//------------------------------//
// Stardust's Goodbye 
// Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time 
// by CJ Esmerio 
//------------------------------//


(Takes place sometime after the ending of the previous chapter)



Unknown


"You… are by far… the worst excuse for a villain that I have ever seen before in my entire lifetime."

Inside of a darkened cavern, a bruised, chained-up, and battered Anti-Stardust angrily muttered some words underneath his breath after listening to the individual who was standing a few feet away from him.

"How is it that you and your friends were so easily defeated by an average human being, as well as an average Earth Pony?"

Anti-Stardust continued muttering to himself, and this led to the individual in front of him to make a small nod of the head, which was the go-ahead signal for one of the two henchman standing by the dark-gold pony to activate his deadly electrical prod.

"Aaaaaagggghhh!" yelled Anti-Stardust, as the servant rammed the tips of the prod into his side, sending a thousand volts of electricity into his roughed-up body, and this continued for a while until the Boss motioned for him to stop.

Unable to move, the young pony panted, body convulsing with aftershocks from the attack while the Boss shook his head in disappointment, and scowled at him.

"You've failed me too many times, Jack… you were unable to kill your other self, as well as his friend, after Rowan and Elixir's attempts backfired... you couldn't take overanyversion of Equestria… and you allowed the world of your original host to continue thriving…"

Once he was able to speak again, Anti-Stardust coughed a few times, and he said, "If that's how it'll be, then get someone else to do your fin dirty work… because I'm never dealing with those two ever again."

Then, the young pony stood up, and he glared at the individual standing in front of him with a look that meant he'd had enough of this.

"So, this is what's going to happen, Xenos… you're going to free me from these chains, give me back my friends, and once we're all gone, you can gof*** yourself."

Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way he'd hoped for… because after a moment of silence, a sly smirk appeared on Xenos' face.

"See, that's where you're wrong, Jack… you are done whenIsay that you're done… but first, youaregoing to pay for all of your recent failures… so, let's bring out your friends, shall we?"


Whoosh!


Suddenly, lights were shown in another part of the cavern, and Anti-Stardust saw that his girlfriend, along with the rest of the Anti-Mane 6, had been turned into statues, as well a large mallet lying on the ground in front of them.

"So, tell me, Jack," said Xenos, who made his way over to the wooden tool, and slowly picked it up. "Whom shall I break first?"

The dark-gold pony shook his head, and cried, "If you do one f*****thing to them, I will -aaaaggggghhhhh!"

Both of Xenos' henchman uses their metal prods on Anti-Stardust, and Xenos replied, "I guess I'll have to decide, then. How about Fluttershy?"

Before the electrocuted pony could even say anything, Xenos raised up the mallet, and brought it down onto the statue of Fluttershy, causing it to smash into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

"You… f***ing - aaaaaggghhh!"He tried to stop Xenos, but was stopped by the continuous jabs from his cronies' metal prods.

"This is all onyou, Jack," replied Xenos, speaking in a calm but threatening tone. "But I'll tell you what - why don't I get this over with so you don't have to be here that long."

Then, while continuing to be electrocuted, Anti-Stardust watched Xenos destroy the statues of Applejack, Rarity, and -

"No!" yelled the Earth Pony, after it seemed like Xenos was about to smash the statue of Twilight's anti-self, and a small smile appeared on the cruel mastermind's face as he motioned for the two servants to stop using their prods. "Please… don't kill Twilight…"

With eyes now becoming watery, Anti-Stardust looked up at Xenos, and begged for him to spare the alicorn's life. "I… I'll do anything… just don't… not Twilight, please."

To his horror, a sighing Xenos shook his head, and replied, "I'm sorry, Jack, but this is what needs to be done… if it helps, you can blame the 'Warrior of Twilight' for what I'm about to do."

Then, despite Anti-Stardust's protests, Xenos used the mallet to break the statue of his special somepony in half, and as the pieces hit the ground, with the edges breaking off into several tiny pieces, something snapped inside of the now-speechless pony, who could feel the tears sliding down both sides of his face.

"You… killed her… you... f***ing asshole…"

As soon as he said those words, one of Xenos' servants prepared to shock him yet again, but the loss of his girlfriend was the final straw for the alternate version of Stardust, so in one swift move, he broke apart his chains, forcibly took the electric prod from the servant, and with a cold look in his eyes, he said, "Let's see howyoulike it, you son of a b***ch."

