//------------------------------//
// Worlds Apart 
// Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time 
// by CJ Esmerio 
//------------------------------//

The next morning, Starlight wasn't surprised to find Casey already in the library, trying to activate the Crystal Mirror.

"It hasn't even been close to 24 hours since Stardust left, and you're already going to see him?"

To  her surprise, Casey began to shake his head, and he was starting to  chuckle. "No, but I'm glad you're here, Star, because there's something I  want to show you."

While he started to make a few final  adjustments, Starlight rolled her eyes, and smirked at the now-crippled  pony. "I already know what the inside of his Twilight's castle looks  like."

"We're not going to Stardust's world," replied Casey, and Starlight became confused.

"Well, then, where are we going?"

After  turning on the Crystal Mirror, the light-orange pony looked at  Starlight, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "You'll see…"


#############


When  Twilight entered the dungeon to check on Beck, she was surprised to  find him backed up against the corner of the cell, muttering, "You'll float too… you'll float too…"

Before  she could ask if he was okay, Discord suddenly appeared next to  Twilight, and she frowned after seeing that he had a smug look on his  face. "You were supposed to just keep an eye on him."

"Well, I can't exactly place my  eye on him, Twilight," replied the draconequs. "But I did watch over  your sole prisoner to make sure nothing bad happened… and as you can  see, no harm done to anypony."

As Beck continued to mutter quietly  to himself, Twilight gave Discord a half-eyelids closed expression, and  he said, "Alright, fine, I might have had some more fun with Beck to get back at him for what he did to Fluttershy and you and the others. Was that so wrong of me?"

"I want Beck to learn from his mistakes, Discord, not have him sent to the cuckoo house."

The draconequs sighed, and he replied, "Okay, we'll do this your way, Twilight."

Then,  after Discord snapped his fingers, which caused him to vanish in the  blink of an eye, Beck let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought that he was never going to leave… good going there, princess."

"You're  welcome," replied the purple alicorn,even though she was still  frowning. "But I just can't believe why you choose to continue hating me  because-"

"I don't hate you, princess… or, at least, not as much as I used to a few weeks ago."

Hearing  Beck say that made Twilight feel surprised, so as she waited for him to  continue, the middle-aged pony let out a sigh before saying, "I want you  to understand how I feel about losing nearly everypony that I care  about, but I also don't want to lose my life just yet, and I think I got  roughed up pretty good by your special somepony, as well as that pony  who I'm still not sure was the actual Stardust or his evil counterpart…"

Then,  he took a moment of silence as he thought about his loved ones, but it  was interrupted by Twilight asking, "Well, do you think that what you've  done recently is what they would have wanted?"

Beck brought up his head to look at her, and he slowly gave his response. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"That  I'm not sure about your family particulary enjoying what they see you  doing from wherever they are at," explained the purple alicorn. "And  since we're talking like two normal ponies, I would like to add that  while I haven't lost everypony that I care about, I do know what it's like to lose a special somepony."

Noticing  Beck's confusion, Twilight added, "I watched Casey sacrifice himself to  save me and Stardust, along with the rest of his friends, and it didn't  take me long to realize that I'd never see him again… I would never be  able to tell Casey how I truly felt about him…"

The imprisoned  pony had no idea what to say since he had no idea something like this  happened to Twilight, but as his mind continued to show memories of his  loved ones, he eventually said, "Yeah, well, at least you were able to  have him somehow return, princess… my family's been gone for years, and  there's no way that they'll ever come back."

"Well, yes, that is  true… but all of the positive memories you have that involve them will  always be with you in your mind, and in your heart," replied Twilight.  "There is a reason why your parents, wife, and best friend loved you…  they saw something different than what any other pony saw when looking  at or talking about you… and I'm sorry that you can't watch your son  grow up into a wonderful stallion, but wherever your wife is at right  now, have her see the pony that she wanted the father of her colt to  be…"

Beck felt his eyes starting to tear up, but he wasn't able to  stop himself from saying, "Alright, princess, you… m-made your point…  just leave me here to…"

[Insert "Tears of Life" from Pokémon around 3:07 mark]

However,  to his surprise, Twilight had decided to open the cell door, and as he  found himself starting to cry, the young alicorn wrapped her front limbs  around his body, giving Beck a comforting embrace.

"W-why are… you… I don't deserve…"

"No pony deserves to grieve alone," replied Twilight, and as she gave him a soft pat on the back, all of the positive memories that were in Beck's mind eventually caused the Earth Pony to break down, with Twilight there to offer him a shoulder to cry on.


################


"Casey? What… what is this place?"

Seeing that Starlight had stopped walking, Casey wheeled himself back to where she stood, and he replied, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

They  were currently standing in the middle of a grassy field, with the sight  of snow-covered mountains in the distance, as well as a river that  seemed to go all around the entire area, and as Starlight continued to  look around, she said, "I'm not even sure if that word is good enough to  do it justice… which brings me to ask again… what is this place?"

An amused Casey smiled at the purple unicorn, and he replied, "Well, I don't exactly have a name for it just yet, but… um, remember the place where this happened?"

