//------------------------------// // A Second Chance, Part 1 // Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time // by CJ Esmerio //------------------------------// As Casey waited for Stardust to make the first move, the gold pony could only think about one thing. How in the heck is stuff like this happening in a show that's rated TV-Y? "Casey, please don't do this," pleaded Twilight, who was standing behind Stardust. "The other Stardust put you under some kind of spell, but youhaveto fight it!" "And why would I do something like that, princess?" asked Casey. "Everything that happened is because ofhim." "Me?!" exclaimed a surprised Stardust. "Okay, if we're going to take that route, man, then I'm putting the blame onyoubecause if you hadn't shown up in my world that one day, then none of this would've ever hap-!" Twilight glared at her boyfriend, and he started shaking his head. "Right, right, sorry... Casey, come on, you know that us fighting would be pointless." Casey frowned, and asked, "Why? You don't think I can beat you?" "Hey, those areyourwords, not mine," explained Stardust. "And I'm only -whoa!" The young pony quickly moved out of the way from his friend's energy blasts, and Casey yelled, "Fight me!" "I'm not going to fight you, man," replied Stardust, which only made Casey angrier, and he dodged another one of his attacks. "Fight me!" The human-turned-pony shook his head, and said, "Listen, man, don't do anything that you'll end up regretting later." "Well, I'm certainly not going to regret this," replied Casey, and before Stardust could reply, the young pony flew up towards him, beginning to trade blows with the gold pony. [AN: Imagine a DBZ fight with the two fighters hitting each other at a fast pace.] "Casey, please, stop doing this," exclaimed Stardust, as he continued to dodge his friend's kicking and punching attacks. "All this fighting is getting us nowhere, and while Anti-Me is probably wrecking havoc upon Ponyville, your Twilight is waiting in her library for-" "Leave Twilight out of this!" yelled Casey, his eyes now shining dangerously, and then, to everyone's surprise, Stardust was not able to block his friend's attack, causing him to fly straight into the ground. "Puny human,"growled Casey, and he started to turn his attention over to the others. "Casey... what did you do?" asked Twilight, looking up at him. BOOM! The orange-yellow Earth pony didn't get a chance to answer her because Stardust shot his own energy blast at Casey, which sent him crashing into a wall, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the glowing pony now had a serious look on his face. "Don't make me hurt you more, Case," warned Stardust. "I really wouldn't want to explain to your Twilight why-" "Stop... bringing... her up," growled Casey, as he tried getting out of the hole he had made in the wall. How is this not getting through to him, Starswirl? His elderly friend did not give him a response, so Stardust sighed, and looked back at Casey. "Look, man, is all of this really necessary?" "Of course it is," exclaimed Casey, who had only been able to get one of his front limbs free. Stardust shook his head, and replied, "No, Casey, it isn't... and trust me when I say that you have to fight whatever the other me put inside your head." As he continued struggling with getting out of the tight-spaced hole, Casey glared at Stardust, and said, "There isnothingwrong with my head. I am not weak like you were when Sombra tried to take over your body." At first, Stardust didn't say anything, but then, he brought his right front hoof back, and thrusted it forward to send out an energy blast. "Jack, no!" (Anti-Equestria) Rainbow Dash continued to look at her speechless counterpart, who still wasn't saying anything. "Are you alright?" "Um... I... I don't know," replied Anti-Rainbow, after a few more minutes of silence. "Wh-where am I?" Rainbow frowned in confusion, and said, "This isAnti-Ponyville...you and everypony else came from here, remember?" Anti-Rainbow shook her head, and replied, "The last thing I remember is seeing Stardust on the rooftop, and..." What iswrongwith this pony? "I... amnot...weak..." Casey opened his eyes, and he turned to the right, which was where Stardust had fired the blast, creating another hole. "I can admit that allowing those terrible things to occur was a mistake, as well as the fact that I've put my own life in danger several times, but in no way am Iweak, and neither areyou." The orange-yellow pony looked