Before the servant could say anything else, Anti-Stardust jammed the electric prod into his chest, and made it so that the electricity would continuously stay on, which then brought him over to the other servant.

"Guess who's next?"

A few seconds later, while the two servants were quickly losing their lives via electricity, a furious Anti-Stardust glared at Xenos, who slowly began to applaud the Earth Pony.

"Now,thatis what I like to see, Jack… and as a reward for coming back to your senses…"

Xenos snapped his fingers, and Anti-Stardust watched the alternate versions of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash return back to their normal state.

"Also, here's something that can be used to help you out on your next attempt to destroy your other self and his friend…"

A swirl of magic appeared in the hands of the evil mastermind, and by the time he was in front of Anti-Stardust, the Earth Pony was holding onto a staff that appeared to be a mixture of the ones that belonged to Kronos and Miles.

"Star…?" whispered Anti-Rainbow, who was slowly regaining her conciousness.

With a sinister smirk, Evil Stardust looked up at Xenos, and he replied, "Oh, I knowjusthow to take care of them…"





"So, you basically… created your own world of Pokémon?"

"Yeah, pretty much… why, you jealous that you didn't come up with it yourself?"

After taking a sip from his bottle ofCoke, Stardust smirked at his friend, and replied, "Far from it, Casey. I'm more curious about how in the hell you found the time to do all that."

Night had fallen in the world of the light-orange Earth Pony, and because the day was not yet over, he was spending the remaining hours just having a conversation with one of his closest friends.

"Well, uh, you remember that time when we weren't allowed to sleep in our bedrooms, or anywhere in the castle, to be specific?"

Stardust nodded his head. "Yep… had to sleep on a couch in Sunset's apartment that night, but I didn't really mind it that much, to be honest. Does this mean you got sent to-"

"Yup, I got sent to virtual limbo," replied a smiling Casey. "Spent almost an entire day just thinking about a place I would go to do whatever I want, whenever I want… even conjured up a temporary bed for that night, but it sounds like you were fine with just layin' on the couch."

The young Earth Pony rolled his eyes, and said, "Alright, let's move on to something else - what did your Twilight get you for your birthday?"

To his amusement, Casey's face started to turn a little red before giving the answer. "It, uh, wasn't much, to be honest… we just, ah, had a long, heartfelt conversation… followed by, er… us trying to make-out for the time."

"Trying?" repeated Stardust, who was trying his best not to laugh. "What, did you mess up or… something?"

"No, of course not," Casey quickly answered, shaking his head, and was now feeling a little embarassed. "We just… it was our first time, okay? I'm sure you must've felt the same way when you and your Twilight made out for the first time, right?"

Remembering when said event occured back in Anti-Equestria, Stardust just gave a small chuckle. "It's different for everyone, man, that's all I'm going to say."

Casey sighed, and he replied, "Why am I not surprised? Oh, before I forget, I've got to introduce you sometime to this new friend I made that lives in another world… actually, he kinda reminds me of you."

"How so?"

The young pony took a moment to think about it. "Well, he looks a little bit like the way you did when we all got sent to London, but more, um, older, I guess… and he had something called a, uh… oh, what was it…"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Twilight, as she made her way into the library, along with her counterpart, whom Stardust gave a curious look at.

"I feel like I should be asking you the same question… you two were talking longer than us."

His girlfriend simply gave him a smile, and she said, "Just some stuff you'd find rather uninteresting, Jack."

Then, turning her head over to look at Casey, the alicorn asked, "Did you enjoy your birthday today?"

Casey happily nodded his head. "Yup… well, aside from being in a wheelchair, getting my tongue stung by a bee, and Kronos showing up to say that there would be no traveling whatsoever between our worlds starting tomorrow… but other than that, I haven't had a birthday this memorable in a long time."

Twilight's other self smiled at Casey, and said, "Good… which, as always, now brings us…"

"... to the part where we talk about…" added Casey's special somepony.

"... what happens next… probably for the last time," muttered Stardust, with a hint of sadness in his voice, and Casey gave him a confused look.

"Well, it's not like it'll bethelast time, right? I mean, the last two times we didn't end up seeing each other resulted in Rowan almost wiping out all of the worlds that had another version of you, and Elixir pretty much being this close to ruling Equestria in your world while-"

Noticing Casey'sOmegamask lying on the desk nearby, Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Yeah, I remember…"

"It's just that, for some reason, time works differently between our worlds," added Twilight's counterpart, seeing that he still looked confused. "So, for example, a month here for you could be half a year for us."