Starlight  nodded her head after Casey took a quick glance at his hind legs, and  he said, "Well, that only exists because it's what Rowan thought of… in reality, this world is nothing but pretty much a blank canvas, so it's up to whoever is in here to 'create art'..."

He gestured to everything that was around them, and said, "This is my art,  Starlight… or, in other words, the place that has all of my favorite  things… most of which were because I hung out with Stardust so much, and  believe me, he showed me a lot of stuff… but yeah, this is where I can do things that I can't really do in our world or Stardust's world."

Starlight tilted her head to the side, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Pika-pika!"

Suddenly,  the purple unicorn watched as a cute short, and chubby rodent-like  creature came from out of nowhere, and leaped into Casey's lap.

"Starlight,  this is my friend, Pikachu," said Casey. "He's an electric-type Pokémon  from an anime that Stardust introduced me to."

Starlight just  looked at the two of them, and Casey let out a sigh. "I'll explain  later… um, you mind givin' us another few minutes, Pikachu?"

"Pi-ka pipi pika!" said Pikachu, and as Casey affectionately rubbed the top of his head, he made an adorable noise that caused Starlight to smile.

Then,  the electric mouse hopped back onto the grass-covered surface, and  Starlight watched him head over to join several other cute creatures  that she had never seen before.

"So… your, uh, world has… Pokémon?"

Casey  chuckled, and he replied, "Well, for the most part, yeah, but there's  also a fun area that I can't really show you now since I'm in a  wheelchair-"

"Does Stardust know about this place?" wondered  Starlight, assuming what his answer was going to be since, to her, the  two Earth Ponies were apparently so close.

"Well, no, not just yet," replied Casey, now shaking his head.

A surprised Starlight looked around her friend's world once more, and she said, "Huh… so, I guess Twilight was the-"

"Nope, I haven't told her yet, either," admitted the light-orange Earth Pony. "The only ones who know so far are me…"

Casey took a moment to look at his wristwatch before continuing his statement. "... and, as of almost five minutes ago, you… which means that, for the moment, it's just the two of us who know about this."

At  first, Starlight found herself feeling touched by this, but confusion  still remained in her mind, and that caused the purple unicorn to ask,  "Well, not that I'm complaining or anything, Casey, but why did you pick  me as the first pony to see this place?"

Casey let out a  sigh, knowing that he would've been asked this question by her, so the  young pony replied, "Because I haven't exactly been fair to you when it  comes to spending quality time together, which means that I have a lot to make up for…"

Then,  in the blink of an eye, Casey handed her a string to a kite that was  already flying high up in the sky, which brought a smile to Starlight's  face, and after showing her his own kite, he said, "Also, I did tell you in the hopsital that we'd have plenty of time for me to work on my kite flying, so why not start right now?"

Starlight  nodded her head, but as the two of them began to get ready, she started  to feel bad about the way she had been treating Stardust lately.

I'll talk to him when I see him at Casey's party… I just hope Stardust won't still be upset about me giving him a scar.





It's great that we'll soon be connected
With a king who'll be all-time adored

As  an army of hyenas continued to march forward in perfect  synchronization, they looked up (row-by-row) at their leader, who was  sitting on top of a rocky platform that was high above them.

"Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected," sang Stardust, who had a wide smile on his face, and he made a throat-slitting gesture with his hoof.

To take certain duties on board

The future is littered with prizes

And though I'm the main addressee

The point that I must emphasize is

You won't get a sniff without me!

Then,  he leaped off of the platform, and after landing safely on the  rock-made surface, Stardust scowled at a few of the hyenas before  jumping onto several other platforms that were rising up from the  ground.

So prepare for the coup of the century (Oooh!)
Be prepared for the murkiest scam (Oooh... La! La! La!)

Meticulous planning (We'll have food!)
Tenacity spanning (Lots of food)
Decades of denial (We repeat)
Is simply why I'll (Endless meat)

Be king undisputed (Aaaaaaah...)
Respected, saluted (...aaaaaaah...)
And seen for the wonder I am (...aaaaaaah!)

Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared (oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo)
Be prepared!

Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared -
Be prepared!

Then, Stardust lifted his head up so that he could let out a sinister, evil laugh. "Hahahaha… hahahahahaha… hahahahahaha-"

"Jack! What are you doing up there?"

After  hearing the voice of his special somepony, Stardust blinked his eyes a  few times, and instead of being on top of a rocky platform that was  surrounded by talking hyenas, the gold pony found himself in the back  outdoor area of her castle, standing on top of a log that was stuck into  the ground because it was part of the (second)training course that  Twilight had created for him and their friends.

Before the alicorn  could ask him again, Stardust swiftly jumped off the log, landing right  in front of Twilight, and he said, "Why, if it isn't my beautiful  princess descending from on high to converse with her warrior."

A  frown appeared on the slightly confused alicorn's face as she replied,  "I had hoped you'd be inside with me in the castle to welcome Sunset  since today is the day she planned on visiting us…"

'That was today?" gasped Stardust, who began shaking his head after letting out a sigh. "Oh, dear… it must've slipped my mind."

