My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

Breaking Twilight

As Pinkie Pie continued to eat a great deal of thenom-noms, she found herself stopping after hearing Twilight say a sentence that she never expected one of her best friends to say.

"I give up, Pinkie… I've failed you… I'm sorry."

The pink unicorn looked at the young alicorn, and gasped loudly as she quickly went over to her.

"Huh?! Twilight Sparkle giving up? No, no, no, that isn't something a pony like you would ever say…"

Twilight sighed in sadness, and replied, "I know it's not good to hear, Pinkie, but -oompphh!"

Suddenly, she felt her friend's front hoofs on her own face, and as Pinkie began squeezing her facial cheeks together, the pink pony asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Twilight? Why would you say that you-"

"Um… Pinkie?" interrupted Stardust, who was trying his best not to laugh at the way his girlfriend's face looked right now. "Please don't pop her."

"Oh,right, sorry," replied Pinkie, and she moved her hoofs away from Twilight's face, which was now a little sore.

"But how in Equestria could you have possibly failed me? I've never taken a test before in my life, let alone enter a class room."

Twilight shook her head, and replied, "That's not what I was referring to… it's the fact that I haven't stopped you from eating the nom-noms… and what's worse is the fact thatJack'sstarting to eat them now, too!"

Pinkie turned her attention over to Stardust, who had just finished eating one of the sugary treats, and she asked, "Do you feel like eatinglots and lots andlotsof them now, Star, like me?"

To her surprise, Stardust shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "Eh, not really… it was delicious, I admit, but it's not something I would find myself drooling after."

Pinkie's muzzle almost dropped to the ground after hearing that. "How can you notwantto eat more of these? Sure, they aren't the soda bottles you drink, and yes, you probably don't want to drink thoseall the time, but I still-"

"Well, there's your answer right there, Pinkie," said Stardust, which made her feel even more confused.

"Huh?"

Twilight, who was no longer pretending to be sad, gave her friend a better explanation.

"Like you said, he doesn't always want to drink those sodasall the time-"

"Well, I wouldn't really mind… sorry, love, continue," said Stardust, after Twilight had given him a look that meantnot helping.

Looking back and forth between the two ponies, Pinkie said, "Wait a minute… if the nom-noms are to me like the sodas are tohim… and Stardust just said that he doesn't want to drink them all the time… does that meanIdon'thaveto eat the nom-noms all the time?"

Stardust nodded his head, and replied, "Yup, and that's because the only per - pony who can stop you from eating these treats is yourself. Not me, not Twilight…you, Pinkie."

As the pink pony realized what they were saying to her, Twilight added, "Allyouhave to do isnoteat them."

"Noteat the nom-noms?" said Pinkie, once again looking very agitated. "So, you two are saying that I don'thaveto snack on the most amazing, most mouth-tingling, mostastoundingly-awesome snack in the history of snack-kind? Is that what you just told me, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Uh-huh,"replied Twilight, using her magic to teleport herself behind Stardust, who had an amused expression on his face.

As for Pinkie, who was walking back over to the cart, she took one close look at the delicious snack, and began to poke it several times.

What is she doing?thought Stardust.

"I don't know,"whispered Twilight, and the gold pony gave her a look. "Sorry, I thought you were asking me-"

"Oh, Twilight…"sang Pinkie, now bouncing her way towards the now-nervous alicorn.

"Yes, Pinkie - oof!"said Twilight, who was cut off because she was now being hugged by her friend.

"Thank you! Now I don't feel like eating the nom-noms anymore cause I know now that I don't have to eat them just like you don't always have to read books everyday, or Stardust not having to drink soda every day!"

Before Twilight could respond to that, Pinkie gave her a suspicious look. "You may be one of my bestest, funnest, awesome-est friends, but some friends could have done it without the locks and chains… I worry about you, Twilight."

As Twilight let out a sheepish chuckle, Pinkie went over to Stardust, and gave him a hoof-shake. "Don't think I forgot about thankingyou, Stardust!"

"Joy Buzzer!" squealed a happy Pinkie. "A true classic never goes out of style!"

While Twilight found herself laughing quietly, a now messy-looking Stardust said, "Right, then...if we're all done here, I have an evil doctor to take care of, so…"

Once her special somepony was gone, Twilight let out a sigh in sadness, and Pinkie asked, "What's wrong now? Did I shock him too much?"

"No, it's about Casey," replied the young alicorn. "I'm starting to feel worried about him and our versions of us from that world."

Trying to sound comforting, Pinkie placed a hoof around her, and said, "I'm sure they're all fine, Twilight… it's like you said in your voice-over thing for our movie trailer. What could possibly go wrong over there?"

Twilight nodded her head, but then, she became confused, and asked, "Wait, what did you say?"

"Hmmm? Oh, that nothing could possibly be wrong over there," replied Pinkie. "I mean, everythingisfine here, so why can't it be the same for their world?"

Unlike the rest of Beck's prisoners, who had woken from their dart-induced slumbers naturally, Twilight and Casey were brought back into the realm of consciousness another way.

The Princess of Friendship and her special somepony convulsed in pain and screamed in agony as she felt the electricity course through her veins. "AHHHHHHH!"

"Wakey wakey, Twily," said a cloak-free Beck, lowering his hooves, as well as being the source of the electricity, and a victorious smirk adorning his muzzle while the purple alicorn began breathing heavily.

