//------------------------------//
// Rounding Everypony Up 
// Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time 
// by CJ Esmerio 
//------------------------------//

"How do we keep losing them?!" Buttercup cried, irritated with the fact that the talking ponies had vanished yet again.

Bubbles was sitting on the ground, tears coming out of her eyes. "I just want a pretty pony to call Antoinette!"

As for the ponies themselves, Twilight had used an invisible spell on the three of them, and their hiding spot was on one of the clouds in the sky.

"How long do we have to stay here?" wondered Starlight, who was using her magic to remain on the cloud since she didn't have wings.

Twilight sighed sadly, and said, "I don't know... I wish we had that scroll me and Spike used while we did that whole time-travel loop fiasco with Starlight."

That might not be the best idea in this sort of situation.

Twilight gasped, and said, "Oh my gosh, there's somepony speaking in my head!"

Relax, dear child, I come in peace.

"What's it saying?" asked Fluttershy, feeling concerned for her.

Before she could answer, the voice began to say something important.

Twilight, please listen closely because we do not have much time. The Crystal Empire and all of Equestria is in danger.

Is it because of the hooded pony? Twilight asked, speaking with her thoughts.

Yes, and you must find the rest of your friends quickly if you have any hope in stopping him before it's too late.

Twilight gulped. But how am I supposed to do that? I don't even know how to-

"Howdy, Twilight!" said Pinkie Pie, who suddenly appeared next to the alicorn.

I believe that answers everything, Twilight... now, hurry, your pupil is in danger.

And with that, the voice was gone, leaving Twilight to look at Pinkie with a confused look. "How did you get here?"

Before Pinkie Pie could answer, they heard a voice cry out, "Girls, look, it's a talking stallion!"

Twilight gasped as she realized who it was. "Casey!"

She began to fly back down to the city, with the others close behind her

Once they were all on the ground, Twilight saw that he was cornered against a wall by the three super-powered girls.

"Alright, just be a good pony," said Blossom. "No need to run..."

Casey gulped, and replied, "Look, this isn't the best time to - Twilight?"

The three girls turned around, seeing the other ponies, but before they could say anything, Twilight quickly used her magic to encase them all in a giant block of purple ice.

"Casey!" She ran over to her friend, giving her a hug. "I was so worried about you!"

He was about to speak when Pinkie Pie said, "Um, ponies? You might want to take a look at this!"

Twilight and Casey looked up, and saw that an electric-energy portal was appearing in the sky.

"What is that supposed to - whoa!" Twilight then felt herself being sucked into the portal. "Aaaauughhh!"

Then, once she had entered, the other ponies followed soon after, but before Pinkie Pie entered, she waved at the three Powerpuff Girls. "Catch ya later!"

ZAP! WHOOSH!

After they were gone, Buttercup looked at Blossom, and asked, "What now, genius?"



While Sunburst, Spike, and Cadence were trying to help Shining break free from the ice covering his hooves, Starlight was using her magic to fight the hooded pony.

"Tell me where you sent Twilight and the others!" yelled Starlight, dodging one of his energy blasts.

"It doesn't matter anymore," laughed the hooded pony. "There's no chance they can ever return now!"

Starlight groaned, and exclaimed, "Then I'll just beat the answer out of you!"

"Oh, I would love to see you try!"

Down below, Sunburst was in complete awe and wonder while watching her fight. "She looks so beautiful up there..."

Bzzzzzzzttt!

"Better be careful, my dear," said the hooded pony. "You wouldn't want to tire out so soon, would you?"

Starlight laughed, and said, "Please, I was just getting started... and wait until Discord shows up to-"

"I think it's a little too late for that," replied the sinister pony, who paused their fight momentarily to create a mirror portal, showing them what had happened to the Master of Chaos. "I prefer him as a statue, anyway."

"But... he can only be turned to stone if somepony is using the Elements of Harmony," said Spike. "And the last time they were used was to-"

"Yes, I am aware of what happened with the Tree of Harmony," the hooded pony replied. "But I never said that I used this world's elements."

"What do you mean this world?" Starlight asked.



Twilight opened her eyes, and blinked a few times before saying, "Where are we now?"

The five ponies stood up, and began to look around, with Casey saying, "It looks like Ponyville, but... empty..."

"Well, then..." Twilight used her magic to encase Casey in a force field bubble. "You have some explaining to do, mister."

"What did I do?" said Casey, even though he probably knew what the answer was.

As Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset stepped back a little, Twilight moved more upwards to him. "What connection do you have with that hooded pony?"

