//------------------------------//
// (Part 3) The Masked Menace, pt.1 
// Story: Doctor Whoof: Time of the Hourglass 
// by Muleicous 
//------------------------------//


The Masked Menace (Part 1)
	Dinky Hooves stared at the two masked ponies, her mouth wide with surprise. The filly smiled and seemed to bounce up and down in a Pinkie Pie-esk manner, “Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh! Mare-Do-Well! The real Mare-Do-Well... I’ve never seen her so close, and I get to watch her kick the oats out of...”
“Dinky!” Derpy called as she picked her foal up by the scruff of her neck and ran. The Doctor had given the signal to run a few minutes after the second masked pony landed, and Dinky had been lost in her own little world. The grey pegasus knew her little muffin loved the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, but she also knew that when an evil masked pony is fighting a good masked pony it was customary for all non-masked ponies to run far away... At least that’s what she figured from the comic books that Dinky always had lying around the house.
Ahead of the mother and daughter where Apple Bloom, The Doctor, and the strange brown pegasus who seemed to be reloading her cylinder gun. “You brought a gun?!” The Doctor called out, his hooves tired from trying to keep up with the flying Keeper.
“Of course I brought a gun!” The brown pegasus said, “I always have a gun!”
“But done it always have to be the first thing you go to?!” the time colt asked, “I mean really River!”
“Wait! How did you know it was me?” the brown pegasus asked, sliding the gun back into her vest pocket.
“Oh come on! It was obvious! You know me, you used a gun, and no one else I know can use a time destablizer like you!” The Doctor nodded his head towards the watch on River’s from left hoof.
“Oh I love when you do that sweetie!” the brown pegasus said, smiling almost manically.
“ I know!” the time colt replied, his TARDIS now insight.

***
	Back at Zecora’s, the two Mare-Do-Well’s faced each other, still sizing one another up. The second Mare-Do-Well, the one who flew past The Doctor’s head, flapped her wings to try and intimidate her foe; however, the first masked pony just shrugged it off by flipping off her hat and reveling the horn underneath. The pegasus Mare-Do-Well gasped, stepping back just an inch as her opponent pounced. The attacking masked pony stabbed at the other, trying to spear the second Mare-Do-Well with her horn, but the second masked pony was too fast and the horn only cut off her mask.
With her disguise destroyed, Rainbow Dash pulled off her Mare-Do-Well mask and narrowed her eyes at the imposter. “Well? Come on slow poke! Or do you need time to catch your breath?” the rainbow maned pegasus taunted.
Mare-Do-Well just seemed to smile at Dash under her mask, then jumped into the air and flew at the mare. Rainbow nimbly dodged the attack, but her mind raced once she realized that the imposter Mare-Do-Well had wings and a horn. “No way,” Dash shook her head in disbelief, “there’s no way you’re an alicorn!” But this was the least of the blue pegasus’ worries. Soon, she shrugged off the initial shock and bolted after the imposter, leaving her signature rainbow trail behind her.
Rainbow Dash closed in on her target, her hooves just inched away from pounding the fake Mare-Do-Well out of the sky. Then, a noise echoed in the blue pegasus’ ears. It was an odd sound, like something shifting very slowly, and then the imposter seemed to disappear right infront of Dash’s eyes. The pegasus slowed to a stop and looked around quickly, trying to find fake Mare-Do-Well. Once Rainbow Dash turned, however, she only found a purple gloved hoof heading straight towards her nose. She didn’t have enough time to dodge the assault, and the blow broke the blue pegasus’ nose and sent her plummeting to the ground. In a last ditch effort Dash moved her wings slightly, so the wind from her fall would cause her to loop back up, and made a grab for the imposter’s mask. The pegasus’ teeth bit down hard on the silky fabric and she let gravity do the rest, but as soon as she saw the face of her attacker Rainbow Dash wish she hadn’t.
The now unmasked Mare-Do-Well flew after the falling pony, her front hooves pointed at Rainbow Dash’s head. Before Dash could hit the ground, a purple light flashed just below the falling pegasus. A masked pony, this one with only a horn, caught her friend with her magic and swiftly teleported them out of the forest. The imposter landed, a hint on anger in her eyes and she grabbed her mask and put it back on. Fake Mare-Do-Well walked into the Everfree Forest, the strange shifting sound returning as the pony disappeared.
A few moments later, Zecora emerged from her tree house to a chaotic scene. Her yard was covered in large tree branches, one of her logs was broken in half, and it looked like someone had tipped over her stew kettle as they ran away from something. The zebra closed her eyes and shook her head a bit, “From this mess I shall walk away, I can not deal with things like this today!” She turned, her eyes still closed as she slammed her door... Which then fell off the hinges. Zecora just continued to walk to her bed, mumbling to herself.

