My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

Capturing Ponies, Part 1

Author's Note:

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

Also, thank you FanficReader920 for helping me write all this!

Now, it's no secret that Rainbow Dash loved flying, but what some ponies didn't know is that she loved flying at night the most. The cool wind flying through her mane and tail, the view of stars rushing past… nothing could beat it.

At first, the athletic Pegasus thought she'd just enjoy a quick nighttime lap around Ponyville, but all that changed when she noticed two of her friends making their way over to Twilight's castle.

"Oh, come on, Casey, it wasn'tthatbad for your first time flying a kite," said Starlight, and the light-orange pony rolled his eyes as they made their way inside.

Casey just looked at her, and she added, "Well, maybe it wasn'tasgood as it could have been, but you still had fun, right?"

"Yeah, I did… thanks, Star," replied Casey, giving her a warm smile, in return.

A smile appeared on Rainbow's face, as well, and as she continued on her path to wherever she'd have her nighttime lap, the young pegasus-

"HELP!"

Suddenly, a scream of fright interrupted her thoughts, and she said, "That sounded like it came from the Everfree Forest… what kind of bonehead would be there at this time in the night?"

Still, Rainbow knew that somepony needed her help, so with blazing speed, she flew towards the sound of the shout.

"Hold on! I'm here… where are you? It's really hard to see!"

"I'm right here! Help!"the voice yelled.

If the sun was still in the sky, this would have been easier, but since it obviously was not, all that Rainbow could do was try her best.

"I still can't see you…ugh, why couldn't Princess Luna have risen a full moon tonight?'

"Don't worry,"the voice said, suddenly sounding more menacing than distressed. "I'm rightHERE."

Then, before she could give a response, Rainbow heard some type of noise that reminded her of somepony blowing through a tubw, and a few seconds later, the pegasus felt a small prick on her flank.

"OWWW!" the Pegasus yelled in pain. "What thehay was that?!"

The newly-changed voice let out an evil chuckle, and replied, "Oh, just a little concoction I whipped up… which should be kicking in right… about…now…"

Then, Rainbow saw a cloaked pony making his way towards her, and she realized that it was him who launched the small projectile at her flank.

"What are… you...talking… about?"

For some reason, her voice begun to slur ,and her wings were moving slower and slower as blackness began to permeate her vision.

"Shhh…. just relax, Rainbow…"

Too exhausted to respond, the Element of Loyalty eventually couldn't hold herself in the air any longer, so she landed on the ground with a CRASH, kicking up a bit of dirt in the process, due to the momentum from a fall at such a height.

However, Rainbow managed to remain conscious long enough to see the cloaked pony approach her, and many questions were racing inside of her mind, the first of which being'WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?'

Before the darkness overtook her, she heard the voice say one last thing, hinting that he had a much bigger plan than just her.

"One down… plenty more to go…"

---

A few hours later

As he made his way into the library, Casey was starting to feel a little sad about the fact that he really hadn't spent much time with Starlight, aside from today, because of all the fun he had been having with-

"Beedo, beedo, beedo, beedo! Oh, excuse me, Casey!"

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who'd raced past him with…

"Is that a fire extinguis- Pinkie, hold on!"

Casey quickly went after her, and to his shock, he found her in the library, along with a concerned Twilight and Starlight.

Whoosh!

"Well, there we go, all better," said Pinkie, after letting out a sigh of relief. "Hope nopony was planning on using the Crystal Mirror anytime soon!"

Not knowing what to say, Casey looked at his special somepony, who explained that the world-traveling machine had been sending out random bolts of electricity, and whenever the alicorn had tried to fix it, things only became worse.

"… so I think it's best if, like Pinkie said, we put a hold on visits to Sunset Shimmer and... well…"

Taking a quick glance over at a particular book nearby, Casey sighed, and said, "I understand, Twilight, and I agree, as well."

Starlight gave him a look of surprise, and replied, "Really? I figured you'd try to, like, find another way to see him."

"Eh, I'm sure he's dealing with other stuff right now," said Casey, who also smiled at her. "Besides, that gives me more time to practice my kite flying…"

"Practice?" said Twilight, starting to chuckle. "Oh, Casey, were youthatbad at it?"

Before he could reply to her, Starlight replied, "He got tangled up almost five times in the kite's string."

