My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

A New Friendship

Author's Note:

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight.

Several Weeks Later...

"So... youstilldon't remember why you used a memory spell on yourself?" asked Twilight.

"No, I don't," replied Starlight, whohadperformed the spell in order to forget about certain horrifying events that she'd witnessed at the world where (thanks to Pinkie Pie) Rowan had met his well-deserved demise.

She then looked around the room, and asked, "Is Casey still asleep? I thought he'd be up by now..."

"Oh, no, he's awake," replied Twilight, and she nodded her head over at the Crystal Mirror. "Today is when he gets a chance to visit Stardust's world."

Starlight frowned, confused, and asked, "Why wouldn't Stardust just come here?"

"They're pretty much taking turns at this point," shrugged Twilight, and the two ponies shared a laugh.

---

(Stardust's World)

Inside of the Throne Room, Twilight was silently reading a book to herself, but her concentration was broken when Applejack entered the room. "Howdy, Twilight! What you readin' over there?"

"Oh, hi, AJ," said the young alicorn, setting the book down beside her. "Just trying to learn what I can about time travel."

Applejack chuckled, and asked, "I'm guessin' this would have to do with yours and Star'sworld travelingadventure that happened a few weeks ago?"

Twilight was about to answer when her friend added, "Andwhy every once in a while, he keeps on pokin' my hat and my chest to make sure I ain't some kind of spirit?"

The alicorn princess found herself giggling, and said, "I'm sorry about that, Applejack, but... you don't know how it felt for him to see you transformed into an apple, then get smashed by a giant mallet."

"Well, not that I don't mind him showin' his concern, sugarcube," replied Applejack, who went to sit in her own special throne. "But I want to make sure that he knows for sure that I won't be goin' anywhere anytime soo... uh... where is he, anyway?"

She and Twilight looked over at Stardust's unoccupied throne, and the Princess of Friendship said, "I think he mentioned to me about him going to have his weekly visit over at Casey's world... I'm sure he's teaching him something important."

---

(Limbo)

[Background Music: "Escape from the City - Cash Cash Remix (Classic)" from Sonic Generations]

Whoo!

Oh yeah!

Stardust was currently racing down the highway on his Extreme Gear hoverboard, and enjoying every minute of it.

"You hanging in back there, Casey?"

Stardust turned back to look at his new friend, who was slowly getting used to controlling his own board.

"Maybe it would be easier if we didn't have what you called abigass truckchasing after us!"

The gold pony let out a laugh, and he said, "Hey, trust me, buddy, once the song's over, that truck will begone!"

As Casey did a back flip after flying off a ramp, much to his own surprise, he yelled, "What song are you talking about?"

Then, Stardust flipped himself into the sky, doing various air tricks and flips, and once he started to sing his own song, the truck disappeared, much to Casey's relief.

Gold streak

Speeds by

That is me

Too fast

For the naked eye

That is still me

Stardust

He can really move!

Stardust

He's got an attitude!

Stardust

He's the-

All of a sudden, everything disappeared, and Stardust was simply hovering in the air. "Oh, [BEEP]..."

Whoosh!

Boom!

The young pony fell to the soft yet somewhat itchy grass-covered ground, and muttered, "Thanks, Starswirl."

Of course, Jack.

"You okay there, Star?" Casey asked, as he made his way over to Stardust, helping him up to all fours. "I thought you were the one controlling everything here."

"He used to, Casey..."

The two ponies looked up, and found themselves being glared at by Princess Twilight (from Stardust's world), who had a frown on her face, as well as a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, there, love," said Stardust, letting out a chuckle. "Um, how did you know I was here?"

"Hiya, Stardust,"exclaimed Pinkie Pie, the one from Stardust's world, and the gold pony rolled his eyes.

"I should have known..."

Princess Twilight sighed, and she said, "I don't mind you coming here, Jack, but next time, can you tell me that you'rehereinstead ofCasey'sworld?"

Stardust nodded his head, while Casey slowly waved one of his front hooves at her. "Hello again, Princess Twilight... how have you been?"

The young alicorn smiled, and she said, "I've been good, Casey... how's my other self doing?"

"Oh, fine, fine," replied the orange-yellow pony. "We just went on our third date a few weeks ago..."

"Well, good, I'm happy for you both," said Princess Twilight, and she looked back at her special somepony. "Don't be gonetoolong, okay?"

