Time and Masks

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

School-Wide Joke

Dinky stifled one last yawn as she walked toward the entrance of the academy. The feel of the spring sun on her coat felt kind of nice, even if it was still early in the morning. There was still a smell of the morning dew hanging in the air. It was such a wonderful day... and she had to spend the best part of it in school.

That was something that had always irked her, no matter where she was. When spring started, it seemed like it would be great to go outside and play. But school came first, and skipping was never an option. Especially now that she was supposed to be Celestia's student. It would reflect badly on the princess if the filly decided to miss class for a day in order to play outside.

The first bell rang, signaling a need to get to class. Dinky was startled out of her thoughts by the sound. She walked as quick as she could ("No running in the hall!" one of the faculty members had yelled before, "You're a unicorn, not a pegasus!") to her class. It was pretty easy for her to weave through the other students, reaching her classroom and sitting in her seat with time to spare.

The instructor entered and stood before the class as the second bell rang. There was a brief flash from the horn as the door was shut, locking automatically. With that, a lesson on Equestrian history began.

After an hour, a squeal filled the air, interrupting the class. Everypony turned at the sound, looking up at the intercom attached to the wall.

"Hello fillies, colts, and faculty," a voice said through the speaker. It did not sound like the principal or the pony that normally did the announcements. It was certainly female. A bit on the deep side, with a slightly scratchy tone. "If I could have your attention please, I would greatly appreciate it.

"I am certain that many of you are wondering who I am. Well the newspaper referred to me as 'The Poison Joke Prankster.' A bit long of a name, but I believe that it shall work for the time being. Quite a number of you met me last Nightmare Night. I am certain you would not recall it from my voice, but I assure you that you remember me -- or at least my joke orbs -- quite well.

"Moving on to the next question, which I am certain you all have since you are all such clever little ponies. You may be wondering why I am here and interrupting the class, even if you appreciate a temporary reprieve from the monotonous tedium of education. Well while I was enjoying a very entertainment evening, a rather insolent foal attempt to disrupt matters and pursue me. No harm had occurred, but it was quite a nuisance. Do not think I have forgotten you, whomever you may be.

"Which brings me to my arrival at your lovely academy. After much conversation, consideration and contemplation, I have concluded that the costumed character is a student at this fine facility. With the addition of the princess being indisposed with diplomatic matters, the opportunity to attempt a confrontation seemed rather ample.

"Now, allow me to elaborate on some matters. The school is locked, so none of you can get out, nor could the guards enter should they somehow be contacted. I have several wonderfully strong, but not very pleasant, stallions standing around as well. Most of them are not fond of foals and have a tendency to use their hooves when they get upset. There are also several specially designed Poison Joke containers hidden in various parts of the buildings.

"What is going to happen now can basically be brought to one simple idea: the unicorn who chased after me is going to turn him or her self in. I believe you can hear me my dear. All you have to do is turn yourself in to me at the principal's office. I will give you two hours to do so, my dear.

"Should the pony in question decide not to report to me in the allotted time, I shall detonate the containers. Ponies are allowed to leave the classrooms, but any attempt to escape will have to deal with my darling stallions. Should one of them decide that the attempts are too problematic, they shall detonate the containers. Basically, if at any time for any reason I decide to do so, I shall detonate the containers. Doing so will release the Poison Joke powder all through the school, causing each and every pony to be affected by it. That would mean that all would be under its effects for hours before even being able to have the possibility of an antidote. It could be until classes end normally, or it may even be until night.

"Enjoy yourselves, my lovelies. Feel free to enjoy the gymnasium or cafeteria while we wait. And to a certain pony, I'll be waiting." The sound of a kiss echoed through the intercom before going quiet.

The entire class room was quiet for the moment. None of the students spoke, most still staring up at the intercom as they tried to process what they had just been told. The idea that their school was locked down and they were supposedly hostages had a hard time sinking it. It was made all the more difficult to believe that it was with someone who was threatening them with powder from a flower most had not heard of before the previous Nightmare Night.

"Well this is disconcerting," the instructor said, "with such an event going on it seems inappropriate to continue with class. At the same time, it would be a bad idea to release students." He reached up to rub his chin as he thought, then turned back to the class. "Get out your textbooks. Turn to page 149 and begin reading. I will be back shortly." With that he headed to the door and left the room.

As soon as the door shut, the students began talking to each other. There were all sorts of questions being asked: who was the mare on the intercom; what did she want the other pony for; what would happen if she never showed up. Some talked about what happened during Nightmare Night, having been hit by the poison themselves, or with somepony that was.