"Four!That last one didn't count, Star, and you know I'm right!"

While the two of them started an argument with each other, Twilight looked back at the Crystal Mirror, wondering who or what could have possibly caused it to malfunction.

Well, it's not like anything else could possibly go wrong.

---

"Hi, Honey. I hope you're doing okay. I just wanted to let you know I put Carl down, so make sure to be quiet when you get home…

"Oh, you should've seen his little face... I love you. See you later."

After listening to his wife's voice on his communicator device, the cloaked pony turned it off, and continued to look over a blueprint that showed what appeared to be the structure of a castle that-

"Hey!"

He turned around to look at his prisoner, who was currently inside of a cage, saying, "You know, sooner or later, my friends are going to realize that I'm missing, and they'll come searching for me… then, once they find me, we're taking youdown!"

"Hahahaha…my, my, my... you are justfullof so much confidence, aren't you, Rainbow Dash?" replied the cloaked pony, and the young Pegasus continued to frown at him. "It's too bad that your friends won't even recognize you by the time they get here."

A slightly confused Rainbow raised her eyebrow, and asked, "What do you mean they're not going to recognize me?"

Instead of giving her an answer right away, the cloaked pony walked over to the nearest desk, and removed the long piece of fabric that had been covering one of his collected possessions.

"It's amazing what sort of things the enemies of your enemy will leave behind... and I think it's time now for me to try one of them out..."

When Rainbow saw what kind of weapon he was holding, she became nervous, and asked, "So, what, you're just going to-"

"- kill you? Oh, no, of course not.. not yet, anyway," assured the sinister pony. "But this MAY hurt just a bit, so just stay there… and I hope you likepink."

BZZZZZZZZTTTTT!

Then, after blowing away the steam coming out of the weapon, the cloaked pony chuckled, and said, "That's a good look for you… now, if you'll excuse me, there's some more ponies I need to take care of."

With a sly smile, he looked over at a nearby wall-chart, which showed pictures of everypony that he planned on capturing, and one of them showed the beloved Princess of Friendship.

You'll get what's coming to you, Twilight… I promise you that!

---

That same night...

The cloaked pony stared through the window of the Canterlot eating establishment, spying on a certain group of five who were eating within it.

"Hey Beckie! Where are you?! Listen, you won't believe what just happened. I just got two tickets to the Hoofball Championship! Call me back as soon as you can so we can plan out the best day ever! Alright, I gotta go! Bye!"

As the audio recording on his communicator device finished, the five unicorns - Moondancer, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Lyra Heartstrings and Twinkleshine, if he remembered correctly - emerged from their seats to begin their way back home.

'Well, here goes nothing,'the cloaked pony thought as he strolled after them.

He followed the mares from a safe distance for a while before they approached what looked to be one of their homes.All in one place… perfect!

"Thanks so much for tonight, ladies," Lyra said. "I always love it when I get the chance to visit you all."

"No problem, Lyra," Lemon Hearts replied. "Glad to hear thought that things are going well with Bon Bon."

"Yeah, you go filly," Twinkleshine added. Lyra's reply was only a blush. Moondancer only giggled at the exchange.

'It's nice to finally have friends,' she thought.

As soon as she thought that however, she heard five blows and something prick her flank.

"Owww… what in the…" she muttered. The rest of the group echoed her phrasing in rapid succession.

"What was that?" Minuette said, rubbing her flank with her hoof, only to find a small thin object imbedded in it. Before she could voice her find to her friends however, darkness began to overtake them.

"Why… everything… dark?" Moondancer slurred before she and her companions fell onto the stone ground, with the four of them unconscious. "I… have to…"

However, she stopped after noticing the cloaked pony that was making his way over to them.

"Better hope your little marefriend notices you're gone, Lyra," the cloaked pony muttered. "Otherwise, this'll take a lot longer than I'd want."

When he and Moondancer shared a look with each other, she asked, "W-who… are…"

"You'll learn eventually, little pony," he replied, and as the young mare closed her eyes, the cloaked pony added, "Just as your beloved friendship princess will learn what it's like to take something special away from somepony."

---

Ponyville - Twilight's Castle

It's a festival of friendship

And together, we are-

"Oh, hiya, Casey!"