The first thing Twilight noticed, was that, unlike the rest of the captured ponies, including Casey, she was not in a cage, rather she seemed to be strapped to a table of some kind. The second thing was that there was some kind of device on her horn. She attempted to try some kind of spell, in an attempt to get herself free, but all she got was a whole lot of nothing.

"Don't even bother with trying to magic yourself outta here," Beck said. "Believe me, some of them..." he gestured to some of Twilight's friends behind him, "...have already tried."

"You're lucky, then, cause otherwise, I would have taken care of you easily," growled Discord.

Considering that magic wasn't an option, Twilight saw no other course of action than to attempt to remove her restraints by force. She began to struggle mightily on the ropes that tied her wings, as well as the rest of her body, up.

"Now, now, now, there's no need to be so resistant, Princess," Beck said. "I just want to talk."

But Twilight paid him no mind, with all of her focus being put on escaping in order to save everyone.

"Alright, you asked for it," Beck resigned, walking towards Twilight and shocking everypony by raising one of his hooves to deliver a fierce slap to the Princess of Friendship, right upside the head.

"Listen to me,DAMMNIT!" Beck yelled in her face.

"Alright, that's it, you're dead, Beck!" Casey shouted, pulling on his cage's bars in furious anger at the sight of his special somepony being harmed.

Starlight was about to tell him something, but Beck flashed a dangerous look at the light-orange pony, and yelled, "SILENCE… or else you'll be joining Rainbow Dash!"

His commanding (as well as intimidating) voice brought silence to the entire lair.

Then, Beck turned back to Twilight, and took a deep breath in order to calm himself.

"You know, Princess," Beck began. "I have to say I'm slightly disappointed. It was just so...EASY… to get all of you here."

He then made a slight gesture towards Starlight, and added, "Not even your beloved pupil put up much of a fight… granted, shewasreading-"

"Why are you doing this?!" Twilight yelled, causing him to look at her with a deadpan expression.

"Pardon?"

"Whatdo youwant?!" she rephrased.

"Justice, Princess," growled Beck. "What I want is justice."

Pinkie suddenly shook her head, and cried, "Don't listen to him Twilight. I can smell crazy on that stallion from a mile away… even though he's only a few feet away, but you get my warning!"

"Can it, Pinkie," exclaimed Beck. "Or else I'm putting you back to sleep!"

"Hey, you leave my friend alone," Twilight hissed. "And that isn't what I meant… what did I everdoto you?"

To her surprise, Beck's anger went away momentarily, and he simply looked down at his hooves.

"Oh, you did anawful lot, Princess," he said solemnly. Beck then trotted over to a desk where his audio device rested.

He took it into his mouth, and walked back over to the restrained Twilight. He placed the device in front of her, turned the volume up to its maximum level, and pressed play.

"Hi, Honey. I hope you're doing okay. I just wanted to let you know I put Carl down. You should have seen his little face. I just wanted to let you know to be quiet when you get home. I love you. See you later."

'What is he doing?' Casey thought to himself, as well as trying to figure out his seemingly twisted motives.

"Hi Beck, your father and I just wanted to thank you for the flowers for our anniversary yesterday. You are an amazing stallion and I can't believe how much you've grown up. Hold on, your father wants to say something."

Before Twilight could say anything, Beck moved on to the next message.

"Hey Champ. Thanks for the flowers. I hope we can get the chance to spend some time together soon. We barely see you anymore, what with work and all. Your mother and I both love you. See you soon."

'Why is he playing messages from his family?' Twilight thought, who was just as confused as Casey.

"Hey Beckie! Where are you?! Listen, you won't believe what just happened. I just got two tickets to the Hoofball Championship! Call me back as soon as you can so we can plan out the best day ever! Alright, I gotta go! Bye!"

'I just don't get it,'Casey and Twilight simultaneously thought.

"These were recorded during the summer…three years ago," Beck finished, and instantly, everyone realized why he played those messages.

"You lost someone," Twilight stated.

Beck shook his head, and replied, "No, Princess, I losteveryone."

'That's what this is about?' Casey thought, while Beck continued to tell his story.

"I had been away when it happened…"

As Beck walked through the streets of Ponyville, he could instantly tell that something was not right.

"Where in theheckis everypony at?" He asked, speaking to himself, and unaware of the events that had happened because of Tirek.

There was no sign of any pony that he was familiar with… no Derpy with a muffin in her hoof… no trio of fillies trying to get their Cutie Marks…

I don't even see the princess with her six frie - what the Tartarus?

Beck was now standing in front of a sight that he never imagined would end up seeing… the Golden Oak Library, which he knew was the home of the young alicorn and her two assistants, was now destroyed, and scattered all around the area were now-ruined library books.

Before he could even say anything else, the green Earth Pony heard the sound of somepony crying, and was shocked to find a little salmon-colored filly hiding behind a nearby bench.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright, little one," said Beck, placing his hooves on her shoulders. "I'm here to help, okay? You have a mom, or…"

The little filly nodded her head, and Beck felt a little relieved. "Good, good… okay, we're going to find her… come on, you're safe with me."

So, for a few minutes, he walked around Ponyville in search of the little pony's mother, and because they weren't having much luck, Beck was starting to fear the worst… until he heard somepony call out for her child.

"Rose! Rose, where are you, sweetie?"

