//------------------------------// // Castle Takeover // Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time // by CJ Esmerio //------------------------------// When Stardust and Twilight entered the Throne Room, along with the rest of the Mane Six, they noticed that Sunset didn't look so well. "You all righ', sugarcube?" asked Applejack, concerned. "You don't look like your regular shade of yellow." Sunset nodded her head, and replied, "Yeah, AJ, I'm fine... I just have some... really important news to give to all of you." "Finally, now the rest of you will know that Stardustdiddo what he did to the three of us," growled Rainbow Dash, who still did not believe that he was innocent. Stardust chuckled, and he said, "Oh, I think you'll be singing a different tune, Rainbow, once you hear what Sunset has to say." While Rainbow rolled her eyes, Rarity let out a moan, and cried, "Let's just get this done with so that I can go back to fixing mycompletely ruineddresses." "And I'm only halfway done with repairin' the damage to our farm," added Applejack, walking over to her throne. Stardust was about to reply to Applejack, but then, he also noticed that Sunset looked different than how he'd seen her earlier. Something is wrong, Jack. I can sense it. "Well, the sooner we get this done with, the sooner I can try to help her," whispered Stardust, who then cleared his throat, and walked over to the yellow unicorn. "Alright, everypony, I believe Sunset here has something to say that will prove what I've known all along since the start of this whole thing." "So, you'refinallygoing to confess about the horrible things you've done to the three of us," exclaimed Rainbow, while Rarity and Applejack nodded their heads. Feeling confident, Stardust shook his head, and replied, "Nope, you're going to learn the real truth... go on, Sunset, tell them." Everypony looked at the yellow unicorn, who gulped nervously, and said, "Stardust is guilty." "Ha-ha, see?Now, who's the..." Stardust paused his triumphant moment after realizing what she had just said. "Wait, what?" Avoiding trying to look at him, Sunset nodded her head, and said, "Like I said, he's guilty... I saw him spray-painting in Rainbow's house, causing havoc at Applejack's barn, and ruining the dresses that Rarity designed." Stardust's muzzle almost dropped to the ground, while Fluttershy gasped in shock. "Stardust, howcould you?" "Ididn'tdo it!" exclaimed the young pony, again denying that he'd done those things. "She just-" "Proved to all of us that you haven't changed at all," added Rainbow, and she flew out of the room before he could say anything. Applejack shook her head, and said, "I ain't as mad as I was at you yesterday, Star... but now I'm mighty disappointed in you." Once she walked out, Rarity scoffed at Stardust, and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself." She then left the Throne Room, as well, and it looked like Fluttershy was next. "I can't believe you... woulddosomething so... horrible," said the yellow Pegasus, also sounding disappointed. "Fluttershy, you have to believe-" But she followed after their friends, and Stardust looked at Pinkie Pie and Twilight. "Don't tell me you... Pinkie, you can't really..." A saddened Pinkie simply walked away, without saying a single word. "Twilight, love, you know that I-" The young alicorn sighed, and she said, "I don't knowwhoto believe at this point, Jack... but I'll try to do whatever I can." Before Stardust could say anything else, Twilight quietly left the room, leaving him alone with Sunset. For a moment, neither of them said anything, until Stardust turned around to glare at Sunset. "Why?" The young unicorn shook her head, and said, "It's not what it looks like, Star, I was-" "Oh, don't you give methatexcuse, Sunset Shimmer," exclaimed Stardust, gritting his teeth in frustration. "You told me that you'd be able to fix this!" "I know, but I-" Stardust angrily pointed his hoof at the doors. "Well, do you call that fixing it?" Sunset gulped, the tone of her friend's voice making her feel more guilty, and she was about to give her response, but Stardust still had more to say. "I gave you a chance to help me, Sunset, andthisis how you repay me? After everything we've been through?" "Star, please, let me explain, I was..." cried Sunset, but then, the right side of her flank started to burn again, and she heard the voice of Anti-Stardust