***
	As soon as Apple Bloom entered the TARDIS she noticed something was different. Instead of The Doctor running around the time machine’s consul alone, the brown pegasus who called herself River Song was also pulling levers and turning knobs. And as Derpy and Dinky ran through the door thing got even stranger, as The Doctor kissed River softly on the cheek before pressing a large button that made the TARDIS doors close and started to make the room spin slowly. Both the grey pegasus and the little farm filly knew that this was just what The Doctor’s strange box did when it was moving to a different place (or through space as the time colt put it), Dinky, however, felt like her lunch was going to come back up. The poor grey filly began to wobble on her feet, and was only saved when her mother wrapped her hooves around her. Dinky snuggled against her wall-eyed mother, smiling happily as her tummy began to settle. The foal’s jaw dropped right after though, once she realized what was usually the first thing people and ponies who went into The Doctor’s TARDIS noticed.
“It’s bigger on the inside.” Dinky said.
The Doctor looked to the filly as he pulled the stop switch on the consul, “Yes, well... Better explain. I’m The Doctor. this,” the time colt pointed to the brown pegasus, “is River Song, she’s my wife...” he paused as Derpy and Apple Bloom’s mouths fell open, “What? Well she is!” 
Apple Bloom could just barely keep from laughing out loud, while her grey pegasus friend had to bit her lip to keep from giggling. Dinky just looked up at the strange colt as he ignored the two and kept explaining about hoe his box, the TARDIS, was bigger on the inside and could go through time, then he went on to trying to explain how which nearly put the grey filly to sleep.
“Now,” The Doctor continued, looking over at the now stable Derpy, “you never said you where a mom.”
“You never asked.” Derpy replied, “And before you ask, she was at her grandmother’s when I first met you. And what about you? You never said you where married.”
“Well... You never asked.” The Doctor blushed, looking over at River as she just smiled and shook her head to keep from laughing. Suddenly, a bright purple light filled the TARDIS as the sound of a hoof knocking echoed from the door. The time colt ran to answer it, seeing a beaten Rainbow Dash and a masked unicorn entering her ship. 
Twilight quickly pulled off her Mare-Do-Well mask and looked toward The Doctor, her eyes tired from the magic used to teleport her friend and her. It was hard enough using the spell on herself, but with another pony it felt like trying to hatch Spike all over again, not to mention the magic needed to find The Doctor’s ship only added to the stress. 
“How did... How...” The doctor tried to ask, his head turning to the door, then the two ponies.
“Magic... hard to explain...” Twilight answered, panting slightly, “Pinkie... sensed that Dash was in trouble... Then I saw Mare-Do-Well... What’s going on?”
The Doctor looked to River, the latter shrugged and shook her head. “I only know that it has to do with that masked pony and you,” the brown pegasus said, “anything else is just spoilers.”
“There was... A sound.” Rainbow Dash said, her voice very weak from the fight. “It was like... I don’t know... like something sliding on grass, or something. And then Mare-Do-Well just, disappeared. And...And her face... it was...” The blue pegasus layed down, passing out on the cold metal floor of the TARDIS, her body to tired to keep her awake after the fight.
The time colt looked out the doors of his TARDIS. With the calculations that he and River had made, the ship had phased right behind the Ponyville library. The Doctor closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he frowned. He knew what was wrong, but he just hoped it wasn’t too late.

***
	On the other side of town, a masked pony entered the front door of the Carousel Boutique.
“One moment darling,” Rarity called out from behind a wall of cloth, “I’ll be with you as soon as I finish this dress.” The fashion pony let the fabric fall to the floor, her magic’s aura leaving it after she gasped in shock. “Who... Who are you?”
The fake Mare-Do-Well pulled off her mask and took a step forward. Outside, a blinding light came from the windows of the boutique as the screams of the mashmellow colored unicorn filled the air.

To be continued...