My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

Stardust's Choice

Author's Note:

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

An hour had passed since Casey had sacrificed himself to save Stardust's world, and all of their friends were waiting in the throne room for them to return.

"I'm sure that he wasn't in the explosion when it happened, Twilight," assured Sunset. "Stardust promised you that he would come back."

"Yeah, I know…" said Twilight, who was now bandaged up, and slowly recovering from her injuries. "But I just can't help feeling like-"

"Look, someone's coming!"yelled Rainbow Dash, pointing her hoof at the doorway, and everyone watched as Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight (all from Casey's world) made their inside, along with a worn-out Stardust that [his] Twilight quickly made his way over to, with help from Sunset since she wasn't exactly at 100% just yet.

"I was so worried when I saw that big explosion appear in the sky," said the young alicorn, her hooves wrapped tightly around him.

Stardust didn't respond to her by speaking, choosing instead to just nod his head, and return his girlfriend's hug.

On the other side of the room, all of Casey's friends were welcoming back Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight, but after a while, Starlight noticed that something was wrong.

"What is it, Twilight? What's wrong?"

As Stardust turned his head to look over at the group, Twilight's counterpart tried her best to not break down into tears once she started to give them her answer.

"Casey… he saved us… and… he did it... by…"

The young alicorn took a moment to pause, and Starlight looked over at Applejack for an answer, but the apple-harvesting pony simply shook her head in sadness.

"Did Elixir do something to him?" asked Spike's counterpart.

Before Twilight could even say anything else, another pony entered the room, and answered the question for all of them.

"I'm sorry to say this, but your friend is gone."

Kronos had returned, and almost instantly, Stardust remembered what the elderly pony had told him earlier regarding Casey.

"What in the…gone? What do you mean he's gone?" exclaimed Rarity, and Kronos let out a sigh.

"He performed a noble sacrifice so that this world would continue to remain safe, and-"

"You [BEEP] piece of [BEEP] that [BEEP] son of a [BEEP]... [BEEP-BEEP-BEEP]!"

Kronos turned his attention over to Stardust, who was now showing signs of pure rage againt the realm watcher.

"I know that you knew this might happen, Kronos,"yelled the angered pony, and he angrily pointed his hoof at him. "And you [BEEP] didn't do anything about it!

"Plus, youliedto me! You told me that Casey was dead… you [BEEP]-in lied to me!"

As Stardust walked up to him, Kronos held up his hooves in defense, and said, "Now, just relax for a moment, Jack… what I told you wastrue, if you look at it from a certain point of view."

"A certain point of…"exclaimed Stardust, who gritted his teeth in frustration, and his face was growing red with anger.

"Ohhh, this can't be good," said Pinkie Pie, who was shaking her head.

---

A few seconds later…

WHAM!

After going through several walls of Celestia's castle, Kronos ended up landing in a water fountain, and as Stardust ran outside, Sunset looked at her injured friend.

"Shouldn't you be telling him to calm down, or think about what he's doing?"

Twilight shook her head, and she replied, "I'm not… exactly… in the best condition right now to point out his mistakes…"

Before Sunset could reply, Pinkie began to walk through the broken walls, and said, "Hey, this is almost like that one time you made a hole through the wall of Canterlot High!"

Once he was outside, a fire-like-glowing Stardust yelled,"I don't even care if you threaten to send me here or there… cause I'm shoving this hoof down your-"

"I can bring him back!"exclaimed Kronos, and the young pony froze in place. "I can return him here, Jack… he'll be safe and happy… just like what you wanted."

While Stardust became silent, the rest of the ponies stood by him, and Twilight's counterpaet let out a gasp, saying, "You can actually bring him back? Really?"

Stepping out of the fountain, Kronos nodded his head, and replied, "Yes, Princess Twilight… I can…"

The eyes of Casey's special somepony lit up with happiness, along with the rest of his friends, but a frowning Stardust had a suspicion that there was some sort of catch.

"However…a price must be paid in order for me to do that… and that price is all ofyou-"

Kronos pointed his hoof at Stardust, Twilight, and the rest of their friends.

"-must never come back to this world ever again… and as for all of you-"

He was now turning his attention over to Casey's friends, and said, "You will have no recollection of any memory whatsover that has to do with Stardust Balance… it will be like he never existed… in return, princess, you will have Casey returned to you safe and-"

WHAM!

After Kronos crashed into the water fountain's statue, an outraged Stardust cried,"What kind of [BEEP-BEEP] is that?! You can't just mess with a pony's memories like nothing bad is going to happen… who the [BEEP] do you think you are?"

"I'm giving you achoiceto make, Jack," replied the elderly pony, who began to stand up. "It's either that, or he'll remain gone forever…"

Stardust shook his head, and yelled,"That is complete bull-[BEEP]! You open a portal right now to that damn gateway, and I'll get him out of there myself!"

"You would never find him, Jack," said Kronos, now speaking in a serious tone. "At this point, he could beanywherein there, and if you were lucky enough to actually locate Casey, he would already be dead from his own severe injuries."