Casey gulped, and he thought, Well, at least I'm talking to my Twilight now.

"I'm waiting," replied Twilight, who was starting to frown.

Casey sighed, and said, "Okay, the truth is... I used to be his slave, and my final task for him included you and the others getting trapped into that room-"

"Which you were able to do," said an angered Twilight.

"But then I realized that I was going to lose the greatest friends that I could have ever asked for," continued Casey.

"So, I tried to save you all by trying to get you to change your mind about going in-"

"By asking about Spike and Starlight," finished Twilight, remembering when he had done that. "Well, why were you his slave for... however long you were?"

The Earth Pony said, "It was so that Sunburst wouldn't get hurt or killed by him... but now I think he's gonna hurt him and your pupil, as well!"

"You mean Starlight, right?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie's statement, and said, "Well, do you know anything about these portals, then?"

Before Casey could say anything to her, Pinkie Pie said, "Because the natural order of balance and time and space is trying to restore itself, meaning that life is trying to restore everything back to the way it was, and once we're all together - oh, hiya, Sunset! - we'll all be sent back to Ponyville, where we have to step up against that evil cloaked pony who is actually-"

"Incoming!"

A winged pony suddenly crashed into Casey, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Rainbow Dash!?" yelled everypony, except for Casey.

"Oops, sorry about that," apologized Rainbow, who started helping Casey stand up.

The Earth Pony shook his head a few times, and said, "That's okay, no harm done... how did you get here?"

*sigh* "I said that the natural order of life is trying to-"

"Not the best time, Pinkie," said Twilight, as she went over to her friend. "You okay?"

Before Rainbow answered, she looked over at Pinkie Pie curiously. "Ummm... is that our Pinkie Pie, or another copy of her?"

"Why do you ask?" Casey wondered.

"Because the place I was at earlier had a Pinkie Pie that had no idea what I was talking about," explained Rainbow. "All she wanted to was bake cupcakes, for some reason..."

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, who groaned, and said, "I don't have to watch paint dry again, do I?"

Before Twilight could answer, Casey said, "I don't think she's a copy."

"How do you know?" asked Rainbow, crossing her hooves as she floated in the air. "For all we know, our Pinkie Pie could be in some kind of world that-"

"Okay, enough, I'm settling this," said Twilight, who walked over to the pink pony. "Tell me everything that happened from the day we first met, up until today."

"Seriously?" Rainbow exclaimed. "We don't have time for that!"

Twilight frowned, and looked at her friend. "Because, to me, the real Pinkie Pie would remember everything exactly, without missing a beat."

Rainbow tried to say something else, but Twilight added, "Do you have a better idea?"

"I... uh..." Rainbow sighed, and said, "No, I guess not."

Pinkie Pie gulped as Twilight then turned to look at her. "Proceed."

As the pink unicorn started to explain, Casey saw Rainbow Dash start to lie down. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Trust me, new guy," said the Pegasus pony. "This is gonna take a while."



Several Hours Later...

"... so the next thing I know, I'm in some place that's called Smile HD, and I was enjoying a picnic with a pony that looked just like you, except she didn't have any wings.

"Then, a portal thingy appeared in the sky, which brought me over to that place we were at a while ago with the Powerpuff Girls. And after we found Casey, another portal brought us here, and then Rainbow Dash came, crashing into Casey, then she wondered if I was a clone..."

As Pinkie Pie finished her story, Casey looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was fast asleep.

"... so then you asked me to say everything that happened ever since the day I first saw you and Spike in Ponyville, which is when I-"

"No!" yelled Rainbow Dash, who suddenly woke up. "Don't say it again! I believe you!"

Twilight smiled, and nodded her head confidently. "Glad to have you back, Pinkie."

"No problem," said Pinkie, giving her friend a smile.

Sunset Shimmer then yawned, and said, "Well, now that we've figured that out, how do we get to Applejack and Rarity?"

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie again. "What? I don't know where they are... but if I did, then I guess that explains that sparkly mirror over there!"

They all looked in the direction that Pinkie was pointing at, and Twilight asked, "Wha - when did that appear?"

Pinkie Pie giggled, and said, "Almost around the time when I was telling you about how-"

"Pinkie, it's fine, please," cried Rainbow.

So, the group of ponies started walking over to the mirror, but stopped after seeing two familiar ponies fall out and land onto the ground, with the mirror then suddenly disappearing.

"Well, that's convenient," said Sunset, a smirk on her face.

