//------------------------------// // Strange Things, Part 1 // Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time // by CJ Esmerio //------------------------------// (Anti-Equestria) Midnight Sparkle was currently pacing back and forth, waiting for an update from her loved one to see if the start to his plan had been successful. "Hey! What's taking him so long?" Midnight turned around to see an irritated Anti-Rainbow, who exclaimed, "I thought he was supposed to be done with this dumb [BEEP] already... and I'm tired of waiting at my home to-" "Ugh, will you at leasttryto havesometype of patience for him, RainbowDash," interrupted Midnight, with the dark-blue colored Pegasus now gritting her teeth in frustration. "It'sCrash, you [BEEP]-in egghead," growled Anti-Rainbow, but then, her muzzle became a mischievous grin. "Or should I call youTwilight?" It was now Midnight's turn to be frustrated. "I told you never tocall me that!" "Oh, yeah?" challenged Anti-Rainbow. "What areyougonna do about it,Twilight, now that yourboyfriendisn't here, holding your damn leash?" The black-and-purple pony's eyes started glowing with rage, and Anti-Rainbow began laughing with glee. "Yeah, that's it, come on,Twilight, show me what you got... come on...come on!" "Will the BOTH of you STOP acting like that?!" Midnight and Anti-Rainbow both turned around to see a portal that showed Anti-Stardust, who was currently in some type of dark location, and he didn't look exactly pleased. "It's a miracle I call one of you my closest friend, and the other my special somepony." "Yeah, we're both [BEEP]-in touched, pal," replied Anti-Rainbow. "How much longer do we have to stay here?" "Just alittlebit more, Crash," answered the gold-and-black pony. "There's a certain someone in this world who might end up bringing my plan to a halt." Anti-Rainbow had a smirk on her face as she looked at Midnight. "I bet I know who it is..." Midnight frowned, and was about to start arguing with her again when Anti-Stardust said, "No, it's notTwilight, Crash, it's someone else..." The alternate version of Twilight let out a sigh of relief while Anti-Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Well, then, why can't you just do what you always do to those that you hate?" "Because it's not exactly thateasy, my non-patient friend," explained Anti-Stardust, who crossed his two front limbs, as if they were arms. "As of now, this individual isn't a threat, but I need to make sure itstaysthat way." Although she still had more to say, Anti-Rainbow chose to simply nod her head, while a concerned Midnight said, "Itoldyou, Star, that I should've also went with you so we could-" "Oh, no, no, no, my lovely sweetheart," replied Anti-Stardust, shaking his head, with Midnight smiling at him lovingly while Anti-Rainbow made gagging noises. "Your time to take care of Twilight will come once I deal with my other self." "And justhowdo you plan on doing that again?" Anti-Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. The evil version of Stardust had a wide and sinister smile as he said, "Don't worry, Crash, you'll see for yourself when you and the others arrive." (Stardust's World) Twilight was still in the library, continuing with her inspection of the world-traveling machine, but she found herself being interrupted by a certain pony. "Everything alright, love?" The young alicorn turned around, and saw a smiling Stardust. "I should be askingyouthat same question... how's your headache?" "All gone, surprisingly," replied Stardust, who began walking over to her. "Starlight's been doing her homework in magic." Twilight smiled, and she said, "Well, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better..." "Oh, so youwereworried about me, then?" Stardust replied, smirking at his special somepony. "I mean,Spikewas the first one to see if I was okay once Starlight finished her spell." Twilight chuckled, and shook her head, saying, "Well, I'msorry,but I wanted to make sure that nothingworsehappens to my special somepony if he were to go through the Crystal Mirror again." At this point, the muzzles of Stardust and Twilight were only a few inches away from each other, and the human-turned-pony asked, "Have I ever thanked you for bringing me back to life?" The Princess of Friendship could feel herself blushing very hard as she said, "No, but... I wouldn't mind if you did it right now." "Neither would I," agreed Stardust, but then, their intimate moment was interrupted by somepony they had least expected. "So, is this basicallyallthat you do here in Twilight's castle, Star?" Stardust sighed, and he stepped back to turn around, facing the newcomer. "Why, oh, why... areyoustill here, Shimmer?" "As I told you before, Star, I'm onsummer break," replied Sunset Shimmer, who (like a human teenager would) was laying against the door frame, crossing her front limbs together. "And admit it, you've missed me around here." As Sunset quickly went back down to all fours, Stardust let out a sarcastic laugh, and said, "The day that I'll