Before  Twilight could respond to why he was speaking in a more rougher voice, a  familiar yellow unicorn was making her way towards them. "Hey, Twilight, did you… oh, I didn't know that Human Stardust was here, too."

Well, at least she's not confusing me for Evil Stardust, thought the gold pony.

"No, it's not, this is our 'Stardust'," replied the young alicorn. "He just looks like him becau-"


Whoosh!


Suddenly,  from out of nowhere came Rainbow Dash, who tackled Stardust to the  ground, and thankfully, it wasn't close to the training course.

Why the [BEEP] did this have to happen to me? thought Stardust, groaning in annoyance and pain.

"You better leave my friends alone!" exclaimed the blue pegasus. "I haven't forgotten what you did the last time you were here, so now, I-"

"Rainbow, wait, it's not the evil one," cried Twilight, stopping her friend from attacking him. "This is actually Stardust!"

But  Rainbow didn't seem to be that convinced by Twilight's statement. "I'm  not falling for his tricks again, Twilight, he almost ruined… wait a minute…"

She looked down at the gold Earth Pony in front of her, and said, "Say something that Stardust told me back at CHS."

You can't be serious, thought Stardust, and he replied, "Rainbow, take it easy, I'm not-"


Wham!


"Answer the question!"

"Rainbow! Why did you smack him like that?" exclaimed Twilight.

"I  don't want to take any chances with this pony," replied Rainbow. "He  wrote a bunch of stuff all over my house, inside and out, and made me  believe that Star was the actual-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Stardust groaned, and he said, "Alright, fine… I,  uh… told you that we were always going to end up arguing with each  other, but that it didn't mean you'll ever not be my best friend."

Then,  after Stardust had said that, Rainbow took a few steps back while the  gold pony got up to his hooves, and Twilight let out a sigh of relief.  "Was all of that really necessary?"

"Hey, you can't blame me for  being cautious, Twi-" Rainbow started to say, but then, she realized  that she'd just smacked her friend across the face, which made her give  Stardust a sheepish expression. "Um… sooooo… no hard feelings about, uh, what I just did?"

Looking at his friend with a frown, Stardust replied, "I'll give you a three second head start… one…"

"Heh-heh, you're kidding, right?"

"Two…"

Rainbow looked over at Twilight and Sunset, saying, "Tell me that he's joking."

"Don't make me say-"


WHOOSH!


After Rainbow Dash flew away as fast as she could go, Stardust lowered his hoof to the ground, and said, "Three… eh, what the [BEEP], I'm gettin' her anyway."


WHOOSH!


Then, as he took off after the blue pegasus, Sunset looked over at Twilight, and asked, "What has happened since the last time I was here?"

A smirk appeared on Twilight's face, and she replied, "Oh, you have no idea."






A few days later


"Come on, Rarity, just give him the gift already!"

Today  was the day of Casey's birthday, and he was celebrating it while being  surrounded by Twilight, Spike, Starlight, the CMC, and the rest of the  Mane 6, as well as Stardust, who had come with his world's versions of  Twilight and Spike.

So far, almost everyone had given the  light-orange pony their gifts, but for some reason, Rarity was a little  hesitant in giving Casey his gift from her.

"You ain't exactly  helpin' out, Rainbow," said Applejack, frowning at the blue pegasus.  "Also, I'm pretty sure the cake and ice cream won't be goin' anywhere."

While Rainbow rolled her eyes, Twilight looked at Rarity, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Um,  well, it's just that I didn't expect to give it to Casey while he was  in a wheelchair, darling," replied the white unicorn. "I wouldn't want  him to hurt himself trying to put it on."

A smile appeared on Casey's face, and he said, "I'll be fine, Rarity, it's not going to be any trouble."

Even  though she still didn't look too sure, Rarity finally handed over the  gift to Casey via magic, and as he started to open it, Rainbow let out a  sigh of relief, but a glare from Applejack stopped her from saying  anything hurtful.

"Um, Twilight? Where's Discord?" asked Fluttershy. "I thought he would've shown up by now."

"Oh,  don't worry, he's here in the castle," replied the purple alicorn.  "Just finishing up his turn to watch over Beck, so I'm sure Discord will  join us later on."

The young pegasus nodded her head, but she was  also feeling a little curious about what exactly the draconequs was  doing down below with Twilight's sole prisoner.


############


"Got any sevens?"

Beck  shook his head, and as Discord made another card appear in his own  deck, the middle-aged Earth Pony asked, "You have a two in there?"

The  draconequs sighed, and grumbled under his breath as he handed one of  his cards over to a chuckling Beck. "Oh, don't be so amused, little  pony… you're just lucky that Twilight stepped in to make sure I don't  have you end up in an asylum… got an eight?"

"Son of a… yeah, I  do," muttered Beck, and as Discord happily took the car from him, the  Earth Pony mentally thanked Twilight for whatever she'd told Discord  regarding him.


###################


As he held up Rarity's gift in front of him, a wide-eyed Casey said, "Wow, this is… beautiful!"

It  was a jet-black cloak that had several streaks of red alongsids the  edges, and while Starlight assisted in helping him put it on, Rainbow  let out a sigh of relief.