Pinkie Pie replied, "See? It's like I said about life and balance and time and space trying to be restored to-"

"Alright, we get it! You're not a clone!"



A few minutes after the Mane Six, Sunset, and Casey had all explained what everypony had went through, one of them only had one thing to ask next.

"So, um... any ideas on how we're supposed to get back home, Twi?" Applejack asked.

The alicorn princess sighed, and she shook her head. "I wish I did, but I don't just yet."

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, who became confused. "What? I don't know how."

Twilight turned to Casey, a pleading expression on her face. "Your master must have said something about his plan that could help us."

But the Earth Pony shook his head, as well, and looked disappointed. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but... I don't either."

Rainbow Dash frowned at Casey, and said, "This is all your fault anyway! You took us to that room - you even lost your necklace that Twilight gave you!"

"I did not - what?!" Casey looked at where his necklace was supposed to be, but it wasn't. "B-but I was just looking at it not that long ago!"

"When did you last remember seeing it?" Twilight asked, who was actually (for the moment) just grateful that he was safe.

"I was showing it to Stardust and..." Casey then stopped, realizing where the necklace was. "It must've fallen off before I got sucked away."

"Who's Stardust?" Twilight asked.

Casey was about to explain when-

"He's a golden-colored pony that's actually from a planet called Earth, but-"

"Um, Pinkie, mind saving that explanation for later?" said Casey, who also didn't want her to end up saying that Stardust was also Twilight's special somepony.

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie Pie said, nodding her head.

Twilight simply sighed, and said, "Maybe if me, Rarity, and Sunset all-"

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" replied Pinkie Pie, raising her hoof in the air. "What if somepony that was in the room just broke one of the statues?"

To everyone's surprise, both Twilight and Rarity gasped in shock.

"That is the last thing that needs to happen!" said the alicorn princess.

"Quite right, darling," agreed Rarity, nodding her head. "I wouldn't want to see such beauty be turned into a pile of rubble."

Applejack shook her head, and said, "Uh, Rarity, you do know that those statues are us, right?"

"Exactly," said Twilight, nodding. "If, for example, Flutter - I mean, Rainbow's statue broke, she might end up... well..."

Rainbow gulped, and said, "Uh, I think I get the picture, Twilight..."

Pinkie Pie simply gave a shrug. "You wanted an idea."



As their fight continued, the cloaked pony let out a laugh. "You truly are impressive, Starlight Glimmer."

Dodging one of his staff's energy blasts, Starlight replied, "Thanks... but flattery will get you nowhere in this fight."

She aimed a streak of blasts at his hood, hoping to figure out who this pony was, but he simply spun his staff around in a circle, knocking them away.

"Please tell me that you have more than that."

Starlight gave him a grin, and said, "Oh, don't worry, there's a lot more!"

Then, suddenly, a copy of herself appeared next to her, and before the cloaked pony could even respond, multiple copies started to show up.

"Um, shouldn't we help her or something?" asked Spike, who was watching from below.

Shining Armor shook his head. "Not just yet... she's been doing well on her own so far... but I need you to go and watch over the... statues of Twilight's friends... maybe you can find a way for all of them... and Twily... to come back."

He then turned to look at his wife, and said, "Cadence, I need you to go into the castle, and keep Flurry Heart safe."

Luckily, their baby alicorn was asleep, but Cadence wasn't sure about leaving her husband's side. "I don't want anything worse to happen to you."

"I'll be fine," assured Shining. "Go on, while he's distracted... go..."

Cadence wanted to try and find a reason for her to stay, but Shining looked in her eyes, and said, "Please... I'll be fine..."

The Princess of Love nodded her head, giving him a kiss before she carried the sleeping toddler on her back, and ran into the castle.

"But what about-"

Twilight's brother gave the dragon a serious look, and said, "Spike, you have to trust me on this... do it for Twilight."

Spike looked back up at Starlight fighting against the cloaked pony, then at Shining, who nodded his head. "Go."

The dragon sighed, and reluctantly nodded as he, too, went into the castle, heading to the "special room"

"Such a shame that your teacher won't be able to witness this moment of me destroying you."

Then, the cloaked pony twirled his energized staff around a few times, and like using a sword, he began slicing at all of the Starlight copies, one by one.

"He's moving so fast!" said Sunburst, now starting to feel worried for her. "Starlight doesn't even have time to attack!"

The ruler of the Crystal Empire could only sigh in a sad tone. "This can't be good..."

"There you are," said the cloaked pony, once the real Starlight was in front of him. "Now it's time to finish you off once and for - aaauughh!"

