My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

Stardust's Mistake, Part 2

Author's Note:

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

"Twilight... love...I need... to breath..."

The alicorn-turned-human had her arms wrapped tightly around Stardust, and she quickly released him from her grip once his face started turning purple. "Oops, sorry."

Kronos sighed, his voice laced with feelings of sadness. "I warned you that this would not be easy to watch."

"So, he basically killed her?" Applejack asked, while Stardust was taking several deep breaths.

The elderly man moved one of his hands from side to side, and replied, "Eh, kind of, just not in the way that a human would... Jack, do you remember what Rowan did to the other alternate versions of yourself?"

Nodding his head, Stardust was also starting to frown as he remembered the damage that Miles - no,Rowanhad brought to the nine worlds. "Yeah, it was like a backwards version of someone drawing a character... so he literally erased her from existence?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and the same thing happened to the others," confirmed Kronos.

Feeling confused, Twilight asked, "But why would he do such a terrible thing to his closest friends?"

"Because, at the time, he felt it was necessary in order to get to your world," replied Kronos. "And like Rowan said, he could not show any signs of regret for whatever actions he took against anyone who could stand in his way."

Sunset, who had remained quiet ever since arriving in Kronos' home, made her way over to him. "What happened to Human Twilight?"

---

[Anti-Stardust's past]

The only two people remaining on the rooftop now were Sci-Twi and Stardust, who currently had one of his hands over his left eye.

"Damn you, Shimmer," he muttered angrily to himself.

As for Sci-Twi, she didn't know what to say to her boyfriend. "Star... how could you... they were our friends..."

Stardust looked at the glasses-wearing teenage girl, and he replied, "No, they were unoriginal characters without any kind of personality whatsoever...[BEEP], my eye hurts like hell!"

He then started to walk towards her, and Sci-Twi said "Stardust, please, this isn't the right thing to do. Why are you acting like this?"

"Because for oversix [BEEP] months, I have put with all kinds of [BEEP] in this world," exclaimed Stardust, trying to ignore the pain coming from his left eye. "And what happened a few days ago was the last straw..."

Sci-Twi looked at his other hand, which was still glowing with dark energy, and she asked, "Are you going to... do the same thing... to me?"

"If that's what it takes to get me to Equetria," replied Stardust, raising up his other hand. "Then, so be it."

The human version of Twilight looked back at the spot where her friends had been at not that long ago, and as she watched Stardust come closer to her, tears slowly started to fall down off of her face. "Star... please..."

---

Suddenly, the clock on Kronos' staff returned to normal, and Discord exclaimed, "Aw,come on, I wanted to see what happens next!"

Kronos shook his head, and explained, "I apologize for the abruptness, but I've spent enough time talking to all of you. You'll have to ask Anti-Stardust what happened when you see him again."

Discord scoffed, and he tossed the bag of popcorn to the ground, muttering, "Well, then, I would like a refund for that atrocious thing you would call a film."

"Well, then,howare we supposed to get home?" Stardust asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of what Kronos would say to him.

"You'll have to figure that one out yourself, Jack," replied Kronos, while Stardust rolled his eyes. "But just know that it may be closer than you think..."

Then, before Stardust could say anything else, Kronos tapped his staff on the ground a few times, and it caused the group of friends to disappear again.

"Good luck, Jack," said the elderly gentleman. "I hope you make the right choices..."

---

[Stardust's World]

Anti-Stardust was now inside the room of his other self, looking to see if there was anything that could be useful for hisback-up planshould Stardust and everypony else miraculously find their way back.

"How in the hell did he get all of thoseCokebottles?" Anti-Stardust said, referring to a trash bag in the corner that was almost filled up with soda pop bottles. "Oh, wait... yeah, Pinkie Pie, don't question it."

He was about to start looking through Stardust's dresser when something on his counterpart's desk caught his attention.

It was a well-organized photo album -Twilight probably made this, then- and as he flipped through the pages, Anti-Stardust saw photos of certain special moments in his other self's life.

This was supposed to be the life forme,thought Anti-Stardust, and he continued flipping through the pages, but his frown went away after reaching a certain part of the book.

It was a photo of Stardust and Twilight, in theirEquestria Girlsform, and were standing with the EG versions of their friends, along with Sunset.

Then, Anti-Stardust noticed that Sci-Twi was in the photo, as well, and he suddenly found himself having a flashback.

---

"Wait, so how come they can't just call soccer'soccer'instead of calling it the name of a totally different sport?"