Praying that this was the filly's mother, Beck headed in the direction that the voice was coming from, and he soon found himself running up to a light-pink unicorn that the filly immediately recognized.

"Mommy!"

Once Beck placed Rose in the arms of her mother, the unicorn let out a sigh of relief, and said, "Oh,thank you,kind sir… I don't know how I coule repay you, but-"

"No worries, m'am, I'm just glad I reunited the both of you," replied Beck, shaking his head. "But could you tell me where everypony else? Or why the library is now-"

The filly's mother pointed at something behind Beck, and he turned around to see a yellow-ish mushroom explosion cloud appear in the sky. "What in Celestia wasthat?!"

"I think it was for whomever Princess Twilight is facing in order to save the rest of Ponyville, and all of Equestria," replied the middle-aged unicorn. "I believe his name was Tire -wait, sir, where are you going?"

Beck was now running away from the two of them, and before she could speak again, he cried, "I'm going to check on my family! You take care of that filly!"

A few minutes later, Beck was away from Ponyville, and heading down the trail that would lead to where his own house was at.

I don't know what the heck is going on, but I hope Twilight knows what she-

However, his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a golden-yellow Earth Pony that was only a few years older than him. "Sir! Sir, could you help me, please?"

Deciding to take a quick break, Beck headed over to the nearby pony, who said, "I'm trying to find my son… have you seen him?"

Before Beck could give a reply, the two of them heard the faint sound of a female screaming, and the golden-yellow pony's face quickly became pale.

"That was my wife…sweetheart!"

"Sir, wait, what about your-"cried Beck, but the other pony was no longer paying him any attention.

He was about to yell louder when, suddenly, Beck felt a chill running down his spine, and his heart skipped a few beats as he whispered, "No… it can't be…"

Moving faster than he did earlier, Beck continued down the trail, and was praying that what he'd sensed… what he had felt… was not a reality.

Not her… please, not her! Don't let my wi-

"Aaaaaagggghhh!"

Beck slightly turned his head to see (from several miles away) what appeared to be Twilight Sparkle being sent into a mountain, and not long after, a gigantic red-and-black centaur crashed through the same one!

"What in Equestria is happening?" wondered Beck. "And who was that crea -Twinkle Star!"

All thoughts of whatever Twilight was dealing with left his mind because of what he had seen… it was his wife, who looked worn-out and was covered in several scorch marks.

"Oh, no, no, no, please, not this…" said Beck, who was now holding her in his front hooves, and he tried to wake her up. "Hey, it's okay, honey, I'm here… Twinkle Star, stay with me… you stay with me…"

Unfortunately, it wasn't doing much, and tears started to fall down his face. "Star?"

[Insert "Bruce Goes Home" by Craig Armstrong]

Beck tried to listen for a heartbeat, but he couldn't find one, so after trying to wake her up again… and again… he realized that it was too late.

Why did this have to happen?thought Beck, and the faint rumbling sound from a few miles away made him wonder if this was because of-

Hold on...

He looked down at his wife, and for a moment, Beck was confused.She would never… alone… but that means… *gasp* MY FAMILY!

Not wanting to waste any precious time (however much there was), Beck placed his wife's body on top of his back, and continued heading over to his house.

Mom… Dad… Night Light... Carl!

A few minutes later, when Beck was almost halfway there, he suddenly noticed that the sky was back to normal again, and for a moment, he could've sworn that he saw a multi-colored energy ball appear from where he had last remembered seeing the princess at.

Then, Beck immediately became quiet while starting to slow down, and once he stopped, the light-green pony slowly lowered Twinkle Star onto the ground.

"No… this can't be... why is…"

For some reason, a large part of the ground itself had fallen onto his home, which was now destroyed, and Beck felt himself starting to turn pale, as well as feeling almost sick to his stomach.

He found himself no longer able to speak because of what he was seeing, and to make matters worse, a sudden breeze appeared in the air, which caused two small, worn-out objects that were made out of paper to land in front of him.

'Oh no,' Beck thought, whose hoof was starting to tremble in panic after picking up the slightly-damaged Hoofball championship tickets.

"No… no… no, no, no, no, no…NOOOOOOOO!"

The gardener pony fell to his hind knees and screamed into the heavens on pure despair, with tears rapidly flowing down his face.

After Beck had finished telling Twilight his recollection of the events that had happened on the day he lost his family, the purple alicorn found herself at a loss for words.

"Me and my best friend were supposed to go to that game together…"

Twilight couldn't help but feel just a little sorry for him, and she was about to say that when Beck suddenly gave her a very dangerous look.

"And it's all because ofYOUthat won't happen," growled Beck, who then full-on punched the purple alicorn in the face, and making almost everyone else speechless.

"Twily!" yelled Shining Armor, while Beck was starting to get more upset.

"Because ofYOU, I won't get to see my parents again," he punched her again, this time in the chest with his other hoof.

As Twilight began to whimper in pain, Casey pulled even harder on his cage bars, trying to free himself, but it was to no avail.

So, now, he was angry and upset for two reasons… one was because of what Beck was doing to Twilight, while the other was being angry at himself for not having his special wristwatch with him.

Stardust is probably dealing with something worse if things over here are terrible.

"No… no… oh, [BEEP] no, come on!"