An energy blast from below came straight towards him, and it sent him flying back a few feet, while Starlight looked down to see Sunburst, who had a bold expression on his face.

"Looks like you could some help."

Starlight smiled, and said, "Thanks..."



Inside of the "special" room, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had fallen asleep, and were both lying down on their sister's statue.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the doors opened, and Spike came running inside, saying, "Okay, now I just need to... Sweetie Belle?"

"Aaaagghhh!" The little pony cried, waking up surprised... and after falling down to the ground, her sister's statue was starting to tilt over.

"No!" cried Spike, running towards the statue so that he could stop-

Crash!

Applebloom and Spike were both speechless, while Sweetie Belle said, "Oops."



After another hour of thinking about various plans, everypony came to an agreement on one of them.

"Ready?" Twilight asked, looking at Sunset and Rarity.

"Let's do this," replied Sunset, nodding her head.

As for Rarity, she was about to agree until Applejack cried, "Holy apples, Rarity, you're lighting up!"

"What do you mea - dear Celestia!" She yelled, noticing that her friend was right. Her entire body was glowing in a bright white light.

As everypony tried to shield their eyes from the brightness, Casey asked, "Pinkie! What's going on?"

"Why are you asking me?" Pinkie replied. "I don't know why she's glowing!"



Back in the Crystal Empire, Starlight and Sunburst were continuing their fight against the hooded pony, but they all stopped after seeing a bright light from the corner of her eyes.

"That must be where Spike is at," said Shining, turning his head to look up at the castle.

When the hooded pony heard that, his temper immediately began to grow higher than it was before. "That's impossible... she can't come back!"

Starlight let out a gasp, and cried, "Twilight!"

The evil pony watched as the purple unicorn began to head towards the window, and he started gritting his teeth together. Not on my watch, you foolish pony!

Sunburst watched as the cloaked pony began to use his staff to charge up a very powerful energy blast that - "Starlight, look out!"

Boom!

"Sunburst...?" She turned around, and saw her childhood friend fly in front of her, which caused the blast to strike him instead. "No!"

The light-orange unicorn began falling back down to the ground, landing on the castle steps, and before turning unconscious, he muttered, "S-Starlight..."

"A noble sacrifice, I will give him that," said the villainous animal. "But that won't stop me from-"

Before he could finish, an angered Starlight interrupted him by shooting a very powerful blast that struck him directly.

Boom!

As the smoke cleared, Starlight noticed that a small part of his hood had burned away, and she was able to see some of his muzzle and eyes, which were blue-green.

"You've been holding back, haven't you?" The villainous pony asked, who was still frowning.

Starlight nodded her head, a smirk appearing on her face. "And things just got a whole lot worse for you..."



"I'm the worst little sister ever!" yelled an upset Sweetie Belle.

She was lying next to the spot that Rarity's statue had fallen to, except it was now broken into several pieces.

Applebloom walked over to her friend, and said, "It'll be fine, it was just an accident. They'll understand, right, Spike?"

Not wanting to make things worse by saying that the statue had actually been Rarity, the young dragon said, "Um, yeah, sure everything will-"

He stopped, however, after noticing that the stand, in which Rarity's statue had been on, was now glowing brightly.

"Um, I don't know if that's supposed to happen or not," said Spike, pointing at the glowing object.

As it grew brighter and brighter, the two ponies and little dragon started covering their eyes, with Applebloom asking, "What in the name of all apples is happening, Spike?"

"I don't know!" yelled Spike, closing his eyes now to avoid seeing the light.

Then, several diamonds that resembled her Cutie Mark began shooting out from inside the stand, forming a circle before spinning around at a very quick pace.

Whoosh!

And once the light had turned down, they all heard a familiar voice say, "I could use a vacation after this."

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle ran over to her big sister, giving her a tight and warm hug. "You're okay!"

The white unicorn smiled, and said, "Yes, Sweetie Belle, I am fine... just a little, um, light-headed from all this time traveling we've all been doing."

"All of us?" Spike looked at the rest of the statues, thinking of an idea. "So will everypony else come back if we break the rest of these?"

Before Rarity could reply, Applebloom was a little concerned. "What about Twilight, Spike? I don't see a statue of her, just that there painting of her Cutie Mark on the floor."



"Where do you think she went?" asked Fluttershy, after they had all seen Rarity disappear.

"I would like to think that she went back to the statue room" replied Twilight, but sounding unsure. "I just wish we could communicate with somepony there, or see exactly what's going on in there."

