//------------------------------//
// Unexpected Reunion 
// Story: My Little Pony: A Race Against Time 
// by CJ Esmerio 
//------------------------------//

Once Twilight had left the dungeon, the young alicorn made her way towards the library, and once she got there, she was surprised to find that her special somepony, along with her former pupil, were both getting ready to step through the Crystal Mirror.

"Leaving so soon? I thought you'd be interested in seeing what-"

Casey gave a quick chuckle, and he shook his head before saying, "I'm not exactly 'interested' to see what the outcome is of Beck owning up to the mistakes… though I certainly hope that it's a positive one."

Or else I'm gonna have to beat the living hay out of him if he causes her pain in any sort of way.

Although he'd come to accept the fact that taking Beck's life would not have solved anything, Casey was still unwilling to befriend the middle-aged pony in any sort of way because the memory of Beck assaulting Twilight was one that would never leave his mind.

Twilight looked over at the purple unicorn standing nearby, and she responded by giving a shrug. "He offered me the option of accompaning him, and I accepted… even though I honestly haveno ideawhere we're going."

The light-orange pony let out a sigh, and replied, "It's like Itoldyou, we're seeing an old friend that I really feel like talking to."

"Stardust?" wondered Twilight.

A smirk appeared on Starlight's face as she said, "Oh, hewishesthat he was seeing him right now… isn't that right?"

"No, but he does have somethin to do with the pony that weareplanning on seeing," answered Casey, even though part of him was agreeing with her.

It had been almost an entire month - more or less - since the last time he'd seen Stardust and Twilight's counterpart, and because Casey was still trying to fix his wristwatch, he'd been unable to get into contact with them to see how they were doing.

I'm really starting to regret not asking him or Princess Twilight if they'd been able to give me an extra book that works like the one Sunset uses,thought the young pony, and since all the time that had passed meant it had almost been a year for Stardust's world, that only made him miss the two of them even more.

"Not really surprising to hear that from you," Starlight rolled her eyes, and she shook her head. "Why don't you just spit it out, then, and tell mewhoit is that we're seeing exactly."

"Alright, sheesh, just relax," said Casey, trying to calm her down. "We're going to the world that Miles lives in."

Twilight became a little surprised after hearing him say that name. "The yellow Pegasus that Rowan took possession of?"

"Yup…" Casey nodded his head, and he was about to step through the Crystal Mirror when the purple alicorn told him to wait a moment. "What do you-oof!"

She handed him a very thick book, which had almost made Casey fall to the ground after recieving it, and she said, "Whatever you end up learning about Stardust, I want it to be put in here, along with the rest of what we know about him so far."

I should've known that she would ask me to do that for her… sheesh, how much stuff has she written in this thing?

After getting used to holding the book, Casey placed it in one of his cloak's pockets, and replied, "I'll do my best, Twilight… love you."

Then, after giving his special somepony a quick kiss on the cheek, Casey walked through the Crystal Mirror, and after a flash of bright light, he was gone.

Before going in herself, Starlight looked at Twilight, and asked, "So are you sure you'll be okay with whatever you have planned today regarding Beck?"

The confident alicorn nodded her head, and she replied, "I've got everything under control. You just enjoy your time with Casey."

"Eh, I'll try to," said a smirking Starlight, even though she was pleased that they'd been able to make up for lost time back when Casey had spent most of it in either virtual limbo or Stardust's world. "See you later, Twilight."

Then, after the two of them waved good-bye to each other, Starlight walked through the Crystal Mirror…

… and she expected to step into an exact replica of the library, but for some reason, that wasn't the case.

"Um, Casey? Why aren't we standing inside of a library?"

As the two ponies took a look around, a confused Casey replied, "I, er, don't know… but it looks like we're in some kind of laboratory."

They saw tables that held various test tubes and vials, along with several labeled potions, multiple pieces of machinery, and a few inventions that were catching their curiousity, but their focus on them was broken by the sudden appearance of a somewhat familiar Pegasus that wore a labcoat and a pair of glasses.

"Well, this is a surprise… can I help you two with something?"