A look of confusion appeared on the young pony's face as he made his way into the kitchen, and he asked, "Hey, Pinkie… um, why were you singi-"

"Sooooooooo,somepony has abirthdaycoming up," replied Pinkie, giving him a sly smile, and Casey let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing that a certainponyis probably gonna throw me a party, right?"

The young and pink-colored quickly became shocked as she gasped, and cried, "Who told you? Was it Twilight? She and I made a pin-"

An amused Casey shook his head, and replied, "No, she didn't tell me anything… I just figured that it wouldn't be an awesome birthday without somepony like you throwing some type of par-"

Knock-knock-knock!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the castle doors, and Pinkie said, "Huh… that usually never happens. Ponies usually just make their way inside."

So, the two of them began heading over to the main floor of Twilight's castle, and once they got there, they found their alicorn friend having a conversation with Scootaloo.

"... sure she just had something important to deal with," said Twilight. "I mean, not that youaren'timportant to her, it's just that unexpected things happen sometimes, and we can't do anything about it."

The young pony let out a sigh, and she replied, "Yeah, I get what you're saying… thank you, Twilight."

As Twilight nodded her head, Pinkie happily bounced her way over to Scootaloo, and said, "I can walk you home, if that's okay."

"Sure, Pinkie… good night, Twilight," replied the little Pegasus, and while she followed Pinkie out of the castle, Casey gave his special somepony a confused look.

"She and Rainbow Dash were supposed to have a quick race or something with each other, but Rainbow never showed up."

Casey's eyes went wide with surprise, and he said, "Wow, that's strange… maybe she had some unexpected Wonderbolt stuff to deal with?"

"That's what I was telling her," replied Twilight. "And I'm sure that Rainbow will make it up to Scootaloo somehow tomorrow… I mean, it's not like she's in danger or anything."

Casey let out a chuckle, and said, "Yeah, I'm sure all or one of us would know if Rainbow was in some kind of trouble."

---

As he dragged his burlap sack up to another house in Canterlot, the cloaked pony stopped for a moment to relax, and take a few deep breaths.

"Huh… sothisis where they came from?" He said, moving the burlap sack that contained the unconscious forms of Moondancer, Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette into a bush.

Then, the cloaked pony trotted up to the door, giving a swift knock, and it was answered by none other than Night Light, the father of Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor.

"Oh, hello, sir… is there something I can help you with?" He asked.

"Indeed you can," the cloaked pony said before striking.

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

Twilight Velvet, Night Light's wife, had been enjoying a nice night with her husband watching the stars… but the knock on their door had, quite honestly, annoyed her.

'Who would be knocking at this hour?' The mare thought.

However, when Night Light didn't return for a few minutes, she got curious, so the mother of Twilight and Shining went to check the door, as well.

She entered through their home's front door and to the grey pony's horror, her husband was laid out on the floor, unconscious.

"Night Light!" She screamed before she felt a prick on her flank, and a few seconds later, everything went black.

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

With tonight's goal now successfully completed, the cloaked pony started to carry his burlap sack back to his lair, but he was having some slight trouble with that.

'Why did I think nabbing this many at once was a good idea?!'The cloaked pony thought to himself in anguish, but although he was suffering now, he knew his goal was all the more closer to being realized.

"I'll deal with the two sisters later,"hemuttered. "Which reminds me… note to self - only put two ponies inside of this thing."

---

Twilight's Castle

As Casey and Twilight looked at the malfunctioning world-travel machine, he said, "It's times like this when I wish I still had my wristwatch communicator."

"What happened to it?"

Casey made a gesture over to the Crystal Mirror, and replied, "That one version of Rainbow Dash still has it after… eh, never mind, too confusing… all I know is that it's gone, and it would take me almost forever to make a new one."

Noticing the sad expression on his face, Twilight asked, "You miss him, don't you?"

"Well, obvi… I mean, yes, I do," replied Casey, not wanting to sound rude. "But my friends inthisworld come first… and l haven't really been doing so well in that department."

Remembering all of the invitations that she had sent out earlier today, Twilight started to smile, and she said, "Don't worry… I'm sure you'll be doing great, in no time."

Taking a quick moment to yawn, Casey replied, "That's the idea… well, I'm off to bed… night, Twilight."

