• Published 21st Jan 2017
  • 1,385 Views, 22 Comments

My Little Pony: A Race Against Time - CJ Esmerio



Twilight and her friends have faced many challenges, but when they meet a mysterious and revenge-seeking pony that has them traveling around other worlds, things start to take a big turn.

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The Final Battle

Author's Note:

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, and the OC character known as Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight.

Sensing that Miles wasn't going to get up anytime soon, Stardust decided to take a quick moment to float over towards Twilight, and check on how Starlight. "You okay?"

The exhausted unicorn nodded her head, and said, "Yeah, I'll be... just fine..."

Nodding his head, Stardust turned his attention to Twilight. "You might want to take her back home, Twilight... along with everypony else."

He then started to move one of his hooves around, creating a portal, and placed it near the rest of their friends.

Princess Twilight was about to suggest something else, but Stardust shook his head, saying, "Trust me, love, it's what's best for them."

"Well, it's about time we got out of here," exclaimed Sour Sweet, sounding annoyed, but before entering the portal, she smiled sweetly at him. "But thanks anyway! Good luck with your death battle!"

Stardust simply nodded his head, while Sugarcoat followed after her bipolar friend. "Even though I'm well aware of the fact that you don't like or hate me and her, I appreciate your concern for our safety... so try not to die."

Once she was gone, the rest of the EG girls did the same, as well as Sunset and Sci Twi, leaving only the pony versions of the Mane Six, Princess Twilight, Casey, and Starlight.

"Now, hold on just a minute there, sugarcube," responded Applejack, who wasn't in any type of hurry to leave. "None of us are leavin' until we make sure that Mr. Cloaked Pony over there doesn't bother any of us ever again."

"No one else is going anywhere... and neither are you!"

Stardust turned around, and saw Miles, who was also in a straight posture, and glowing with his own energy. "Took you long enough."

Miles gritted his teeth in frustration, and cried, "I warned you about being a hero, Stardust... and now, you're about to pay the ultimate price."

"Oh, ho, it's on, mother[BEEP]," said Stardust, and the former human charged at his new nemesis, with every intention of destroying him.

Miles used his staff to fire an energy blast, but Stardust simply knocked it away with his hoof, without even stopping. "Oh, you've got to be-"

The cloaked pony was cut off after Stardust delivered a right uppercut to Miles' jaw, sending him flying into the air.

"You don't get to talk anymore, asshole," exclaimed Stardust, and he quickly grabbed the staff, tossing it over to Twilight.

Then, he went to catch up to Miles, and clasped his hooves together, bringing them down onto his enemy's skull.

Why does this seem familiar? thought Princess Twilight, unaware of the fact that her necklace (which had yet to be replaced by the real one that Miles had with him) was starting to glow.

Miles quickly flew straight down to the ground, but before he could even get up, Stardust picked him up, and tossed him headfirst into a nearby brick wall.

"When did that get here?" wondered Rainbow Dash.

"He probably just imagined it being there," answered Pinkie. "You can do anything you want in here, remember?"

As Stardust started walking over to Miles, the cloaked pony cried, "You aren't even fighting fair!"

"You should've thought about that before you decided to kill two of my closest friends," replied Stardust, and he knocked away another one of Miles' attempted energy blasts.

Miles then started firing multiple blasts at Stardust, all at once, but the young pony swiftly sent all of them away with ease, and once Stardust was in front of him, Miles tried to deliver the same punch to his chest as he'd done previously, but Stardust quickly blocked it. "Not this time."

Before Miles could even say anything, the young pony delivered a powerful and solid punch into his chest, knocking the air out of him.

Alright, Jack, that's enough.

Ignoring what Starswirl had to say, Stardust used his imagination to create a row of multiple leaf-less trees, and got a tight grip of Miles, bringing him up to his face.

"This will teach you to mess with my friends," growled the furious pony, and threw him like a Frisbee, with Miles crashing into each and every single tree.

Once Miles got to his knees, the cloaked and weakened pony pounded his hoofs on the ground. "No... this can't be happening... this can't be real... this is not the way this ends!"

Stardust made his way over to Miles, and started to laugh. "And you said I was a pathetic pony."

With that being said, the young pony began powering his energy up to max, and was about to deliver a final blow when he heard a familiar voice yell, "STOP!"

Turning to see who it was, Stardust's eyes became wide with surprise. "Love? Wha - what are you..."