ever admit I missed you is when Celestia finally does somethinguseful,for once." "Oh?" Sunset said, walking towards him. "BecauseI rememberyou saying to Starswirl back at the party that youdid, in fact, miss me." Stardust shook his head, and replied, "No, no, I said that Isometimesmiss you... and that doesn't really count." "Suuurree, it doesn't," said Sunset, while the gold pony rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself as he walked out of the library. "Yep, he's definitely back to normal," said Twilight, and the two of them began laughing together. ############ A few hours later, everypony in the castle was asleep... except for Sunset. "Sleepiness sure feels different here than it does back home," said the yellow pony, who was making his way over to Twilight's kitchen. She walked over to the fridge, and opened it to try and find something to drink or eat that would help her go to sleep. "At least she doesn't have it full of whipped cream," muttered Sunset, a small smile appearing on her face, referring to what the EG version of Pinkie Pie had in her fridge. She lowered her upper body down in order to search through the lower half of the fridge, in hopes of finding any "hidden" treats that- Whack! "Ow!"Sunset immediately turned around, trying to see who else was there with her, but she couldn't find anypony. She frowned, and softly rubbed her flank with one of her front hooves. "That was weird... and rude of whoever did that to me." "So, you couldn't sleep either, huh?" "Aaaaaggghhh!"Sunset turned around, almost startled, but quickly relaxing once she saw that it was only Stardust. "Oh, hey, Star..." The gold pony looked at his friend, and asked, "Did I scare you or something?" Sunset shook her head, and said, "No, you just surprised me, but I could've sworn that... somepony... just..." She took another look at Stardust, and thought,It couldn't have been him... He's not that type of person/pony. "You sure you're good, Sunset?" He asked, and the former student of Celestia nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine... so, what's your reason for being awake?" Stardust sighed, and began walking over to another part of the kitchen. "I don't know exactly, but you'd think after almost being electrocuted and having a spell performed on you, I'd be knocked out in my room already." Sunset watched as he opened a cabinet drawer, and pulled out a familiar-looking soda bottle, which he then began to drink out of once the lid was twisted off. "Youstillhave those drinks?" Stardust nodded his head, and paused his drinking to say, "Yep, all thanks to Pinkie Pie... the one from Casey's world, I mean... anyway, these usually help me go to sleep once I finish off a few." "Oh... okay," replied Sunset, and she went back to looking through the fridge. He then went back to drinking theCokebottle, but after seeing that his friend was struggling to find something to eat or drink, the young pony rolled his eyes, and muttered, "I really do have a soft spot for a lot of these damn ponies." As for Sunset, she was about to close the fridge, and go back to her room when she heard her friend say, "Here." Sunset turned around, and saw that Stardust was offering her an unopened soda bottle. "This might help you out, too, in case you're still awake later." "Wow... thanks, Star," replied Sunset, smiling at him as she took the bottle from his hoof. "You know, nothing against you or Twilight, and don't be mad at me for saying this... but if there was some kind of alternate world that didn't have you two together..." Before finishing her sentence, Sunset shook her head a few times, and said, "Never mind, I'm... I don't know what just happened there." Stardust simply nodded his head, but using his thoughts, he spoke to Starswirl.You DID block access to ALL of those worlds right? Cause she almost looked the way I did back when I felt how those other versions of me felt. I'm positive that me and Celestia blocked everything, Jack, said Starswirl, while Stardust tried to break the silent tension before it became awkward. "Well, uh... if you were gonna say what I thought you'd say... I highly doubt that any version of me would be interested in a pony like you...no offense." Sunset frowned, not really amused at what he'd said, but after seeing him start to laugh in a kind way, she said, "You need to work on your comedy material there, pal." "Ehhh, I'm tired, what do you expect?" ################# As Stardust climbed into his bed, after having drank enough bottles ofCoketo make him sleepy, he asked Starswirl, "So, you still don't know why the Crystal Mirror did that whole electric thing?" I'm afraid not, Jack... there are still some things about Equestria that not even I myself know about. Stardust sighed, and he said, "Well, do me a favour, and try to inform Casey and his Twilight about this... I don't want anything bad happening to them..." I'll do my best. "Good, cause I'm..." Stardust then let out a yawn, closing his eyes as he layed his head on his pillow, and went straight to