MLP: The Journey Must Go On
Chapter 2 - Better than the Others
Disclaimer: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media, while Stardust Balance was created by the Warrior of Twilight, and the character Nostalgia Critic was created by Doug & Rob Walker.
Author's Note: I will not be re-uploading all of the four MLP stories that I've already written on here… just the parts that are important, and/or makes the most sense to have re-published.
Oh, and one last thing: When Stardust is acting like the Nostalgia Critic, the words will be in bold while his dialogue sentences will be in normal font, and the lines from my previous stories will be in italics.
We come back to see Stardust slowly getting back into his chair, and once he's sitting up straight, the young pony says, "Alright, let's continue this without having me possibly end up in the hospital once this is over."
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Scene of the Friendship Express pulling into the train station.
NC Stardust (narrating) "They soon arrive at their destination, where Spike's the first one to step out of the train, but then, this happens…"
Scene shows a group of excited ponies that live in the Crystal Empire
"It's him, everyone! The heroic Spike has returned!"
The small dragon watched as a large crowd of Crystal Ponies started running towards him. He let out a small gulp, and began to back-up slowly.
"Ok, uh, I think it would be best if-"
Spike turned around, and saw that Twilight was using her magic to keep the doors closed!
"Seriously?" exclaimed Spike, as he began to bang on the doors. "This isn't funny any- aaauuggghhh!"
But his sentence was cut off as he disappeared into the crowd, with one of the ponies yelling, "We've got him!"
NC Stardust: "I guess this is what would've happened to Spike in that one fan crazy episode he wasn't in…"
Twilight turned her head to see her friends pushing a nervous Starlight out of the train, and once she was, Rarity used her magic to stop Starlight from coming back in.
"Oh, um, ha ha, hi Sunburst," said Starlight, giving him a small smile. "How have you been?"
NC Stardust: "Awww, well isn't that such a 'generous' way of helping your friend?"
Sunburst smiled warmly at Starlight, and he said, "Well, I'm glad to see that nothing terrible happened to you or the others."
The light-purple unicorn became surprised at his statement. "You were... worried about me?"
"Of course. You're my best - and first - friend, Starlight. Why wouldn't I care?"
NC Stardust eating some Starburst candies again: "God, I'm telling you, I just cannot remember their ship name! You'd think it would be easy, right?"
As they followed him, Starlight thought to herself, 'I really hope nothing worse than this happens today.'
NC Stardust rolls his eyes, and cries, "Well, gee, thank you, Starlight, now obviously something worse is going to happen soon!"
"Um, Mr. Sunburst, sir?" Everyone looked back at the platform, and saw that the voice was coming from an Earth Pony... that had been flattened like a pancake because of the large crowd.
"No worries, I got this!" Pinkie Pie walked over to him, placing one end of a "bendy" straw in her mouth, and the other into his.
NC Stardust: "Oh, come on, Pinkie.."
Then, she began to blow air into him as if she were blowing air into a balloon until, eventually, there was enough air for him to...
"Yay! There you go!"
NC Stardust lets out a sigh, and proceeds with taking another shot of flavored whiskey.
The restored pony coughed a few times, and said, "Thanks... ow, my head..."
Sunburst smiled, and said, "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my assistant, Casey."
"An assistant?" Starlight said, surprised. "Wow. Is Flurry Heart that much of a handful?"
"You'd be surprised," admitted Sunburst.
NC Stardust: "Yeah, so were we during the season 2 finale… or, at least, most people."
Twilight was the last pony to walk up to him, and introduce herself. "Hi, Casey, I'm Twilight Sparkle."
The two of them shook hooves, and Casey said, "It's a pleasure to, um... finally meet you, Twilight."
Rainbow suddenly frowned, and muttered, "He never said that to any of us."
NC Stardust becomes frustrated: "Okay, if this pony's gonna be worse than the other two that Hasbro decided to have pass as love interests, then I am done with this! D-O-N-E, f***in DONE!"
Sunburst walked over to stand by the princess, saying, "He's a big fan of yours, Twilight."
Casey began to blush, feeling embarrassed. "I-I mean... well, I've seen so - I mean, heard so much about you... ever since you defeated Nightmare Moon..."
Twilight gave him a warm smile. "You don't have to be nervous, Casey. I enjoy making new friends."