"Thank you for your help, Stardust, but I can take over from here," said Princess Twilight, whose necklace was glowing as bright as he was, and the purple alicorn turned her attention to Miles. "Rowan, I'm giving you one last chance to release Miles, or else I'll do it for you."

"Rowan?" exclaimed Stardust, as well as the rest of their friends, and Miles started to laugh.

"Well, well, it looks like you found a way out of your coma, princess."

Princess Twilight nodded her head, and said, "Indeed I did, Rowan... now, do as I said, and RELEASE Miles NOW!"

"Um, what the hay is goin' on right now?" Applejack asked, and everypony (except for Princess Twilight and Miles) looked at Pinkie Pie, who shrugged her shoulders.

"What? I don't know, either!"

Miles looked up at Princess Twilight, and then, he started to scream in pain... but for some reason, it sounded like a mixture of Miles' own voice, and another pony that no one recognized.

"Starswirl? What's going on?" wondered Stardust, looking back and forth between his enemy and special somepony.

I... am not exactly sure myself right now, Jack...

Stardust tried to say more to his elderly friend, but then, he found himself looking at the screaming Miles, and saw that the dark energy surrounding his body was rising up into the air, slowly transforming into the outline of a Pegasus' body. "What... the... [BEEP]?"

Once all of the energy had left Miles' body, the cloaked pony collapsed to the ground, now unconscious, and Stardust noticed that he looked completely nicer than before... and noticed a familiar object (Princess Twilight's real necklace) hanging out from one of Miles' cloak pockets. Isn't that Twilight's necklace?

He also looked up, seeing a menacing and jet-black colored Pegasus pony, whom he assumed was "Rowan", and turned to look back at Princess Twilight... just in time to see a white and ghost-like orb come out from her necklace (the fake one), with both of them disappearing. "Uh... love?"

Princess Twilight shook her head a few times, and rubbed her forehead, acting as if she'd just woken up from a powerful trance. "Jack? What... what happened?"

"Twilight, why did..." said Stardust, but his sentence was cut off when he suddenly felt strange.

Jack? Are you alright?

"I... don't..." Stardust replied, but then, he felt a sudden pain in his chest, and collapsed to the ground. "What... why...?"

"Jack!" Princess Twilight sat down, as well, trying to help him sit up, while the rest of their friends hurried over to see what was wrong with Stardust.

Rowan floated down to the ground, and his muzzle became a wide grin. "You may have discovered a new power, Jack, but did you really think that I would let you have the last laugh?"

Trying to ignore his chest-pain, Stardust exclaimed, "What the hell are... you... blabbering on about now?"

"You're about to die, Jack... and be erased from existence..."

Princess Twilight frowned, and asked, "What do you mean? What did you do?"


(Stardust's Past)

"... the thought of losing you to that monster forever... it wasn't something I could live with..."

From his secret spot in the gardens, Rowan (in Miles' body) looked up to see Twilight, who was having a conversation with a less-weary Stardust.

"Twilight..."

"I heard what you said to Spike..."

Using the staff's power to make himself invisible, Rowan started to rise into the air, and slowly made his way to the two ponies, as well as transforming the staff into a silver sword.

"And sometimes your low self-esteem astounds me, Jack Wright..."

However, before Stardust could give his response, the two of them were interrupted by the cloaked pony, deciding to reveal himself, and without letting them have a chance to say anything, Rowan swung the sharp-edged weapon, bringing it down onto Stardust's skull.


A furious Stardust tried to get up, but the pain became too unbearable, and he fell back down to the ground. "You... you... son of a..."

"Yes, Jack... I went back in time, to your past, and killed you," said Rowan, smiling with victory. "And in a matter of minutes, you will cease to exist... leaving me to have the-"

Whoosh!

His sentence was interrupted by an unexpected blast that came from the staff, making the evil pony disappear, and everypony else turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who was holding the staff. "I wanted to help Stardust beat him."

Princess Twilight was about to say something, but then, she heard Stardust coughing, and brought him over to her so that she could hold the young pony in her front limbs.

"Jack, it's... it's okay..." said the young alicorn. "We can find a way to fix this."

"I don't know if... you can, love..." replied Stardust, whose body was starting to become transparent. "I should have... seen this... coming..."

A sense of sadness was felt between all of the ponies, but Princess Twilight shook her head, refusing to give up, and holding back in her tears. "Don't you do this to me, Jack... you may have lost me once, but I've lost you more than that... you have to hang in there."

"I'm... sorry..." said Stardust, whose voice was also becoming weaker, but as tears started falling from Princess Twilight's eyes, he eventually faded away completely, out of existence.