at him with confusion, and Stardust added, "You arenotanevilpony, Casey." "And how would you know that exactly?" He growled, raising an eyebrow. Stardust pointed at his friend, and replied, "Because you wouldn't be wearing that turtledove necklace if you were." "What are you..." began Casey, but then, after looking down to see the necklace, he stopped talking, and remained silent. "And I am sure that your Twilight wouldn't give that to just anypony." Meanwhile, Twilight was checking on Midnight, who was barely regaining conciousness again, and she mumbled, "Star... Stardust... no... please..." As for Casey, he was looking at his necklace, remembering the day that the Twilight from his world had given it to him, and to everypony's surprise, his body started lighting up with purple electricity. As his body began twitching around, Twilight walked over to her boyfriend, and asked, "What's happening to him?" "Um, I'm not quite sure, love, to be honest with you," replied Stardust, but before Twilight could reply, they heard their friend let out a groan of pain, and shake his head a little before realizing where he was at right now. "Why am I trapped in here?" Stardust chuckled, and started to help him get back down onto the ground. "It's a long story..." A few minutes later, he and Twilight led him back to the others, who were still attending to their counterparts after- WHOOSH! Suddenly, a force-field energy bubble appeared around the group of friends, except for Casey, who had flown back a little after bumping into it. "Okay, what the[BEEP]is up with this?" exclaimed Stardust, now annoyed with what was happening right now. The answer came in the form of a dark and magical swirl of energy that appeared in between Casey and everypony else, which soon morphed into Anti-Stardust, who now looked very upset with the orange-yellow pony. "Hey, you stay the hell away from him!" shouted Stardust, but his counterpart simply ignored him. "Why, you little..." With his eyes and front right hoof glowing again, Anti-Stardust made Casey rise up from the ground, and then, he slammed into the nearest wall. "You were supposed to behurtinghim!" Before Casey could even respond, Anti-Stardust spun his hoof around in a circular motion, which caused Casey to be spun around multiple times before sending him headfirst into another tree. "I am not... somepony like you," said Casey, now looking like he wasn't in any type of condition for a fight. "Who would... hurt their friends for no reason..." "I can't believe you -aargghhh!" Anti-Stardust walked over to Casey, picking him up from the ground, and pinned him rather harshly against yet another wall. Back in the force-field bubble, Stardust was banging his head and front hooves against the field, trying to break through it, but it just wasn't working. Iwouldtry to blast my way outta this thing, but I don't want to end up having it bounce around in here! "Don't even bother, [BEEP]," growled Anti-Stardust, before turning his attention back to Casey. "No type of magic can break through that shield... you're all like rats caught in a trap... not evenStarswirlcan help." "I don't think Sci-Twi would approve of this, Jack," replied Casey, which only made Anti-Stardust grow more angrier than he was before, and the evil pony started slamming his body against the wall multiple times. "You... don't... get... to... call... me... by... that... NAME!" THUD! "He's a monster!" cried Fluttershy, who couldn't bear to watch what was going on anymore. His body shaking with pure rage, Stardust thought,I have just enough had it with this guy! As Casey began coughing, Anti-Stardust shook his head, and asked, "Why in the hell are you even here in the first place?" The bruised and battered pony looked up at Stardust's other self, and said, "Because... I'm his friend... and... Twilight..." Letting out a sarcastic laugh, Anti-Stardust said, "Ah, yes,yourworld's version of the wonderfulprincess of friendship. She didn't really put up that much of a struggle when I kidnapped her." Casey's eyes went wide after hearing him say that, and he cried, "You did wha -aaauugghhh!" Anti-Stardust kicked him in his chest before he could finish talking, and he exclaimed, "One other thing... I can understand my other self being able to woo the alicorn princess, but you? You're just as bad as Sentry and that damn counselor." The young Earth pony tried standing up, placing one of his hoofs on the area where his ribs would be, and said, "Okay, that... definitely... is