Meanwhile Dinky look around as her mind raced. What was she going to do? If she turned herself in to the prankster, would the other students be released? What if the prankster was lying and went back on her word? Would the mare believe that Dinky was the pony in the costume from that night? More and more questions started to come to mind and she had no answers for any of them. It was enough to make her head spin.

The room turned quiet as the door opened again. The instructor stepped back in. One of his eyes was bruised and swollen shut. Behind him followed a pony in a blue outfit wearing a gas mask. When the teacher turned back, the masked pony pointed at the class room.

"Attention class," the instructor stated, "After discussing the matter with some other faculty members and..." he looked at the gas masked pony "visitors, it has been decided that the best choice would be to have the students assemble in the auditorium. Now if you would please all stand up and begin to leave in an orderly fashion, it would be appreciated."

There was a moment of silence before students started to move, putting their supplies away and taking their bags. They moved to slip out of their seats and head to the stairs. One by one the students walked up and past the teacher. Whenever they reached the pony in the gas mask, they seemed to find something that was very interesting somewhere in the other direction.

Dinky tried to look at the gas mask, to glare at the pony wearing it defiantly. After all, she had seen bigger. So some average sized stallion in an outfit should not bother her. Despite her efforts and intents, she looked away. The filters sticking out of the mask and the large reflective lenses made something about the whole thing disconcerting. It actually made Dinky want to call out for her mother.

Entering the hallway, it soon became apparent that theirs was not the only class which was being moved. At doors to other classrooms stood gas masked ponies, watching as the students filed out and into the hall. Despite the sheer number of students, none seemed to try anything or even talk. It was actually a little disconcerting to the filly.

As she walked past the bathroom, she felt another pony press against her and push her inside. The movement threw her off balance a moment, causing her to stumble as she went in. After regaining her footing, she turned to see who it was. There stood Twinkleshine, shutting the door behind her and moving to lean against it.

"We need to do something," the white unicorn said.

"I know," Dinky replied, "but I don't know what. Do you have any ideas?"

"Can you send a message to Princess Celestia?"

"No. Right now I could only teleport it to her room, but she's not even in Canterlot. Her and Princess Luna are visiting The Crystal Empire. Maybe I can turn myself in?"

"I don't think it would do any good. In most stories the villain is untrustworthy and don't keep their word. I doubt this mare is an exception. Seeing as she's having us all put in one room, I'm pretty certain she's going to dose us with her powder no matter what happens."

"Okay." Dinky started to pace back and forth as she tried to think. "So It's up to us to get through this. Giving up would do no good and we can't just wait her out." She stopped and sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "I guess our best chance is to somehow stop her from setting off her orbs and covering everypony in Poison Joke. So that means we have to figure out where they are and how to stop them."

"Well the where seems easy," Twinkleshine replied. "To get as much coverage as possible, they would probably have the orbs in the ventilation shafts in and around the auditorium. As for how to stop them from exploding..." She gave a shrug. "We have to know what we're dealing with a lot better than we do." She tilted her head. "Wait. Does this mean you have a plan?"

"No." the pale lavender filly gave a shake of her head. "But we have at least some idea. And I have to at least try to do something."

With that she closed her eye and started to focus on her magic. Her horn began to glow as she used her power. Focusing her thoughts on what she wanted, she gently reached out and coaxed the energy into doing what she wanted. The filly's magical aura continued to glow and pulse. As it did, the dark blue energy also started to collect in a ball in front of her. The ticking started to sound as the energy grew larger.

There was a pop of air as the magic coalesced. The ball vanished as the Mare-Do-Well costume appeared, floating as Dinky caught it with her magic and held it up. Reaching out, she began to pull pieces out of the aura of magic and pull them on.

"What are you doing?" Twinkleshine asked.

"The Poison Joke Prankster wants Mare-Do-Well?" the filly asked as she dressed in the costume, " Well then she is going to get her."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No. But I don't have any other idea and this seems better than nothing. If it helps, I don't think anyone in my family ever has a plan when they face something like this."

"...Your family has done stuff like this before?"

"Well.... not exactly like this, no." Dinky gave a shrug as she put finished putting on the cape. "But we have dealt with weird things before. Some creative thinking and a bit of luck seem to work well for us." She pulled the mask on, pulling it tight to her face. "Just do whatever you can when you have a chance I guess."

"Okay." The pink maned white unicorn started for the door and stopped. "When spring break comes, you have to introduce me to your family and tell me some stories." With that she left.

Comments

[Luckyfanisaac]

Meanwhile Dinky looked around as her mind raced.

Dinky gave a shrug as she put finished putting on the cape.