"Sweet dreams, Casey," said the young alicorn, and as her special somepony left the library, she took another look at the Crystal Mirror.

Why do I have a strange feeling that something bad is going to happen?

---

"And, there we… go!"

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Rarity began putting away her newest creation, saying, "Casey is sure to love what I made for him! Don't you agree, Swe-oh, wait…"

Remembering that she had sent Sweetie Belle to her bed a while ago, Rarity chuckled quietly, to herself, and said, "She's more than likely asleep by now… oh, well, I can always so it to her tomorrow."

The slight thought of sleep enticed Rarity very much, but her stomach was telling her a different storu, so she decided to head into the kitchen, and prepare herself a nice warm beverage.

Squeak!

"Sweetie Belle?"

The unicorn turned around, but she didn't see any sign of her little sister, so Rarity just shrugged, and continued to make herself a drink.

A few minutes later, she was carrying the beverage with her upstairs, with her destination being her bedroom, but as Rarity entered though, the young unicorn noticed that her window was open.

"Oh no!" Rarity said, letting out a gasp. "Somepony must have-"

"Heh-heh… smart mare," the fashionista heard behind her, before she felt a prick on her flank, and the cloaked pony watched as Rarity slowly collapsed to the floor. "Nighty-night!"

However, before he could place her inside of his burlap sack, Sweetie Belle had exited her room, and was now coming into her sister's room, letting out a yawn before she spoke.

"Rarity, if you had that plaid nightmare again, I swear..."

Then, she stopped after noticing the cloaked pony standing over the unconscious form of her sister, and the only thing Sweetie Belle thought to do in that moment was to run and find help.

However, just as she turned, she felt a prick on her flank, and darkness began permeating her vision.

"Help," she muttered before she completely lost consciousness.

Putting Rarity aside for a second, the cloaked pony picked up Sweetie Belle in a way that one would a baby, and walked over to her room so that he could place her back in her bed, along with tucking her in.

Then, the cloaked pony flashed a half smile at the sleeping filly before exiting the room, and returning his attention to the fashionista unicorn. "I hope you like chains, 'darling'..."

---

The next day

After finishing one of the chapters in the book that he'd been reading for a while now, Casey decided to join the rest of his friends, who were all in the Throne Room… but, for some reason, he wasn't allowed in.

"Sorry, Casey, but it's what Twilight said," said Starlight, giving her friend a shrug.

Great,thought Casey.There's gonna be a party that I already know about, and I can't even-

"Want to work on flying a kite?"

Remembering what he had said last night, Casey began to smile, and he replied, "Sure, Star… but maybe at a place where there isn't much trees, okay?"

So, while the two of them left, Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 - minus Rainbow and Rarity - were all talking about the party they'd be having for Casey.

"I still think it's gonna be weird with so much versions of us runnin' around your castle, Twi," said Applejack.

"Don't worry, AJ," assured the young princess, giving her friend a smile. "I'll make sure that we all know who is who… and, sorry, Pinkie, but no using yourjumbo party cannon, or whatever it is you're working on."

Pinkie gave a shrug, and she replied, "That's fine, I'll just use it for when we have the Friendship Fe-"

"Um… Twilight? There's somepony here to see you."

The group of friends watched as Spike brought in a mare with a beige coat, pigment blue mane with a rose pink streak, and cerulean eyes, she seemed to be looking a little unnerved.

"Hiya, Bon Bon, what brings you down here?" Pinkie wondered.

"It's Lyra." Bon Bon explained, who looked very concerned. "She told me she was visiting Moondancer and the others in Canterlot yesterday, and that she'd be back by the next morning…

"But it's already evening and she hasn't come back yet, so I'm starting to get worried."

Knowing who she was talking about, Twilight also began to ponder, 'Another pony gone missing? That's odd.'

"Don't worry, sugarcube," assured Applejack. "I'm certain the train just had a delay or somethin, it ain'tthatout of the ordinary."

Unfortunately, Bon Bon shook her head, and replied, "That's just it! I was at the station all day waiting for her and it stayed on schedule."

Turning her attention back over to Twilight, she addes, "I have looked everywhere, Princess. Please, help me find my Lyra."

It was no secret that Lyra and Bon Bon were avery closepair of friends around Ponyville; the two were practically inseparable.