not something that... Stardust would ever say... to me..." "And how would you know that, huh?" growled Anti-Stardust, but instead of waiting for Casey to give an answer, he kicked the Earth Pony in his face. "You know nothing about us." "I know... plenty..." said Casey, who could almost taste something unfamiliar in his mouth. "He cares for... almost everypony... even humanoid versions of them..." He then tried his best to look up at Anti-Stardust. "You... could've been the same... way... if... you hadn't have let... Rowan get inside your... head... by tricking you into... killing your friends... your Twilight... and the real Stardust would never do anything... like that." As Anti-Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, Casey spat out some red liquid onto the ground, and said, "You don't even... deserve to be called... Stardust Balance... you're just a sad excuse for a fake version... of him..." The yellow-and-black pony delivered one last kick to Casey's rib cage area, and as he watched him fall to the ground again, he said, "How ironic. Your Cutie Mark has a crescent moon, and now, you're about to lose your life under one." Casey's eyes looked upward at the nighttime sky, courtesy of the hole that Anti-Stardust had created, and with the crescent moonlight shining down upon him, he turned his attention back to Anti-Stardust. "You are... wrong..." "What the [BEEP] are you talking about?" Casey tried again to stand up, and he replied, "I am not... going to... die... hopefully... because I am about... to stop you..." "Oh, please," said Anti-Stardust, shaking his head. "You'd rather live to continue letting me beat the hell out of you than just die?" Casey nodded his head, and Stardust's alternate self asked, "Why?" "Because... I have friends that care... about me," replied Casey, who was now standing up, and as he spoke, the turtledove necklace that Twilight had given him back in the Crystal Empire started to glow. "And I'm about to -ulp!" Grabbing him by the throat, Anti-Stardust glared at Casey, while hoisting him up in the air, and said, "None of yourfriendscan save you from what I am about to do to you!" Having had enough of Anti-Stardust's brutality, Stardust was preparing to blast his way out of the force field, but his Cutie Mark pendant started to glow brightly, as well. Um, Jack... ? Not... now, Starswirl! With a sinister smile, Anti-Stardust looked Casey straight in the eye, and said, "You know, if I can't have the Twilight from this world... maybe I would have better luck withyours!" After hearing those words come out of the evil pony's muzzle, Casey angrily pushed Anti-Stardust off of him, causing him to fall back a few feet, and he cried, "There is no way that I am... huh?" Finally seeing that his necklace was glowing, Casey did not know whether or not to be excited or concerned, but then, something else happened. Well, this should definitely be interesting to see. Stardust didn't get a chance to respond because, all of a sudden, he and Casey found themselves flying towards each other, and when they connected, their bodies became engulfed in a bright light. "Jack! Casey!" yelled Twilight, afraid for her friend and special somepony, but then, she felt a tap on the shoulder. "Twilight, take a look at what's happenin' up there!" cried Applejack, pointing her hoof in the direction, and everypony saw a floating symbol that looked like a mixture of Stardust's and Casey's Cutie Mark. Then, it floated downwards into the light, and as the light slowly began to dissapear, Twilight quickly saw the outline of a pony, but was unable to see whom it was. "What is the meaning of this?" yelled Anti-Stardust, who was now feeling a mixture of rage and confusion. BOOM! He recieved an answer in the form of an energy blast that caused Anti-Stardust to crash into the same hole Casey had been in earlier, and everypony else looked back at the pony who had fired the blast. "Welcome to your worst nightmare," said the young pony, whose voice now sounded like it was Casey and Stardust speaking at the same time. He then took a moment to look at himself, and simply gave a shrug. "Um, do you have any idea who that is, sugarcube?" Applebloom asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion, but Twilight had no idea what to say to her. Once the light was fully gone, it gave everyone a better look at the young and bright-colored pony, who was now wearing a necklace that bore both Stardust's Cutie Mark as a pendant, and Pinkie