A few seconds later, Twilight appeared at the doorway of her special somepony, and she asked, "What is it, Jack? What's wrong?"

Stardust let out a frustrated sigh, and pointed a hoof at his t.v. screen. "I wasso closeto getting that damn final Chaos Emerald, but something happened to the screen for a quick second, and now I have to freakin' tryagain!"

When he didn't hear his girlfriend respond, Stardust turned to look at her, and saw that Twilight was giving her an expression with half-closed eyes. "What?"

"WhileI'mworrying about Casey and his friends,you'regetting agitated because of a talking hedgehog?"

Stardust shook his head, and replied, "Um, actually, love, I am not really upset with Sonic, but rather the-"

"Jack!"

"What?Twilight… love… this is mychildhoodright here… whatever Casey probably isn't going through, it can wait until I beat this game."

The alicorn princess rolled her eyes, and Stardust added, "Trust me,love, I'm sure that he and your other self are having some fun with their friends… I mean, how bad can it be over there if things are just fine here?"

After several minutes of beating the defenseless alicorn, Beck took a quick pause while Twilight lifted her head up, and in a weak tone, she said, "I was… trying to… save everypony that I-"

But at this point, Beck could care less about what she had to say to him. "Well, what about everypony thatIcared about, Princess? Because ofyou… I WON'T BE ABLE TO KISS MY WIFE AGAIN!"

"Aaaaauuuggghhh!" Twilight yelled in pain as the latest punch from inflicted the greatest physical pain of them all.

"BECAUSE OF YOU, I WON'T BE ABLE TO WATCH MY COLT GROW UP!" He reeled back a hoof, and delivered the hardest punch he could muster.

Twilight found herself yelling again, in even more pain than before, and she swore that she felt a tooth dislodge from her gums, causing her mouth to fill with the taste of blood that was already seeping from the exterior of her face.

How in the **** is any of this stuff happening?thought Casey.Stardust told me this show was for kids!

Tears began to leak from the eyes of a certain baby dragon at the sight of his maternal figure being harmed with such brutality.

Not only was Twilight suffering physically at the hooves of Beck, but the only thing she was thinking as the whole beating occurred was,'It was all my fault. It's my fault he ended up like this. I'm the reason all my friends are being held here.'

Everyone else, aside from Casey, who was still pulling on his bars like a mad horse, was either too shocked or speechless to react to the scene before them… Fluttershy couldn't even bear to watch what was happening because it was too painful.

"And what didyoudo, Princess, after causing all that death and destruction?" he whispered, in a fierce tone, and before punching her again.

"You went home to your shiny new castle. You 'partied it up' with your friends, when not too far away, a stallion was mourning the loss of HIS friends and family because of what YOU DID!"

Then, to everyone's fright, he let out a dark and sinister chuckle. "It's funny... that the Princess of Friendship ended up being the one that took my friend… myfamily... away from me."

"What happened to your family doesn't warrant this! We all decided to act..." Celestia tried to explain.

"Then why wasIthe one who lost everything?" was all Beck could reply, not even facing her, stopping the Princess of the Sun in her tracks.

If Beck had fists, he would be clenching them.

"You haveno ideawhat it's like to lose someone special, Princess… but don't worry, I am about to make sure you-"

However, the sinister pony was interrupted by Casey, who cried, "You're not the only one who lost somepony that day!"

"Is that so?" Beck turned to Casey, and he walked over to his cage. "Who else, then?"

Remembering what he had went through that day, Casey was quiet, for a moment, before he replied, "I did… I lost my parents."

"And you actuallyforgaveher?! Twilight's actions led to their deaths, and instead, you'redatingher?!" exclaimed Beck, who was now genuinely astonished.

Remembering when his former master-and-enemy had asked him a similar question, Casey shook his head, and replied, "She wassavingEquestria… and I'm sorry you lost your family, but this is notright… youdon'twant to do-"

"It's not about what Iwant, kid," exclaimed Beck, gritting his teeth in frustration. "It's about what isfair…someoneneeds to pay for all of the cruelty that happened."

He then trotted back over to the restrained Twilight, who unknowingly was producing tears that had begun mixing with the blood on her cheek.

"Where was I? Oh yes," he took a deep breath. "Ever since then, I wanted... no... Ineededvengeance… if not for them, then formypiece of mind… I want you tosuffer, Twilight Sparkle, just like I did, if not, more so."

Before Twilight could say anything, Beck trotted over to his workstation in the lair, and used his mouth to open a drawer that contained twenty red and black darts. He took one of them out, walked back to the restrained alicorn and held it in front of her face.

"This dart contains another concoction of mind," explained Beck. "Onlythisone is designed to knock someone out in amore permanentmanner, if you catch my drift."

All eyes in the room went wide as dinner plates, even Rainbow Dash's, who was not technically even in the room, but even with a limited view, she could almost tell what was happening.

"So… that's it, then?" Twilight said, her voice cracking, with more tears threatening to flow. "You're going tok… k… killall my friends and family, then me, all to av… ave…avenge yours."

"Oh no, Princess. Death is too good for you," Beck said with enough venom that, if words could kill, Twilight would already be six feet under, and he slowly backed away from the Princess of Friendship a bit.

"After all of this is over,youget to go back to your little castle, and rule over Equestria. It still needs a ruler after all…

"However, now you'll have to live for the rest ofeternity, withthison your conscious. You'll live the rest of your life knowing that all this..."

