Anti-Equestria
The Anti-Mane 6 (minus Midnight) were all sitting in the throne room, looking at the Cutie Mark Map when suddenly, Evil Stardust entered the room, along with Twilight's evil counterpart.
"First of all… whatever was inside ofthispiece of crap-"
The dark-gold pony tossed the unfrozen canteen at the wall, and everyone watched it fall to the ground, now smashed… as well as opened.
"- was already taken," growled Evil Stardust, who looked frustrated. "All that happened was a tiny puff of black smoke coming out… which means that Kronos was more foolish than I thought."
"Well that sucks," replied Anti-Rainbow, who was shaking her head. "So, now what?"
A sly grin suddenly appeared on Evil Stardust's face, and he looked at Midnight. "Make sure no one comes for her, alright, sweetheart?"
The young alicorn nodded her head, and she shared a kiss with her boyfriend, who watched her walk away while Anti-Rainbow made a noise of disgust.
Then, once she was gone, Evil Stardust raised up the Time Staff, and said, "Nowis the time for us to unleash all kinds of hell…nowis the time for us to have our revenge…now,Rainbow, is the time for us to make Casey and my pathetic counterpart realize that they[BEEP]-edwith the wrong group of ponies!"
Casey's World
A few days later, Twilight opened her eyes to find herself laying in a hospital bed, and she quickly noticed that almost her entire body was bandaged up, as well as the top part of her head.
Well, that's not surprising… but where is-
"Twilight?"
The young alicorn turned her head to the side, and found herself looking at several of her friends, which consisted of Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, the CMC, Spike, and Starlight, all of them looking relieved to see the princess finally awake.
"H-hey, everypony…" said Twilight, sitting up a little in her bed. "How long was I… out?"
"Just a few days, darling," replied Rarity. "Once you and Casey arrived here, they took you straight to the emergency ward, and-"
However, she was interrupted by an alarmed Twilight saying, "Casey? Is he okay?"
Starlight answered by making a head gesture to the other side of the room, which was where Twilight saw a resting Casey, also bandaged up.
"I guess in some ways, he was as bad as you, Twi," said Applejack. "Cause he hasn't woken up since we saw him walk in here with you on his back."
To her relief, she could see that Casey was breathing, so Twilight figured that he neededa lotof rest, but as the memories of what had happened with Beck started coming back, she asked, "What happened to-"
"Your parents, Shining Armor, and Cadence are at the Crystal Empire, helping fix the damage that Beck caused over there," said Starlight. "And I guess it's taking a while to convince Flurry Heart that everything's fine now."
"Your Canterlot pals went back to their homes to let their parents know they were safe," replied Sweetie Belle. "But they said for us to tell you that they would visit you as soon as they got the chance."
"Discord is with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia," said Fluttershy. "They have… um…him… locked away pretty good, and won't release him until you're ready to talk with Luna and Celestia about what should happen to him."
A look of confusion appeared on Twilight's face, and she asked, "Why are they waiting for my decision?"
Applejack gave a small shrug, and Rainbow replied, "They wouldn't tell us, for some reason… just that they would try to agree with whatever you think is fair."
"Oh…" said Twilight, and for a moment, she remained silent while looking at everyone that was in the room. "Uh… what do you all think I should do?"
Rainbow was the first pony to give her an answer. "Well,Iwould beat the livin'heckout of him for what he did to you, and for making me pi - oh, uh, that reminds me… you think you could find a way to make thispinkgo awa -ow!"
"Her bein' healthy is a little more important right now," said Applejack, who had thumped the pegasus on the back of her head. "You can handle lookin' like Pinkie for a few more days."
"Ugggghhhh… I don'twantto be a pink pegasus anymore!"cried Rainbow, and Twilight let out a little chuckle at her friend's antics.
"Don't worry, Rainbow, I'm sure I could find a way to get rid of all thatpink," said the young alicorn. "In the meantime… um… would one of you mind helpin' me get to the little-ahhh!"
"Already got you covered, Twilight,"replied Pinkie, who gently placed Twilight on her back, and she was about to quickly head over to the nearest restroom when Applejack told her to wait for a moment.
"Ya gottawalkher over there, Pinkie… she ain't exactly ready for your, um,quick methodsof transportation."
While Twilight let out a sigh of relief, and silently thanking her friend, Pinkie just nodded her head, and said, "No proble-"
"And she means to actuallywalk, Pinkie," added Starlight. "No bouncing."