"Ha! See, I told you he'd like it, Rarity."

Twilight looked at her, and she replied, "What?"

Now  feeling a little more comfortable, the white unicorn replied, "Well,  thank you, darling. I was actually inspired to make it after I saw the  one worn by… um… Stardusk, was it?"

"Star… dust… Stardust,"  said the gold pony, and he glanced over at a sheepish Starlight, who  knew that they would need to have a talk later on. "You didn't also make  him a fedora, did you?"

"Wha… no, of course not," replied Rarity, with a slight frown. "I'm not trying to copy you, Stardust, so-"

Before the two of them could begin an argument, Casey stepped in to say, "Thank you, Rarity, I love it."

"You're  welcome, darling, and happy birthday," said Rarity, and she walked away  while Casey began to wheel himself out of the room, much to the  surprise of the CMC. "Now, then… um… which one of you is the Spike from this world?"

Spike  was about to respond, but his counterpart stepped in front of him, and  said, "Um, that would be me, Rarity, so how about we - hey!"

"Nice  try, little dragon," remarked Twilight's counterpart, who used her  magic to bring Spike's other self over to where she was.

Rarity looked back over at the Spike that was now standing in front of her, and he sheepishly asked, "Sooooo, um… how are you doing?"

A  small smile appeared on the white unicorn's face as she said, "I'm  fine, Spikey Wikey, but I do think now is a good time to talk about…  well, what you said to me several weeks ago, and what you did."

"Heh, heh, yeah,  um, that…" replied Spike, who was now feeling his face begin to warm  up, and could almost hear his own heartbeat. "Well, Rarity, I… figured  if that'd be the last time I saw you, then I should let you know how  I've always felt about you… which is also why I, uh, decided to give you  that kiss… you aren't mad or anything, right?"

To his surprise, Rarity began to giggle, and she replied, "Well, of course not, darling, why ever would I be? And you do remember that you did try to somewhat tell me the same thing back when you, um, grew into a rampaging dragon?"

The memories of those events appeared in Spike's mind, and he began to chuckle. "Ohhh, yeah… uh, I mean, I never forgot about it. I just didn't know the small similarities between the two until now."

Then, he waited for Rarity to speak again, but she didn't say anything, so Spike knew that he had to continue.

"Does, um… that mean you and I won't be… friends or-"

Rarity  chuckled again, and she ruffled the scales on his head as she said, "Of  course we'll still be friends, Spikey Wikey… like I said before,  friendship is forever… but, um, perhaps we could try reaching that next step when we're not about to face the possibility of losing our lives?"

Feeling more relaxed now, Spike nodded his head, and replied, "Sure! Lookin' forward to it!"

"You  might not be the only one," said Rarity, and before Spike could say  anything else, she kissed the small dragon on his cheek before walking  away, while a bunch of tiny heart began to surround his head.

"Wow…"

Then,  Spike fell backwards until he was lying on the ground, while his  counterpart - who was sitting atop Twilight's other self - muttered  underneath his breath.

"Something wrong, Spike?" asked the teasing alicorn, and her loyal assistant began to frown.

"Why can't you and Star help me out with having something like that happen to me?"

Twilight let out a chuckle, and she replied, "Well, you two did sing to me and our world's Rarity that one time on Hearts & Hooves Day, remember?"

Spike sighed, and he said, "Yeah, but… I haven't gotten to kiss Rarity yet, or tell her how I feel about her."

"Aw, don't worry, Spike," assured Twilight. "I'm sure your moment will come one day."


###################


Alright, buddy, just remember what Jack told you, and you'll be just fine.

After  placing a special object into one of his new cloak's pockets, Casey  turned himself back around, and was about to leave the room when he  found himself looking at a trio of fillies.

"You okay, Casey?"  wondered Sweetie Belle, and the young pony nodded his head, which made  Applebloom swipe away some non-existent beads of sweat.

"Phew! For a second there, we thought you weren't enjoyin' your own party."

As  he began to head back, Casey chuckled, and said, "No, of course I'm  enjoying it… so if you'll excuse me, there's something I have to say to  Twilight."

"Really? What are you gonna say to her?" asked Scootaloo.

"Something I should've said a long time ago."


##############


Well, here goes nothing, thought Starlight, who was now making her way over to Stardust.

"Soooo… how's it been having that scar over your eye?"

Stardust  smirked at his friend's counterpart, and he replied, "Oh, just fine,  actually… except for the fact that I've had almost all of my friends  attack me because they thought I was the other pony who got sucked into a  thermos."

A look of guilt appeared on the purple unicorn's face.  "Well, the good news is that your scar was only temporary, so it should  be gone by tonight or sometime tomorrow… and, uh, I think you deserve an  apology from me."

The gold pony shook his head, and replied, "Don't even worry about it, Starlight, a simple scar is nothing for me to compl-"

"No,  not… just that…" said Starlight, while rubbing the back of her neck  with her "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for acting so hostile towards  you. I was only like that because-"

"You were jealous of me, weren't you?"

"- I was jealous of the fact that you… you… you knew already?"