Then, Beck lifted his hoof to gesture to all of Twilight's captured friends and family. "...wasall... your...fault."

"You're despicable," Casey growled with the utmost contempt, though Beck could cared less

"Now... who wants to go first?" A massive intake of breaths took place, as the malevelont pony was essentially holding the lives of everyone in the lair in his hooves.

"Hmmmmm….Eeney..."

Sweat trickled down Moondancer's forehead as Beck pointed his hoof at several ponies.

"...meeney…" Pinkie Pie was chewing on her tail in nervousness.

"...miney…"

A lump was now forming in the throat of Princess Celestia, while Beck paused for a moment, letting the tension sink in.

"Just do it already!"

"Rainbow!" Everyone but Beck scolded the still un-seen pink Pegasus, and another tense few seconds passed before a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"...Spike." Beck stopped, pointing to the cage containing the baby dragon and Rarity. "Looks like we have a winner."

Then, all Tartarus broke loose inside of the room.

"No, not Spike!"

"He's just a baby.. relatively speaking!"

"What?!"

"DON'T YOU DARE GO NEAR HIM!"

"No, use me instead!"

"Pinkie!"

Beck walked over to the cage, and the white unicorn stepped in front of Spike, giving him a look that would have frightened any other pony.

"Move aside, Rarity. It'll beyour turnsoon, anyway…" Beck said, voice void of any emotion except possibly annoyance.

"You'll have to pry Spikey-wikey from my cold, dead hooves," Rarity vowed, pulling the dragon closer, but then, something happened that shocked almost everyone in the room except for Beck.

"Just let him... h-have me, Rarity," Spike managed to croak out. "If it means you'll be alive for… for just a little longer..."

Rarity turned to face the baby dragon, throwing all caution to the wind.

"Don't talk like that, Spike," she said. "I'm not worth one bit compared toy you."

Twilight nodded her head, but she still had trouble trying to speak because of her bruises that Beck had delivered.

Unfortunately, Spike's mind was already made up.

The way he saw it, with Beck standing right behind them, he knew the first to bite the dust would be him or Rarity, and Celestia-damnit if he had to die so that Rarity could live, even if it was only for a short time, he'd do it.

So, with death starring him in the face, Spike fulfilled two things on his bucket list. He took Rarity's cheeks in both of his arms, and crashed her muzzle to his, locking them into a kiss that the dragon had been dreaming of ever since his arrival in Ponyville. The action caused a silence to set in as everypony witnessing it starred in both awe, and anguish.

"What's going on!? Is he dead?!" Rainbow asked, from below, panicked.

As he made his way back to the castle, Spike said, "Wow, I… am… stuffed! Sure hope Star and Twilight were able to-"

However, he stopped moving for a moment, and found himself turning his head side-to-side.

"Why do I feel like I should be jealous of someone?"

Once Spike pulled away, he uttered three simple words that sent the room back into protests once more.

"I love you."

He then pushed the unicorn to his left and hopped outside the cage, with the door closing shut before Rarity could attempt at stopping him.

With a slight chuckle, Beck took the dragon by one of his hooves, and led him right in front of Twilight. No tears were in the little dragon's eyes anymore, having accepted his fate.

If Twilight wasn't broken before, she was now.

"NO! SPIKE, DON'T... PLEASE, NO, SPIKE!" Twilight screeched through the tears in her eyes and the small amount of blood in her muzzle, thrashing against her restraints in a feeble attempt to save the dragon that she saw as one of her closest friends… her #1 assistant… and, in a way, someone she treated as if he were her own child.

As for Casey, he began making sounds of frustration while his rage continued to grow, and for a moment, Discord could have sworn that his Cutie Mark was starting to glow.

I swear…thought Casey.If that monster harms a single scale on his head...

Beck took the lid off the dart, exposing the needle that would deliver Spike's doom, paying no mind to the screams of protest going on all around him.

"Will it... hurt?" Spike asked meekly.

Beck gave smile to the dragon. "Not at all. It'll be like going to sleep."

"Okay," Spike said, closing his eyes, ready for the end.

Beck placed Spike, with the dragon's back facing him, in front of a target he placed on a wall, and looked to Twilight, who was ignoring her own pain to beg for Spike to stop.

Then, while Beck placed the dart in his trusty tube, ready to fire when ready, Spike looked over at Twilight, and gave her a look that meantI'm sorry, and I love you, but Ihaveto do this.

"No, Spike, please!" cried the purple alicorn, while Rarity was becoming distraught.

Spike let out a sigh, and under the assumption that these would be his final words, he looked at Twilight. "I… love you…Mom…"

Another tense, and loud, few seconds passed as Beck moved the tube closer to his mouth.

"NOOOO!" Many ponies yelled in emotional agony… though it turned to relief when they discovered Spike was still standing.

Sure enough, the dart had been shot into the target above Spike's head.

However, Beck remained smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

"Howdareyou toy with our emotions!"exclaimed Rarity.

Beck retrieved another dart from his drawer, which was a couple steps behind him, and loaded it into the tube.

A fresh new round of yells and protest began, demanding he cease his actions.

Once again, Beck milked the tension, and Twilight's suffering, by slowly moving the tube towards his muzzle.

"GET HIM!"

Spike clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the prick that would seal his fate. However, it never came… instead, he heard yells coming from behind him.