Not wanting to get in some kind of trouble, Casey nodded his head before saying, "Hello, sir. I was wondering if you could tell us where, um, a Pegasus named Miles lives at in this world?"

Letting out a chuckle, the yellow and middle-aged pony smirked at Casey as he replied, "This may not be the castle, but this is somewhat my second home… and hello to you, too, Casey."

How did he know my name?thought the young Earth Pony, but after noticing the familiarity in his voice, as well as a few other recognizable body features, his mouth almost dropped to the ground once he realized who the Pegasus was. "Miles?"

"What… you're him?" said Starlight, who was equally surprised. "But how is… I mean, you were around our age the last time we saw you, and now, you look like someone's father."

An amused Miles, who also had a white-haired goatee, gave the two of them a warm smile, and replied, "That's because it's been almost 15 years since the day that I thanked you and the others for what you did."

"Fifteen years?" cried both Starlight and Casey.

Miles nodded his head, and he explained, "Time worksverydifferently in this world than how it is for you two in your own world."

No kidding,thought Casey, who was feeling relieved and grateful for that not being the case with him and Stardust.

And, as if by concidence, Miles became slightly nervous while asking, "Oh, um… is that one friend of yours coming, as well? Stardust was his name, if I recall correctly, yes?

Seeing the change in his expression and tone, Casey replied, "Not really, no… was there something you wanted to tell him?"

A sheepish smile appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "It's just that I, uh, never got the chance to personally offer him and his special somepony my sincere apologies for what had happened regarding my, um… well…"

Remembering all of the terrible stuff that a possessed Miles had done that involved Stardust, Casey let out a sigh, and tried his best to make the Pegasus feel better.

"I know that he isn't here, Miles, but I'm pretty sure Stardust and his Twilight aren't holding any sort of grudge or hard feelings against you for what happened… and, um, I'll be sure to mention this whenever I see them again."

A look of surprise appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "Really? You would do that for me?"

Casey smiled at the middle-aged pony, and he nodded his head. "I give you my word."

"Thank you very much," said Miles, giving him a warm smile of his own, in return. "I would've done it myself a long time ago, but personally, I'm not exactly comfortable with any sort of traveling that involves going to another world or universe, or back in time."

Starlight let out a small chuckle, and she replied, "You aren't the only one who thinks that, Miles… but, uh, I hope you're okay with talking to us about your own past… sort of."

"Well, I don't see what the problem is there," said an amused Miles. "What would you like for me to tell you?"

The purple unicorn looked over at Casey with a smirk, and the orange pony let out a sigh as he pulled out the book that Twilight had given him.

"That's quite a lengthy book you've got there, son…"

Casey let out a chuckle, and he replied, "Thanks, but Twilight wrote pretty much everything in here… anyway, what I wanted to ask was-"

Suddenly, before he could finish his sentence, Miles had something else that he wanted to say.

"Before you ask your questions, Casey, I wanted to know if you and Starlight would be interested in testing out one of my newest inventions."

"Really?" replied the young pony, who had been secretly hoping for him to ask something that. "Sure! Which one of these-"

Miles shook his head, and said, "It's over in the other room down the hall."

Casey looked at Starlight, who gave a small shrug, saying, "Sure, I guess… doesn't sound so bad or anything."

"Wonderful, then, just follow me," said Miles, and he began to lead them out of the lab. "Oh, you can leave that book in here if you want, Casey… no reason to continue carrying it."

"Thank you!"The young pony let out a sigh of relief after hearing that, and placed the book on a nearby desk before he and Starlight followed Miles to the door that would lead to wherever he planned on taking them.

As Casey and Starlight walked down with Miles down the hallway, the middle-aged pony looked over at them, with a curious expression.

"So, I take it that you two are an item now?"

Both of the two ponies frowned in confusion, and Starlight replied, "Item? Wait, do you mean…"

"... that me and her are both…?" finished Casey, who shared the same look of understanding with Starlight as they realized what Miles had asked them, and before the Pegasus could respond, the light-orange earth pony and purple unicorn quickly shook their heads.

"No, I'm dating Twilight... Starlight's like my sister…" Casey said, followed by a teasing smirk as he added, "Besides, she's not really my type."