Stardust  chuckled at the unicorn's surprised expression, and he said, "I sort of  figured it out after we came back from Anti-Equestria… plus, the other  you told me that she figured this is what the issue was."

"Of course, she did,"  replied Starlight. "But, uh... in all honesty, Stardust, I was just  upset about the fact that he always seemed to spend time with you  instead of… well, me and Twilight and everypony else."

The gold  pony sighed, and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, saying, "I  can understand why you'd feel that way, Starlight, and I'm sorry for  hurting your feelings, but something tells me that Casey's starting to  realize, as well, that… wait a second…"

A confused Starlight  watched as Stardust suddenly walked towards a bulletin board that was  hanging on the wall, next to a long whiteboard that had all sorts of  numbers and measurements and whatnot.

"Twilight… what is this?"

The  purple alicorn made her way over to Stardust, and said, "Oh, that's  something I have planned for the Friendship Festival in a few weeks-"

"No, I meant this," replied Stardust, pointing his hoof at the bulletin board, which she had used while figuring out Beck's identity.

"Oh,  well, that's what I was using while trying to figure out who was  capturing all of my friends," said Twilight, smiling at the thought of  Stardust admiring her work. "Impressive, right?"

Stardust remained  silent, for a moment, before he said, "Yes, but would you care to  explain why a picture of me is listed under the suspects category?"

Realizing that she'd forgotten to take the photo off, Twilight let out a nervous chuckle, and replied, "Well, um… you do have a cloak."






A few minutes later


Once Casey returned to the Main Hall, and saw that Twilight was talking to Pinkie, he started to take a deep breath.

Alright, I can do this… I can do this.

The young pony wheeled his way over to them, and said, "Hey, Pinkie… um, you mind if I talk to Twilight for a little bit?"

To his surprise, the pink pony nodded her head, and replied, "Sure, take all the time you need…"


Boing! Boing! Boing!


As Pinkie happily bounced away, Twilight looked over at Casey, and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…  great… loving the party," replied Casey, even though he could feel his  face warm up, and almost hear his own heartbeat. "Also, uh… speaking of  that certain word… there's something important that I want to tell you."

"Oh? Like what?"


Thump-thump! Thump-thump!


Trying  his best to remain calm, and ignore the sound of his beating heart,  Casey said, "Well, before I get there, I just want… to first say that…  since the first time I ever laid eyes on you, I have always-"

However, before the young pony could finish his prepared speech, they heard a familiar voice say, "Wait, so whose birthday is this party for again?"

"I told you, Trixie, that it's for Casey."

Starlight  and her best friend were now making their way over to them, and Casey  forced himself not to groan while Twilight said, "Oh, how… nice of you  to come, Trixie… even though I don't remember delivering an invita-"

"Uh,  Starlight?" said the azure unicorn, who was looking back and forth  between Twilight and Stardust's girlfriend. "Please tell me I'm not the  only one who sees two of her in this place."

"You aren't the only  one, trust me," replied an amused Starlight. "The Twilight that's over  there is from a parallel version of our world, which means that-"

Trixie let out a gasp, and cried, "So there's another pony out that also claims to be the great, powerful, and unscareable-"

"Ahem!" The three ponies looked at Casey, who had cleared his throat, and said, "I don't mean to interrupt this conversation, but I was trying to tell Twilight something important, so…"

"Oh,  sorry, Casey, my fault," replied Starlight, and as she led Trixie over  to another side of the room, the light-orange pony began to eat a quick  slice of cake.

Thank Celestia I didn't get my head whacked by a door or something.

"Okay, so… what were you going to tell me again?"

Casey  was about to respond when, suddenly, he felt a sharp prick on his  tongue, and the young pony let out a small shriek of pain before opening  his mouth to release a bee that was now flying away from him.

"How in the frudhf difh a bee fjeok gepgle?"  said Casey, wondering how in the world did a bee get into the castle,  and make its way to his slice of cake, thus allowing his tongue to be  stung by it.

A confused expression appeared on Twilight's face as she asked, "Huh? What did you say?"

"I sayth jowlll feeeth bah krek…" replied  Casey, but then, he found himself sticking out his tongue, and the  young pony realized that it was starting to swell up. "Oh, fulff blaaaam!"






Meanwhile


I hate being stuck in damn traffic, thought Jack, as he honked his car's horn once again. I swear to God, if these people start bursting into song, then I-

Suddenly,  his thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of his cellphone, and  after seeing who the caller was, Jack swiftly answered it. "I was  actually about to call you, love… yes, I know I'm late, but this time-"


Honk!


Jack  lifted his middle finger up in the air, and slowly began to move his  convertible forward while saying, "Some people just don't have enough  patience anymore, Sunset… oh, don't you even go there, I have plenty  of-"


Honk!


"No one's going anywhere, asshole!" yelled  Jack, and he rolled his eyes before continuing to speak to his  girlfriend. "Okay, everyone has their limit, sweetheart…. anyway, I'm  not that far from CHS, so can you go to the school rooftop? I'll be  there in about, um, thirty minutes so… huh? Yes, I know today is a  Saturday, but trust me, it's for a very good reason."