Nopony had any idea what to say about what had just happened with Stardust.

"Jack... no..." sobbed Princess Twilight, who was holding onto the necklace that Stardust had given her.

Applejack took off her hat in respect for the gold pony, and said, "We're sorry this happened, Other Twilight... I sure wish we could do somethin' to make ya feel better."

"Actually, there is a way..."

Everypony turned around, and saw Miles, who was no longer glowing, as well as appearing less terrifying.

"Really?" Princess Twilight said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Tell me, please... I'll do whatever it takes."

Before Miles could respond, Rarity let out a scream, and suddenly, there was a broomstick in her hooves.

"You monster! How dare you kill Stardust!"

She then proceeded with using the broom to whack him several times, causing Miles to cry, "Ow... Rarity, I - ow... didn't - ow... stop hitting me!"

Rarity raised the broom above her head again, but Applejack pulled it out of her grasp, saying, "Just settle down, Rarity, he wasn't the one who killed Stardust, it was that Rowan fella."

"Oh... yes..." said Rarity, realizing that her friend was right. "Sorry about that, darling."

"It's... perfectly fine..." replied Miles, and then, he made a gesture at the staff that Pinkie Pie was holding "Twilight, you must take the staff, and go back in time to stop Rowan from ever attacking Stardust."

"But won't that affect you in some way?" Princess Twilight wondered, tilting her head to the side. "For all we know, I could end up erasing you from existence."

Miles shook his head, saying, "I can see why you would think that, Princess, but you need not to worry about me... just keep him from interrupting the kiss that you and Stardust share, and then, it'll be like nothing ever happened."

As Princess Twilight accepted the staff from Pinkie, Miles added, "Once the past versions of you and Stardust kiss, he'll end up being part of a different timeline, and cease to exist... then, you can return back here, and the present self of Stardust will come back."

Princess Twilight looked down at the necklace that she'd received as a gift from Stardust, and after a brief moment of silent thinking, the young alicorn nodded her head. "I'll do it."

"Good, but you must act swiftly," reminded Miles, looking concerned. "You only have a short amount of time before he succeeds in killing Stardust."

Princess Twilight nodded her head, and began using the staff to create a portal, which she then entered once it was created.

"Speaking of which... were exactly did you, um, send Rowan to, Pinkie?" asked Rarity.

The pink pony laid against her party cannon, and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't remember... but I'm sure it was to a place that a meanie like him deserved to go to."


(Stardust's Past)

The portal appeared in the gardens, and Princess Twilight stepped out, quickly searching for any sign of Rowan.

"For me... It made me realize exactly how much I care for you, even now..."

Princess Twilight looked up, and could see the past version of herself talking to Past Stardust.

She even found herself mouthing the same words that her past self was saying.

"And when Sombra took hold of you... The thought of losing you to that monster forever... Wasn't something I could live with..."

Then, she saw another portal appear a few feet away, and frowned after seeing Rowan step out.

"Ahem!"

The sinister pony turned around, and once he saw Princess Twilight, he became confused and irritated. "What are you doing here?"

The alicorn princess glared at Rowan, and said, "This is for Jack, you [BEEP]."

Before Rowan could say anything else, Princess Twilight fired an energy blast at the cloaked pony, causing him to suddenly vanish into thin air.

Feeling satisfied, the young pony was about to head back to Limbo, but took a moment to watch the event in front of her unfold.

"Twilight..." said Past Stardust, but he also wondered why he was even talking in the first place.

"I heard what you said to Spike..." replied Past Twilight, whose muzzle was only a few inches away from his. "And sometimes your low self-esteem astounds me, Jack Wright..."

"With good reas-"

Princess Twilight smiled widely, and could almost feel her heart soar as the past versions of herself and Stardust shared their... was it their first kiss?

She also watched the past versions of their friends arrive to offer their congrats, as well as her past self and Past Stardust sharing another kiss.

"I'll see you soon, Jack," whispered Princess Twilight, and then, once the portal was created, she stepped inside it.

Whoosh!

"Huh?" Past Stardust found himself pausing his kiss with Past Twilight to turn around.

"You alright, sugarcube?" Past Applejack asked.

Past Stardust nodded his head, but didn't look too sure. "I thought... I heard someone else..."

Past Rainbow started to chuckle, and told him, "I think you've been kissing Twilight too long."

Past Twilight felt herself blush while Past Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I know what I heard... I'll come back tomorrow to find out."

"Oh, um, actually, Jack..." said Past Twilight, who was still blushing. "I was hoping that you'd come with us to the Crystal Empire tomorrow."