Twilight, being with Casey, knew the feeling of worrying about someone you love, especially considering their adventures since meeting a certain gold-colored pony.

"Alright, Bon Bon, we'll help. Right guys?" Twilight asked the others.

"Of course," Applejack said. "I'd be happy to help."

Fluttershy nodded her head, and replied, "As soon as I head back to my home, and give Angel her lunch, I'll join everypony else to help."

"Yeah! Maybe we can even find Dashie too," Pinkie mentioned, and that made Applejack place her hoof against her forehead.

"Wait, what? Rainbow Dash is missing too?" Bon Bon asked, her pupils shrinking.

Twilight sent a death glare towards the pink pony, who gave her an apologetic look.

"What Pinkiemeantto say was that Rainbow's whereabouts have also been unknown for a day or two, but we're certain she just had a Wonderbolt activity she needed to get too and she didn't have time to tell us…right,Pinkie?"

The young Earth pony nodded her head, and all of this managed to calm Bon Bon slightly.

"Okay, then, thank you, Princess," she said, even though her voice was still uneasy. "Thank you, everyone."

"That's what friends are for," replied Twilight, and a few minutes later, the young alicorn was in the library, looking for a certain book that she could use as a way of communication with a certain purple alicorn.

I have to make sure nothing wrong is going in with them.

---

No longer at her friend's castle, Fluttershy entered her humble adobe, and said, "Oh, Angel, I'm home!"

Now, usually, Angel would respond to the call immediately. He'd drag in a bowl and hold it up to his owner's face, demanding food.

However, this did not happen, to the yellow mare's confusion.

"Angel?" She called again, and flicked on the light to make the search for the "oxymoronically named" bunny easier.

Fluttershy looked high and low, but Angel was nowhere to be found. In fact,none of her other animal friends seemed to be around either… and she swore she was hearing someone from behind breathing.

"Discord?" she asked, hoping that this was some sort of prank the draconequees was playing.

No answer came.

Fluttershy grew more and more nervous as she continued to search the cottage for any sign of Angel, her animal friends, or even Discord.

Suddenly, she heard a switch flick and the lights went out, her fear increasing exponentially with each passing second.

"Hello?" she managed to squeak out as she entered her living room once more.

Suddenly, she felt a small tap on her back-right hoof, and a sense of relief flowed through the mare's body.

"Angel Bunny!" She turned around, ready to scold the little rascal for trying to scare her, but when she turned around, Fluttershy only saw another hoof... a light green one, if she wasn't mistaken.

Fright made a triumphant return as Fluttershy slowly lifted her head to get a glimpse of the pony's face. Once she did, the only thing her eyes met with was a deep, dark cavern that separated the cloaked pony's face with the world.

Fluttershy had never felt so scared in her life.

That is until…

"Boo," the cloaked pony muttered, and that was the last thing Fluttershy heard before everything went black. "Well… that worked out nicely."

A few minutes later, the cloaked pony was walking down the path that led to his secret lair,.with the burlap sack in his muzzle.

' 8 down, and plenty more to go,' He thought to himself, a sly smile appearing on his face.

---

When Rarity finally awoke, she gently rubbed her flank, and said, "Ugh, who would dare try to… oh… my…"

To her surprise, she was not the only pony in the room… or locked up in a cage, for that matter.

Moondancer, Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette… all still unconcious… but why is that cloaked -

"Rarity? You're here, too?"

The young unicorn turned her head, and found herself looking at a Pegasus that looked oddly familiar.

"I'm sorry, um… have we met before?"

"Yes, Rarity,"replied the young Pegasus. "It's me, Rainbow!"

Rarity turned her head to the side, confused. "I am so sorry, darling, but Rainbow is abluePegasus, andyouare... well, not blue... in fact, you are actually-"

"Well, well… looks like someone enjoyed their beauty sleep,"interrupted the cloaked pony, who was bringing over his burlap sack. "And what luck, I even brought you a friend!"

With a chuckle, he emptied out the sack, and Rarity saw another pony that looked familiar.

"Fluttershy!"Then, she glared at her captor, and asked, "Why are you doing this to us?"

"Because you're all part of the plan," replied the cloaked pony, who was preparing a cage for Fluttershy. "A plan to make surejusticewillbe served!"