"Half of a…" replied Casey, sounding surprised, and he also realized what this meant exactly. "So, like what happened the first time… except now you're here to-gah!"

Suddenly, a certain draconequs appeared in between the two friends, and he had an automatic time recorder next to him.

"I'm sorry to intrude on whatever was going on in here, but I would just like to let you know, Twilight, that my shift is over for tonight," said Discord, clocking out as he talked to Casey's girlfriend. "Let me know if I ever need to scare - I mean, watch over your sole prisoner again."

Then, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, and a concerned Twilight said, "Oh, no, I better go check on him…"

"I'm right behind you," replied Stardust's girlfriend, who followed after her counterpart, and that left the two Earth Ponies to just themselves once again.

After letting out a sigh, Casey said, "I know Twilight made her decision on Beck's fate, but sometimes I just…"

"Trust me, I get what you're saying," replied Stardust. "I've felt the same way towards… others that I prefer not to mention at the moment."

Rubbing the back of his neck with a front-hoof, Casey started to chuckle, and said, "I think I can guess who they might be… also, um, I never got to thank you for what you did back when Rowan…"

He gestured to his bandaged hind legs, and a small smile appeared on Stardust's face. "Like I told that a-hole, I'm not a killer… but I decided to make an exception just this once."

"And nobody appreciates that more than I do," replied a sheepish Casey. "Well, along with my Twilight, I'm sure… but, um…"

Taking a look at the time on his wristwatch, Casey was reminded of the fact that Stardust (and his Twilight) had to return to their world before midnight arrived, or else something bad was probably going to happen.

"Do we… or… uh…" said the young pony, who was unsure as to whether or not to embrace Stardust or offer him a hoof-shake, but to his surprise, Stardust provided the answer by giving Casey a hug.

"You take…. take care of yourself, okay?"

Even though Casey couldn't sense the emotions of others like how Stardust could, the light-orange pony could tell by his friend's voice, as well as his own feelings, that this wasn't exactly easy for him to do.

"I will… and, uh, can you make sure that he does the same, Starswirl?"

Despite past occurences, I will do the best that I can,replied the voice of Stardust's mentor, and his pupil rolled his eyes while moving away from Casey.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, I practically die almost every other Tuesday…"

Well, you've only actually died just a few times, Jack… it's mostly being on the verge of death until something happens to prevent it.

As Stardust activated the Crystal Mirror, a chuckling Casey shook his head, and said, "I'm gonna miss seeing you too, Starswirl… I mean, uh,hearingyou."

And the same from me to you, as well, Casey… you're certainly not the same pony that you once were on the day you first arrived back in our world so long ago.

Stardust nodded, in agreement, and said, "You know I wasthis closeto probably tossing that necklace of yours into the portal you flew into?"

Casey began to laugh, and once he was done, the young pony said, "Good bye, Stardust… untill we meet again?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," replied a smirking Stardust. "You got me into all this that day you showed up in my world… so you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

The two of them shared a quick moment of laughing together until Casey watched his best "guy" friend step through the Crystal Mirror, and a few seconds later, Stardust was gone.

"I wonder if I should've told him about the pil - oh, hey, Princess Twilight."

Making her way into the library, Stardust's girlfriend said, "You don'talwayshave to call me that, Casey… just 'Twilight' is fine."

Casey sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "Also, uh… since you don't seem to bethatangry or irritated… I wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry for, um… thinking you were my Twilight during that whole mess with Elixir…"

To his surprise, Twilight's counterpart just blushed a tiny bit as she said, "It's alright, Casey, I know now what you were going through at the time… and I'm glad that this world's version of me is with someone like you."

"Well… I mean, I'm not like perfect, or… heh, heh…" replied Casey, feeling the same way he used to back when he had first met his Twilight.

Then, his surprise grew when Twilight's other self gave him a hug, as well a quick kiss on the cheek. "Take care, Casey… and happy birthday."

"Uh… t-thanks, Twilight," said a blushing and sheepish Casey, and he watched her go through the mirror, as well, so that she could return to her world.

A few moments later, having again realized that it would be a long time before he would see either of them again, an emotional Casey muttered, "Why can't I cry on the inside like AJ does?"

Wiping away the small tears that were around his eyelids, the young pony began to leave the library when he suddenly let out a small cry of pain.

"Ow! What the…"gasped Casey, placing a hoof on his chest, but the pain only lasted for a few seconds before going away, much to his confusion. "That was… strange…"