"Not yourtype?" exclaimed Starlight, but after seeing that Casey was just being humorous, she decided to play along. "Oh, please, you aren't even in the same league as me."

Casey rolled his eyes, and replied, "I was able to get Twilight as my special somepony, wasn't I?"

Then, having realized what he'd just said, Casey quickly added, "Please don't tell her I ever said that, okay?"

An amused Starlight rolled her eyes, and she said, "Whatever you say,little brother."

"Thank you, Sta - wait,little?" exclaimed the light-orange pony. "Star, we're both the same age, and you're only ten inches taller than me… well, maybe fifteen if you add in all of this."

With a chuckle, Casey used his hoof to ruffle up Starlight's mane until she knocked it away with her own, and an observant Miles just shook his head. "I'm sorry I asked."





Several minutes after her special somepony and former pupil had left, Twilight was looking over her newly-created list of things that had to do with Beck's redemption process when said pony entered the library.

"Feeling better now?"

Beck nodded his head, and replied, "I, um, think I'll be okay, princess… so, how exactly do I, er, show that I want to be a better stallion?"

Lifting up the list she had been looking at, Twilight said, "Well, it's actually quite simple in theory. First, you need to apologize to everyone you've wronged,"

"Fair enough," said Beck, thinking that it didn't actually sound so bad. "Who's first?"

"Spike," replied Twilight, which made her newly-released prisoner feel a little more nervous. "What is it?"

Rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof,Beck said, "Um, I'm not exactly sure that will be easy, princess… and I mean no offense when I say this, but I nearly-"

"- inserted a dart into him that was designed to knock someone out in a morepermanentmanner, " finished Twilight, remembering the same words that Beck had told her, but this only made him feel more nervous. "I'm so sorry about that."

Beck let out a sigh, and muttered, "No, it's fine, princess, I get it… but I guess there's no harm in trying, right?"

Placing a hoof on Beck's shoulder, which elicited a small smile from the grateful earth pony, Twilight replied, "That's the spirit, Beck… looks like you're off to a good start."

"Thanks, Princess... so, um, where's Spike right now?"

The young alicorn gestured over to the door, leading out into the hallway, and she said, "He's tidying up his room, so now's probably a good time to talk to him."

Well, alright then,thought Beck, who inhaled and exhaled before walking out of the library, but a few seconds later, he came back with a sheepish smile. "Twilight, which way is-"

"Go to the end of the hall, turn right, and it's the third door on the left."

Beck blinked his eyes a few times before nodding his head, and he walked back out to make his way towards Spike's bedroom door.

Then, once he was standing in front of it,the middle aged pony let out a sigh, and knocked on the door with his right front hoof.


Knock-knock-knock!


"I swear if it's the Crusaders again, I am gonna..."Beck heard Spike mumble through the door before opening it. "Look, you three, I already-"

However, once the small dragon realized who had been the one to knock on his door, he immediately became silent, and his eyes went wide while a sheepish Beck chuckled a little bit before saying, "Um… how are-"

"Twilight!"exclaimed Spike, and he hurried out of the room, running past Beck before the Earth Pony could finish his sentence. "Casey! Starlight! Everypony! Beck got out!"

Well, that went swimmingly,thought the black-maned earth pony, now looking dejected.





"Um… I'm sorry if I sound rude, Miles, but what are we looking at here?"

Casey and Starlight were now in the room, looking at the invention that the yellow Pegasus had been talking about, and a smile appeared on Miles' face as he said, "This is a mixture of an X-Ray machine and what the humans call a CT scanner."

Seeing that they still looked confused, Miles added, "It's typically a large, box-like machine with a hole, or short tunnel, in the center, and one of you will lie on a narrow examination table that slides into and out of this tunnel…"

While Miles placed a hoof on the machine, with a proud look on his face, Casey asked, "What's the purpose of it, then?"

Miles' smile went away a little as he remembered the events from his past that had allowed himself to be completely possessed by Rowan, which then led to his downfall.

"To make sure that no one else will go through what I did when my special somepony was in a coma," replied the middle-aged pony., and he sighed before continuing. "This machine is designed to locate any kind of problems in someone's body, and erase them completely… unfortunately, things have been pretty, um, normal around here since the two of us came back that day."

