//------------------------------//
// Just the Beginning 
// Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time 
// by CJ Esmerio 
//------------------------------//


Limbo


"How the hell did my plan go wrong?!" yelled the hooded pony, although he currently did not have it on.

Waving one of his hooves in a circle, he created a portal in front of him that showed Casey helping Twilight pack for a trip

"Of course, Twilight always has to be the hero in these type of stories... and I cannot believe that I did not realize sooner that he was going to be the love interest."

And you still have feelings for her... don't you, Miles?

The  yellow Pegasi rolled his eyes after hearing the voice inside his mind,  which represented the goodness that he had deep inside of himself. "That  has nothing to do with this... I still would have finished her off."

His inner voice let out a sigh. Would that have made you satisfied, then? Killing the one pony you care most about?

"MY TWILIGHT IS ALREADY DEAD!" A  frustrated Miles yelled, his green eyes full of anger. "For ten damn  years, she's been gone, and there's no chance of her coming back."

You don't know that.

Miles gritted his teeth, in frustration. "Are you blind? I have checked over, and over, and over again... nothing has changed!"

Well, killing the Mane Six of another author's world is certainly not going to bring her back.

"I don't want to bring her back, you moron!" yelled Miles, still frustrated. "If I can't enjoy my happy ever after with my Twilight, then no pony can."

So, that's your plan? Murder all of the Mane Six and any of Twilight's love interests in all of the other worlds?

"Exactly," growled the cloaked pony. "But not just Twilight's... all of the Mane Six's love interests."

Using  his hoof again, Miles moved the portal that showed Casey's world to the  side, and created another one that showed Stardust reading a book  alongside the Twilight in his world. "And he's at the top of my list...  the Earth Pony who represents balance between chaos and harmony."

What do you have against him, anyway?


"His story was  created on the same date that mine was," answered Miles, who looked  away after seeing the two ponies sharing a kiss. "But once my story was  abruptly put to an end, Stardust's story continued on, and now, nobody  reads my story anymore."

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't see any way for you to 'kill' him.

Miles rolled his eyes, and said, "Of course you don't... but you know as well as I do that killing makes my dark powers grow stronger."

Then, with a sly grin, he added, "Plus, none of these ponies know the true way to defeat me... not even someone like Stardust can stop me... all thanks to the way I was written."

That  still doesn't explain how exactly you plan on ending his life... and  besides, your staff is currently in Twilight's library.

Hearing  his inner voice say that sentence made Miles begin to laugh. "I'll  worry about that when the time is right for me to return to that  world... and as for Stardust..."

Miles waved his hoof again to  create more portals, which also showed Stardust... except they showed  him with a different love interest besides Twilight.

What is this?

"All  of these Stardust's are connected in a special way," said Miles. "That  one has him paired with Applejack, while these two show him with  Fluttershy and Rarity... hell, this one shows what would have happened if he had ended up in Sunset's world instead of the one he's in right now..."

Then,  his sly smile began to grow into a wide and evil grin. "And by the time  he realizes it, it'll already be too late for him."

Before his inner voice could say anything else, Miles' body was covered in a dark-colored energy that resembled flames.

What are you doing?

"You  mean you can't tell already?" Miles said, with an evil chuckle. "I'm  killing every single one of these alternate Stardust's, and when it's  time for me to return, I'm going to kill the real one."

Miles, please, don't do this to yourself. This is not what your author-

"I've  heard enough from you, weakling!" Ignoring his inner voice, Miles went  into the portal that led to a world where Stardust was romantically  involved with Fluttershy.

Yes, Stardust, the two of us are  certainly going to have quite the epic battle... and I'm going to enjoy  seeing the look on your face when I rid you of the pony whom you care  most about... hahahahahaha!





"Twilight? You okay?"

The  purple alicorn looked from side to side, searching for something.  "Yeah, I just... had a bad feeling about something terrible happening  right now."

Rainbow Dash, who was also helping Casey pack  Twilight's suitcase, rolled her eyes at what she said. "Well, duh,  Twilight, it's only been a week since that hooded pony showed up. You  probably just had a flashback or something."

"Yeah... maybe..." said Twilight, but she didn't look to sure.

Casey thought about what he could say to make her feel better. "Maybe you shouldn't go with Rainbow to the-"

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Rainbow, flying in front of Casey's face. "That's the worst thing you could possibly do!"

Twilight stepped in between the two of them, and said, "Hey, take it easy, Rainbow, he didn't know."