"Trust me, Dash, that's alongandboringexplanation for someone like me to give to one of my closest friends."

The two friends were kicking a soccer ball back-and-forth with each other, while Sunset and Sci-Twi were sitting on a park bench that was a few feet away.

"So..." said Sunset, smirking at her friend, with an eyebrow raised. "You think you're ready to ask him yet?"

"Huh?" Sci-Twi said, acting like she'd just got out of a trance. "Ask who what?"

Sunset rolled her eyes, and replied, "The guy you've been staring at ever since he and Rainbow started kicking the soccer ball around."

The human version of Twilight began to blush as she tried denying what her friend was assuming about her. "No, no, I wasn't... I was just, ah, thinking about the test we had today in Mrs. McCarthy's class."

"Sureyou were..." chuckled Sunset, while Sci-Twi continued to blush and started to fidget with her glasses.

Once EG Rainbow was given back the soccer ball by Stardust, she began kicking it up in the air several times by using her knees. "Yeah, right, you probably don't even know yourself."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I'm not clueless or anything when it comes to stuff like that, Dash..."

"Uh-huh, just like you're not clueless about the fact that Twilight has a crush on you," retorted EG Rainbow, and Sci-Twi immediately wished that she was somewhere else right now.

Stardust just looked at her athletic friend, and asked, "What are you talking about?"

EG Rainbow sighed, and replied, "She has a... uh, what's that word you use...freakingcrush on you, Star, and you haven't even realized it yet."

Sci-Twi looked over at Sunset, giving her a pleading look, and the flame-hair-colored teenager began walking over to her two friends. "Alright, Rainbow, that's enough..."

"What, it'strue, and we all know it," said EG Rainbow, now spinning the soccer ball around with one of her fingers. "Heck, almost every time she's tutoring me, she always ends up saying stuff like 'remember when he did this' or'remember when he did that', and-"

Stardust stepped in between Sunset and EG Rainbow, and said, "Hold it, hold on a second... Twilight istutoringyou?"

The soccer ball fell from EG Rainbow's hand as she realized what she'd just said. "Um... well, notevery day... and it's only so I can keep my grades up in order to stay on the soccer team."

Stardust crossed his arms, and smirked at her. "What class are you having trouble in?"

Before EG Rainbow could answer, Sunset began dragging her away from him. "Alright, blabber mouth, you and I are going to have a little conversation real quick..."

"Hey, it's notmyfault she can't make up her mind about him!"

As the two of them walked further away from Stardust, who was laughing to himself, he turned around to look at an embarrassed Sci-Twi that was currently wishing to be anywhere else except the park.

I'll never understand women, thought Stardust, now making his way over to the bench, and sitting next to her.

"Um... nice weather we're having, huh?"

Sci-Twi then began twiddling her thumbs, and Stardust sighed, saying, "Twilight, it's okay... I won't tease you, or laugh at you for whatever it is you have to tell me."

"What makes you think I have something to tell you?"

...

"Oh, right... well, um... she wasn't exactly, er, wrong about me and..."

Wow, she makes Fluttershy look like Pinkie,thought Stardust, giving her a smile. "You don't have to be nervous, Twilight, it'sme, remember? The guy you first me when you stepped foot into Canterlot High?"

Instead of that blue-haired [BEEP].

Sci-Twi nodded her head, and a small smile appeared on her face. "I know, Stardust, and I'm glad we met... I just, er... figured you'd want to be with Princess Twilight instead of... me..."

She then turned her head away from Stardust, not wanting to see his expression, but to Sci-Twi's surprise, he placed his hand underneath her chin, and turned her back around so that she could see his warm smile.

"I know that I'm always talking about waiting for the day that I can leave this place, but if there's one reason for me to stay... well, you'd be on top of the list."

Yeah, not my best work, but so what?

Sci-Twi blushed, and replied, "But don't you... and the other Twilight..."

Stardust shook his head, and said, "I don't care that you're not actually a pony princess... I like you for whoyouare, not just because you're a human counterpart of Princess Twilight. Don't change yourself just to impress a guy like me."

The human version of Twilight nodded her head, and then, she said, "Well, then... um... I was wondering if, er... I mean, homecoming is..."

"Oh, my, is Twilight Sparkle about to ask me to the homecoming dance?" Stardust replied, teasing her a little bit. "I thought it was supposed to be the other way around."