The little dragon turned around, and opened his eyes, to find two blue-and-yellow suited Pegasus ponies on top of Beck.

Spike would surmise later that they must have interfered with Beck's shot, causing him to miss.

"What's going on?! What's happening?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "What am I missing?!"

More Wonderbolts appeared from the shadows of the lair's entrance to either assist in the skirmish, or too free prisoners.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RESCUERS, YEAH!"

The unmistakabke battle cry of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo camep as they bounded down the spiral stairs into the lair, with Big Mac in tow.

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom yelled as she and Big Mac ran to their sister's cage that she shared with Starlight.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she bounded to her sister's cage.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo and a dark-blue maned Wonderbolt said at the same time.

"I'm down here!" Said mare yelled.

Scootaloo and Soarin quickly rushed over to the trap door that Beck had opened, and entered the underground room to find Rainbow in yet another cage.

While the Cutie Mark Crusdader dealt with the lock Unfirtunatly, Soarin couldn't pass up a small snicker at Rainbow's current appearence.

"Justget me out of here, alright!"

Above the duo, while some Wonderbolts, the other two CMCs, and Big Mac were destroying locks and freeing Beck's prisoners, Beck himself was being fought by Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and High Winds.

'Knew I should have added more security to this place,' Beck mentally grumbled.

Mustering all the strength he could, he managed to remove the three Wonderbolts from on top of him.

Meanwhile, another Wonderbolt, Silver Zoom, managed to free Casey, and while his first instinct was to hit Beck where it hurt, Twilight was still restrained, so instead, he dashed toward the purple alicorn.

"All Wonderbolts,get him!" Spitfire yelled as she, Fleetfoot, and High Winds made their way to their hooves before giving chase to the seemingly fleeing Earth Pony. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

As that was going on, Casey managed to undo Twilight's restraints, causing her to fall towards the lair's floor. Luckily, Casey was able to catch her just before she caused herself to recieve any more pain.

"You okay?" asked the young pony, his eyes full of love and concern, and Twilight quietly nodded her head. "Good… I'm sorry-"

He was cut off by a sudden kiss that came from his special somepony, and Twilight smiled while Casey let out a sheepish chuckle.

Meanwhile, the black-maned stallion galloped to his work station and pulled out another drawer.The game's not over untilIsay it is!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the approaching Wonderbolts. Using his workstation as an anchor, Beck lifted his hind legs and delivered the hardest buck he could possibly give.

Seeing this, Casey realized what he needed to do. He looked to find that Spike, due to shock, had not moved since the Wonderbolts entered the lair.

"Spike!" Casey called. "Spike!"

"Huh?W-what?" Spike asked, dumbstruck.

"You need to get Twilight away from here, Spike…now," Casey said, gesturing to the Princess of Friendship struggling to stand, due to cramps from being restrained for so long, as well as emotional tiredness.

"You can count on me," Spike said as he ran over to the purple alicorn. "Twilight, xome on, let's go -oof!"

"Spike!" The purple alicorn embraced the dragon with intensity, relieved he was alive and well. "I… I'm s-so… so sorry, Spike."

"I… forgive…y-you… also… can't… breath," Spike gestured to his throat, and Twilight immediately put him down upon hearing that.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Spike said as he helped Twilight onto her hooves.

Rarity was about to say something to the little dragon, but decided that it would be best for them to talk about their "moment" at a safer place.

Meanwhile, Soarin (who had already brought Rainbow Dash out of her hole and handed her off to Scootaloo) was leading the charge, which meant that he was the first to meet face-to-hoof with pain. This created a domino effect that caused many other Wonderbolts to either fall or stumble.

Having bought himself enough time, Beck grabbed something from the drawer he opened, which he then aimed at the Wonderbolts, and fired.

"AAAAAUGH!" The group, sans Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and High Winds, yelled as they were struck by the lightning emanating from the gun whose trigger Beck was holding on his mouth.

The use of the weapon elicited wide-eyes from Fluttershy, who was still waiting to be freed by Big Mac and the CMC from her shared cage with Discord.

'That's Rowan's power,' she thought, remembering when she had seen the evil pegasus use it on Casey's gold-colored friend.'How did he get that?'

'You little...'Beck thought, approaching the CMC and Big Mac, his intentions painfully clear, and their eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen.

However, before Beck could get the chance to do so, he was rammed into from the side, sending him crashing against one of the lair's walls, knocking the lightning gun from his muzzle.

"Get away from them, you[BEEP]," he growled.

Beck grunted as he pulled himself up. "Well, I guess I underestimated you, Casey… but if it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get."

Now filled with determination, Casey first turned to Spitfire. "Get everyone else outta here. I got a score to settle withhim..."

Spitfire nodded in understanding, and she ordered, "Wonderbolts, once you retrieve a hostage, retreat!"

As for Beck and Casey, the two Earth Ponies stared each other down as if it were a duel in Appleoosa. The black manned stallion made the first move, taunting Casey with a hoof motion that practically screamed, "Come at me, bro!"

"You'reminenow," growled Casey, and they both charged at each other furiously.

Everyone gave sighs of relief now that they had escaped, with the Wonderbolts hard at work trying to remove the restraints Beck had on the wings and horns.

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, despite her appearance, embraced their little sisters - well, surrogate sister in Rainbow's case - while commending them on their bravery.

