My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

Seperate Ways

Author's Note:

"My Little Pony" belongs to Hasbro, Stardust Balance was created by the Warrior of Twilight, and FanficFan920 - who helped me out with some of this chapter - is the creator of Beck.

As Evil Stardust walked through the streets of Ponyville, all he could think about was how amazing it would feel once his revenge had been completed...

… and until my counterpart is in far too many pieces to count, thought the dark gold pony, whose smile grew once Twilight's castle was in his sight, and he stood still. Now I just need to-

"Hey, Star!" cried Anti-Pinkie, causing him to almost jump in surprise. "Wait for us!"

The rest of his friends came up to the young pony, who was now confused, and he said, "I thought I told you five to get your counterparts to come to the castle."

Anti-Rainbow gestured towards the pink pony, and replied, "We were going to, Star, but she had one of her sensing things, and told us that they're all inside already."

"Seriously?" Evil Stardust looked back at the crystal-made castle, and a sly grin appeared on his face. "Well, then, how convienent…"

---

The Library

"This isn't going to hurt, right?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was currently standing inside of a glass-like containment, while Twilight was busy writing out scientific stuff on her notepad.

"Nope… according to my calculations, you'll only be surrounded by pink-colored smoke for a quick minute, and once it goes away, your fur color should be back to its original blue."

Rainbow nodded her head, and replied, "Awesome! Let's get this thing going!"

As Twilight began to start the color-restoration process, the rest of their friends (except for Pinkie) watched what was going on from a few feet away.

"Aw, shucks, Rainbow, I was just gettin' used to ya bein' a pink pegasus," teased a smirking Applejack, and said pony just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, once this is all done and over with, I'm going to be the color that I am supposed to be, so… brrrrr… you couldhave warned me about it being cold in here, Twilight."

The young alicorn gave her friend an apologetic smile, and a chuckling Casey replied, "Just chillax, Rainbow… plus, it'll only be for a minute or two anyway."

As the containment began to fill up with the pink-colored smoke, Rainbow gave her friend a half-eyelids-closed expression, and said, "Ha ha, very funny."

Then, once it was completely filled up to the point where Rainbow could not even be seen, everyone waited for the minute to pass by, hoping that-

"Ooh, what's that supposed to be?"

An amused Twilight let out a sigh, and she replied, "I'm trying to give Rainbow her original fur color ba… um… Pinkie?"

"Yeah?" replied the pink pony.

"If you're standing here right now, then who is watching Beck down in the dungeon?" asked Twilight, but right before Pinkie could answer the question, a familiar voice came from out of nowhere.

"Well, well… it's been a long time since we first met, Princess Twilight."

Standing in the doorway of the room was Evil Stardust, flashing a toothy grin at the young princess, and a surprised Twilight said, "B-but I thought Kronos-"

Evil Stardust barked out a laugh, and pulled out the Time Staff from underneath his cloak, saying, "You can't keep somepony like me down forever, princess… oh, and by the way…"

He took out another object, and tossed it over at Casey. "I don't really have any more use for this."

Recognizing it at his special watch, the light-orange pony quickly went over to the nearby table so that he could place the pills he'd created in one of its compartments while the others looked at Evil Stardust in confusion.

"Um, why is he here?" said Starlight, who was now frowning at the Earth Pony.

Before Evil Stardust could respond to her, Casey turned back around, and replied, "First of all, thanks for upgrading my watch… second, I guess you being here is because you had enough tea parties?"

The sinister pony's smile quickly became a scowl, and his eyes started shining with rage.

"You have no idea what it's like to be in a place like that… and if it wasn't for you fusing with my other self-"

Suddenly, an interrupting Pinkie said, "Ohhhh, now I get it! This is a mean version of Stardust, and the rest of the ponies behind him are mean versions of us… well, except for Starlight, but-"

"Hey, what the heck is… going on here…" said a confused Rainbow, who was stepping out of the containment with her fur color back to normal. "Um, Twilight, why am I seeing double-"

"Will you all stop [BEEP]-ing preventing me from talking?" growled an annoyed Evil Stardust, who was now joined by his group of friends. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes…"

WHAM!