Applejack looked at the bottom of her hooves, and gulped. "Um, you might want to hurry up with that, Twi, cause I think I'm going there next."

"What do you..." Twilight stopped speaking after seeing her friend was starting to glow, as well.



Things were not turning out the way the hooded pony had planned.

"What does it take to stop you?!" He growled, while continuing to use the staff for shooting energy blasts at Starlight, and dodging the ones she aimed at him.

"Just be lucky you're not messing with me and Twilight," said Starlight, a sly smirk on her face. "And you probably will once she comes out of that room."

"You foolish pony," said the hooded pony, his eyes glowing with anger. "Twilight Sparkle is never coming back!"

Starlight continued to give him a smug look. "Well, we'll just see about that, then, won't we?"



Back in the statue room, once Applejack had returned, Spike asked, "Are Twilight and the others okay?"

"Ugggghhhh... yeah, they're fine and dandy," replied Applejack, who was feeling a little dizzy.

Soon after the Earth Pony had left, Twilight began pacing back and forth.

"Okay, there has to be a way for us to know that they were sent back home."

I can assure you that they are both fine.

Twilight quickly stopped, recognizing the voice from earlier. What's happening?

The mysterious voice said, Well, your Highness, I believe that our cloaked friend's plan did not go the way he had intended it to.

"Ooh, who's that, Twilight?"

The purple alicorn looked at her friend, and said, "You can hear him, too."

Pinkie Pie nodded her head. "That's why I asked."

You can speak out loud this time, my dear.

Twilight cleared her throat a few times, and said, "Um, so if breaking the statues brings them back..."

"... how would me, Sunset, and Twilight go back?" finished Casey.

"It'll be easy, right?" Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

I'm afraid not. I can only create a portal for two of them, but one must stay.

Pinkie Pie paused her bounce in mid-air, and collapsed to the ground. "Oh..."

Twilight shook her head. "No, there's always another way. We could-"

"I'll stay."

The other ponies looked over at Casey, who nodded his head. "It's the only choice you have in defeating him."

"Well, that's crazy talk," argued Rainbow Dash. "You can't stay in this place all by yourself."

"I have to," replied Casey. "And it's what I deserve..."

Twilight walked over to Casey, a sad look on her face. "We know you didn't mean any of this intentionally... there has to be a way for all of us to go."

But the Earth Pony had already made his decision. "It's the only way..."

Twilight looked at the rest of her friends, then back at Casey, and she wrapped her hooves around him for a hug.



After Starlight had been able to dodge another one of his attacks, the cloaked pony paused to catch his breath.

"It appears that we are at an impasse."

Twilight's pupil nodded in agreement, and said, "Just until the others get back here."

The cloaked pony gritted his teeth in frustration, and yelled, "There is no chance in hell that your teacher and the rest of her friends are coming back!"

Before Starlight could reply back, her foe aimed his silver staff at Shining Armor. "And you're about to join her there!"

Shining Armor gulped, and continued trying to free his hooves from the blocks of ice, but he was only able to helplessly watch a powerful energy beam head straight to-

Boom!

"What?!" shouted the enraged and cloaked pony.

At the very last second, a force field had surrounded itself around Shining, and was able to protect him from the blast.

He turned to look at Starlight, who smiled back before teleporting over to the castle steps.

"No..." The hooded pony said, his anger and frustration continuing to rise. "This can't be happening!"

"Oh, but it is..." said Sunset Shimmer, giving him a smug grin.

"Who's the foolish pony now, huh?" Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"You are not a very nice pony," said Fluttershy, a frown on her face.

"Nopony turns us into statues, and gets away with it!" Rarity yelled, who then took a moment to remove some rubble from her mane.

"It was mighty wrong of you to do that to all of us," said Applejack, tilting her hat while giving a sly smile.

"I hope you like frosting," said Pinkie Pie, who had her Party Cannon in front of her. "Cause none of it's in here!"

Fluttershy looked at her friend. "Um, what is in there, Pinkie?"

"I guess we'll find out in the next chapter," said Pinkie, giving a shrug.

The hooded pony shook his head, and growled, "You may have all been able to escape the places I trapped you in, but your beloved Princess of Friendship has no way to-"

Boom!

Suddenly, a blast appeared from out of nowhere, and connected with his face, causing parts of his hood to rip off and show more of his muzzle.

"What the devil?!"

As her horn's magical energy powered down, Twilight walked down the steps to join her friends, a smile on her face.

"You're going down, pony."

The hooded foe let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ha, you and what army?"