"That was mighty gutsy, sugurcube," Applejack commended.

"Thank heavensyou arrived when you did, darlings," Rarity said, mascara still running down her face from the crying she'd done earlier, and reminding herself to talk with Spike once the chance arrived.

"That wasawesome, kiddo!" Rainbow congratulated.

"It wasn't that hard," Scootaloo explained boastfully. "But, uh, why do you look, er…"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, and she replied, "Yeah yeah, I know, but at least it didn't make me a pink ghost or somethin equally weird."

Applejack looked down at her sister, and asked, "So, howdidy'all know when to-"

"After Twilight and Casey were gone for a long time, I went to get Big Mac while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got the Wonderbolts," Apple Bloom said.

"Once they heard that we knew where Rainbow Dash was, we made our way back and the rest is history," Sweetie Belle finished.

Applejack turned towards her older brother. "Thank ya kindly, Big Mac."

"Eeehh-yuuupp, no problem," Big Mac said simply, relieved his sister was okay.

A short distance away, Twilight was resting and being given first aid by one of the Wonderbolts, who was proficient on the subject, on the lawn of Beck's home with Spike, the purple alicorn refusing to let the baby dragon leave her side.

"Spike, did you really mean what you said back there?" Twilight asked.

"I said a lot of things, Twilight," Spike said, attempting to dodge the question, and praying that Rarity wouldn't come over to them. "Care to be more specific?"

"When you said you loved me… and called me 'Mom," said the Princess of Friendship, who portrayed an expression of nervousness.

"Well, I mean…. You hatched me, raised me, and made me the dragon I am now… so, Ikind ofsee you as my mother," Spike hastily explained, hoping to Celestia this wouldn't be as awkward as he thought.

Suddenly, the little dragon's words struck a chord within Twilight.

The comfortable alicorn was awoken from her slumber by a small finger poking at one of her tucked-in wings.

She grumbled, not liking the fact that someone woke her in the middle of the night because, according to Twilight, she had to get as much sleep as possible so that she would be ready for her date with Casey tomorrow.

"Twilight," a small murmur escaped the lips of a small dragon, and immediately, Twilight's mood went from annoyed to concerned as she turned to find a hesitant Spike.

"What's wrong, Spike?"

"I…." he mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I can't, er, sleep," he hastily said.

"Well, why not?" Twilight asked, sitting up and turning on her lamp.

"I don't know," Spike explained. "I just feel so anxious… I can't relax for the life of me!"

Twilight gave Spike a knowing look. "This is about Casey, isn't it?"

"Well can you blame me?" the baby dragon defended himself. "You're going on a date, with somepony I barely know."

"Why aren't you happy for me then?" Twilight asked, curious.

"I just…. I just want him to be good for you. If he doesn't love you as much as I do, I'm worried that he'll break your heart, and I don't want that to happen to you, Twilight. I'd never forgive myself if somepony hurt you when I could have warned you."

Twilight smiled at Spike's concern.

"Don't worry, Spike. Casey's a nice stallion. Even if things don't work out, I'm sure he'll be nice about it," she explained. "Besides, if he ever does hurt me, I can just magic him into last week."

Spike smiled slightly. "Thanks, Twi. I know it's silly. I'm sorry I bothered you." He turned around to go back to his bed.

"Spike," The Princess of Friendship called.

The baby dragon turned around to find Twilight had scooted over in her bed, tapping the spot she left open.

Spike's face beamed and he ran and jumped right onto the spot Twilight tapped, pulled the sheets over him and got a comfy. Twilight clicked off the lamp and settled back into bed herself.

"Good night, Twilight."

"Good night, Spike." Twilight said, as she placed one of her wings around Spike protectively.

'I've been his mother all along,' thought Twilight, and at the realization, she gathered Spike in her hooves once more, though there was one major difference.

It wasn't just an embrace between friends, but a tenderly embrace between a mother and son.

"I'm so glad I have you, Twilight," Spike said, crying few tears of his own.

"You can call me 'Mom' if you want, Spike," Twilight permitted, which only caused the baby dragon to cry harder.

"Awwwwww..." Pinkie Pie said, voicing the thoughts of everyone who watched the tender moment.

Once the two separated, Spike only had one more question. "So, if you're my 'mom', does that mean, uh.. Casey is mydad?"

Twilight giggled, "I guess it does," and that's when something struck her.

"Wait, whereisCasey?"

"He said he had a score to settle with that Beck guy," Spitfire replied.

"What?!" Twilight yelled in shock.

"Wow, Casey's out for blood!" Pinkie cried.

Everypony there looked to the pink pony with wide eyes at Pinkie's bluntness.

"What? Didn't anyone else hear Casey scream that he was gonna kill Beck?" Pinkie pointed out.

"Kill?!" Twilight yelled in alarm. "No, I can't let him do something he'll regret... I'm going in."

"Wait... Twilight, you forgot to rrree…andshe's gone," said Minuette, who had tried to stop the bruised and battered alicorn from going back in until after her restraints had been removed.

If there was anything for Casey to learn from this fight, it was the fact that Beck definitely wasn't like any of the other ponies that he'd fought in the past.

"Is this really the best that you can do?" taunted Beck, who had dodged a swift right hook from Casey's front left hoof, and before Casey could react, the cloaked pony suddenly jumped towards him, wrapping his limb around Casey's neck.