At first, Pinkie looked disappointed to hear that, but then, she simply smiled at the purple unicorn, and replied, "Sure thing, Twilight!"
"Uh… I'mStar-light, Pinkie."
The pink pony looked between Starlight and Twilight several times before saying, "Oops,sorry about that… but now I see why Ember gets so confused between the two of you."
Teacher and graduated pupil both let out a groan as Pinkie walked safely out of the room, and once they were gone, Starlight said, "Pleasetell me you can all see that me and Twilight don't look or sound alike inany way."
"Er…" said Rainbow, letting out a sheepish chuckle, while everyone else casually looked around the room. "Well, aside from the fact that you don't have alicorn wings… I cankind ofsee why Ember would think you were Twilight."
"What?"cried a surprised Starlight. "How could you say that? It's like me saying you andApplejackboth sound like each other."
Both Rainbow and Applejack let out a chuckle, and replied, "Well,thatis just ridiculous!"
A week later
Once Twilight and Casey were cleared to leave the hospital, the first thing they chose to do was take a train ride to Canterlot, along with the rest of the Mane 6 and Starlight.
Then, the nine of them were led to the royal castle by Ride Along, and after he took the group of friends to the throne room, the officer pony said, "Glad to see everything worked out alright, Princess Twilight."
After Twilight nodded her head, Ride Along walked out of the room, and a few seconds later, Rainbow said, "Ugh,he's even worse than those fillies who kept asking me to tell them about me meeting Daring Do… does hehaveto make those siren sounds?"
Before anyone else could give her a response, they heard a familiar voice speak towards them.
"It's good to see you like this, Twilight… how are you feeling?"
The young alicorn smiled at her former teacher, and she replied, "A lot better than when I first woke up in the hospital, but I still have to keep a few of these bandages around my chest for a few more days."
"We are very glad to hear that, Twilight," said Princess Luna, whose smile suddenly became a slight frown. "However, I hate to point out that thereisa reason why you have come, correct?"
Twilight nodded her head, and Celestia said, "Before we start, I need to know if you'll be okay seeing him, Twilight."
It took a moment for the Princess of Friendship to think about an answer for her, and once she knew what it was, Twilight's face became full of determination. "I'll be okay… especially since I'm with my friends and special somepony."
A smile appeared on Celestia's face as she said, "With that being said…Discord!"
POOF!
Suddenly, the draconequs was in the middle of the room, with a cage placed next to him that contained Beck in a straightjacket.
"Well, ithasbeen rather fun watching this bad pony squirm around in his cage," said an amused Discord. "But I guess the fun would have to end eventually… oh, and you don't know how happy I am to see you look so much better, Twilight."
"Thanks, Discord," replied a genuinely surprised Twilight. "I, uh… am also glad you look okay, too."
Before the smiling draconequs could say something else, Beck (whose muzzle was covered up with duct tape) began to let out cries of frustration, which made Princess Celestia clear her throat.
"Right then…Beck?"
The somewhat-silenced pony turned his attention over to the sun-raising royal alicorn, and she added, "A few weeks ago, you captured several innocent ponies, as well as a young dragon… caused property damage to the castle at the Crystal Empire… severely harmed many of the guards bothhereand at the Crystal Empire… forcibly changed Rainbow Dash's coat from blue to pink… tried to permanently end Spike's life by a poisonous dart… and committed acts of brutality against Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with her special somepony… is this not true?"
Everyone looked at Beck, who simply nodded his head, and before Celestia could speak again, Rainbow whispered, "So, um, Twilight, you think once this is over, you could fix me back at your castle -ow!"
After Applejack apologized to Celestia for Rainbow's interruption, the Princess of the Night said, "Normally, your fate would be up to both me and my sister… and if that were the case, you would not evenbe here right now."
For a moment, Beck felt a little afraid, and he did a small nervous gulp after hearing Luna's statement.
"However…we have agreed to let the final decision be up to Twilight," said Celestia, and Beck turned to look at the purple alicorn. "She was the one who suffered the most pain out of everypony else, and we believe that she'll do what is right when it comes to what your fate may be."
Then, she delivered a nod at Twilight, who then walked up to Beck's cage, and the two ponies looked at each other, in silence.
Come on, Twilight,thought Casey.You can do this… it's just like we talked about...
A few moments later, the young alicorn frowned at Beck, and said, "You captured almost everypony that meant a great deal to me… you were close into ending Spike's life right in front me… and weall knowwhat you personally did tome."