To everypony's surprise (except for the evil ones), Evil Stardust fired an energy blast from the staff that sent Casey crashing into the nearest bookcase, which soon fell on top of him after he landed on the ground.

"Not exactly a wall, but good enough, I suppose," said the young pony, while Casey's friends quickly went over to help him. "And don't even think about using your magic on me, you two…"

As she and Starlight stopped their horns from glowing, Twilight asked, "What is it that you want? Your other self isn't here."

"I think I'm aware of that, princess," replied Evil Stardust. "Which is why, in the meantime, I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the fun."

Then, as he moved away to the side, the Anti-Mane 5 ponies began walking over to their counterparts, with thoughts of fighting and hurting them… until Casey cried, "Wait... leave my friends out of this, and fight me instead!"

While the Anti-Mane 5 stopped moving, Evil Stardust just looked at the young pony, and then, he started to laugh.

"You think you could defeat me? Please… I sent you to the damn hospital, kid, and if it wasn't for my other self deciding to make a DBZ move, you wouldn't even be alive right now."

And, with a scoff, Evil Stardust added, "In fact, you're not even worth fighting… oh, and because you interrupted my fun time, I'm about to do to you what I did to Sunse - aaaaggghh!"

What happened next all took place in under a minute… Starlight fired a magical blast at Evil Stardust and the rest of his friends while Twilight cried, "Pinkie, hit the button on the World Travel Machine!"

"Which one? Do you mean the big red one that you said I should never, ever, ever, EVER-"

"Pinkie!"

"You got it, Twilight!"

Whoosh!

Once Pinkie had pressed the button, the Crystal Mirror turned on, except it was now making a rather powerful vacuum-like sound, and all of the Mane 6, along with Starlight and Casey, felt themselves rising up into the air.

"Twi, what in all of Equestria are you tryin' to-" cried Applejack, but she was cut off after finding herself being sucked into the mirror, along with everypony else.

"Nice to finally meet you, Evil Version of Stardust!" yelled Pinkie, who was the last pony to leave, and once they were all gone, the sinister pony began making sounds of frustration while his friends wondered where they would end up at.

---

[Stardust's World]

As the gold pony continued to read a book inside of the library, his girlfriend appeared at the doorway, and she asked, "How are you feeling, Jack?"

"A lot better than I was a few hours ago," replied Stardust, who was now walking over to the nearest bookshelf. "And I'm hoping that now, the rest of today will be just me enjoying this-"

You might want to move out of the way, Jack.

Before the young pony could respond to his mentor, the Crystal Mirror started to glow, and in a matter of seconds, multiple ponies started falling straight out of it, much to Twilight's surprise.

"Can we try that again?" asked Pinkie, as she started to stand up.

"I think I'm good with just the one time, sugarcube," muttered Applejack, who was now trying to fixher Stetson hat from looking crumpled up.

As for Stardust, he was being helped up to his feet by Casey, who gave him an apologetic smile. "Um… surprise?"

The pony who represented balance let out a sigh, and he replied, "I stopped being surprised by stuff like this a long time ago, Casey… oh, here, let me help you up."

Once Starlight was standing up, she took one look at Stardust, and replied, in a dry tone, "Thanks… I guess."

As she walked away, Stardust looked back at Casey, and asked, "I just helped her up to her hooves. Why is she...?"

"I dunno, beats me…" said Casey, giving his friend a shrug, and then, he realized something that made him groan while placing a hoof on his forehead.

"Pinkie… please tell me you had somepony take your place in watching over Beck…"

Everyone turned their attention to the pink pony, who sheepishly replied, "Uh… well, I was going to, but then I got distracted after seeing what Twilight was doing to Rainbow Dash-"

"Just forget it, Pinkie," said a visibly upset Casey, and he began walking over to Twilight. "See, this is why I told you that getting rid of him was the better option!"