After  hearing Sunset Shimmer give her response, a sly grin appeared on Jack's  face as he said, "Well, I'm certainly not planning on the two of us-"


HONK!


Flipping  off the driver behind him once again, Jack let out a groan, and began  to head towards the nearby freeway exit. "Add another five minutes,  love… yup, I'll see you soon…"


Forty Minutes Later


With  his car now parked in the CHS parking lot, Jack took a moment to make  sure his pants pocket had what he needed, and then, the young man left  the now-locked vehicle to start making his way into the school.

I hope everything turned out alright with your special someone, Casey, thought Jack. Now, it's my turn to do something special for my girlfriend.

Once  he reached the door that led to the stairs, Jack began to take those up  to the rooftop, and when he got there, a smile appeared on his face  after seeing the person that had been waiting so long for him.

"Took  you long enough," said Sunset, and as Jack came closer to her, he was  about to give a witty remark when he noticed something a little  different. "What?"

"Your hairstyle looks more, um, longer and fiery,"  replied the young man. "Also, I see that you have a new outfit, and…  wait, why do you have those wireless headphones around your neck?"

"Uh,  doesn't really matter right now," said Sunset, who placed the  headphones by her feet, and she laid back against the dome with her arms  crossed. "So, now that you aren't stuck in rush hour traffc, can you  explain to me why we're meeting here instead of our usual spot?"

Jack  let out a chuckle, and he replied, "Well, I figured this would be safer  and less likely of a place for some crazy villain to attack the both  of…"

Sunset just silently looked at her boyfriend, not saying anything.

"Right, sorry… anyway, the reason that we're currently up here is because I have a, um… well, a special surprise for you."

A  teasing smile appeared on Sunset's face, and she said, "You already  tried using your brownies on me once, Jack, it's not going to work  twice."

"Ha-ha, good one," replied Jack, in a dry and  sarcastic tone, even though he was feeling a little bit hungry now that  she'd told him that.

"Well, what's the surprise, then?"


##################


As Casey tried to find a way to speak better, Starlight walked back over to him and Twilight, asking, "Is everything okay?"

The  purple alicorn shook her head, and replied, "After you and Trixie  walked away, Casey tried to tell me something, but then he started  talking all weird and stuff, so now I can't even-"

"A ghee deun meuh tungh," interrupted an irritated Casey, pointing at his swollen tongue.

A confused Starlight asked, "How did a bee sting your tongue?"

Casey was about to tell her to ask Trixie when he and Twilight both realized something.

"You can understand him?" said Twilight.

After Starlight nodded her head, Casey quickly turned her body in his direction, and cried, "Starlithe, pleeth bii mai tramfsleiter!"

The purple unicorn had a nervous expression on her face as she replied, "Um, I don't know if me being your translator would-"

"Starlithe, eye am behhtttiinnth you," begged  Casey, knowing that he needed to have Twilight understand now how he  felt about her before losing what might be his final opportunity.

Before Starlight could say anything else, Pinkie Pie suddenly cried, "Can I have everypony's attention? Casey has something very important  to tell Twilight, but she's having trouble hearing him, so can you all  remain silent while he talks to her? Thank you!"

Then, she looked over at the young couple, and added, "There you go, Casey!"

"Um,  Pinkie, I could hear him perfectly," replied Twilight, while Starlight  and Casey both became nervous. "I just wasn't able to understand him."

While everyone else looked at the three of them, Pinkie said, "Ohhhhhh… my bad!"

Starlight was about to disagree with helping Casey when the light-orange pony gave her a pleading expression.

Please help me, Star, thought Casey, and his friend let out a sigh before whispering her response.

"You're lucky it's your birthday today."

Casey  nodded, in agreement, so as he spoke to Twilight, the young Earth Pony  would pause in order to let Starlight translate for him.

"The  first time I ever saw you, Twilight, a few days after you defeated  Nightmare Moon, I knew that you were special… I never felt the same way  about anypony else whenever I saw or thought about you… but then, my  feelings changed after I lost my parents because of Tirek…

"A few  days later, I found myself hating the fact that while you got to  experience the joys and wonder of a shiny new castle, I was busy  grieving over the loss of my mom and dad… at one point, I thought that  it was entirely your fault instead of Tirek… but I soon realized that  you were only doing what needed to be done, in order to save Equestria…  and everypony else you care about."

Then, Casey was about to speak  again, but after seeing the way that Starlight was right now, he let  out a sigh, and said, "Nebrher minthe, Starlithe… I kaine duuu tha  resthe."

Starlight was about to respond, but Casey shook his head,  and so, she decided to help instead by firing a tiny blast of magic at  his tongue, which caused it to roll back into his mouth as he cried in  pain.

"Starlithe! Whatha hell was that for? You could have…" He  started to say, but after hearing what he now sounded like, Casey  cleared his throat, and sheepishly said, "Uh… thanks, Starlithe."

The  light-purple unicorn nodded her head, and replied, "Your tongue's still  gonna be a little numb for a while, but I think you're good enough to  talk to her."

Casey thanked her again, and looked back at the alicorn princess. "Twilithe, you are tha best thing that has ever happened  to me… I learned what it was like to have friends because of you… and  I'm sorry for the way I have been acting these path few days… as well as  not saying what I am abouth to tell you rithe now."