Beck just remained silent, and looked at her with a pokerface expression.
"And, yes, like Princess Luna said, if it were up to them, you and I would not be speaking to each other at this very moment…"
A slight smile started to appear on Casey's face.
"... so as the Princess of Friendship… I have decided that the right thing to do… is, first of all, to not take away your life-"
"Thank you, Twilight!"
Everyone looked over at Casey, who was walking over to Beck's cage with a dangerous look in his eye. "I'm gonna enjoy doing this to youuuuuu… wait a second…"
After realizing what she had just said, the young pony looked back at Twilight. "You mean to tell me that… you're actually going tosparehim?"
She nodded her head, and a scowl appeared on Casey's face. "So aftereverythingthat hedid… rather than sentence him todeath… you choose to-"
"Casey."
The young pony immediately became silent after hearing Princess Luna say his name, and she added, "Although I understand why you are upset, please allow Twilight to explainwhyshe is choosing to refrain from ending his life."
Not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble, Casey nodded his head, and patiently waited like everyone else for the purple alicorn to speak.
"May I askwhyyou have chosen to do this, Twilight?" said Princess Celestia.
After taking a deep breath, Twilight gave her response. "I am the Princess ofFriendship… not the Princess ofRevengeorBrutality… sentencing somepony to their death is just not something that I don't think I could ever do.
"And, yes, what he did was terrible… that I can agree with 100%... but so were the things that Sunset Shimmer did, and now, she's one of my closest friends… even when Starlight-"
"Um, before you continue, er, Twilight," replied said unicorn, who now looked a little nervous. "Did the option ofdeathever come up when you and your friends discussed what would happen to me?"
Twilight gave her a confused look, and said, "No, of course not, and that's what I-"
"Oh, thank goodness,"exclaimed a relieved Starlight, who was now embracing the purple alicorn, and Twilight chuckled while softly patting the top of her head.
Then, after she was done, Starlight coughed into her hoof, and said, "Um, please continue…"
Looking back at the Royal Sisters, Twilight continued to give her explaination. "The point that I am making is, although Starlight, Sunset… even Discord ("Hey!")... who learned the true value of friendship, thanks to Fluttershy…"
The draconequs and yellow pegasus looked at each other, with both of them smiling, and Discord said, "Thank you, Twilight…"
Twilight gave a slight nod of her head, and added, "Despite the terrible things that they did, they were given a chance to do what wasright, and so far, everything for them has worked out just fine…
"In Beck's case, despite how cruel it seems, he was only doing it to avenge the loss of his loved ones… and maybe if I'd been a little more careful-"
"Hold on a moment, Twilight," interrupted Celestia, who was holding up a hoof, and was looking at her with concern. "Do not blame yourself for what happened… Tirek is the one responsible, not you… is that understood?"
Twilight waited a moment before nodding her head, and then, she said, "I know it sounds insane, but I do think that I can help Beck realize the error of his ways… so in order to that, I have also decided to place him in the dungeon of my castle-"
"We have a dungeon?"whispered Casey and Starlight, who were both looking at each other.
"- where he'll be watched everyday by either me, or one of my friends… to make sure that nothing like this will happen ever again…"
Before Celestia could say something, a grining Discord asked, "Ooh,can I take him over there right now, and take the first watch?"
"Um…sure…?"
Discord let out a quick laugh of victory, and with a snap of his fingers, the draconequs was gone, along with Beck, whose cage was now empty.
"Are you sure this is your final decision, Twilight?" asked Celestia. "Because if it is, there will beno onethat can change it… not even yourself…"
To Casey's irritation, Twilight nodded her head, and the white alicorn said, "Very well… whatever happens next all depends on you, Twilight… but me and my sister have faith in that you know exactly what it is that needs to be done…"
"Thank you.. both of you…" replied Twilight, who was now smiling, along with the rest of her friends, but as they all left the throne room, Casey continued to frown because of what his girlfriend had decided.
Future - Several Days Later
"So is that the reason you two broke up?" wondered Jack.
After finishing half of hisspecialdrink, Casey replied, "No, but it didn't exactly prevent it from happening…"
The bartender let out a sigh, and said, "Sounds like there's still more for you to tell, son."
Casey nodded his head, and after finishing the rest of his beverage, he replied, "Uh-huh… that's when all[BEEP]broke loose… but, uh, can I get a refill before I continue?"