"Casey, you know I'm not able to-"

"Will you stop talking like a princess, and talk as your own self?" interrupted Casey. "See, now it's going to be your fault if he ends up doing something worse than what he did to you because you couldn't bring yourself to give him the death sentence."

Before Twilight could try defending herself, a concerned Starlight walked up to him, and said, "Casey, please, just calm down before-"

"Shut… it… Star…" growled Casey. "And I don't need help from a former bad pony, so just-"

"Hey, she's only trying to help you," exclaimed Rainbow, but that just made him even more upset.

"Dash, I swear to Celestia that I'll find a way to make you permantly pink if you don't shut-"

Then, a worried Twilight walked up to him, and said, "Casey, you promised that you would-"

"I know what I did, Twilight or… Star's Twilight… whoever you are," yelled Casey, now pointing a hoof at her. "But I realize now that I can't because you chose to let him live instead of making sure he got what he rightfully deserved, so like I said, princess… it is all your fault."

He then walked out of the room before anyone could say something else, and a guilty-looking Twilight was now lowering her head in sadness, but then, she felt a pony's hoof raise her head back up, which turned out to be one of Stardust's hooves.

"You and I both know that you made the right decision, Twilight, and whatever happened was not your fault," said the human-turned-pony, giving her a comforting smile. "In the meantime, allow me to deal with-"

However, Twilight suddenly shook her head, and she said,"Thank you… Stardust… but there's no need for that… because I know now what I have to do."

---

After finishing his special drink, and setting the empty glass on the nearby table, Casey walked out onto the balcony, where he began pacing back and forth while making sounds of frustration.

"Stupid… stupid… stupid…"

"Casey?"

The young pony stopped moving, and turned around to look at his girlfriend, who was also a little teary-eyed.

"Okay, Twilight, look, I'm sorry I yelled, but-"

Then, he immediately stopped talking after the alicorn used her magic to place a familiar accessory in his hooves. It was the other turtledove necklace that he'd seen her put on the first day they'd met.

"Twilight, wait, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm sorry, Casey, but… maybe this is what needs to happen right now," said a saddened Twilight. "I mean… if making a simple promise, or… not trusting me with the decision that I made, then…"

Casey quickly began to shake his head, and replied, "Okay, I get it, I screwed up, but let me just apologize or… Twilight, I… I lo…"

Unfortunately, he still couldn't find himself able to say how he felt about her.

"I… I… please, just let me…"

Twilight shook her head, and she continued walking away while Casey was left alone with the necklace in his hooves.

Insert "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong

Then, once he realized what had happened, a wave of sadness washed over the young pony, and he found himself making some adjustments to his watch.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you

"If that's what she wants… then, so be it…"

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Then, after pressing a small button on the side of his watch, a white aura surrounded Casey's entire body, and he disappeared in a quick flash of bright light.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

Once he was gone, Twilight came back out a moment later, and she sadly lowered her head… but brought it up after hearing a familiar voice ask, "Need somepony to talk to?"

"Yeah…. I think I do, Star…"

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

As for Casey, he quickly realized that he was in the world that Sunset Shimmer lived in (since he was standing on two legs), but for some reason, it felt a little different.

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you

"Probably because it's raining…" muttered Casey, who was now slowly starting to get soaked.

He looked down at the turtledove necklace that was still in one of his hands, and Casey found himself remembering what Rowan had told him multiple times.

"Twilight would never want to be with a pony like you."

HONK-HONK!

SPLASH!

After getting almost drenched in water by a passing semi-truck, Casey started to cough a few times before saying, "Well, that is just wonderful, isn't it?"

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Then, he found himself turning around to see what he was standing in front of, and remembering what he learned about these places from Stardust, Casey figured out that it as a bar.