Past Stardust thought about it, and nodded his head, saying, "Sure, Twilight... I mean, it's not like anything terrible is going to happen tomorrow."


(Limbo)

"I wish I'd never agreed to go..."

"Jack?"

Stardust opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the concerned face of Princess Twilight.

"Twilight? But... I thought... didn't I..."

He was cut off after Princess Twilight decided to kiss him, and it only took a moment for Stardust to return the favor.

I told you she'd be able to bring you back, said Starswirl, from inside of the young pony's mind.

Everypony else smiled at what was going on in front of them, glad that the two ponies had reunited, and once they had finished kissing, Pinkie Pie said, "Welcome back, Stardust! How was it wherever you went?"

"Thanks, Pinkie," said the young pony, who was also still wearing the Cutie Mark necklace. "And it was... um... a very interesting experience."

"How so?" Twilight asked, as she prepared to write whatever he was going to say in her Stardust notebook, which made her friends roll their eyes.

"Well, it was like I was going through a very rapid flashback of my entire life," replied Stardust, who couldn't see what the young alicorn was doing since he was facing away from her. "It started from when I was a little boy, then to the first time I arrived in Ponyville..."

"Uh-huh, yep, yep, interesting," mumbled Twilight, writing as much as she could. "So, what else happened?"

Before Stardust could explain more about his "death experience", Miles made his way over to them. "I'm glad to see that you are alive, Stardust."

The gold pony looked at the yellow Pegasus pony in front of him, and a frown appeared on his face. "I can't exactly say that I'm glad to see you, pal."

"Jack!" Princess Twilight exclaimed, resisting the urge to thump him across the head.

"Hey, you don't know how I felt to see AJ and Applebloom become damn apple sauce," replied Stardust, who still had mixed feelings about the apparent mind games. "Once I see that they're alive, I'll maybe act a little more nicer to him."

Miles sighed, deciding that it was time for him to leave, so he used the staff to create a portal that led to his world, and before stepping inside, he took a final look at all of the little ponies.

"Thank you, everypony... for all that you've done..."

Whoosh!

The portal disappeared, and everypony started to look at each other.

"So... uh, how exactly are we going to get home?" Rainbow asked, after a moment of awkward silence.

Stardust chuckled, and took a quick look at his necklace, which contained the special power he had earned. "I can take care of that."

He then turned his attention over to Princess Twilight. "You have no idea how glad I'm going to feel once we're back in our own home."

"I'm pretty sure that I do, Jack," replied his girlfriend, smiling back at him.

"But you are coming to the party, right?"

Stardust looked at Pinkie Pie, who was staring right back at him, and he asked, "What party?"

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. "Well, duh, the alternate-world-saving-and-making-new-friends-from-other-worlds party!"

"You're... inviting both of us?" Princess Twilight said, sounding surprised.

"Uh-huh, I sure am, Other Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, giving them a wide smile. "I am inviting you, Stardusty, and the other versions of us from your world to my super duper awesome party!"

Princess Twilight smiled, and was about to respond to her, but the gold Earth pony had something else to say first.

"Yeah, that's... not happening, sorry," replied Stardust, who was shaking his head.

"You... don't want to come w my party?" Pinkie Pie asked, her smile going away as she started to become sad.

Stardust sighed, and was about to confirm what she had said when, to his surprise, Princess Twilight said, "Of course, Pinkie, I'd love to go... and I'm sure the others would, too."

"What!?" Stardust couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Princess Twilight looked at her special somepony, and simply said, "You don't get to decide for me and the rest of our friends, Jack, when it comes to something as simple like this... it's just a party."

Stardust could almost feel his muzzle drop, and before he could say anything to that, Pinkie Pie approached him, with eyes as big as a saddened puppy.

"Can you please come to my party?"

"I..." Stardust began to say, but he noticed that, once again, everypony else was looking at him. "Oh, come on!"

The wide-eyed and pink colored pony continued to look at him. "Can you please, please, please come to my party? Please?"

Stardust wanted to say no, but he could feel the stares from everypony else, and Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to cry if she didn't hear the right answer.

What has happened to me?

"So... are you coming or not, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

Stardust hung his head down, placing a hoof on his forehead, and said, "Okay... fine... I will come... but can you have it tomorrow, at least? I would like to spend the rest of today in my own world."

Pinkie Pie instantly went back to her happy self, and let out a giggle. "You silly pony, you didn't really think I'd have it today, did you?"