For  those wondering, Twilight was going with Rainbow to the "Daring Do  Convention" in Manehatten, and just like the one that Rainbow had went  to last year, A.K. Yearling - the author of the "Daring Do" books that  the two of them loved reading - was going to attend, although it was due  to her not being able to make it last year because of "work reasons".

"Yeah,  well, if he's going to be your special somepony," said Rainbow,  starting to frown. "He should worry about knowing how to make you happy,  not upset."

Casey felt embarrassed while Twilight started to blush. "We're starting as friends right now, Rainbow..."

The Pegasi pony simply shrugged, and went back to putting stuff in Twilight's suitcase.

"Sorry about that," said Twilight, looking at Casey. "I should have told you how important this convention actually is."

"It's  alright, I think I understand," replied the red-faced Earth Pony.  "Um... so are you going to have her sign all of those books?"

He  was referring to the ones that they had already packed into Twilight's  suitcase, and the purple alicorn nodded her head, smiling. "Uh-huh..  since somepony didn't get her latest one signed after that pony promised that she would."

Rainbow  sheepishly looked at the two of them, and said, "Well, I had every  intent of getting her to sign it, but things just... happened that got  in the way of all that."

Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "Yes,  the small adventure you had with Daring Do and your new friend, Quibble  Pants. Is he going there, too?"

"Probably," replied the athletic  pony. "You'll like him, too, but I gotta warn you - he isn't a big fan  of the books that come after the orignal trilogy."

"Really?" Twilight said, surprised. "How come?"

As  she finished up with packing her friend's suitcase, Rainbow said, "He  thinks they're all dumbed down and totally unrealistic... but we made up  pretty much after Daring Do saved us."

"So, she's an actual pony?" Casey wondered, who assumed that "Daring Do" was only a fictional character.

"Uh, yeah, she is," replied Rainbow, a wide smile on her face. "And plus, me and Twilight know the author personally!"

Casey looked at Twilight, who chuckled as she said, "Long story, Casey. I'll tell you when we come back, okay?"

The Earth Pony smiled, and nodded his head. "Sure, can't wait to hear it."




Starity World


Knock-Knock-Knock!

"Oh,  excuse me one moment, darling," said Rarity, pausing in front of the  table where she had intended on "fixing" the mane and beard of her  "special somepony".

Stardust, who still felt a bit stunned after receiving a kiss from the white pony, simply nodded his head.

Once  Rarity was at the door, she assumed that Spike had come back to grab  something he'd forgotten... but instead, it was a cloaked pony.

"Oh, hello, kind pony," said Rarity, giving her visitor a smile. "How may I help you today?"

With an evil laugh, Miles grinned as he saw the white unicorn start to become horrified. "By staying out of my way."






Several Worlds Later...



Limbo


Once his hooves were on the ground, Miles began to soak in his newly-acquired power.

"This is incredible..."

You must be real proud of yourself.

The dark-colored Pegasi rolled his eyes as he heard the voice of his kinder self inside his head.

"As a matter of fact, I do... killing all of those alternate Stardusts was easier than I thought."

You are a monster. What would your Twilight say?

Miles'  happiness went away as he remembered what had happened to his Twilight,  and he began to frown. "I don't care about that anymore... she's gone."

He then began closing all of the portals that had led to the worlds with alternate Stardusts.

What you are doing is wrong, Miles.

"Cry me a damn river," replied the cloaked pony, in a dry-toned voice.

What do you think will happen when you go up against the actual one?

"Simple... I kill him like I've killed everypony else..."

Miles then looked at the two remaining portals left, which showed the worlds of Casey and the real Stardust.

You still don't even have enough power to take him on since you no longer have the staff.

"Well,  I'll just continue keeping an eye on these two worlds until the time is  right for me to take it back," said Miles, shrugging his shoulders.

Looking at the one that showed Stardust's world, the cloaked pony added, "He'll never even see me coming..."






Sunset's World


It was around 7 a.m., and there was nothing but silence at Canterlot High School.

There was also no one there... except for one, who had just arrived at the front of the school.

"Okay,  Rainbow, you got this," said the athletic teenager, standing in front  of the statue that led to Princess Twilight's world. "Just step through  the portal, and-"

"What in the world are you doing here, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow turned around, and saw Rarity, who had her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.

"Don't tell me you were trying to go to Ponyville."

Rainbow groaned, and said, "Aw, come on, Rarity, almost everybody else has met their pony counterparts! Why can't I just enjoy this awesome moment?"