Sci-Twi's blush grew even more, and she said, "Well, yes, in some cases... but I just, ah, assumed that you wouldn't want to go since... you know..."

Knowing what she was trying to say, Stardust replied, "As long as we don't have to run intohimor theotherone on the day of homecoming, I would love to go with you."

"I don't think that would even be possible for'him',thanks to you," said Sci-Twi, remembering events from their past. "And I'm not sure Fl - I mean, theotherone is going to make it since I've heard that he is too busy trying to fix his damaged car."

Stardust let out a fake gasp, and exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh... is the car okay?"

Sci-Twi rolled her eyes, and replied, "It's driveable... just going to take up a lot of his time trying to fix it."

Well, thank you to whoever did that.

The gold-skinned teenager started laughing to himself, while Sci-Twi asked, "So... is that ayes, or...?"

Once Stardust had finished with his laughter, he nodded his head. "Yes, Twilight, I would be more than happy to accompany you to homecoming, and thank you for asking."

"Really?" Sci-Twi said, her eyes growing wide with excitement, and once Stardust nodded again, the teenage girl couldn't help but smile.

"Now,that'sthe TwilightIknow," said Stardust, which made the blushing Twilight chuckle as she twirled some strands of her hair around with her fingers.

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

Yeah, that certainly was an interesting day,thought Anti-Stardust, a small smile on his face as he continued to remember that day.

But then, it quickly turned into a frown when the young pony also remembered another fateful day in his life.

---

[Insert "Birth of Sandman" by Christopher Young]

"Ugh, my head..."

I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a small lake.

My mouth was strangely dry, so I quickly ran as fast as I could go to the body of water, and started to drink it.

Yes, I'm aware that it's probably not the safest thing to do, but I'm dying of thirst right now, okay?

Anyway, once I felt like I had drank enough water, I dried my mouth by wiping it with my hand... only... my hand was now a... hoof.

"What the..." I looked at both of my hands, which were now the hooves of a pony, and then I looked back at the lake.

In the reflection from the water, I saw that I now looked like my other self who was living in Ponyville, with Twilight and Spike... except I had a scar over my left eye, courtesy of Sunset Shimmer.

Also, I don't remember how I got this black, flame-like energy stuff that's surrounding my body... and this place... doesn't feel like the Equestria from the show...

"Twilight? Can you believe that-"

I stopped talking after realizing that my girlfriend wasn't next to me, and before I could say anything else, my head started to hurt, and I suddenly began seeing things in my mind.

AJ falling to the ground... Rainbow getting upset... Fluttershy being terrified... a speechless Rarity... Pinkie trying to run away from me.

And it was all because I-

"No. I couldn't have... why would I do something like that to... this can't be real."

Unfortunately, things just got worse from there.

I sat myself down on the ground, turning my head to the right, and saw... Lyra talking to Bon-Bon about something, but... why did they seem so different and less kinder-looking than I remember?

Before I could even try and talk to them, I also noticed a familiar object lying next to me.

"No... not her... please..."

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

Anti-Stardust reached into one of his cloak's pocket, and pulled out the object that he'd kept with him throughout all of the six years (technically) in Anti-Equestria.

It was Sci-Twi's glasses, and they looked completely fine except for the fact that one of the lens was cracked... they had been that way ever since he'd found them on the first day he had arrived in Anti-Ponyville.

"If I'd have just been sent to Equestria instead ofCanterlot High," growled the alternate version of Stardust. "Then I wouldn't be feeling this [BEEP]-in pain I get everytime I think about them..."

Setting the pair of glasses down, he then decided to put theEquestria Girlsphoto in his hooves, and Anti-Stardust remained silent as he watched it slowly become burnt to a crisp, thanks to his power.

"I hope you've enjoyed your time here,Jack... because there is no way in hell that you're ever coming back."

---

(London, England)

"Phew,I feel so much better now!"

As Pinkie stepped out of the women's restroom, Starlight rolled her eyes, and said, "Yeah, good for you, Pinkie, now let's get back to-"

"Aaaagggghhhh!"

Twilight's pupil rubbed one of her eardrums, and she exclaimed, "What is wrong with younow, Pinkie?"

The young pony-turned-human and party-planning teenager was currently facing a glass window that belonged to one of the toy stores in the mall they were both in right now, and her eyes were as big as tennis balls.

"Starlight, look... I'm a stuffed plushie...:

Then, a wide smile appeared on Pinkie's face as she added, "This... is...amazing!"