Before Casey could say anything, Starlight (who still felt like messing with him) gave the young pony a pat on the back, and said, "Well, lucky for you, Casey here has had alotof catastrophic stuff happen to him since we last saw each other."

"Hey!"

Starlight rolled her eyes, and looked at him with disbelief while recounting past events in Casey's life. "You were sent to Stardust's worldandhis original homeworld, to virtual and dimensional limbo, to Anti-Equestria… Anti-Stardust almost beating you to death when he turned the castle of Stardust's Twilight into a stadium… you were brought back to life by Kronos' magic… the fight you had with Beck when he captured all of us… Rowan breaking your hind-legs…"

"Alright, I get it, a whole lot of **** happened to me." Casey let out a sigh, and took another look at Miles' machine. "Well, I said I wanted to help out, and that's what I'm going to do…"

Miles' smile returned, but Casey's own started to disappear a little since he was hoping that he wouldn't end up regretting this decision.





"Twilight!"

The purple alicorn looked up from her list, and saw a worried Spike entering the library. "Are you okay? Why are you-"

"It's Beck," exclaimed Spike, who was also trying to relax himself. "He got out of his cell!"

Oh, dear,thought Twilight, realizing that Beck's redemption process was definitely not starting out so great. "Look, Spike, I probably should have told you this sooner, but... I was the one that let Beck out."

"You WHAT?!" cried Spike, now getting even more worried. "Why would… wait, did he force you to do it? Are Casey and Starlight locked up? Is Beck going to-"

Suddenly, Twilight placed her front hooves on Spike's shoulders, and said, "Just calm down, Spike! Casey and Starlight are fine… and Beck only wants to make up for what he did, so I'm trying to help him."

The little dragon's mouth almost dropped to the ground after hearing that. "Are younuts?!Don't you remember all of those things he did to everyone, especially you?"

"Yes, Spike, I remember," Twilight replied. "But I can't just stand by and not let somepony have a chance to make things right again."

Then, right when Spike was about to yell out some more, Twilight added, "I also think it's fair enough that you hear him out since he technically was one of the reasons you were finally able to kiss Rarity after waiting so long."

Realizing that she had a point, the young dragon sighed, and after relaxing some more, he replied, "Okay, I guess you're right… but, what am I supposed to-"

"Hey, Twilight, I don't think your faithful assistant wants to…" said Beck, now entering the library, but stopped once he realized that Spike was in there, as well, and the two of them looked at each other in somewhat awkward silence.

It wasn't until the young princess cleared her throat that Spike took a few steps forward, and said, "Um… Twilight said you, er, had some kind of… apology to give me?"

After glancing over at a head-nodding Twilight, Beck replied, "I'm sorry, Spike… it's no excuse for what I did, but I was in a really dark place after the Tirek incident. My whole family, my best friend… all gone.

"But I think… I think it was losing my foal that sent me over the edge."

A minor look of surprise showed up on Spike's face as he said, "I… didn't know you had a foal."

Beck sadly nodded his head, and said, "I'll never forget the first day I laid eyes on him…"


Flashback - Many years ago


"Congratulations, it's a colt!" Nurse Redheart congratulated, handing the newborn to his mother, Twinkle Star.

"So, what are we going to name him?" Twinkle asked her husband, Beck.

"What about… Carl? I always appreciated the more simple names," Beck suggested.

A smile appeared on Twinkle's face, and she nodded her head. "Carl it is, then."

Just as she said that, the door opened and friends and family of the couple began pouring in to see the foal.

"Where is it? Where's my Grandfoal? Beck's mother said, making a B-line for Twinkle and the newly named Carl. "Ohhh, look how handsome he is... aw, I'm suddenly remembering the day that you were in his position, Becky."

"Mom, cut it out, please," muttered an embarassed Beck, while his wife silently giggled to herself.

"Leave our son alone, sweetheart… you two did a fine job, my boy," Beck's father said.

"Thanks Dad," Beck replied.

"If you ever need help, don't hesitate to call me or Chaffon," Carrot Cake said.

