Asquerade

By SilverStarApple

• January 1, 2013

Age: Seventeen

Gender: Male

Species: Unicorn

Appearance: He has a tall, thin, clear white body, a messily-cut red and blue mane and similar tail, a long unicorn horn, and one gold eye and one purple eye.

Cutie Mark: A golden opera eyemask, symbolising his skill at making masks, as well as how he'll often "Hide behind masks", faking a smile and acting like somepony he's not.

Personality: Hiding behind masks and faking smiles while a neverending internal debate burns like a wildfire, Asquerade is not a normal pony. Years of living with neglectful parents and a sibling who hates him have taught him to keep quiet and always keep up a fake smile- Because if that smile drops, people will ask questions, and they won't like hearing the answers. He'll go out, fake a smile until he gets home, and then sulk alone, trying to ignore his mask speaking to him.<br /><br />Both parts of him, his mask and true self, are very intelligent, allowing him to think up new things while having a completely unrelated conversation. He created modified versions of several spells he knows of. He didn't go to any magical schools, and he taught himself every spell he knows, hence his random, disorganised and limited arsenal of magic, and his liking for creating new ones for himself.<br /><br />His intelligence often works against him, as not only does he overanalyze things, and put too much effort into being crazy-prepared, but he's also very paranoid. He constantly sees the worst in everypony, believes that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and if somepony always expects the worst, then they won't be as disappointed when the worst happens.<br /><br />He is very touchy about his mismatched eyes, and when somepony insults them, it'll anger both of him, and when somepony compliments them, his mask will act happy, while his true self will think it's a lie, and prepare for whatever large trick it's a part of.<br /><br />His mind is starting to crack, and when he gets very stressed, his "True self" will talk to his "Mask". Sometimes the conversation takes place internally, other times, whichever half he isn't currently being will hijack his magic and use Asquerade's own skill with illusions to appear, and seem real. It can be said that his mask has progressed to the point where it almost counts as a person in its own right. Both pieces of him use the Asquerade name, and consider themselves to be the real Asquerade. His True Self believes that he is the real Asquerade, and his Smiling Mask is nothing more than a fake smile he has used so much that it has somehow gained sentience. His Smiling Mask believes he is the true Asquerade, a part of him that was protected from everything life threw at him, protected by the miserable, hollow shell of a pony that calls himself Asquerade's True Self. As he once said, "If somepony as depressed and lonely as you calls themself true... then I don't want to be anything like you. You can call me a mask if you want, it won't change the fact that at the end of the day, you're just as hollow as I am."<br /><br />One of his biggest fears is that one day, he'll snap completely, and go on a murderous rampage. He'll then get caught, and probably get stuck in the moon for a thousand years, arguing with himself to pass the time.<br /><br />He doesn't trust umbrellas, canes, walking sticks, or people who use them, because he knows that there could be hidden blades in them. Even if there's a chance there are no blades, there is still a chance that there are blades.<br /><br />He does have a mischievous side, and loves to use his recently-obtained changeling abilities to disguise himself as other ponies when pranking. He finds this odd, as neither of his personalities seem like the kind of pony who'd enjoy it- His mask is too kind, and his true self is too depressed- and yet, he can't deny that he just loves pranks. His True Self once said, "Life is a cruel trick played by fate, and nothing we ever do can surpass that. So why do we prank?"<br />His Smiling Mask's response was, "I don't know, but one of us seems to like it. Can't you just enjoy life for a change?"<br />"No." True Self responded flatly. "And neither should you, because you aren't even real."<br />"Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself to be happy."

Backstory: Born to a family of freaks that hated him from day one, Asquerade was very lonely growing up. "Somehow"* the only Unicorn born to a family of Earth Ponies that lived out in the middle of nowhere, farming fruit for themselves so that they wouldn't have to go anywhere, or associate with anyone besides themself.<br /><br />*Asquerade's mother cheated on his father with a blank flank Unicorn. Depending on who you ask, either memory-erasing spells, mind-control spells, or a lot of cider was involved.<br /><br />Asquerade can't remember the exact day he started acting like somepony he wasn't, hiding behind a mask to save his mind. All he knows is that he's done it for as long as he can remember.<br /><br />His family hates him,<br /><br />At what might have been his thirteenth birthday, after having a particularly bad day and feeling worse than he had in years, he attempted the riskiest ting he had ever done. He hunted, captured, and absorbed a changeling. The process was mind-shatteringly painful for everyone involved, but by that point, Asqerade had two minds to work with.<br /><br />He believed his parents when they called him an ugly freak, and he was willing to do anything to change his appearance, even if there was a chance the process might kill him. If something went wrong, it'd be because he wasn't a good enough Unicorn.<br /><br />The end result looked strange, as any magically-created changeling/pony hybrid would. The first thing Asquerade did was change back to how he looked before the fusion, and that quickly became his default form.<br /><br /><br /><br />UNFINISHED.