"It never stopped you before," muttered Stardust.

"Well, don't worry, I'll make sure to have it tomorrow," replied Pinkie. "And do you-"

The gold pony sighed, knowing what she was going to ask him. "Yes, I pinkie promise to come... Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

To his surprise, Pinkie Pie giggled again, saying, "I wasn't going to ask you to do that, Stardusty, I was going to ask if you wanted something special to drink at the party."

Well, now, you definitely have to go, Jack.

Ignoring the voice of his elderly friend, the young pony replied, "It's Stardust, Pinkie... and I'd like to drink some Coca-Cola."

"Hmmm..." said the party-planning pony. "Not exactly a drink I'm familiar with, but I'll make sure to get you a bucket of it when you come tomorrow!"

As Stardust nodded his head, Princess Twilight whispered, "I thought that drink only existed in your world."

"Yeah, but after everything that this Pinkie has done ever since she was able to find out who I was, I wouldn't be surprised if she did find a way to get it," replied Stardust.

Pinkie was about to ask him another question, but then, they all heard the voice of a familiar alicorn princess.

"I'm afraid there might not be a chance for the party, Pinkie."

Everypony turned their heads to the side, and as Stardust saw who had spoken, he quickly became frustrated, exclaiming, "Where... the [BEEP]... have YOU been?"

Princess Celestia looked at Stardust, and her muzzle became a small smile. "I've heard so much about you, Stardust Balance... it's an honor to meet a heroic pony, such as yourself."

"Thanks, but that doesn't exactly answer my question," replied the frustrated pony. "And I'm not exactly pleased to see you since the version of you from Miles' world is the whole reason all of this [BEEP] happened in the first place."

As the two of them spoke to each other, Casey turned to his side, and saw Twilight writing in her Stardust notebook.

"Really, Twilight?"

The young alicorn nodded her head, saying, "This is very important for my story, Casey..."

Pinkie Pie walked over to one of the rulers of Equestria, and asked, "What do you mean there's not a chance?"

"I've been watching all of the worlds that you, Stardust, the two Twilights, and Casey have traveled to, making sure that they have been properly restored," explained Princess Celestia. "And now that Miles has returned to his, that leaves us with ours and theirs."

The white alicorn made a gesture towards Stardust and Princess Twilight, and Casey said, "Forgive me, your Highness, but I don't think there has been any damage to either of our worlds."

"I wish that were true, Casey," replied Princess Celestia, now looking sad and somewhat regretful about what she was going to say. "But the fact of the matter is that these events were never supposed to happen in the first place, so I have come up with only one solution."

Stardust raised an eyebrow, and frowned as he asked, "What would that be, Celestia?"

The ruler of Equestria looked over at Starlight, and said, "I believe that you've been able to succeed in learning how to perform the memory spell?"

"Um... yeah, I think... why?" The purple unicorn replied, who still did not remember that she'd used it on herself.

"It would be best for everypony if these events were forgotten," said Princess Celestia, but before she could explain more, Stardust chose to interrupt her.

"Are you [BEEP] insane?!" He yelled, outraged with her apparent solution. "That is literally the worst thing you could possibly do!"

Princess Celestia looked at Stardust, and said, "I'm afraid there is not any other choice."

"To hell there isn't, [BEEP]!" Stardust exclaimed, his eyes glowing with anger. "You cannot [BEEP] be this [BEEP] to suggest erasing all of this from our minds! How [BEEP] can you-"

"Jack, relax... let me handle this," said the spirit of Starswirl, who had suddenly appeared next to the former human, and walked over to stand in front of Princess Celestia, bowing his head. "Your Highness..."

The white alicorn smiled, nodded her head, and Starswirl rose his head up. "Forgive the foul language of my friend... he's not exactly fond of you."

"And for a [BEEP] good reason," muttered the annoyed Earth Pony.

"Anyway... he is also correct, in a way," replied Starswirl. "You cannot simply erase the events that have happened from all of their minds... not when they have already established a bond of friendship, and I think both of our princesses of friendship can agree with me on that."

Everypony looked at the two Twilights, with both of them nodding their heads, and Princess Celestia asked, "So, do you have another solution in mind, old friend?"

"Indeed I do, your Highness," said Starswirl, and suddenly, two versions of the Crystal Mirror appeared a few feet away from them. "Aside from these being a gateway to yours and our version of the world that Sunset Shimmer stays at, they can also be of one between your world and ours."

Applejack rose her hoof in the air, and asked, "Um, pardon my interruption, y'all, but what about all of those worlds that Twilight and the others went to, and that Rowan fella?"