"Of course, love," assured Stardust, and watched as his girlfriend walked through the Crystal Mirror, going back to her castle.

"See ya later, Star!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and she ran into the portal, as well, leaving the two ponies alone together.

"So what now?" Casey asked, and a wide smile appeared on Stardust's face.

"I have a pretty good idea..."

---

Several Hours Later

As Stardust stepped out of the mirror, the young pony said, "Alright, Starswirl, remind me to bringallof my OCs to life the next time I step into that world."

I will keep that in mind.

Stardust chuckled, and he started to walk out of the library when he heard a strange noise.

"That sounded like... sparks of electricity."

He turned around, and saw that the Crystal Mirrorwas,indeed, sending out tiny little sparks of burning electricity.

"Uh, is thatsupposedto be happening, Starswirl?"

I don't think so... but then again, this is a first for me, as it is for you.

The young human-turned-pony cautiously walked towards the mirror, and the sparks continued to grow, with one of them almost scorching his name.

"Gah, [BEEP]," exclaimed Stardust, stepping back a few feet. "Okay, what thehellis happe-"

Boom!

Twilight, Spike, and Starlight were currently working on dinner when they heard the muffled sound of an explosion.

"Um, what was that, Twilight?" Starlight asked, with the alicorn princess giving her a shrug.

"I'm not quite sure, Starlight."

As for Spike, his nose started to twitch, and he said, "I'm smelling... smoke... hey, where is Stardust at?"

"He's in the..." began Twilight, but then, her eyes went wide, and she exclaimed, "Oh, no, the library! Jack!"

The alicorn princess took off running, with Starlight and Spike going after her, and once they had reached the library doors, Twilight pushed them open, releasing the smoke that had been gathering up inside.

"Jack... are... are you... okay, Jack?" asked Twilight, coughing as she tried to wave the smoke away.

"Uh-huh," mumbled Stardust, who was nearly buried under a pile of fallen books.

The three of his friends ran over to him, quickly getting the books off of his body, and after moving the last book away, Twilight found herself looking at a dizzy and eye-spinning Stardust.

"Jack, how many hooves do you see?"

Twilight held up one of her hoofs, and the dizzy Stardust said, "Ummm...eight?"

Spike chuckled, and he looked up at Twilight. "Oh, yeah, he's totally fine."

The young alicorn rolled her eyes, and said, "I think I can help him feel better... Jack?"

"Yes, love?" Stardust answered, even though he was looking at the bookshelves instead of Twilight, and she gently turned his head to the side so that he was looking her now.

Then, she gave him a kiss on the muzzle, which made Spike roll his eyes, and say, "Don't make me sick already, Twilight, when I haven't evenateanything yet."

"Well, no one forced you to look," replied Stardust, who brought a hoof to his forehead. "[BEEP], I have a bad headache..."

Starlight looked around the room, noticing that most of the smoke had gone away, and she asked, "Whathappenedin here?"

Pointing at the Crystal Mirror, Stardust said, "It wasthat[BEEP] thing... after I came back from limbo, I saw it starting to send out bolts of electricity, and...uggghhh...would either of you know about a spell or something on how to get rid of a headache?"

"Um, I think I do," replied Starlight, and Stardust nodded his head. "But we have to go up to my room since the book that the spell it's in is up there."

"Thank you, Star...aaaaghhh..." Stardust looked back at Twilight. "Remind me, love, to never be so close to an explosion like this again... it was like being next to a firecracker before it exploded."

Spike and Twilight looked at each other, and the little dragon asked, "Uh, is that abad thingin your world or something?"

"As long as I don't lose my hearing, Spike," replied Stardust, shaking his head a few times as he followed Starlight to her bedroom, leaving Spike to look back at Twilight.

"Maybe you kissed him a littletoo much?"

Twilight sighed, and she replied, "No, Spike, he probably just ended up spending a little too much time in limbo."

As she walked over to the Crystal Mirror time travel machine, Spike tilted his head to the side. "So... that's a bad thing?"

"Possibly, since technically,we'reonly supposed to be going to Casey's world, and Sunset's world," replied Twilight, who was starting a thorough inspection of the machine to make sure everything was in place.

"I think I'll talk to Jack more about it once Starlight helps him out."

Spike nodded his head, understanding what she was saying to him, but for some reason, he felt like something was out of place.