in her mind. Don't even think about it... you tell him the truth, and I'll kill him right in front of you. "Well?"Stardust said, waiting for her to continue. Sunset shook her head, ignoring the burning pain, and said, "Star, I'm sorry, but... Ihadto tell them that..." "No, youdidn't," said the Earth Pony, who was too upset right now to notice his friend was in pain. "You could've done theright thing,but instead, you chose to betray our trust... our friendship... and for what? Because of what I said earlier?" The yellow unicorn tried to tell Stardust the truth, but his evil self (that he couldn't see) had placed his hoof on her flank, and the pain increased even more. "Stardust... please... I can... fix this..." begged Sunset, holding in as many tears as she could, but Stardust shook his head. "You've done plenty, Shimmer," said the angered pony. "So, why don't you do the both of us a favor, and go back to that [BEEP] world you call your actual home?" Sunset opened her muzzle to say something, but Stardust added, "Your tears aren't going to work right now, Shimmer. I am so... disappointed with you... so, just get away from me." "Stardust, please, just listen to what I'm trying to-" begged Sunset. "I said,leave...just, please, leave..." replied the hurt pony. Sunset shook her head, and cried, "But I was trying to-" While Anti-Stardust increased the pain even more, the real one pointed at the door, and yelled, "Sunset, justleavebefore I do something I'll end up regretting..." You're only making things worse for the both of you, Sunset,said Anti-Stardust, but the young unicorn wasn't going to give in to his demands. "Stardust, please, I'm your friend, I was-" "Not right now, you're not," exclaimed Stardust, the tone of his voice making Sunset walk backwards out of the room. "Now, for the last time, would you...getout of here?" And before she could say anything else, Stardust closed the door in her face, leaving the young pony alone... or, so he thought. "This is just effing great," muttered the young pony, taking a seat in his throne. Don't you think you were a little hard on her, Jack? "No... maybe..." Stardust groaned, and brought a hoof to his forehead. "Yousawwhat happened, Starswirl." Yes, Jack, what I saw was a very uncomfortable Sunset who looked like she regretted saying those accusations. "What are you talking about?" Once Sunset had returned to the library, Anti-Stardust appeared next to her, and she said, "There, I did what you asked... now, can you just leave?" "Leave?" The sinister pony let out a laugh, and exclaimed, "I thinknot, Sunset... I'm not through with you yet." He then proceeded with touching her flank again, but Sunset angrily whacked his limb away. "You'dbetterstop touching me like that." "Orwhat, Shimmer?" growled Anti-Stardust, and he reached for her flank again, but right before the sick and twisted pony could touch her, Sunset used her front right hoof to slap him. "Why, you little... [BEEP]!" Anti-Stardust brought his hoof back, and used it instead to deliver his own vicious slap to Sunset's face, causing the unicorn to fall down to the ground. "I'm about to make you regret doing tha-" Whoosh! All of a sudden, an energy blast appeared, sending Anti-Stardust to fly back, crashing into some of the bookshelves, and after he landed on the floor, mutiple books fell from the shelves, landing on top of him. Sunset looked behind her, and saw the real Stardust, who was in his"super saiyan pony"form, courtesy of the necklace he'd gotten from Miles' world. "Nowthat'swhat I call one badassKiblast," said Stardust, with a proud smirk on his face. He walked over to Sunset, helping her stand up, and asked, "Are you okay?" Sunset nodded her head, and wrapped her front limbs around him, giving Stardust a hug. "Thank you, Star...and I really am sorry for what I said earlier to the others. My mind was-" "Yeah, I know how that feels," chuckled Stardust, and he tapped his skull with one of his front hooves. "Not a fan." I hope that doesn't mean you regret me being here, then, Jack. Stardust was about to give a comedic response when the two of them heard Anti-Stardust say, "How sweet... and pathetic..." "Where exactly didyoucome from?" asked Stardust, looking him up and down. "Some new type of Changeling from Queen Mephilis?" Anti-Stardust laughed, and he said, "I'myou, Jack... from an alternate universe." Stardust frowned, and he said, "That