Time and Masks

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Poisonous Nightmare Part 2

Running at full speed, the filly leaped onto the stage and ran toward the back of it. She threw herself through the curtains, looking around as she reached the back portion. As soon as she thought she caught a glimpse of movement, she turned to chase after it.

This is stupid of me. This is a bad idea. What am I doing? Her mind kept asking her as she chased after the villain. I'm just a filly in a costume. I'm not a superhero. I have no idea what I'm doing. It is a bad idea to be chasing somepony who likes to throw balls of Poison Joke powder at ponies. Why am I doing this?

Because it is right, a voice other than her own answered. And because it's what HE would do!

She believed that too. Maybe he would not be wearing a costume, but if somepony -- or anything else -- threatened innocent lives, he would do anything in his power to stop them. Now Dinky found herself trying to do the same thing. It suddenly seemed that maybe he had been insane all along and she never realized it.

Running down an alley, she caught sight of the trouble-making mare. The figure stood near the end, looking back. As Dinky got closer, the villains horn began to glow. Three of the Poison Joke orbs appeared, levitating in front of her. The black clad unicorn stamped her hoof and sent the orbs flying at the would-be hero.

A barely audible squeak escaped from Dinky at the sight of approaching spheres. She threw herself to one side, grunting as she misjudged and hit the alley walls. Gritting her teeth, she tried to push the pain aside use her magic. There was a quick flicker, but it was too difficult to concentrate and focus. Two of the orbs flew past her, shattering somewhere on the street behind her. The third hit the wall beside her, coating her in poison joke.

Dinky jumped forward, getting out of the cloud of powder. She got out just in time to see the opposing unicorn use magic -- and several crates and walls -- to make her way up the side of one building and onto the roof.

"STOP!" Dinky called out, running toward the figure. She gritted her teeth as she tried to use her magic again. She felt the flow of energy, the ticking sound filling her ears. Getting as fast as she could, she leaped off the ground. As soon as she hit the top of the crate, she pushed off to try and keep the momentum. With it she was able to land on the top of the next crate and jump again.

The air was knocked from the filly's lungs as she hit the ground. Pain flared in her back where they hit the cobblestones, sending flashes of white across her vision.

After several seconds of lying there, she moved to get up. The filly shifted and moved to check herself. Her back ached from the impact, but nothing seemed broken. Turning her attention back to the building and tried to think. She had to think fast too, the criminal was getting away this very moment.

A strange idea crossed her mind. It seemed unlikely, but it could not hurt to try (well, couldn't hurt MORE!). Turning around she walked up to the mouth of the alley. As she reached the opening, she turned back and looked at the wall once again. She took a deep, slow breath and concentrated, trying to call on her magic again.

Dinky felt the power flow through her horn. Her jaw clenched as she took a hold of the energy, trying to shape it and wrap it around her. The filly had never actually tried to intentionally do what she was about to. The closest experience had been on accident when she was in Sugarcube Corner.

With a deep breath, the filly ran as fast as she could at the wall. As she got closer, she once again pushed off the ground and jumped. This time instead of aiming for the crates, she threw herself directly at the wall.

The impact ran through her forelegs as the hit the side of the building. There was a moment of weightlessness before she kicked, landing her hind legs on the wall as well. She ran as fast as she could, moving straight up along the wall until reaching the edge of the roof and tossing herself onto it. The filly collapsed as she landed onto the roof tiles.

"It worked," she said out loud. "It actually worked." A broad grin spread across her muzzle hidden beneath the mask. There was a shocking thrill at the fact; she had just climbed straight up the wall. She was just like a real superhero.

The grin vanished as she suddenly remembered why she was doing it to begin with. Quickly pushing herself back up onto her legs, she kept going. The filly ran as quickly as she could, heading in the direction she thought she saw the criminal go. Reaching the peek of the roof, she looked around to get her bearings on Canterlot and try to catch sight of her opponent.

The figure stood by the edge of the roof, staring at the masked filly. She gave a stomp of her hoof, knocking off a piece and causing it to fall to the ground. Turning away, she leaped off the roof and into the air before vanishing from sight.

Dinky ran to the edge and stopped, trying to keep herself from falling off it. Her gaze glanced down at the ground then up to look for the escaping criminal. The two of them looked at each other before the villain fled down another road and rounded a corner out of sight.

With a snort of frustration, the filly turned and climbed back up to the peak of the roof. She turned back and started to sprint down as quick as she could. Her jaw tensed tightly as she ran toward the edge.

A pang of fear shot through Dinky. She stopped running, spreading her leg wide. The filly dug her hooves into the tiles as best she could, shifting her weight. Tiles broke from the roof as she slid down, leaving a trail. She let out a sigh as she was able to stop six inches from the edge.

It was too much. She must have been insane to have gone this far. She had just been planning to throw herself off a building in pursuit of someone she did not know. She could have broken something. She could have been killed. Or worse.

What felt worse was that she was mad at herself. Her courage had given up and now the criminal was getting away. There was actually a pang of guilt over the fact she had failed. She turned and started back up the roof and over to get back down. As she walked, her mind went through the events, trying to find something she could have done different. A dozen possibilities went through her head: trying do something sooner, trying to slow the criminal down, speeding herself up sooner. Anything and everything was gone over, finding what could have gone differently.

The filly fought back tears as she made her way back to where she came from and used the crates to help her get down. As she did, she hoped that things had gone better for her friends in getting the cure that a lot of ponies were going to need.