---

"Well, I'm glad to know everything is doing fine over there… just keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

Then, after writing out that last word, Twilight closed up the book, and let out a sigh.

"I don't understand why all of this happening," wondered the young alicorn, speaking to herself.

Maybe it's all an unfortunate coincidence that-

However, her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Spike, who burst through the library doors, and before she could say anything, a familiar pony ran inside, as well.

"Twilight… cloaked pony, weird dart, Rarity, help!"

"Okay, Sweetie Belle, just take it easy there," replied Twilight, trying to comfort the young pony. "Now, what happened to Rarity?"

After taking a few deep breaths, Sweetie Belle explained to her about the events that had taken place last night, and after handing over the dart that had been fired at her flank, she said, "So, when I woke up this morning, my sister was gone!"

Looking at the small object that was now in her hoof, Twilight thought about what Sweetie Belle had just told her, and then, she found herself having a flashback.

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

Twilight!" Rarity yelled, but then, the cloaked pony aimed his staff at her.

Wham! Boom!

"No! Rarity!" Twilight watched as her friend transformed into a statue, just like everypony else.

She looked at the hooded figure, and yelled, "Who are you?"

The sinister pony walked over to the princess, and said, "I'm someone that you should have never messed with."

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

"Twilight? You okay?" asked Spike.

A frown appeared on the young alicorn's face, and she replied, "Just fine… but I think we should definitely head out to Canterlot now."

Looking at Sweetie Belle, Twilight added, "Don't you worry, I'll get to the bottom of this… in the meantime, go look for Scootaloo, and help her try to find Rainbow Dash."

Giving the princess of friendship a salute, Sweetie Belle hurried out of the castle while Spike looked up at Twilight.

"You don't think it'shimagain, do you?"

Twilight shook her head, and replied, "I don't see how, considering the place that Pinkie had sent him to.. but we need to put a stop to this before anypony else gets involved."

---

Sweet Apple Acres

"How come you look so suspicious, Applejack?"

Looking down at her younger sister, and not wanting to worry her, the farm pony replied, "It's cause of what's been happenin' apparantly to certain ponies here in Ponyville and Canterlot… just keep an eye out for anythin' suspicious, okay, sugarcube?"

"Sure thing, sis," said Applebloom, nodding her head, and the little pony hurried over to finish up her daily chores while Applejack walked over to the barn.

Upon her arrival at the barn, she was very hesitant because, for all she knew, it could be occupied by an unknown pony wanting to ponynap her.

Especially considerin' that seems to be the new trend nowadays, thought Applejack, and the orang earth pony cautiously creaked open the barn door, preparing for what she might find on the other side.

"Hello? Anypony here?" Applejack asked as she made her way into the structure.

Turning her head from side to side, the pony who represented the Element of Honesy let out a sigh of relief.Well, looks like I was just-

WHOOSH!

Then, all of a sudden, she felt a prick in her flank.

"Yep. That... figures," Applejack deadpanned as she fell into the hay that made up the barn floor, quickly becomimg unconscious, and a moment later, the cloaked pony leapt down from his perch above the barn door, softly singing a little tune.

"Another one bites the dust. And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust."

The cloaked pony continued the song mentally as he hauled the burlap sack containing the unconscious Applejack back to his lair, and he paused to say, "You have no idea how long I was waiting inside of that pla-"

"Hey!"

Suddenly, the cloaked pony stopped in his tracks, and muttered, "Dang it…so close."

He turned around to find none other than Big Mac and Apple Bloom, with the pair of them giving him what could be only described as a death glare.

"You ain't takin' my sister no where!" Apple Bloom vowed.

"Yeeup," Big Mac agreed.

Oh, wow, my hooves are shaking,thought Beck, who rolled his eyes, and safely dropped the burlap sack.

"Cute," he remarked before charging at the eldest and youngest Apple siblings, an action the latter two reciprocated.

However, instead of outright attacking, the cloaked pony leapt over the two, blowing two darts into their flanks as he flew over.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Once the cloaked pony landed back on solid ground, and blew the smoke coming out of his weapon, it only took a second before Apple Bloom and Big Mac fell.

"Such a shame," the cloaked pony remarked, before making his way towards the unconscious form of Big Mac, whom he laid back against a tree in a somewhat comfortable position.

