitted each of her friends with The Elements of Harmony and teleported over to Rainbow Dash who was now conscious and wearing hers.  The Mask jumped back surprised as the elements fired up, he pulled out a beach chair and some sunglasses as he reclined and whipped out a tanning screen.

The light from the elements got brighter as the rainbow fired into the sky, “WOW! I’m going to get a multicolored tan after this!”, the rainbow power then slammed straight into the lounging Mask as he screamed like a woman, this caused the CMC to awaken from their dizzy trances and stood up in shock at seeing their new friend be attacked.

Suddenly the elements energy flared bright green and exploded with a bang sending everypony present flying in all directions, a steaming wooden object flew like a bullet from the center of the blast and landed in front of a dazed Twilight.

Twilight shook her head and looked down at the object which was revealed to be a wooden mask with a strip of metal running down the bridge of the nose; she then looked up and saw a cloud of smoke where they had attacked the strange creature, “is everypony okay?”

Rarity answered from above her on a tree branch, “As alright as I’ll be darling”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were dangling up higher as they voiced their presence, Pinkie had landed on a rosebush and Fluttershy was currently on top of an overturned bench, Rainbow Dash flew down to the ground as Rarity and Applejack went to check on their sisters, Dash then took notice of the mask Twilight was currently studying with intrigue, “What’s with the head gear?”

Twilight rubbed her chin slightly as she levitated the mask to get a better look at it, she tilted it a few times and noticed a green sheen shine from the left to right in the blink of an eye which completely took both mares by surprise.  But before Twilight could further interpret its meaning, a loud coughing fit was heard as Stanley Ipkiss stumbled out of the smoke cloud dazed and confused his dark business suit askew and dirty and dirt in his dark brown hair.

Stanley was about to speak until Rarity wrenched him off of his feet with her magic and brought him eye level with her angry face, “YOU HAD BETTER CHANGE MY MANE BACK RIGHT NOW!”

Stanley was frightened at the angry white unicorn and managed to form only a few sputtered words, “I….who…what?”

Twilight gently brought Stanley away from the fuming Rarity but kept him suspended in the air, “Who exactly are you?”

Stanley was still frightened when he spoke, “St…Stanley Ipkiss”

Sweetie Belle approached Stanley, “Mr. Mask, why do you look so different?”

Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle then back at Stanley, “Okay now tell me the truth “Stanley Ipkiss” IF that is your real name”

Stanley spoke quickly, “The Mask and I are the same guy and I’m sorry if he caused you…ponies… any trouble, he’s prone to do that”

Rainbow Dash then got up in Stanley’s face, “Now that is a lie if I ever heard one”

Stanley shook his head, “No it’s true”

Twilight nodded, “actually Rainbow… I think he’s telling the truth”, she held up the mask, “this mask showed up after we blasted that creature…”, Scootaloo then quickly cut in “The Mask”, Twilight reluctantly continued, “…The Mask with The Elements of Harmony, it might be the source of his powers but I won’t know for sure until I study it, then I’ll send it to Princess Celestia to see if she can find more”

Stanley was let down to the ground, “Just be sure not to put it on”, Applejack walked up to Stanley with narrowed eyes, “Ah don’t mean to sound rude, but we don’t necessarily trust yer word Stanley, Mask or whatever ya call yerself”

Applebloom and The CMC stood in front of Stanley, “Applejack, The Mask is our friend, it’s not HIS fault he did those things, YA’LL attacked him first!”

Applejack looked sternly down at her little sister, “Yeah we did, to PROTECT you fillies”

Stanley raised a finger, “can I say something?”

Applejack looked at him, “What?”

Stanley pointed behind the six mares, “Is that thing supposed to be in your town?”

All six mares turned to look at Ponyville which currently had a hydra within it limits which roared to the sky as it began its path of destruction, The Mane Six immediately turned to the CMC and told them not to move as they ran toward town leaving the CMC with Stanley.

Scootaloo turned to Stanley, “what are you doing?”

Stanley looked at her, “what do you mean? They got it handled”

Sweetie Belle shook her head, “My sister and her friends never successfully defeated a hydra before, they’ve only out ran one”

Stanley looked at the town, “But what can I do?”

Applebloom just gave him a look as Stanley came to the realization, “Oh”, he then ripped off his tie and threw off his overcoat and rushed toward town.

*

The Hydra was currently busy with making its way toward town hall when Twilight and her friends arrived, Fluttershy was trembling like a drenched dog when she addressed the matter, “How do we stop it?”

Twilight was frantic with worry, “I don’t know, my magic isn’t strong enough to stop it”

Rainbow zoomed above her friend’s heads, “I’ll distract it”

Applejack ran after her, “right behind you”

Soon Twilight was watching worried for her friends safety as the rest of the six ran to help but was stopped by a panting Stanley, “Wait….I can help”

Rarity shook her head, “Oh no, we are NOT accepting your help”

Twilight levitated the mask out of site, “I’m sorry Stanley but Rarity’s right, we can’t trust that you will help”

Stanley approached but stopped a few good feet from them, “Please, just let me make it up to you all. Don’t let what The Mask did affect your opinion of me”

Pinkie Pie nodded, “he’s telling the truth”

Twilight looked at her friend, “how do you know?”

Pinkie lifted her right fore-hoof, “my right hoof is asleep, which means that somepony can help in certain disaster”

Twilight bit her lower lip nervously, but relinquished the mask to Stanley not doubting her pink friend, “I hope you know what you’re doing Stanley”

Stanley rolled up his sleeves, “same here”, he then looked at the mares, “you might want to stand back”

Stanley then slammed the mask to his face and then he became a tornado with bolts of energy arching from it and in a few seconds The Mask stood where Stanley used to be as a devious smile appeared, “I’m baaaack”

The Mask then turned to look at The Hydra, “Woah that’s a big lizard!”

The Hydra turned to The Mask upon being called a lizard and roared right in The Mask’s face, he then wiped some spit from his face, “didn’t your mother ever tell you to brush, two words, BREATH MINT!”

The hydra looked confused for a second and roared much louder in The Mask’s face once more causing The Mask to cringe, after it finished The Mask turned to look at the reader once more, “doesn’t he remind you of someone?”, he then reached into his coat and pulled out a small squeeze horn that had “squeeze me gently” written in white on the squeeze part where as the opening was as big as his pinky.

The Mask then pointed it at The Hydra’s face and squeezed, the horn then quadrupled in size as it literally yelled louder than The Hydra’s roar, “AAAAAAAWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGAAAA”

When the horn went off every single glass piece in Ponyville exploded toward the street and The Hydra was blown backwards onto the ground with a thud.  The horn immediately shrunk back to its’ original size after The Mask stopped squeezing it, he then put it away as he reached into his pant pocket and brought out a nine iron.

The Mask then spoke in a golf sports announcer voice, “He lines up the shot and checks the wind current. Perfect breeze, if he sinks this hole he will win the open, he winds up and here’s the swing”, The Mask then wound up fiercely and followed through and gently tapped the point of contact…and The Hydra was sent flying at break neck speed and landed in The Everfree Forest with a distant thud as he cringed in frustration and spoke in a forced tone, “Oooo! A bogey”, he then threw the nine iron away as he dusted himself off.

Twilight walked up completely confused, “How….Why…Wha?”

The Mask shushed her, “It’s the least I could do, it’s in my nature not to let women fight, plus someone had to do something ”

The Mask walked a few steps forward then looked back at them with his usual smile, “After all, you can’t be too careful with all these WEIRDO’s running around”

Pinkie’s left eyelid twitched