Then, Beck used his strength to slam his opponent down to the ground, and as Casey began to cough, he said, "How pathetic... and here I thought you'd actually be somewhat of a challenge for me."

"You son of a - oof!" Casey was cut off after feeling a hoof placed onto the top of his chest, pinning him to the ground, and Beck started to laugh.

"And there's sure as hell ain't gonna be a brave little princess coming to your rescue... not after everything I-"

The next thing he knew, Beck was flying across the room, and crash-landing into his own work table.

As for Casey, he was surprised yet relieved to see his girlfriend. "Thank you, Twili - um... youdorealize that your restraints are still on, right?"

"They are?" Twilight looked down at her hooves, realizing that he was right, and she sheepisly replied, "Whoops… I guess I was too busy-"

However, she was cut off by the unexpect arrival of Beck's broken table, with one of the pieces falling down on Twilight, who whimpered in pain.

"I am not having all of my hard work be put to waste!"yelled Beck, who then started charging towards Casey, and he delivered a solid headbutt to the young pony's chest, causing Casey to fall down while crying painfully.

Then, Beck was about to pin him down when, to his surprise, Casey used a lot of his strength to send him crashing into the nearest wall.

Huh, sothat'show Evil Stardust must have felt while doing… oh, great,thought Casey, who saw that Beck was quickly making his way back over to-

After throwing the cage that Spike had been in at Beck, which caused him to fall the ground, Twilight flew towards Casey to help the young pony stand up.

"How in the heck were you able to do that?" wondered Casey, who then worked on freeing his girlfriend from her restraints once he was up to his hooves.

"The cage wasn't…thatheavy for me to throw," replied a worn-out Twilight, and once the restraints were off, she let out a sigh of relief. "Now, come on, let's go… and get the other-look out!"

The young alicorn pushed Casey out of the way before he could get hit by the blast of electricity that had come from Beck's weapon, but unfortunately, she wasn't able to dodge it herself.

"Understandable, but I'm still not finished with you,princess," growled Beck, and he picked Twilight up so that he could throw her against one of the cages.

Then, the light-green Earth Pony placed his hoof on top of Twilight's bruised chest, and the more pressure he applied, the louder her screams of pain became.

"Where's the magic of friendshipnow, Princess?" asked Beck, who continued to press his hoof harder against Twilight's chest.

"Leave… her…alone!"

Before Beck could get a response from her, Casey jumped towards him, and speared the evil pony to the ground.

"I don't care what anypony else says," growled a furious Casey, looking down at the fallen pony. "You're about to be reunited with your fami-"

Grabbing the nearest dart he could get his hooves on, Beck then rammed it into the right side of Casey's body, and the young pony was struck by even more electricity.

Then, once Casey fell to the ground, Beck began to chuckle, and he said, "I still can't believe that you neveronceblamed Twilight for what happened to your parents."

"It's like I… said… that wasn't her fault," replied Casey, who was trying to stand up again.

"So not once were you wereeverangry at Twilight?" asked Beck.

Casey was about to answer him, but for some reason, the young pony started to wonder if hehadactually, at one point, blamed Twilight for what-

Using his opponent's distraction to his advantage, Beck knocked him down to the ground with his hoof, and with a sinister smile, he said, "Either way,Casey, it's too late now… and I'm about to reuniteyouwith your parents."

Then, Beck prepared to use all of his strength so that he could deliver a fatal blow to Casey's head, but at the very last second, a magical energy blast sent him flying into the nearest cage, and before he could even get up, said object came crashing down onto him, thus preventing Beck from standing up.

"What… the…?"Beck started to say, but he was cut off after a piece of the broken table flew straight towards him, and the pain from that caused him to feel drowsy. "I… am… not…"

After his front left limb had been struck by one of his darts, Beck was barely able to roll his eyes as he said, "You…got… lucky…"

Then, everything around him went black, and a few seconds later, the sinister Earth Pony was finally unconcious.

As for Casey, he looked over at Twilight, who had somehow been able to break the"magic-hold"device (which Casey had forgotten to remove) that Beck had placed on her horn, and that had allowed the princess to fire an energy blast at her enemy, as well as cause the cage to fall on him, and fire the nearest dart that she could find.

"Huh, who would've thought that his own dart would be used against him?" said Casey, but to his surprise, Twilight shook her head.

"I don't think the dart helped… much… it was probably everything else that…" said Twilight, but she suddenly began to cough, causing Casey to become concerned for her safety.

"Let's get you some help…"

Twilight gave him a weak nod, but after taking another look at Beck, she asked, "What if he wa-"

"Twilight? Casey?"

The two of them turned their heads to see an approaching Starlight, who could not believe what she was seeing.

"Are… you two… okay?"

Before the young alicorn could respond, Casey replied, "I'll be fine, but Twilight is… worse… so while I get her some help… we need you to make surehedoesn't wake up… when he does, it'll be for when I'm about to ki-"

Twilight suddenly started coughing again, and Starlight nodded her head, saying, "I got it, Casey… you two just hurry on over to the hospital."

"Thanks, Star," replied a grateful Casey, and the two ponies walked out of the room while Starlight took a close look at the unconcious Beck.

However, while Casey was thinking about ways to end Beck's life for everything that he'd done tohisfriends, Twilight was thinking about something completely different.