Before Stardust could yell at him some more, Kronos added, "Be lucky that I am not touching any ofyourmemories, Jack… and if I recall, yousaidthat you wanted Casey to be happy."

"That has nothing to do with this,"growled an upset Stardust."He's my friend, and I am not going to-"

"Well, thenashis friend, what wouldyouprefer to have happen?" questioned Kronos. "Have me bring Casey back here so that he can be reunited with the friends that he made when first meeting them in the Crystal Empire…"

He then gestured towards Twilight's counterpart, and added, "To be with his special somepony again… or simply let you have a never-ending chase throughoutthe entireworld of dimensional limbo, and bring his body only to have it be cremated, or placed in a coffin, for a proper burial?"

"Who in the holy [BEEP] do you-"

"Stardust?"

He turned to look at Twilight's counterpart, and the young human-turned-pony could see the pain and sadness in her eyes.

"I… none of us want to forget you… but… having Casey back…"

Trying his best to remain calm, Stardust shook his head, and said, "I know it seems impossible, Twilight, but as somepony who has died multiple times, there has to be another way for-"

"I am afraid that there is not in this type of situation, Jack," replied Kronos. "So, I will ask you one more time to decide… it's either bring Casey back, or let him remain dead and lost for all eternity."

"Well, why the hell doIhave to decide this?"

The elderly pony let out a sigh, and he said, "It's just the way it has to be, Jack… what will your decision be?"

"I… I… um…" Stardust looked back at his Twilight, hoping that she'd might be able to think of a solution, or offer some advice.

The alicorn princess looked at her emotionally-hurt counterpart, and then, back at Stardust before she replied, "All I can say, Jack… is to remember what it was like when you had to leave all of us."

"What… how does that…"Stardust started to say, but then, he found himself remembering what he'd told Casey back in the castle.

I know how it feels to lose, Twilight, and I don't want the same to happen to you.

After that, Stardust remembered what had happened between her and Casey on the ship.

You don't know that, Casey! We'll think of something-

It's the only way, Twilight!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

No… Casey… Casey!

Then, after taking one more look at Twilight's counterpart, Stardust remembered what had happened on the day that he'd left Equestria.

Please… don't leave us… don't leave me…

"Jack?"

Twilight walked over to stand by a teary-eyed Stardust, who said, "Starswirl?"

Neither choice is easy, Jack, but you need to go with the one that you think is best… also, Casey chose to save not only his world, and the lives of his friends… he also chose to saveyou… so that you wouldn't go through the pain again of losing Twilight…

Taking in his friend's words of advice, Stardust looked at the rest of his friends, who were not exactly sure how to help him decide.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Pinkie walked up to him, and said, "You told Casey that keeping his Twilight happy was the most important thing in his life… so, if Kronos bringing him back will make her happy, then…"

"Yeah, I... um… thank you, Pinkie…" replied Stardust, and he sighed before looking back at Kronos. "So youwillbe able to bring him back, then? Alive… safe and sound…"

"Well, for the most part, yes," explained Kronos. "He'll still be injured, but just the regular ones… the more serious injuries will be gone completely."

Stardust nodded his head, and then, after taking a deep breath, he told the elderly pony what his decision was.

"You sure?"

"I… yes… positive…"

A smile appeared on Kronos' face, and before tapping his now-glowing clock staff on the ground, he replied, "You did the right thing."

Stardust just gave him a small nod, in response, and he looked up at the sky.

I'm sorry, Casey… thank you for being my friend…

WHOOSH!

---

…

…

…

"Casey…"

…

"Casey!"

"Aaaggh!"yelled Casey, suddenly waking up, and found himself looking at a smiling Pinkie.

"Yay, you're awake now! I'll go get Twilight!"

She swiftly raced out of his bedroom before Casey could say anything, and the young pony sat up in his bed, trying to remember why he felt like he was having a bad headache.

The last thing Idoremember was… having a race with… Rainbow Dash, but…

"So, how are you feeling, Casey?"

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a smiling Twilight, who walked in with a glass of water.

"Um… honestly, Twilight?" replied Casey, giving her a chuckle. "Like what, uh… AJ always says… bumping my head against cider, or something."

The alicorn princess smirked at him, and she said, "Well, you did bump your head, but it was against a tree, and it happened this morning… you've been out for almost four hours."

"Really?" Casey began to rub the side of his head with his hoof, and added, "It felt longer, for some reason…"

After drinking some water from the glass that Twilight had given him, the young pony began to climb out of bed, and before he could ask another question, his stomach made a large growl noise.

"Um… is there anything special made for lunch?" asked Casey, with a sheepish expression on his face.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight smiled at her special somepony, and said, "Yes, don't worry, just meet downstairs…"

"Got it," replied a chuckling Casey, watching her walk away with a look of love and happiness.

Then, he was about to leave the room, but something on his desk nearby had caught his attention, and so, he walked over to find that it was a rather lengthy book.

"WasIreading this, or did Twilight-"

The growling of his stomach interrupted Casey's thoughts, and he simply decided to come back to it late, choosing to walk out of the room.