said, "Well,duh, anypony can see that it's Casey and Stardust mixed together into one super awesome super pony!" "Um, you saidsupertwice, darling," pointed out Rarity. "Of course I did," replied Pinkie. "Just look at him!" Looking up at the glowing pony, Anti-Stardust raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Who the[BEEP]are you?" "That doesn't matter right now," said Casey/Stardust. "All you need to know is that I am going to beat thehellout of you until there is nothing left." Anti-Stardust rolled his eyes, and growled, "Oh,please, what can you possibly do now that you haven't done already?" "I'll show you,pal," replied Casey/Stardust, and he grabbed ahold of Anti-Stardust, pulling him out of the hole, then throwing him up in the air. Then, he teleported right above Anti-Stardust, and knocked him down to the ground, causing him to have a crash-landing. "Oh, ho, I ain't done yet, man." As Anti-Stardust barely lifted his head up, Casey/Stardust grabbed both of his enemy's back legs, and swung him from side-to-side, slamming his body onto the rock-hard ground. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! "I haven't even gotten started yet," laughed Casey/Stardust, and after one last body slam, the energized pony picked him up, swung him around in a circle at averyfast speed, then tossed him headfirst into a wall. "What... the... [BEEP]?"gasped Anti-Stardust, but then, he was pulled out of the wall again, and Casey/Stardust started delivering a series of rapid kick-and-punch combos. A few minutes later, he started spinning him around like a ragdoll, and after feeling like he'd done it enough, Casey/Stardust threw Anti-Stardust back down to the ground, and with a chuckle, he said, "Eat this, Sonic." Then, like the famous blue hedgehog would do, he positioned his body into the shape of a ball, and began spinning in a circular motion very rapidly before flying back down to crash into Anti-Stardust's body. WHOOSH! THUD! An explosion of dust and rocks was created, and Anti-Stardust tried to get up, but he felt himself being grabbed again, then turned around so that he was now face-to-face with Casey/Stardust. "Any last words before I send you back to the same place that I sent Rowan?" asked Casey/Stardust. Before Anti-Stardust could reply, Pinkie suddenly said, "Um, I thoughtIdid that?" "No, that was the other Pinkie," explained Twilight. Anti-Stardust, who pretty much looked like crap, laughed at Stardust's question, and replied, "You don't... actually think... I would allow myself tolosethis so-calledwar?" "Man, please, I could beat you with my eyes shut," scoffed Casey/Stardust, shaking his head. "That may be true, but I figured that I would need a back-up plan in case something like this were to happen," explained Anti-Stardust, giving him a sinister smile. "And I'm already dead, so... if I can't enjoy the life that should have rightfully belonged to me..." He paused his sentence to reach into his pocket, and pulled out a grey, rectangular-shaped remote that had a single red button on it, which he then pressed. "... then, nopony can!" Casey/Stardust was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of explosions around him. "What did you do?" Instead of answering right away, Anti-Stardust quickly grabbed his counterpart's Cutie Mark pendant, and crushed it into tiny pieces. "Oh, and one more thing... I never said that the force field wasunbreakableby somethingotherthan mag-" "Man, justshut the hell up!" Casey/Stardust delivered a solid headbutt to Anti-Stardust's forehead, and as he collapsed to the ground, the glowing pony started feeling strange again, as well as being engulfed in a bright light again. WHOOSH! Suddenly, the two ponies flew in opposite directions, and Casey landed rather harshly on the ground. "What... the..." gasped Casey, but then, he let out a yelp of pain, due to his ribs now being injured again, and to make matters worse, he heard the sound of several explosions nearby. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Casey then looked up, and saw a giant piece of the roof now falling down towards him. "That... can't be-" WHAM! As for Stardust, he let out a groan of pain, and said, "I need a vacation..." "Jack!" Hearing the scream of his beloved princess caused Stardust to look up at his friends, who were nearly five miles away from him, and as the explosions around him continued, he noticed that the roof was also crumbling into pieces. "Hold on, love, I'm coming!" Stardust started running towards his friends as fast as he could, but after running for two miles, he felt his legs give out, and Stardust fell back down. "What the [BEEP]?!" It appears that your fusion form with Casey took up a lot more energy than we thought. "Well, don't just - wait..." yelled Stardust, but then, he realized something. "Where is he, Starswirl?" By now, he's reunited with his parents. "JACK!" Stardust looked back at his friends, who were still several miles away, and he saw that a house-sized piece of the roof was close to falling down on top of them. "NO!"Using whatever strength he could gather, Stardust continued to run as fast as possible, and when it felt like his legs would give out again, the young pony decided to take a giant leap. "JACK!" "TWILIGHT!" If this was the second time that Death had come knocking on his door, then so be it... at least he died trying to save his family... "Jack?" Stardust opened his eyes, and the first thing that he saw was the face of his beloved princess, who was back in her Earth form instead of an alicorn or her EG form. He also realized that they were now in a world known to him as Twiliphia, which could only be described in words like "beautiful" or "perfect". The skies were a shimmering gold instead of clear-blue, and warm snowflakes from the sky were falling upon them. But right now, the only thing that Stardust had his focus on was Twilight, and he gave her a smile. "If this is supposed to be where I spend my eternal life, love, then I am glad that I get to spend it with you." As her girlfriend started to blush, Stardust let out a chuckle, and he gave a toothy grin. "I seem to recall you asking me a certain question back on Earth while we were still in these forms..." "Oh, uh, well, that was just, ah..." replied Twilight, but that didn't stop Stardust from bringing her closer to him so that their lips could connect. A warm feeling soared throughout Stardust's body as he passionately kissed his girlfriend, who was feeling an equal warmth, and he was thankful of the fact that no one else was here to interrupt this special moment for them. "Well, it's like what the humans say... still a better love story than that one vampire couple." After hearing that familiar voice, Stardust opened his eyes, and slowly moved back away from Twilight. "We aren't alone here, are we?" The young teenage girl shook her head, and Stardust turned around to find himself looking at the smiling faces of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and Starlight, as well as Sunset and Discord, who was sitting in a director's chair while also holding a high-tech video camera. "I'm liking what I see for far, my boy, but is it possible for you to showmorepassion?" Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I don't need to be told on how to kiss my girlfriend, Discord... and why areyoueven here?" "Well, isn't it obvious?" replied Discord, who now had a halo above his head. "You act like I should be somewhere else." As Twilight helped him stand up to his feet, Stardust said, "If Fluttershy hadn't played her part in reforming you, then I wouldn't be surprised if you-" "Um, Stardust, darling?" interrupted Rarity, looking concerned. "You and Twilight might want to move out of the way." "Why would we-" Suddenly, everyone heard a familiar voice yell out, "Party-cannon-ball!" SPLASH! Pinkie Pie had decided to do a cannonball into a nearby lake, and it looked like the incoming water was about to go all over Stardust and Twilight, but then, it suddenly vanished into thin air. "What the...?" said Stardust, who was grateful yet confused as to why they had not become soaked with water, and his answer came in the form of another familiar figure that appeared in front of the teenage couple. "We wouldn't want your clothes to be ruined, correct?" POOF! Pinkie was now next to Fluttershy, and the energetic teen, who was also surprisingly dry, cried, "That was so much fun!" Ignoring his friend momentarily, Stardust turned his attention to the person in front of him. "Nice to see you again, Kronos." "Likewise," replied Kronos, who had a small smile on his face. "And may I also say how proud I am to see you make so many right choices." Stardust frowned, and he asked, "How does causing my friends' death count as a right choice?" Kronos chuckled, and he replied, "It takes a very special person with a big heart, such as yours, to do the things that you did for your friends, whether it is self-sacrifice..." He gestured towards the others, and