"Guess you're gonna be a little busier with the foal now, huh?" Night Light said.

Beck chuckled at his best friend's statement, and he replied, "You could say that… but I did promise that you and I would go to-"

"Beck?"

The new father pony turned his head back towards his wife, and said, "Yes, Twinkle?"

"Do you want to hold him now?"

Beck immediately beamed. "Sure."

He trotted to his wife's bedside and sat down, letting his forelegs become available. Twinkle carefully handed the now-sleeping Carl over to his father.

"Hi little one," Beck whispered. "Daddy's got you." Never before had Beck felt such pride in anything. He was a father. The only day that could come close to this was the day he and Twinkle got married.

"You're gonna grow up big and strong like your old stallion. I promise."


Present


"Being a father…" continued Beck. "It was a feeling I couldn't describe… now, I do love many things. My friends, my job, my family, and Twinkle especially, but Carl… he's something else. He was only…. a couple years old before it happened. Said his first words a week before I left as a matter of fact."


Flashback #2 - A week before the Season 4 finale


Beck was just getting home from town when his wife suddenly began to yell out for him.

"Beck! Beck, come quick!"

The green stallion dropped his saddle bags and booked it to Carl's room, where Twinkle was waiting.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Carl said his first word!" Twinkle said, ecstatic.

"Really?" Beck asked, the same feeling of pride from the day of Carl's birth returning.

"Come on, honey, say it again," Twinkle urged.

"... Dada…" Carl cooed.

"Oh, my Celestia," Beck gasped.He called me 'dad.'

Wiping away a couple of prideful tears, Beck turned to jest his wife. "I always knew he'd say my name first."

"Oh, quiet you," Twinkle said as she nuzzled her husband.

"Looks like my best friend owes me 20 bits now," muttered a still-grinning Beck.

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Huh? Nothing!"


Present


Then, Beck started to conclude his statement. "When Twilight never addressed the Tirek incident… or those who lost their lives, I just got… so angry. It was…. she was just… sweeping them all under the rug… like, she was sweeping my foal's death under the rug, as if my feelings meant nothing to her…

"I knew it was for the good of Equestria, but… but why did it have to be my family… my foal, that paid the price."

Now looking at both Spike and Twilight, Beck added, "I never wanted to hurt you, Spike. I only wanted to hurt Twilight…"

He paused to smile sheepishly at said princess. "Back then, of course…"

Twilight just nodded her head, and allowed Beck to continue.

"And it's because losing Carl was the worst feeling I ever experienced, so I wanted to make her feel that exact same thing."

The young dragon continued to remain silent.

"You honestly don't have to forgive me… I mean, I won't expect you to do so, but I at least want you to know that I'm sorry and extremely remorseful over my actions."

Once again, silence reigned, with Spike processing Beck's little speech, and Beck silently praying to Celestia that Spike wouldx at least, understand what he was saying.

As for Twilight, she had a pretty good idea on what was about to happen next.

"I'm sorry about Carl, Beck," said Spike, once he'd gained back the ability to speak.

"Thank You," Beck responded, but he could tell that the dragon had more to say.

"Don't get me wrong… what you did was really messed up though," pointed out Spike. "Not even Starlight stooped that low… but, Twilight still managed to reform her, so… who's to say she can't do it again?"

"Does that mean…."

Spike shook his head, as Beck had expected, and he replied, "No. I don't think that I can forgive you… yet. I still need, uh, a bit of time to process all of this. I respect that you're trying to be better, and I couldn't be happier for that, especially after going through what you did…. But…"

"… it doesn't change the past," said Beck, and Spike gave him a quick nod.

"Exactly."

Just take it one step at a time,thought Beck, and he gave Spike a small smile. "Thanks for listening, at least."

"No problem," replied Spike. "But, uh… Twilight, does this mean he's gonna apologize toeveryonethat he captured?"

A smirk appeared on Twilight's face, and she said, "Well, yes, but not all in one day, Spike… speaking of which, now that you're checked off, it's time for me to take Beck over to the house of the next pony that's on this list."

A nervous but also curious Beck found himself asking, "So, um, w-who would that be exactly?"