"Ah, yes, I was about to get to that," responded the spirit. "Since they were all able to be brought back to their rightful state, including Miles' world, I see no reason for either of us to travel to them ever again, so it would be best to close all possible entrances to those worlds, and only allowing passage between your world and ours.

"As for Rowan... well, I think Pinkie has made it so that he can never bother either of us ever again."

Pinkie became surprised as she heard that, and asked, "Really? How did I do that?"

Starswirl was about to reply, but Princes Celestia chose to say, "I think that is a perfect idea, Starswirl... thank you for finding a way to avoid having Starlight perform her spell."

The purple unicorn let out a huge sigh of relief, which made Twilight chuckle, and she said, "Yes, thank you, Starswirl, I didn't think I had enough energy to perform that type of spell."

Starswirl looked over at Twilight's pupil, and raised an eyebrow. "And yet you were able to find energy to make an alteration to my Time Scroll, during your quest for revenge against Twilight and her friends, which could have ended almost as horrible if Rowan had taken over both our worlds?"

Starlight quickly began to feel embarrassed, and she found herself stuttering as she said, "Well, I-I-I... t-that was such a l-long, er..."

"My dear, there is no reason to panic. I was merely being humorous... my apologies."

"Oh... right," replied Starlight, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I mean... that's, uh, okay..."

Princess Celestia nodded her head, accepting Starswirl's suggestion, and Pinkie asked, "So I can still have my party, right? Cause Stardusty 'pinkie promised' me that he would go..."

She then turned to face Stardust, giving him a look that almost made him nervous. "... and nopony breaks a pinkie promise."

Princess Celestia smiled, and said, "Yes, Pinkie, you may have your party."

"Yippie!" Pinkie Pie cried, her body filling up with excitement. "I'm gonna get started right away on what's going to happen tomorrow!"

Then, like a pinball in a machine, Pinkie bounced all around, and zoomed right through the portal that led to her world... leaving everypony speechless and silent for a few minutes.

"So, um... where exactly did Rowan end up at?" wondered Fluttershy.

"Just know that he'll never bother any of us again, my dear," replied Starswirl, smiling at the yellow Pegasus pony.


Meanwhile...

Once Rowan had finally woken up, the first thing he saw was Twilight Sparkle sticking out her tongue at him.

"What the he... aaagghh!"

Rowan quickly moved away after seeing and realizing that the purple unicorn's body was not attached to her own head.

"No... oh, no, no, no, no," said Rowan, also figuring out where he was. "Please don't play that-"

Yes the perfect gift for me

Is a smile as wide as a mile

To make me happy as can be

"No!"

Rowan then looked up, and saw an alternate version of Pinkie Pie, who was preparing to unleash her own Super Spirit Bomb that would lead to the planet being destroyed.

"Noooooo!"


The only ponies that were still in Limbo were Twilight, Casey, Stardust, and Princess Twilight, while everypony else had went back home.

"So, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, then?" Casey said.

Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Yes, as soon as I wake up... whenever that is."

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes at Stardust, and politely bid the other two ponies goodbye before entering the portal that led to her world.

As for the human-turned-pony himself, Stardust offered a hoofshake to Twilight, who surprised him by giving the young pony a hug instead.

"Thank you, Jack, for saving me and Starlight earlier," said Twilight, in a sweet tone that made Stardust feel a pleasing warmth in himself. "Or do you prefer Stardust?"

"Um... well, I usually let only my Twilight call me by my real name," explained Stardust, who was slightly blushing. "But you are... well, Twilight Sparkle, so... er, maybe you can call me that when it comes to moments like this."

Twilight smiled, and nodded her head, saying, "Fair enough..."

Then, before he could leave, the young alicorn gave him a kiss on the cheek, and teased him a little by saying, "I can see why she likes you."

Casey tried to hold in his laughter, while Stardust found himself unable to move.

"Uh... I... whoa!" Aside from his body temperature starting to heat up, Stardust didn't know what to say, but then, a purple limb came out from the portal, and pulled him inside, which left only Casey and Twilight to themselves.

"You ever gonna tell him about the Adventures of Stardust?" Casey asked, referring to her thick notebook that contained the abridged version of the gold pony's story.

"Maybe one day," replied Twilight, giving a shrug. "Besides, I'm not even calling it that anymore."

Casey smirked at his potential girlfriend, and asked, "What's the new title, then?"

Twilight told him what it was, and Casey began to laugh. "Yep, that makes sense."

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