Sitting upon a hill, Prosopeio awaited for Luna's moon to reach its zenith. The hour was near, and already he could feel a strange presence growing around him. Reaching into his cape, he pulled out a woven circle of rowan branches, getting up so that it may be in the center of the hilltop. Then, with all the care of handling a newborn babe, Prosopeio removed his mask and set it within the ring.
Stepping to one side, Prosopeio removed his cape and flung it to one side, not caring where it landed. He would not need it, after all.. since it would only get in the way. Looking up at the silvery moon as it reached its apex, Prosopeio stood tall on his hind legs and spread his forelegs wide.
"By Luna's light, I call out to the blood
Children of the Flutter, Scions of the Breeze
Lords and Ladies below the Seas
Ye of Flowers, Trees and Stone
Of Oberon, Titania and the Courtly Homes
Those whose forms are never the same
Those whose minds can never be sane
Revel with me, now in this place
So that I might remember our Courtly Grace
And unto this mortal world... once more be reborn."
And as he finished, Prosopeio felt, more than heard, his voice echo all around him. Closing his eyes, the performer felt a smile grace his features as he began to dance. A slight pressure on either side of him wrapped around each forehoof, supporting him before he felt his hindhoofs leave the ground. He dared not look, but instead simply felt tears flow down his face as he joined in the joyous laughter that surrounded him, hauntingly nostalgic music suddenly filling the area.
He could picture it in his mind's eye... a castle ballroom that put all others to shame, stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions, with no roof but the night sky above them to allow the full moon to provide light and be guest of honor at the festivities.
Pony-like creatures of all walks of life filled the entire room, from the haughty Flutterponies to the tiny Breezies, from Changelings and Kelpies and Pookas to the poor mortals who would never know how the passage of time meant nothing and the world they knew was either long gone or yet to be established. All reveling under the sweet moonlight, and the two great beings who sat enthroned at the end of the Ballroom, speaking to each other with words that were equal amounts honey and poison with few able to discern which was which save for themselves.
It was here that he was no longer Prosopeio, but someone else... here, that he could simply revel and sing and worry not about little things like mortality, morality and the joys and fears both contained,. Here he could hear songs and tales mortal ponies could barely comprehend and the borders between Waking and Dreaming were simply illusions, for one could exist in both with little care.
But in that eternity of a second, the unmasked pony who was Prosopeio simply sighed. Through some unseen signal, he simply pulled away from the ring dance and bowed to his partners, feeling his hooves touch solid ground once more as he did so.
'Stay! Stay!' they would all say.
'Join the dance, Sing the Song!'
And though their cries were tempting, and many a mortal was lost to the cry, the pony that was Prosopeio simply would shake his head and smile.
"I cannot. For as great as this is, the realm of Mortals is more enjoyable still."
'You called us!' some would cry.
'You came of your own will!'
"And so too, do I leave of the same. For while I am but a pony out there... it pays to remember my roots, and return every so often. Do not fear, brethren... I shall be gone in but an eyeblink."
And as the music, the voices, and even the vast court fade away, the being that was Prosopeio would look to the enthroned rulers and bow deeply, meeting their eyes in a brief glance... before opening his own.
And slowly, the moon continued its journey across the sky as Prosopeio once more regained his mask... gone was the woven circlet of rowan that surrounded it, in its place a circle of mushrooms graced the hilltop, his cape neatly folded nearby. Careful not to disturb the ring of mushrooms, Prosopeio sighed as he took in the view, watching as the moon vanished over the horizon and Celestia's dawn greeted Equestria once more.
"And unto this mortal world... once more be reborn..."
With a jig in his step and remnants of a haunting song on his lips, Prosopeio whistled as he left the hill, revitalized and ready to face whatever the world may throw at him.