this brought a smile to Stardust's face. "... putting faith in someone..." Stardust silently remembered his conversation with Rainbow Dash back in Anti-Equestria, but he also realized that Rainbow probably did not know yet that her friends were now dead. "... or trying to convince someone that they are not who they think they are." An image of Casey apppeared inside of his mind, and Stardust began looking around for his friend, but Kronos shook his head. "He's having his own experience right now, Jack... just as you and everyone else are right now." "Yeah, I figured that much," replied Stardust, letting out a sigh. "I just can't believe I couldn't try to save him from dying... or that-" "Dying?" Kronos said, tilting his head to the side. "Whoever said that you were all dead?" Now Stardust was getting confused. "Why else would we be here?" Kronos tapped the side of his head with his staff, and replied, "It's what your mind chose to put you in, Jack." "My... wait, so am Inotdead, then?" The elderly gentleman shook his head, and replied, "It's technically more or less along the lines of a coma, per say... as are the rest of your friends..." He snapped his fingers, and then, to Stardust's surprise, everything around him started to change, while his friends suddenly disappeared. "What are you-" "You'll see," replied Kronos, and after a few minutes, Stardust found himself back in the now almost-destroyed stadium, standing in the same spot that he'd landed at after literally taking a leap of faith. Before he could even say anything, Kronos turned his body around, and Stardust saw that all of his friends, as well as the anti-ponies, were still inside the force-field, except they all now looked unconscious. "Um... what exactly is going on?" questioned Stardust. "Did you, like, know all this stuff was going to happen?" Kronos nodded, and he replied, "If I had not stepped in, Jack, then you would all definitely be dead." Stardust was about to reply back to him, but Kronos held up his hand. "Let me finish, son... there are other people besides me, in other worlds, who choose to view a person's life as one would view a parade, seeing one thing after another, taking in only what is passing by right in front of them." A smile then appeared on his face. "As forme, I choose to see life as a parade from above, seeing all of the twists and turns, and observing what events may or may not take place." Stardust remained silent for another moment before saying, "So, youdidknow that this would happen... and you saved all of us..." "Indeed, I did, Jack," confirmed Kronos. "And now, I believe you have another important choice to make... regarding your other self." Stardust immediately grew frustrated, and was about to start yelling at Kronos, but the elderly gentleman said, "I know what he's done, Jack, but you should know that theyouwho Sci-Twi fell in love with is still in there somewhere, and I believe that you already know what to do." "No, I most certainly do...ohhhh," replied Stardust, who was now looking at Anti-Twilight. "This whole time?" "She isn't the only one," said Kronos, but before the young man could say anything else, he added, "Trust me, Jack, you'll know what to do." He began turning back the hands on his staff's clock, and was about to tap the ground a few times before Stardust said, "Whoa, hey, hold up a second..." Kronos let out a sigh, and asked, "Yes, Jack?" It was almost like a lightbulb had turned on above Stardust's head. "Are... are you supposed to be like... an MLP version of Clockwork?" Kronos smirked at Stardust, and before turning back time, he replied, "That's an entirely different story for another time." WHOOSH! "There is no way that I am - huh?" While Casey was realizing that his necklace was now glowing, Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and said, "Huh... sothat'swhat it feels like." "What does what feel like?" asked Princess Twilight. Before Stardust could answer, he found himself being pulled towards Casey, and once again (in Stardust's case), the two of them somehow combined with each other to create a new version of Stardust, who now had Casey's mane instead of his own, along with crimson-red eyes that had replaced his usual blue-green ones. BOOM! After being sent into the wall (again), Anti-Stardust looked up at the glowing pony in front of him, and said, "Who in the... wait...how the hell did you get that?!" Casey/Stardust looked at what he was now holding, and saw that it was the remote Anti-Stardust