Time and Masks

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Summer Sun Exhaustion

Dinky reached her room and took a deep breath. She walked over to her bed and collapsed. Another day of working out with the guard recruits was finished. It had been the better part of a month since she had started, and it was a exhausting. Everyday she ended up being stiff, sore and exhausted. Day after day of running, obstacle courses, jumping jacks, push-ups, and learning unarmed combat.

At least she was done with it for today, and there were no classes in the afternoon for today. After lunch, it would be her own. Twinkleshine and Wind Tunnel were supposed to show up after dinner. Dinky's lunch was probably waiting for her right now. Then again, the bed was very nice at the moment. Everything would be fine for another minute or two... or five....

"Dinky?" a voice called out. There was a gentle poke at her side. The filly let out a groan and tried to shift away from the poking. Her eyes cracked open slightly, catching sight of a pair of green ones staring at her from a rose colored face.

"Ruby?" Dinky asked, blinking in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Princess Celestia invited me," the red unicorn filly answered with a grin. "Since she's having it in Manehattan, she thought it would be nice for me to join you for The Summer Sun Celebration. Come on. The sun's about to set."

"What?!" Dinky jumped off the bed, and immediately regretted it as she felt twinges of pain all throughout her body. With the ache and discomfort, the filly walked to the balcony. The filly opened the door and stepped out onto it. She turned toward the west and looked out at the sky.

There she could see the setting sun. The sky shifted from the pale blue to a bright rosy red with hints of the golden glow to it. Fluffy clouds floated above and around the sun, the color shifting from white at the top to a faint pink at the bottom with hints of purple between the layers. It was beautiful.

Dinky let out a groan and let laid her head on the banister as she watched it.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked as she moved to join her friend.

"I almost slept through it," Dinky responded, "and I missed my free day."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been working hard all summer. Training with the guards in the morning. Studying in the evening. I get an afternoon off, and I fall asleep through the whole thing."

"Well that will make it easier to stay up all night, won't it?"

"...Yeah. I guess it will."

"Come on. Dinner's waiting for us."

Dinky turned to her friend and smiled. The two of them headed back into the room then out and down to eat dinner. While they did, the pair caught up on all that had happened between the two of them since they saw each other at spring break.

After they had finished, the pair were told that Twinkleshine and Wind Tunnel had arrived and were waiting in one of the smaller rooms by the garden. Grinning the two Ponyville unicorns went to meet up with their friends and start figuring out how to stay up all night and wait for the sun to come up.

Finally they came up with the idea of starting off by telling scary stories, with each one taking a turn. It was quickly decided that Twinkleshine should go last since she had the most interest and skill when it came to telling stories. The unicorn did not mind, feeling it gave her a bar to try and match or exceed. After some further conversation, they all decided on the order of the storytelling.

Ruby went first. She told a story about a foal whose family being replaced by changelings. The main character tried to warn other ponies about what was happening, but nopony believed her until it was too late. Next was Wind Tunnel. His story was about a pegasus visiting a distant place when he was attacked by some creature. After returning to Cloudsdale, the poor pony turned into a monster with bat-like wings and thirst for blood. He fed on other pegasi until he was stopped by a Professor Van Helium. After Wind Tunnel was Dinky's turn. The story she told was about a pony that turned into a Timberwolf whenever the moon was full. Finally, after killing her best friend, the poor pony ran away into The Everfree Forest and was never seen again.

Finally it was Twinkleshine's turn. Her horn glowed as she began to tell her tale. The room seemed to grow darker as if the lights were being turned off. Soon the only light seemed to be coming from somewhere in the middle of the group with everything else hidden in shadow. Then as she began to speak and tell her story, figures floated the in the air. They were nothing to extensive, mostly just a colored outline. There was also a subtle hint of music playing, adding to the mood of the story.

"That," Twinkleshine said to her enraptured audience, "Was when... Lightning struck the unicorn."

All four of the ponies jumped as the room filled with a flash of lightning.

"...That... that wasn't me." Twinkleshine finally said.

"There aren't supposed to be any clouds tonight," Dinky said, "much less a storm." The four of them got up and headed for the garden. The unicorns used their horns to create light, allowing them to see what was going on.

The group saw a figure laying in the grass. As they got closer, the air began to smell of something had burned. Dinky and Ruby began to run toward the figure as fast as they could as the grass under their hooves turned black.

In the middle of the burned patch of grass was a pegasus guard. The air around him was rank with the odor of burnt hair and flesh. Portions of his coat, normally a clean and bright white, was dark with scorch marks. Pieces of the armor was misshapen and melted, several small points of it glowing like embers.

"Is he still alive?" Dinky asked, leaning in close to the injured guard.

"Step back," Ruby said, her voice holding more authority than her friend was used to hearing. Closing her eyes, her horn began to glow brighter. The rose colored filly's magical aura began to cover the guard, encompassing him fully. She held still as she focused before opening her eyes, her magic fading back into ambient light.

"He's still alive," she finally answered, "but hurt. He's going to need immediate medical attention." The filly's ears fell back as she glanced back to the guard. "I don't know if he's going to make it though. He's barely hanging on and I don't want to move him..."

Dinky looked from Ruby to the guard and back. Her eyebrows and nose scrunched as she thought a moment. An idea was bubbling up in her brain and she just need to concentrate to catch it and figure it out. The filly's face lit up as it came to her.

"Ruby," she asked, "do you think you can help him until medics arrive?"

"...I guess so. Why?"

"Wind," Dinky continued, "You're the fastest of us. Go get help as quick as you can." Wind Tunnel nodded and ran off. "Twinkle, there should be a first aid kit in the room. I don't know where exactly. Look for it and bring it here."

"Okay," Twinkleshine responded before running back toward the castle.

"I'm going to try and freeze him in time," Dinky explained. "That should buy us time until help arrives. When Twinkle gets back, do what you can for him. Maybe between the two of us we can help enough for him to make it to the doctors."

"Right."

Dinky smiled at her friend then turned back to the pegasus. She wished she felt as confident in this as her friend seemed to. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Dinky reached deep inside herself to take a hold of the magic and tried to focus it.

Please, dear Celestia, please please please let this work. What she was about to do, she had never intentionally done to another pony. It had been something that she had been scared to do to any living creature since she accidentally froze Diamond Tiara. If she could, she would never use it on another pony again.

The problem was that she did not seem to have much of a choice this time. Most of the pegasus guards looked the same to Dinky, especially with the armor, so she had no idea who he was. But he was a pony that was hurt, and badly at that. Dinky had to do something to help. She would try anything and everything in her power, even if it made her uncomfortable.

As the energy built up and got stronger, she pushed it out toward the injured guard. The filly's eyes squeezed tighter and her jaw clenched as she concentrated with all her might. There was no time for hope or fear for the moment as she pushed everything she had into freezing the pegasus in time for the moment.

When the magic left her, Dinky collapsed in exhaustion. She opened her eyes, if barely, and saw that the aura of magic was encompassed around the injured guard. A small smile formed on her mouth as she moved to push herself back up onto her hooves.

"I think it worked," she said as she looked at him, "Now what?"

Twinkleshine arrived with the first aid kit while Ruby spoke, sharing what they could do for the guard to help until medics arrived to get him proper medical care. With the red filly's instructions, the three of them did what their best to help until Wind Tunnel returned with medics to take the injured guard to the hospital.

Comments

[Luckyfanisaac]

she had started, and it was a exhausting.

Then as she began to speak and tell her story, figures floated the in the air.