"Maybe there's someone in there I can talk to about… everything…" He said, before the young teenager decided to walk inside. "Not like anything worse could happen now."

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world

---

"Don't you think we should go after them, Stardust?" wondered Anti-Rainbow, a few minutes after the others had went into the Crystal Mirror.

Evil Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "No, Crash... the last time we tried that, I ended up spending DAYS in a literal hell... we need to find a way to get Star-"

However, before he could finish explaining his plan, Anti-Pinkie came into the room, and she said, "I can sense another pony in the castle... the dungeon, to be exact..."

"Huh? Who could they have down there?"

After having felt relieved that Pinkie had gone away, Beck suddenly sighed, thinking about what Twilight said. Would this really have been what they wanted?

'No,' Beck thought. 'She's only doing this to save her own hide… Ugh! Once I get out of here, they are going to know the true feeling of pain and loss.'

Just then, the door to the dungeon opened and collided with the wall, creating a very loud noise.

"Oh joy, I wonder who's going to be my babysitter this time," Beck said sarcastically.

However, once he laid eyes on Evil Stardust, a look of smug intrigue appeared on his face, "Stardust Balance, we meet at last. I take it you're about as enraged as your friend?"

"Sorry, [BEEP], but I believe you have me confused with my goodie-two-shoes counterpart… I'm the evil and more better one," Evil Stardust explained. "Now just who in the hell are you?"

A look of mild surprise crossed Beck's face. There was a dark counterpart of the golden earth pony from another dimension?

"The name's Beck," replied the light-green pony. "So, what's an evil equine like yourself doing down here?"

"One of my associates sensed a presence down here and I decided to see who it was," Evil Stardust explained. "But I didn't take Twilight was the imprisoning type. What're ya in for?"

"Well, in the words of Princess Celestia, I 'captured several innocent ponies, as well as a young dragon, caused property damage to the castle at the Crystal Empire, severely harmed many of the guards both here and at the Crystal Empire, forcibly changed Rainbow Dash's coat from blue to pink, tried to permanently end Spike's life by a poisonous dart AND committed acts of brutality against Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with her special somepony'...

"So, basically I pony-napped a lot of ponies, hurting several in the process, almost killed Spike, brought both Twilight and Casey to death's door, AND played a little joke on Rainbow Dash."

It was now Evil Stardust's turn to have a look of mild surprise. This stallion nearly defeated The Mane Six and Casey, all on his own.

"[BEEP]." Was all Evil Stardust could say.

"Yep, pretty much sums it up. Casey wanted me dead, but Princess Friendship thinks she can 'reform' me," Beck chuckled. "Like that could happen. Twilight Sparkle took away everything I held dear, so if she thinks that some speech is gonna absolve her from any guilt, she's got another thing coming."

It was then that Evil Stardust had an idea. An awful, terrible idea.

"Well, seems to me that we have a common enemy."

Beck remained quiet, for a moment, "So it seems."

"You know, me and my group are about to get our own revenge on my counterpart and his friends… Casey's more of a bonus, though... you care to join us?"

Beck mulled the offer over, though there was no doubt on what he was going to respond.

"I'm in," he accepted. "On one condition, Casey's special somepony remains alive. Death is too good for her, so I want her to suffer just as I had. We clear?"

'I like the way he thinks,' Evil Stardust thought.

"Crystal," the evil doppelgänger replied. "Now, you may want to back away." Beck obliged.

Evil Stardust raised his staff, then brought back to the ground with a thump. Once this occurred, a red light began forming at the top of the object. A few seconds later, the light disappeared, but not before it started a laser-like beam of magic that destroyed the lock on Beck's cell door.

Beck simply pushed open the door as he exited the cell. "Thank you…"

"Don't mention it. Us villains have to stick together," Evil Stardust said before the two shared a hoofshake in acquaintanceship.

"Shall we?" Beck said, as the two made their way out of the dungeon.