can't be right... I went to all those worlds, and none of them looked like you." "Yes, but there was another world that Princess Celestia missed," explained Anti-Stardust. "And if Rowan hadn't sent Casey toyourworld on that fateful day, I probably wouldn't even be here... but I amnow, and I'm about to take from you whatshould'vebelonged tome." Stardust raised an eyebrow, and he asked, "Justhowexactly do you plan on doing that?" "Recognize this?" Anti-Stardust raised up his front left hoof, and the two ponies saw that it bore a homemade wristwatch. "Casey..." gasped Stardust, and he began to frown. "What did you do to him?" Anti-Stardust laughed again, and he replied, "Why don't you ask him yourself?" Stardust and Sunset watched as the black-and-gold pony fidgeted with the watch, and pointed his hoof at them. "You know, Jack, you should be thanking me..." "Thanking you?" Stardust exclaimed. "Forwhat?" Anti-Stardust grinned, and he answered, "For sending you back to yourotherhome planet...permanently." BOOM! Suddenly, two small beams were fired out of Casey's device, and once they hit Stardust and Sunset, they both vanished into thin air. "And now that I'vetaken care of that..." He made some more adjustments to the wristwatch, and after hearing a beeping sound, similar to that of a walkie talkie, Anti-Stardust said, "The time has come, my love...invite all of our friends to the party." "Stardust?" Turning off the device, Anti-Stardust looked up to see Twilight, who had spoken, as well as Spike and the rest of the Mane Six. "Ah, perfect, you're all right on time," cackled the sinister pony. "But it's too bad you couldn't save Sunset or my worthless counterpart." Spike frowned, and he said, "Iknewsomething wasn't right when that machine had the explosion a few days ago... what did you do with them?" "Oh, don't worry, you're all going to see them very soon," replied Anti-Stardust. "But first, I'd like to tell you all that I personallyenjoyedbringing mayhem to this world... as well as putting the blame onhim." Rainbow gritted her teeth as she realized what he was referring to. "Youwere the one who did all that stuff?" "Yep, and all three of youfoolishponies actuallybelievedthat he was the one to blame," confirmed Anti-Stardust, who smiled as he heard the machine behind him start to activate. "Especiallyyou, RainbowCrash." Rainbow was about to respond to Anti-Stardust, but then, they heard a familiar voice cry out, "Hey, she doesn'tdeserveto be called that!" "Andhelloto you, too, Crash," said Anti-Stardust, as everypony watched a more evil-looking version of Rainbow step out of the mirror. "Well, if you hadn't taken so [BEEP]-in long to get us all over here..." muttered Anti-Rainbow, who then glared at her counterpart. A look of surprise and confusion appeared on Twilight's face as she asked, "You mean there'smoreof-" However, the alicorn princess found herself being interrupted as moreevilversions of her friends came out of the Crystal Mirror. "Well, what do ya know, Midnight? Your counterpart's got herself a mighty fine castle," said Anti-Applejack, who was followed by Twilight's evil counterpart. "Quite right, darling," agreed Anti-Rarity, who came out after Midnight. "Such a shame we don't have this back inourworld." Up next was Anti-Pinkie, who didn't reallylookthat much different than her other self, whom she offered a big red balloon too. "Does this make you happy, Pinkie?" Pinkie happily accepted it from Anti-Pinkie, and said, "Uh-huh, thanks!" Her other self nodded, and then, with a sinister smile, she reached into her muzzle, pulling out a toothpick, which was used to pop the red balloon. "Well, Ihateballoons... andparties... and especiallyparty cannons." Pinkie gasped, and she whispered to Twilight, "Okay, this pony isdefinitelyevil!" The last pony to step out was Anti-Fluttershy, who simply walked up to her counterpart, and said, "Boo." "Aaaaggghhh!" Fluttershy stepped back, holding tightly onto Rainbow, who rolled her eyes, while Anti-Fluttershy joined the rest of her friends. "Okay, does anypony want toexplainwhat thehayis going on?" Applejack asked, who was feeling frustrated and confused. Pinkie was about to answer, but Anti-Pinkie beat her to it. "This is an evil version of Stardust, and the rest of us are evil versions of all of you." "Well, what aboutme?" asked Spike, who had yet to see another version of himself step