My Little Pony: A Race Against Time
Chapter 28 - Helping Fluttershy
Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, and the following song in this chapter belongs to 4Kids Entertainment and KOCH Records.
(Limbo)
A few minutes after the five ponies had disappeared, Applejack said, "Huh, that Stardust fella actually seems like a real nice pony."
"Ha, I doubt that," replied Sugarcoat, who was still frowning. "A pony like that is probably going to blow his top any second now, considering what's going on."
"Jack... Jack... JACK!"
Stardust opened his eyes, and stood up on all fours to see Princess Twilight in front of him, looking concerned.
He was about to say something to her, but Pinkie Pie appeared next to him, and cried, "Hurray! He's finally awake!"
Deciding to momentarily wait on scolding the party-planning pony, Stardust instead looked around, and couldn't find any words to describe what he was seeing right now.
It looked like the part of Ponyville that Fluttershy resided at, except there were certain parts that weren't fully colored while others looked like they had just finished being sketched.
"What... happened here?" Casey asked, also surprised. "It's like somepony being halfway done with a painting, or just getting rid of their mistakes.
It appears that the world is slowly being erased from existence, answered Starswirl, now back in Stardust's mind. This is such a tragedy.
The former human being agreed with the elderly pony, saying, "I'd hate to imagine what the Fluttershy of this world is going through right now..."
"Well, then, let's go in her house already," said Pinkie, and she began to head over to Fluttershy's house, but was stopped by Stardust, who pulled her back.
"Just hold on a second there, Pinkie," exclaimed Stardust, giving her a stern look. "If you're going to accompany us to all of these worlds, then wait until we come with a plan to figure out how to fix the world we travel to. Do I make myself clear?"
Pinkie nodded her head, but Stardust added, "I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but... pinkie promise me that you won't cause any type of trouble or get yourself or us in danger. Alright?"
"Uh-huh, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," agreed Pinkie Pie, as she recited the rhyme to him.
"He sounds like a dad," whispered Casey, speaking to Twilight, but loud enough for Princess Twilight to hear, and she started to laugh.
"No, he's just being a concerned friend," said Princess Twilight, who then walked over to Stardust. "I'm actually surprised you aren't acting like your usual self."
"Huh?" Stardust said, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Princess Twilight smirked at her special somepony, and said, "Well, usually in these type of situations, you just throw yourself in harm's way, in order to keep us safe... and you would've chosen to go to all of these worlds by yourself."
Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "Well, let's just say that I am slowly starting to learn from my past mistakes."
"Huh, it certainly took you long enough."
As Casey listened to their conversation, he turned to see Twilight writing down what they were saying in her thick notebook that contained the abridged version of Stardust's story.
"How did you even get that here?" Casey whispered, not wanting the other two to hear him.
"Doesn't matter right now," answered Twilight. "I want to make sure that I'm not missing anything."
Then, once Stardust and Princess Twilight had finished, Twilight used her magic to send the notebook back to her castle in Ponyville.
"So, what's the plan?" Casey asked.
Before Stardust could explain what it was, they heard the sound of a door opening, and a familiar voice cry out, "Stardust!"
The golden-colored pony turned around, and saw Fluttershy (of the world they were in) running over to him from her cottage.
"You're alive," cried the winged pony, who was embracing Stardust with a hug and tearful eyes. "I thought I lost you..."
Stardust didn't know what to say, at first, but for some reason, he found himself patting her gently on the back. "It's alright, Fluttershy... it's okay... I'm here..."
As the alternate version of their friend continued to cry, Princess Twilight became confused. "Why is she...?"
"Well, duh, Twilight #2," replied Pinkie, speaking as if the answer was obvious. "She probably thinks he's the other version of Stardust that got killed by Miles."
Princess Twilight just turned her attention back to Stardust, who strangely felt as if he did have romantic feelings for this alternate version of Fluttershy... or, at least, a small part of him was feeling that way.
It would appear that the connection you have with the other versions of yourself is more special than you think.
Stardust found himself agreeing with Starswirl, but then, to his and everypony else's surprise, Fluttershy paused her warm embrace to deliver a kiss onto the young pony's muzzle.
"Uh-oh..." said Casey and Twilight, who both turned to see what the other Twilight's reaction was going to be.
Princess Twilight did not look amused, and she was about to interrupt them when Pinkie shouted, "Look over there!"
Casey and the two Twilights turned their heads, and the three of them became surprised because the color-less and freshly drawn areas were going back to its finished state.
"Um... I..." Stardust said, after he'd finished his kiss with her, which also caused the area's transformation to stop. "This isn't... what you think..."
But why did part of me even feel like I was enjoying that? He wondered, and his answer came from Starswirl.
I told you, Jack, special connection... and don't be that surprised. Our own Fluttershy did have a crush on you once, remember?
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, not understanding what he was saying. "Are you okay?"
"I'm afraid that he's right, Fluttershy," replied Princess Twilight, walking over to her. "This is a different Stardust, from another world... in which I'm the pony that he's in a relationship with."
Fluttershy's eyes went wide as she looked at Stardust, who reluctantly nodded his head, and she almost felt ready to start crying again. "So... m-my Stardust is... g-gone? Forever?"
"Well, no, I don't think so," replied Twilight, who had also been writing down possible solutions in her "Friendship Problem Solving" book. "When you kissed Stardust, everything around us started to go back to normal..."
"But when you two stopped, so did everything else," continued Casey, and Stardust looked around, noticing that there was still much more work to be done.
"Ooh, how about you two kiss again?" Pinkie suggested, but then, she noticed Princess Twilight giving her a look.