Then, Casey  reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small red box, which made  Stardust quietly chuckle in amusement while Twilight's other self let  out a silent gasp.

Jack, is he about to do what I think he's planning on doing right now?

I'm not sure, love… let's just watch to see what happens ne - and, you're taking notes now... great...



###################


Jack took a deep breath, and after letting it out, he said, "This, love, is the surprise that I have for you."

Sunset  watched quietly as Jack pulled out a small gold-colored ring box, and  she felt herself starting to blush. "Um… Jack… are you…"

"Huh? Oh,  no, no, no… it's not that, Sunset," replied Jack, now feeling a little  embarrassed, and he handed the small box over to his girlfriend, who was  staring curiously at it. "Could you open it for me, please?"

Sunset  nodded her head, and she did what he asked… which resulted in her being  immediately surprised, and a warm smile appearing on Jack's face.

Inside  was a beautiful sterling silver promise ring that had a diamond  stone-version of her Cutie Mark, and as Jack placed his hand around her  own, Sunset noticed that he was wearing one, as well, but with a  different stone.


################


"I love all of the friends I've made since the day we met, Twilight… and I'm in love… with you."

Then,  he opened up the box, which was revealed to contain the turtle dove  necklace that she'd given back to him after their argument, and asked,  "Would you be… my… special somepony?"

Instead of speaking,  Twilight used her magic to place the necklace around her neck, and  before Casey could say anything, she delivered a soft kiss to his  muzzle, with the young pony closing his eyes as he eventually returned  the favor.


################


"You  are… amazing and… beautiful, Sunset Shimmer… and I never once imagined  that I would be in a relationship with such a lovely goddess…"

Then,  after he gently placed the promise ring around her finger, the young  man said, "I'm not sure exactly what the future holds for both of us,  but I do know that, whatever happens, it will be with us always being there for each other... and I'll always love you, no matter what."

At  first, Sunset was speechless, but then, a playful smirk appeared on her  face, and she asked, "Even if I were to ask you to come with me and the  rest of our friends on a return trip to Camp-"

"Sunset, love, if you even mention that godforsaken place, I will…"

The red-and-yellow haired teenager let out a laugh, and replied, "I was kidding, Jack… you can't be the only one to have a sense of humor."

"Oh, ho, you're going to pay for that, then," said Jack, who had a sly grin on her face.

"How so?"

Instead  of speaking out loud, Jack whispered his response into Sunset's ear,  and as he continued to talk, her face was becoming almost as red as her  hair.

"Ow! Rarity, stop pushing!"

"Well, I can't help it if I want to see what the ring looks like - whoa!"

Suddenly,  their intimate moment was interrupted by the arrival of EG Rainbow and  EG Rarity, both now lying on the ground after accidentally opening the  door.

"Uh… hey, you two, how's it going?" greeted the athletic  teenager, trying to sound casual as Jack rolled his eyes, and a  red-faced Sunset tried not to laugh. "Did, um, either of you happen to  see my soccer ball anywhere up here?"


###############


"Awwww, I just love happy end…" Sweetie Belle started to say, but then, she noticed something strange, and cried, "Oh, come on!"

As Casey and Twilight broke apart from their kiss, a nervous Rainbow said, "Um, you two might want to turn around."

The  two of them did just that, and they saw what everypony else was now  seeing, which was a swirl of silvery magic that was forming into the  shape of a very familiar pony… well, to everypony except Trixie, who was now hiding behind Starlight. "Who is that supposed to be?"

"Uh, hey, Kronos," greeted Stardust, making his way over to stand by Casey and his girlfriend's other self. "How's it going?"

The elderly pony, who was holding his staff once again, had an unreadable facial he said, "I toldyou both what would happen if I needed to show up again."

"Well,  now, hold on a sec," replied Casey. "The problem was taken care of,  Kronos, and we were just about to end off on a happy note until-"

Kronos  looked at him, with a slight frown, and said, "I see how grateful you  are for me bringing you back to life, Casey… what was the point if you  ended up being this close to death?"

"Hey, don't start  blaming him for anything," replied Stardust. "He wasn't the one who had  an evil psychopath trapped inside a damn ther-"

The elderly pony  glared at Stardust, and he exclaimed, "Don't you start with me, Jack  Wright… like I said, there would be consequences if I needed to show up  again… and you two have no idea what I had to go through to get this back… as well as having to fix the damage that Evil Stardust did while using it."

"Hey, you know how I feel about your [BEEP] memory erasing solution," said Stardust, now becoming irritated, but to his surprise, Kronos shook his head.

"If  I did that, things will probably get much worse before they even got  better," replied the elderly pony. "Instead… you two - and everypony  else, for that matter - are forbidden from going into the other pony's  world until further notice."

"What?!" exclaimed Casey,  who did not expect that to be his response. "Kronos, can't you just have  us do, like, community service or something?"

"Not after  everything that's happened in these worlds, along with others," replied  the elderly pony. "But since it's your birthday, I'll make things a  little easier for you… once you prove to me that you deserve to go see  him, or have Stardust come here, then my decision will be null and  void."