out. "Ah, yes, mytrue love," said Anti-Rarity, looking at the dragon and her other self. "He was a little too...big... for the mirror, so you won't see him just yet." "Wait a second...true love..." Spike then let out a gasp. "You're dating each other?" Anti-Rarity nodded her head, and Spike instantly felt hatred against his counterpart.Lucky little... "Um, why would that matter, Spike?" Rarity asked, confused. "Huh? Oh, just, uh, was curious, is all..." Midnight rolled her eyes, and as she looked around the room, the alicorn spoke to her friends and special somepony. "You know what, everypony? I think it's time for a change of pace." "Huh?" Twilight said, and Anti-Stardust smiled as he went to stand next to Midnight. Then, before he started to sing a song, Anti-Stardust said, "Right, you are, my dear!Shedoeshave a point, you know, and withjustthe right touch..." [Background Music - "It's Our House Now" from Disney's House of Villains] This could be quite the place! [Midnight] Full of wholesome, happier faces [Anti-Rainbow] Hanging out [Anti-Pinkie] Feeling fine [Anti-Fluttershy] Where everyone's a friend of mine "At leastthisStardust isn't afraid of singing," whispered Rainbow, talking to Twilight, who rolled her eyes. Pinkie found herself dancing along to the song, but when she noticed her friends staring at her, the pink pony sheepishly said, "Sorry." [Anti-Stardust] Inside this evil joint [Anti-Applejack] Every guest gets to the point [The Anti Mane Six] This day will live in infamy Twilight looked around, and quickly realized that the library, as well as her beloved castle, was starting to transform into a more horrific and darker version. [Anti-Stardust] And, soon, you'll all be history! The Crystal Mirror changed, as well, and one by one, the Anti-Mane 6 were tossing their counterparts through it. [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now It's our house now [Anti-Stardust] It's the fact you can't ignore! Twilight and Rarity both tried firing magical beams at Anti-Stardust, but he swiftly blocked them, and said, "Oh, I don't think so!" [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now Our time to shine Has come at last! [Anti-Rainbow - spoken] See you later, Rainbow Dash! [Anti-Mane Ponies] It's our house now! Rainbow was thrown into the portal, along with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack. [Anti-Applejack] All us evil ponies Fit in so perfectly [Midnight Sparkle] And we will finally Get our due respect! [Anti-Pinkie] You'll forget your troubles Put your trust in me Pinkie's eyes started feeling dizzy, but Twilight quickly brought her away from Anti-Pinkie, who scowled at the princess of Friendship. [Anti-Rarity] You had your fun [Anti-Fluttershy] You made your play [Anti-Stardust] But every pony has their day! "Twilight!"yelled Spike, who had been grabbed by Anti-Stardust. The alicorn tried stopping him, but she found herself being pinned to the ground by Midnight. [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now [Pinkie Pie] What a party! [Twilight - spoken] Pinkie! [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now [Pinkie - spoken] Sorry! [Anti-Rainbow] What a place for breaking bread [Anti-Rarity] Time to get crazy [Pinkie - spoken] I want to go back to bed! [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now It's our house now Join the fun with no regrets Only greedy, dirty deeds are allowed Anti-Stardust watched as Twilight and Pinkie tried to escape, and he shouted, "Get those little ponies!" Then, once they had been brought back, Anti-Pinkie threw her counterpart into the portal. "Game over, Pinkie Pie!" Anti-Stardust laughed, and flashed a sinister smile at Spike before tossing him in after her. "Hit the road, Spike!" The last one to be thrown into the portal was Twilight, courtesy of Midnight. "Take a hike, Twilight!" [Anti-Ponies] It's our house now (Don't bother coming back) It's our house now (Big Ben - London, England) Stardust gulped, and he said, "Alright, Sunset... whatever you do, donotlook down!" Looking at her friend, Sunset nodded, and tried getting a tighter grip on the metallic hand that represented minutes. "And Casey?" Stardust looked up, seeing the orange-yellow pony. "Yeah, Star?" replied Casey, who was holding onto the tip of the hand that represented hours. Seeing that the clock had "11:45" as the time, Stardust said, "We'll see you in about 15 minutes."