"Because you might put both of our world's in danger," replied Rarity. "And you aren't going without me."

The athletic teenager's mouth almost dropped. "What? Why do you want to go?"

Rarity scoffed, acting as if the answer wasn't already obvious. "Because, darling, the other Rarity there wants me to spend a day at her boutique. The two of us would then-"

"Gah, okay, fine, just don't talk anymore about clothes," exclaimed Rainbow, waving her arms around so that her friend would stop.

"Lead the way," replied Rarity, giving her a sly smile.

Rainbow grinned, and said, "Well, don't mind if I do!"

She then took a few steps back, and ran as fast as she could towards the portal.





Inside  of the library, Casey was in the middle of a book he was reading, but  he'd stopped to think about what had happened the past few weeks.

He looked at the turtledove necklace he was wearing, thankful that he had been given it back... but part of him felt guilty, still, for actually losing it in the first place...

Then, suddenly, his concentration was interrupted by a familiar voice saying, "Hi, Casey!"

"Gah!" Casey jumped up a little, his book falling to the ground. "Who are... oh, hello, Starlight."

Twilight's pupil gave him a smile as she said, "Sorry if I scared you or anything."

"No, it's fine," replied Casey. "I was just, uh, focused on this book I was reading."

Starlight replied, "It wouldn't happen to be Daring Do, would it?"

Casey laughed, and shook his head. "No, not quite... why?"

"Cause  that's all I ever hear Twilight and Rainbow talk about when the two of  them are together in here." Starlight replied, rolling her eyes.

The young Earth Pony smiled, and said, "Well, it's not Daring Do... it's about time travel."

"Really?" Starlight said, surprised. "Why would you want to read about that?"

Casey  nodded his head over at the deactivated Crystal Mirror time machine,  and said, "Even though Twilight was able to defeat Mr. Cloaked Pony, the  staff that powers that machine could be dangerous if it ever fell into the wrong hooves."

"I  know the feeling," said a sad Starlight, remembering the "crazy time  loop" catastrophe that she'd created as a plot for revenge against  Twilight and her friends.

Then, right as she finished her sentence, the Crystal Mirror began to glow, and the machine started to activate.

"Um... Casey?" Starlight said, pointing at the machine. "Is that supposed to happen?"

The young Earth Pony glanced at the chart on the side, and said, "Huh, I wonder why Sunset is-"

But before he could finish, two ponies fell out of the mirror, and landed on the ground.

"That doesn't look like Sunset to me," replied Starlight.

"Well, duh,"  replied the human version of Rainbow Dash, although she was now  transformed into a very similar version of her pony counterpart.

EG [Equestria Girls) Rarity opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a curious Starlight.

"Oh, hello, darling," greeted the human-turned-pony. "Who might you be?"

"You mean you... don't..." Now confused, Starlight looked over at Casey for an answer.

"These  are the human versions of Rarity and Rainbow," explained Casey, who was  helping the athletic pony stand up. "They came from the world that  Sunset stays at."

Starlight nodded her head, and looked back at EG Rarity. "Oh, well, then... my name is Starlight Glimmer."

"Starlight?" The white-colored pony said. "I didn't know Princess Twilight had a sister."

Casey tried holding in his laughter while a red hue came across Starlight's face.

"No, I'm not... we're not sisters... I'm her pupil..."

"Oh, well, my apologies, then," said EG Rarity. "I just assumed that was the case because you and her both have the word 'light' in your names."

"But we don't even have the same last name," pointed out the purple unicorn.

EG Rainbow interrupted their conversation by saying, "Hey, does anypony know where I can find the other me?"

"She's  with Princess Twilight," answered Casey. "They're on a train right now  that's headed for Manehatten because today's the day of the Daring Do Convention-"

"Daring Do?!" EG Rainbow cried, her eyes growing wide. "Awesome!"

Whoosh!

Before Casey could explain more, the blue Pegasus pony flew out the window, and having him say, "Um... okay, then..."

"Well,  now that she's out of the way," said EG Rarity. "Would either of you  mind showing me where Princess Twilight's castle is? I would like to see  how it looks first before I visit my other self."

Starlight and Casey looked at each other, and the young unicorn said, "Er, Rarity, you're already in Twilight's castle."

To prove their point, Casey opened the library doors, allowing Rarity to see the castle's hallways and decorations.

"Oh, my gosh..." gasped EG Rarity, not knowing what else to say about the beauty in front of her.

Huh, thought Casey. You'd think they would be more concerned about the fact that they turned into ponies.