"Not happening," said the alicorn princess, with Stardust giving her a sheepish expression. "Before we try anything else, could you tell us what happened when Miles, or... the cloaked pony... came here?"
Fluttershy gulped, and looked over at Stardust, who said, "I'm here if you need me."
The yellow Pegasus pony sighed, and started her sad story. "It was, um... after we'd revealed our feelings for each other, and there was a knock at the door..."
"Please tell me that isn't Discord," muttered Stardust, a little irritated now since their moment had been interrupted.
"No, I don't think so, Stardust," replied a surprised Fluttershy. "He usually just pops in here."
As she went over to open the door, Stardust looked down at Angel, who gave him a finger motion signal that meant "I'm watching you", and that made the young pony smirk at the furry animal.
But before he could give the bunny a smart remark, Stardust heard Fluttershy let out a small squeak of fright.
"Fluttershy? You okay?"
He entered the living room, and saw Fluttershy, looking like she was frozen with fear, as well as a yellow-and-black pony that was wearing a cloak.
"Oh, she'll be just fine," replied Miles, grinning widely. "But as for you, that's a different story."
Seeing that Fluttershy still looked terrified, Stardust said, "Look, I don't want any type of trouble to-"
"Oh, there's no trouble at all, Stardust," interrupted Miles, who then started to levitate himself above their heads, with his glowing hooves creating some type of red energy ball. "I'm just going to kill you."
And before Stardust could even make any type of offensive move, Miles shot down the energy ball, successfully trapping him inside of it.
"So long, Jack..." He said, as the sinister pony made electricity appear in the energy ball, with Stardust now screaming in pain.
Then, Miles began using his dark energy power to increase the ball's strength, and watched as Stardust started losing his colors, as well as slowly turning into a simple drawing.
"Your story is over..."
That was all Fluttershy could bring herself to say before she began crying again, so Princess Twilight went over to her friend, allowing the yellow pony to cry in her arms.
As for Stardust, he was now becoming furious after hearing the emotional harm and distress that Miles had given Fluttershy.
"I... am going... to kill him..."
"Well, now hold on a minute, Stardust," said Twilight, who had been writing down everything in her book. "Let's focus on fixing this world... um, okay, so kissing isn't an option... er, nope, that won't work... oh, okay, is there a type of song, Fluttershy, to describe your feelings for Stardust?"
Stardust looked at Twilight, and asked, "Uh, why would she sing a song?"
"Well, because you performed a kind deed comforting Fluttershy when you first saw her, as well as allowing her to kiss you," explained Twilight. "It made everything around us started going back to the way it's supposed to be, so that must mean this world is represented by the element of kindness."
Stardust blinked his eyes a few times before asking, "So, how exactly does her singing a song help?"
"Since you're technically part of this world, and Fluttershy is your love interest here, then her singing a song about her feelings or anything to do with the other you might fix the damaging darkness that Miles brought here."
Twilight looked back at Fluttershy, and asked, "So, is there anything you can think of?"
The yellow Pegasus pony started to blush as she answered, "Well, there was one song I always used to sing to myself before I ever admitted to Stardust... the, um, other one... that I l-liked him..."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, great," replied Twilight, as she continued writing in her book. "Could you sing it for us, please?"
Fluttershy nodded her head, and was silent for a few minutes before she eventually took a deep breath, and started to sing.
Out here in the quiet of the night,
Beneath the stars, and moon
We both know we've got something on our minds
We won't admit, but it's true
"Aww... so adorable," whispered Pinkie, while she, Casey and Twilight enjoyed her performance.
As for Princess Twilight and Stardust, they couldn't believe what they were seeing, especially Stardust, who felt like he was going back into a trance.
You look at me, I look away.
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you, but now
I'm afraid that you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever
Be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that, I love you.
To everyone's surprise, the plan that Twilight had come up with was starting to work, and all of the color and art was being restored to its actual state.
I practice all the things that I could say,
Line by line, every word
I tell myself today could be the day,
But every time, I lose my nerve
Casey was trying his best to not cry, while Twilight paused her book-writing to enjoy the performance.
I look at you, you look away
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start.
I wanna tell you, but now
I'm afraid that you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever
Be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that, I love you.
Stardust could almost feel his muzzle drop to the ground, with Fluttershy's song putting butterflies in his stomach.
Why? Why do you turn away?
It must be, you're afraid like me
I try, but I can't pretend that I
Don't feel for you the way I do
Can't you see?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you, but now
I'm afraid that you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever
Be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that, I love you.
When Fluttershy concluded her performance, Stardust said, "Wow... that was... wow..."
"Excellent!" Twilight cried, her face full of excitement that her idea had worked, and it definitely did because everything was back to the way it was supposed to be.
"Stardust, can you actually believe that... hey!"
Stuck in another trance, Stardust had allowed Fluttershy to kiss him again, and after Princess Twilight's interruption caused them to break apart, a gold-colored cloud suddenly appeared next to Fluttershy.
"Wait a sec..." Twilight said, trying to take a closer look at the cloud, which was starting to morph into the shape of a pony. "Is that supposed to be-"
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Stardust looked down at his now-beeping-uncontrollably wristwatch, and asked, "What the..."
"Maybe you should press that blinking button?" Pinkie Pie wondered, and that's exactly what Stardust did.
"Thank you, Stardust," said Fluttershy, with the golden-colored pony smiling at her, and opening his mouth to say-
Whoosh!
Suddenly, all five of the ponies had disappeared just as they'd done before, in a bright flash of light...