had used to nearly destroy the entire stadium. Thank you, Kronos. Anti-Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, and yelled, "I asked you a [BEEP]-in question!" "Oh, I'm sorry, was this important?" taunted Casey/Stardust. "I wonder what would happen if I didthis." To Anti-Stardust's frustration, Casey/Stardust took a page out of his own book, and he watched the remote quickly melt in front of him, which also caused the force-field surrounding the others to go away. "Who the [BEEP] do you think you are?!" Casey/Stardust looked at himself again, and replied, "Good question... what do you call a Stardust and a Casey?" "Starcase?" suggested Pinkie Pie. The young pony thought about it, and he gave a small shrug. "Eh, why not?" Anti-Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "Look,Staircase,I don't care what you call yourself because I can stillbeatyou to death." "Oh,really?" taunted Starcase, raising an eyebrow, and he started powering up. "Prove it then, [BEEP]-hole." "Gladly," replied Anti-Stardust, who blasted away from the wall, and headed straight for Starcase. "Takethis!" WHAM! Anti-Stardust's right front hoof connected with the left side of Starcase's face, and he started to smile, but then, Starcase turned his head back around. "Seriously?That's the best you got?" "What?!" yelled Anti-Stardust, but before he could say anything else, Starcase pulled his own hoof back, and delivered his own right hook, causing Anti-Stardust to crash through the same wall he'd been in earlier. Starcase shook his head, and he started to laugh.Child's play. "Rarity?" The young pony looked back at the now-broken wall, revealing the inside of one of the castle's many rooms, and saw a relieved Sweetie Belle making her way towards her big sister. "What in Celestia are you doing here?" asked Rarity, as she began to hug and comfort her sibling. "I was trying to...aaaggghhh!" Sweetie Belle realized that a resting Anti-Rarity was near her sister, who quickly cried, "Whoa, hey, just relax, darling, she isn't going to do anything bad to you." "But-but-but..." exclaimed a confused Sweetie Belle. "Your big sis is right," replied Applejack, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Is Applebloom with-" "Rainbow?" Starcase watched as Scootaloo headed over to the group of friends, and a look of sadness appeared on his face as he heard her ask, "Where's Rainbow at?" WHOOSH! Starcase quickly smiled as he saw the Crystal Mirror reappear, and watched his friend step out, with her injured wing now bandaged up. "Rainbow!" Scootaloo raced over to the winged pony, giving her a hug, and she let out a sigh of relief. "I am so glad you're okay... sort of..." "Yeah, er, kind of a long story," replied Anti-Rainbow, who also came out of the portal. "You gonna be okay?" Rainbow nodded her head, and Scootaloo looked at both of them, feeling confused. "Um, did I miss something? Why are you acting all nice now?" Anti-Rainbow chuckled, and she said, "Let's just say that I got some sense knocked into me." As the three of them continued talking to each other, Starcase began to frown in confusion.Where's Twilight at? "Hey, Casey!" Starcase turned around, and he saw Anti-Stardust, who was hovering in the air, with one of his front limbs wrapped around Twilight's neck. "Stardust, help me, please," begged the alicorn princess, unaware that her special somepony had fused with the pony who represented the balance between chaos and harmony. "You leave her the hell alone," growled a frustrated Starcase. Anti-Stardust let out an evil laugh, and shook his head, saying, "I don't think so,Casey... see, Itoldyou that if I could not have Stardust's Twilight, then I would try my luck withyourTwilight, and that is exactly what I plan to-aauugghhh!" All of a sudden, two ray blasts struck Anti-Stardust in the eye, and the sinister pony ended up tossing Twilight away, causing her to fall into Starcase's grasp, so that he could rub his eyes with his hooves. "Nice one," said Rainbow, sharing a hoof-bump with her alternate self. Anti-Stardust let out a furious roar, and he yelled, "Who in the hell-" BOOM! A powerful energy blast sent him crashing into the ground, and Starcase shook his head again before looking back at his girlfriend. "You okay?" Twilight nodded her head, and she replied, "Thank you, Stardust... is Casey okay?" "Why don't you ask him yourself?" Twilight became confused, and she asked, "But how would I-oh!" Starcase surprised the princess of Friendship by giving her