Casey simply nodded his head, which was still red, and whispered, "Um... thanks."
NC Stardust pauses for a moment before saying, "Well, I still see no reason for Twilight to have a love interest, but why the hell not in this case? I mean, he's better than the other two so far… unless he f***ing ends up bumping into her accidentally at one point, or says a pathetic pick-up line after catching her in his arms - I mean, hooves."
After Casey was long gone, Sunburst sighed, and said, "You'll see him later... sorry about that, princess."
NC Stardust: "Oh, yeah, I got a pretty strong feeling he's gonna show up again soon."
"It's fine," replied Twilight. "And kind of... sweet, actually..."
"He means well," said Sunburst. "You two would actually make a good pair of friends."
Before Twilight could respond, Rainbow said, "Are you sure not more than friends?"
As she started laughing again, a blushing Twilight rolled her eyes as they continued on with following Sunburst towards the city.
NC Stardust: "Again, she does not need a love interest, but if that's where we are going with this, then Casey is… the pony means well."
Twilight chuckled, and looked around the city, admiring the decorations and other fun festivities that her BBBFF and sister-in-law had set up for their baby's first birthday.
NC Stardust: "So, judging from past events regarding a festival or some type of special celebration, I got a feeling this birthday party isn't going to be perfect all the way through."
Casey was silently walking by the houses of the Crystal Ponies, not taking any part in the festivities.
"Slave!"
Taking a small gulp, Casey went over to a nearby pond, and looked at the water, which dissolved into a reflection of his cloaked master.
NC Stardust (narrating) "So, we see that Casey - alone, obviously - is having second thoughts on helping his master with whatever he has planned for Twilight and her friends, who all decide to keep him company.
Twilight walked over to Casey, and to everyone's surprise, she placed a necklace around him.
Holding the circular pendant in his hoof, Casey saw that it showed a turtle-dove behind a blue-sky background.
NC Stardust: "Huh… well, it's a touching moment, I can admit that much."
Casey looked at the young alicorn with a confused expression. "W-why are you giving me this?"
Not that he wasn't complaining; it just seemed a bit odd to him, as well as the others, but Twilight gave him a warm smile, and said, "Well, I have a similar necklace at home, and as long as you keep that with you, we'll always be friends, no matter what."
'Oh... friends, right.' Casey slightly felt a little bit of rejection. 'Makes sense since she's probably paired better with somepony else.'
NC Stardust: "Um, no, not really, if we're talking about Flash and… the other guy…"
Noticing his slight disappointment, a blushing Twilight said, "Well, I mean, it could mean something more... possibly... after we get to know each other first?"
NC Stardust: "Huh, for once, she's not talking like the way she did in the Rainbow Rocks movie when.. gah, damn it, why do I keep thinking about Equestria Girls?!"
Casey instantly felt happier, and replied, "Thanks, Twilight."
Applejack nodded his head, and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "That was somethin' real special, Twi."
NC Stardust (narrating) "So, after he sorta ends up in the friend-zone with Twilight, Casey leads the Mane 6 into the castle, promising to show them something amazing… which I'm doubting right now, at the moment, but I'll give it a chance."
As they continued walking, Rainbow was having a strange feeling inside of herself, which Rarity took notice of.
"Having a stomach ache, darling, from all of that food you consumed?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head, saying, "No, it's not that. I just feel like... something bad is about to hap - whoa!"
The seven of them were now in front of a large door that resembled the star that Twilight had for a Cutie Mark.
Surrounding the star were carvings of the others' Cutie Marks, as well.
"Did you create all of this?" Applejack asked, as she looked at the well-made carving of her Cutie Mark. "I'm impressed!"
NC Stardust: "Huh, for some reason, I feel like these two were supposed to be the actual couple, but then Hasbro stepped in, and was like 'no, no, we need to give Twilight the love interest'..."
Casey blushed a little, and said, "Well, I didn't necessarily do all of it, but thanks anyway."
Pinkie Pie walked up to the door, looking all around it, and turned back to Casey. "So, how do we open it if there's not any doorknobs?
NC Stardust: "Oh, I'm sure you would figure out a way to go inside without a doorknob… anyway, once the door is opened, Casey decides to do the right thing, and tries stopping them from going into the room."
A now-pale Casey exclaimed, "Ok, this might sound crazy, but you all need to - ulp!"