"Prove myself? Kronos, you've seen the things me and him have done together, why else-"

Before  he could continue to speak, the elderly pony interrupted by saying,  "That doesn't hide the fact that I have had to restore your life twice,  Casey, and thankfully, it did not need to happen for a third time… but  you have to start being more responsible, and spend more time in this world than in his… no two worlds are supposed to be the same, but you're becoming more like Stardust every time I see you."

"Okay, how in the he… ohhhh… right," replied Casey, having realized what Kronos was talking about. "Well, it's not exactly the same type of cloak… and I haven't cursed that much."

Kronos let out a sigh, and he said, "Look, I know this seems bad,  but it's what's best for both your world and his… now, you have until  the end of the day to spend with him, but as of tomorrow, no one is to go from this world to Stardust's world. Is that understood?"

Everyone  nodded their heads, but before Kronos got the chance to leave, Stardust  said, "Hey, wait a second. Why haven't you told me anything?"

"Because I'm currently not fond of any Stardust,  especially one that looks like the pony who has now given me a  headache," replied Kronos, frowning at the gold pony. "And you die  almost every week, so there's no reason for me to interfere in your world's events…"

Then, in a darker tone, he added, "I've also given you enough chances, so this will be the last one… because after today, if you or any Stardust causes me trouble, then I will make it so that you'll forever be stuck in the world that comes from one of the worst movies ever to be made... and it rhymes with Cabbage Patch Kids... so, in a way that's easy for you to understand, do not [BEEP] this up."

Having  finished saying what needed to be said, Kronos used the magic from his  staff to make himself vanish into thin air, and once he was gone, Trixie  asked, "Uh, does anypony here know what just happened?"

[Awesome (to me) Background Music - "Proposal" by George S. Clinton]

Everyone  else looked at Casey and Stardust, who were now facing each other, and  Casey was the first to speak. "So... does that mean we've reached  the..."

"The what happens now part?" replied the gold pony, and he nodded his head. "Yeah, I... guess so..."

Hearing  him say that made Casey realize something else. "So that means... until  I 'prove myself'... this is the last time we'll probably see each  other..."

Stardust was about to respond with something that  involved him assuring Casey they would be able to find some sort of  loophole around Kronos' ban, but to his surprise, Casey added, "I  think... I'm okay with that."

"You... are?" replied Twilight's counterpart, and the light-orange pony nodded his head.

"I haven't exactly been... fair to my friends in this world,  Twilight, when it comes to spending quality friendship time... and from  what I can tell, some of those friends haven't exactly been very happy  about that..."

A look of guilt started to appear on Starlight's  face, but before she could say anything, Casey continued to talk. "I've  always thought about what things that you and I could do after having  gone through some kind of epic adventure... instead of wondering what I  could've done with the friends I have here..."

He was  about to say more, but then, Stardust held up his front left hoof, and  said, "Let me stop you right there for a second... as much as I respect  and understand what you're saying to me, I am not about to let someone  like Kronos have the birthday of one of my closest friends on a  bittersweet note... we'll talk about ways of communication later, but  right now, tell me something that you'd want the two of us to do  together."

"Um... okay..." replied Casey, who took a moment to  think about it, and then, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Actually,  there is one thing I had in mind..."






A few minutes later


As Twilight magically lifted the light-orange pony onto the bird creature in front of her, she asked, "You sure about this?"

"It'll  be fine, Twilight, don't worry," assured Casey. "I'm gonna be sitting  down on him anyway, so it's not like my hind legs will be of much use."

Even  though she didn't agree with him completely, Twilight found herself  nodding her head, and he replied, "Thank you... oh, I just remembered, I  never received a birthday gift from you."

A playful smile  appeared on the young alicorn's face, and she said, "Well, the day's  still not over yet... and I prefer to give it to you when it's only the  two of us, so-"

"Hey! You two can flirt with each other and stuff back in your world," interrupted a grinning Stardust. "Right now, I got a race to win!"

Twilight  and Casey shared a quick kiss with each other, and as she backed away,  the young Earth Pony rolled his eyes as he said, "Dream on, Stardusk, I beat you once already, and I can sure as hell beat you again!"

"The hell you  did," exclaimed Stardust, but before he could say anything else,  Spike's other self - who was standing nearby - gave Twilight's  counterpart a pleading look.

"Can I ride with him, Twilight? Please?"

Twilight let out a sigh, and she reluctantly nodded her head. "Fine, but no fire attacks or anything, Jack... alright?"

"Uh-huh,  yeah, sure," replied Stardust, as his girlfriend used her magic to  place the little dragon beside him."You ready, little bro?"

"Heck yeah, I am!" cried Spike's counterpart, now full of excitement.

Stardust  looked back at Casey, with the two of them sharing a smile together,  and the light-orange pony said, "Alright, the race will begin in 3… 2…  1… go!"

Then, both his Pidgeot and Stardust's Charizard  took off flying, and after they made a turn, the dragon-like Pokémon  opened its jaws to perform a flamethrower attack.

"Whoooo-hooo!"

"Jack!"