a slow and passionate kiss, and she soon started to return the favor. Meanwhile, Princess Twilight was beyond speechless, and felt like her muzzle had dropped to the ground. "Um, so does that meanStardustis kissing the other Twilight, or isCaseykissing her?" wondered Pinkie. Once the two ponies had finished kissing, Twilight slowly opened his eyes, and found herself staring at Starcase. "Um... Stardust...?" Starcase shook his head, and he replied, "Try again." Twilight then noticed the young pony's necklace, seeing the turtledove charm, and she took another look into Starcase's eyes. "Casey?" Starcase smiled, and nodded his head before saying, "Go join the others. I got some business to take care of." He floated down to the ground, and carefully released Twilight from her grasp, with the alicorn princess walking over to stand by her parallel counterpart. "Are you okay?" Not wanting to see the two of them argue, Starcase headed over to where Anti-Stardust had landed, and noticed that he looked almost like his old self. "Why... can't you just... kill me already?" growled the sinister pony. Starcase sighed, and he replied, "Because you still have a chance to correct your mistakes... to reunite with your friends..." As Anti-Stardust lifted his head up, Starcase noticed that his eyes were now back to their original blue-green color. "I already told you, a-hole... they're gone... and... Twilight..." Starcase interrupted his somewhat counterpart to point at the others, and he said, "She's over there. You never lost her." Anti-Stardust looked over at who he was pointing at, and saw that it was Midnight, who was still wearing Sci-Twi's glasses. "What?" Starcase nodded, and replied, "Thatis Sci-Twi... she has been with you almost this entire time." Anti-Stardust looked back at Midnight, who continued to remain silent, and he said, "Twi... light? Is... that... really...aaaggghhhh!" Suddenly, Stardust's counterpart started screaming in pain, and he began moving around the stadium. "What the hay is going on now?" asked Applejack. As an answer, Anti-Stardudt knelt down on the ground, and he yelled, "Get out... of my head!" So, this must have been what it was like for me,thought Starcase, and then, everyone heard a familiar voice speak to Anti-Stardust. Don't you dare give up on me now, Jack! Is this not what you wanted? "Not if it means... losing my... friends..." shouted Anti-Stardust, who had placed his hooves against his forehead. "I should... have never... aaaauuggghhhh!" He started slamming one of his hooves into the ground, letting out cries of pain, but to Starcase's surprise, the anti-ponies started to make their way over to them. "Come on, Star, you can win this," exclaimed Anti-Rainbow. "Yeah, you show that evil thingy who the boss is," cried Anti-Pinkie. "You can do this, Star," exclaimed both Anti-Rarity and Anti-Applejack, while Starcade let out a whistle. Talk about deja-vu. Anti-Stardust leaned himself against the wall, still gritting his teeth in frustration, and he yelled, "Get... the [BEEP]... out of my HEAD!" Suddenly, the young pony started powering up, and he continued to scream."Aaaaaaggghhhhhhh!" Starcase was getting ready to fire another energy blast at him, but then, Anti-Fluttershy stepped in front of him. "Wait! Look!" As Anti-Stardust continued to scream in pain and anger, the "black" covering his body began to turn into a gooey-like substance, and started getting away from the young pony. "What... the... [BEEP]?" said Starcase. Then, after what seemed like a long time, Anti-Stardust stopped screaming, and he collapsed from exhaustion to the ground, now looking like a more younger-ish, less weary version of Stardust. As for the black and gooey substance that had left his body, everyone watched it slowly begin to transform into a completely sinister version of Stardust. "I may not have him as my host anymore, but I can still-" BOOM! An energy blast had Evil Stardust flying back against the wall, and after landing down on the ground, he quickly went out like a light. Everyone looked at Starcase, who raised up his front hooves in defense. "Hey, that wasn't me!" Then, to their surprise, another familiar voice said, "Looks like I came at the right time." Everyone turned around, and saw who had spoken just now. "Princess Luna?" "And Applebloom!" cried the little pony, suddenly appearing next to the alicorn who was also a ruler of Equestria. "So, um, what did we miss?" Starcase smirked, and he muttered, "Better her than Celestia."