sleep. The next day It was around 8 o'clock in the morning, and Stardust was still sound asleep, not planning on waking up anytime soon. However, things don't always turn out the way you expect them to. "TWILIGHT!" "[BEEP]!"Stardust yelled, jumping out of his bed, and falling down to the ground. "This hadbetterbe good..." A few minutes later, Stardust entered the Throne Room, and found Rainbow Dash talking to Twilight. "I don't remember asking you to be my alarm clock, Rainbow... and what's so important that you justhadto wake me up?" "I'm sorry, Stardust, but somepony did something to my house," exclaimed Rainbow. "And I need help from both of you to figure outwho,why, andhowto get the stuff off." Stardust frowned in confusion, and he asked her, "What are you talking about?" (Rainbow Dash's home) "Seriously?"The young pony rolled his eyes, and added, "It's just some lame attempt at graffiti." He was referring to the front doors of Rainbow's house, which had the words"Rainbow Crash" sprayed across it. Twilight tried rubbing it off with her hoof, but it didn't really do much. "Whatever it is, it's already dry... um, whatisit, Rainbow?" "I don't know," replied the young Pegasus. "I was hoping you two would tell me!" Stardust walked up to the door, and took a closer look at the painted-on words. "Whoever did this used a quick-drying spray paint can." "Awhat now?" Rainbow and Twilight asked. Stardust nodded his head, and replied, "Yep, from a spray paint can... it's pretty much something that certain people from my world use to either create art murals and stuff on walls, or in this case, write out something offensive." "You think you'd be able to help take it off, Jack?" Twilight asked, sounding concerned. Stardust nodded his head, and started to chuckle. "I'm pretty sureourPinkie has spray-paint removal somewhere... it'll take only, like, 5 minutes or so to remove it completely." He and Twilight both smiled, with the alicorn feeling a little better, but Rainbow still looked upset. "Well, what aboutinside?" Stardust's smile quickly went away. "What, there's more?" "Uh-huh," replied Rainbow, and she led her friends inside her home, while Stardust rolled his eyes again. "Well, if it's asbadas what's on the door, then it'll only... take... oh... my...God..." The interior walls of Rainbow's house were ahundred times worsethan her front door, and as Stardust looked all around, his mood went from shocked to curiosity, and was almost close to pure rage. As for Twilight, she only went from shocked to confused. "Whatarethese words exactly?" Whoever had done this to Rainbow's house chose to write out certain words that, if a young child were to say it out loud accidentally in front of Mom or Dad, he or she would go throughhell. "Let's just say that not even my'BEEPS'can cover up this type of foul language," growled Stardust, and he looked over at Rainbow. "Whoever did this is gonna go throughhellonce I get my hooves on him or her." Rainbow nodded her head, and said, "Thanks, Star... but don't take all the fun, I wanna teach this pony a lesson too." "Oh, don't worry, you can dowhateveryou want to the pony that did this until you're satisfied," replied the gold pony. "Do what I would do, and don't hold anything ba..." Stardust suddenly stopped talking, and started to raise one of his front limbs to the back of his neck. "What... the..." "You okay, Star?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah, it's just... I'm feeling something... underneath my-" answered Stardust, but then, Rainbow tried to help by grabbing hold of the end of his cloak, and she swung it up in the air. Thud! After Rainbow released the cloak from her hooves, the three of them found themselves looking down at a spray paint can, which had landed near Stardust's front hooves. "Stardust?" Rainbow stared at her friend, with a lot of mixed emotions going through her mind right now. I'm sensing a lot of growing anger from her, Jack. The former human agreed with Starswirl, and said, "Okay, justchillfor a second, Rainbow, don't think that just because I-" "Um, Jack, why are your hooves..." asked Twilight, and Stardust looked down at his hooves to see that all four of them were completely covered in spray paint. "This is probably from when I rubbed the graffiti on the door," said Stardust. "You touched it too, remember?" Twilight gulped, amd pointed out, "I touched it too, though, Jack, and my hoof is fine... plus, all four of your hooves are covered in the same paint." Stardust looked at his special somepony's hooves, then his own, and ended at Rainbow Dash, who was definitely NOT happy with him. "I... can't believe... that you..." She then gritted her teeth in frustration, and exclaimed, "I... am... going... to..." "Well, now, hold it just a moment, Rainbow," said Stardust. "You honestly don't think thatIwas the pony who did this, do you?" Instead of answering him, Rainbow looked like she was about to unleash alotof rage onto Stardust, who was offered a suggestion by Starswirl. You might want to run, Jack.