After that was taken care of, the cloaked pony scooped up a knocked-out Apple Bloom and just like what he'd done to Sweetie Belle, he took her back to her room, removing the dart from her flank as he placed her back in bed.

Then, he brushed his hoof through her red mane, a small smile gracing his face.

Once he did this, he returned outside to pick up the burlap sack, and while humming the tune that he'd been singing earlier, the cloaked pony started to head back to his secret lair.

---

[Stardust's World]

After re-reading what her counterpart had told her about the things happening in her world, Twilight looked at the nearby Crystal Mirror, and let out a sigh.

If only I could just go there to help out, but the other me said that hers was malfunctioning, and if she or Casey aren't able to-

"... you okay, Twilight?"

The young alicorn turned around to find herself looking at Rainbow Dash, and she nodded her head. "Yeah, everything is fine, Rainbow…"

Rainbow chuckled, and she replied, "Well, good… now, hold off on the reading for a moment, and help us continue preparing for the Friendship Festival."

As Twilight followed the pegasus out of the library, hoping that her other friends would be okay, Rainbow asked, "So, you have no idea why Stardust hasn't told you or any of us about what'll happen on the day of-"

"No, I'm sorry, Rainbow," replied Twilight, with a hint of annoyance and frustration. "But I'm positive it can't bethatbad… or else he would have told us about it already."

---

After having enough kite-flying fun with Starlight, Casey decided to take a quick visit over to his old house.

On the way there, the light-orange earth pony was wondering more about what Twilight and the others would give him as birthday gifts, but his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Well, isn't this a surprise? I thought you'd be with Golden Ponyboy or whatever his name is."

Rolling his eyes, Casey looked up at the floating draconequs, and said, "Hey, Discord… shouldn't you and Fluttershy be having a tea party, or something?"

"As a matter of fact, weweresupposed to," replied Discord. "But she never answered the door… and I find that strange since she usually nevernotopen the door when I arrive."

"Well, why not just'poof'your way in?" suggested Casey. "You do that to go inside Twilight's castle, and pretty much everywhere else."

The draconequs let out a chuckle, and said, "Inthosecases, my friend, it'sfun, but with Fluttershy, it wouldn't be the right thing to do, especially since she's my B.P.F.F.E.T.T, or insimpler terms,my 'Best Friend For Eternity Times Two' - oh, my, that is reallynota pretty sight."

"What are you -aaagghh!" Casey cried, seeing what the now-gone Discord had been talking about.

All of the flowers that he'd left in respect for his parents were now grey and shrivled up, and his old house now looked even more worse than before.

Who would do something like this?

---

With her mentor and her assistant in Canterlot, and Casey busy with his own personal stuff, Starlight Glimmer was left with the responsibility of holding down the fort in Ponyville… or, for right now, having the peaceful-sounding castle all to herself.

I can't even remember the last time it was ever this quiet,thought the reformed - and comfortable - unicorn, who was reading an adventure book in the castle's library, a hobby she'd taken up from Twilight.

Unfortunately, she was so engrossed in her book, Starlight didn't hear the sound of the library nor did she notice a sinister figure slowly creep up behind her.

What she did notice was the pain in her exposed flank, which was due to the design of the chair she was sitting in.

"Yeeouch!" she said before turning around to see what hit her.

If that's one of the CMC's again, Celestia forbid…

However, it wasn't any of the three little ponies, though she would soon end up hoping it was

Instead, she came face to face with none other than a cloaked pony that she first thought seemed familiar.

No, that… it can't be… impossible!

Starlight tried to say something, but the darkness permeating her vision and exhaustion flowing through her body had other plans.

As she went limp in her chair, the cloaked pony made a "tsk tsk tsk," sound, and shook his head.

"Seriously, why isn't there more security in this place? Especiallynowof all times," he muttered to himself as he took out his burlap sack.

'Oh well, it just makes things all the more easier for me,'the cloaked pony thought as he placed the unconscious Starlight into it.

Now, then, if I remember correctly, the only ones missing from the Mane 6… aside from the princess…

Then, the cloaked pony sighed in exasperation, for next on his hit list would be none other than Pinkie Pie.

I might actually have trouble with that non-questionable pony.