He couldn't finish his sentence because a black tentacle had popped out from the room's shadows, and wrapped itself around the light-orange pony.
"Casey!" Twilight exclaimed, but before she could even help him, the tentacle quickly pulled the Earth Pony into the room.
NC Stardust: "Oh, come on, tentacle, we were this close to rolling out the closing credits!"
He lets out an exaggerated groan, and continues with the review.
"The Mane 6 go into the room, and are instantly in awe at the sight of the painted stain-glassed murals, but are confused about why the statue stands don't have anything on them."
A dark and sinister voice gave a response."You're about to see for yourself."
Then, a dark blast of energy appeared from above, and shot down at Pinkie Pie, who became engulfed in a giant ball of light.
"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight cried, trying to shield her eyes from the brightness.
NC Stardust: "Oh, God, she's gonna evolve into something worse than the reformed changelings, isn't she?"
When the bright light disappeared, everypony couldn't believe what they were seeing now.
Pinkie Pie was still on top of the stand, except now, she was an actual stone-made statue.
"No... Pinkie..." gasped Twilight, who felt like she was almost ready to cry.
NC Stardust: "Huh, so that's where Tempest must have gotten her idea from."
Twilight and her friends turned around to see a cloaked pony, who was holding up a silver staff.
"But all of you are going to experience what she's going through right now..."
He then aimed the tip of the staff at Twilight, saying, "I'll be saving you for last, your Highness."
NC Stardust: "Or you could just quickly use your magic on him, Twilight, and we can get to the credits already."
Rainbow Dash gritted his teeth, and she angrily yelled, "Hey! No one does that to my friend!"
"Dash, wait!" Twilight cried, but it was too late.
The winged pony charged towards the sinister newcomer, who responded by aiming his staff at her, trapping Rainbow inside of an energy ball.
"Let me out of this thing!" yelled an irritated Rainbow Dash.
NC Stardust: "Oh, come on, Twilight and Rarity, use your freakin' magic already!"
Twilight and Rarity were about to use their own magic, but the cloaked pony said, "Do anything, and I'll make things a whole lot worse."
NC Stardust: "Oh, f**k you, villain pony!"
The two of them de-powered their horns, which was enough for the cloaked pony as he sent Rainbow towards one of the empty stands.
"Twilight, help-" cried Rainbow, but her sentence was cut off once she became engulfed in the bright energy ball, as well.
"Two done..." laughed the cloaked pony, while the others were speechless at the new sight of Rainbow Dash. "And four to go!"
Just like Pinkie Pie, she was now turned to stone, and placed on the stand in front of her own mural.
NC Stardust (narrating) "And, soon enough, the rest of the Mane 6 get turned into statues, which brings us to Rarity, Twilight… oh, yeah, and the potential love interest."
He let out a whistle, and the two ponies watched as Casey was tossed from one of the room's dark corners, landing in between them.
"My goodness, darling, are you all right?" Rarity asked, as she and Twilight helped him stand up.
"Yeah... I'll be okay," said Casey, although his voice sounded weak.
NC Stardust: "Oh, my god, what did that guy do to him?"
Twilight gave an angry glare at the cloaked pony. "What did you do to him?"
NC Stardust: "See? Even Twilight's agreeing with me!"
That's enough from you, slave... and your services are no longer required."
He shot a white-and-yellow energy blast at Casey, and after a small explosion, the Earth Pony was gone.
NC Stardust: "Oh, COME ON, Hasbro, you didn't even give the poor stallion a chance!"
After seeing that Rarity was now a statue, as well, the young princess looked at the hooded figure, and yelled, "Who are you?"
The evil villain walked over to the princess, and said, "I'm someone that you should have never messed with."
NC Stardust: "Oh, of course, a villain with no type of proper backstory… cause we've never heard about you!"
As the energy surrounding Twilight grew stronger, the hooded pony added, "By the way, do send Sunset my regards."
Twilight gasped in shock and surprise. "You attacked her, too?"
NC Stardust cocks his gun, and says, "Oh, hell no, ain't nobody messin' with my favorite human today!"
He then shot an energy blast at Twilight, and once it struck the alicorn, she was gone in a colourful explosion. "Hahahahahahahahaha!"
NC Stardust begins to pray. "Please not the EG world, please not the EG world, please not the EG world!"
