MLP: Darkness Rising

Chapter 13 - Changed Times, Part 2

Disclaimer: Hasbro/DHX are the rightful owners of this franchise. I just own this story, any OCs, etc.

Author's Note: In regards to the show, the previous, current, and following chapters are taking place just a few days before the season 9 finale (ep. 24-25).

"I don't know about this, Pinkie."

"Relax, Twilight, he's totally got this. ALRIGHT, YOU ARE GOOD TO GO, BECK!"

The two mares were currently at a grass-covered field, next to a bull's-eye that Pinkie had painted in regards to what was soon about to happen with Beck since the green Earth pony was currently above them atop a hill. The reason for this was that Twilight had suggested to the reformed pony about creating a suit of armor in a style similar to his mechanical wings, and the "training exercise" for today was to see if it could work while being worn alongside said wings.

"Loud and clear, Pinkie!" Beck replied, and he began to take a few steps back. Then, after taking a deep breath, the Earth pony started to run towards the edge of the cliff, and the other two ponies watched as he jumped right off.

Whoosh!

"Yep, there go the wings," said Pinkie, with Beck now flying around in a circle whilst Twilight let out a small sigh of relief. For the most part, it seemed like Beck would be able to wear the complete attire without any - "Oh, that can't be good."

Small parts of the wings were starting to short-circuit and send off electric sparks, so the stallion began to make his way back to the cliff as quickly as possible, but it wasn't long before he eventually began falling down close to where Pinkie had put the bull's eye.

Thud!

The wings crashed down while Beck hovered a few feet above it, courtesy of being held by Twilight's magic. "Thanks, Twilight… so I'm guessing that is a no on the suit-wings combo."

Shaking her head after letting Beck down safely, the princess of friendship gave an apologetic smile. "Better we keep them separate, Beck. Sorry for the wings being damaged."

"No need to worry, Twilight," assured the Earth pony, as he and Pinkie both placed the metal wings into a wagon they had brought with them. "I've been meaning to do some more upgrades on them anyway."

"Upgrades that don't include putting ponies inside a burlap sack?" Pinkie questioned in an innocent tone, with Twilight now giving her friend a look and Beck letting out a soft chuckle. "What? I was just kidding."

Back in the castle, Casey was currently looking through some important notes on a desk inside the library until a familiar voice said, "I'm guessing that you haven't made much progress with the little prisoner, huh?"

As Starlight began to make her way inside, Casey chuckled for a moment before giving her a response. "A little bit, and it's better than nothing at all… so I don't think she'll be trapping us again the way she did a while back anytime soon. Is that why you haven't paid her a visit yet?"

"Let's just say that she's lucky I haven't gone down there yet," said Starlight, and the pink unicorn looked over at the nearby Crystal Mirror. "You or Twilight give the invitation yet to-"

"The big event for Twilight that's happening in a few days? Yeah, Sunset said that she would try to make it in time since she's currently at some far away concert backstage thing or whatever." Casey then drank from his nearby glass of water, and was about to continue when he noticed Starlight giving him a slightly raised brow. "What?"

Starlight nodded over to the Mirror again, and she said, "I wasn't talking about Sunset, I knew she already got her invite. I was going to ask if Stardust or his Twilight-"

At the mention of the name Stardust, Casey started to frown, and Starlight could've sworn that her friend's eyes were begining to darken. "I bear no ill will towards Princess Twilight, but I am highly doubtful that she'd be able to attend considering the whole time difference between our worlds… not to mention that she's probably having her hooves full with whatever problems my old friend has to fix in his world."

"But it doesn't hurt to try, though, right?" Starlight replied, with Casey fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "You all have been through so much since that day in the Crystal Empire, and I know it's been a while since he-"

"A while, Starlight?" Casey interrupted, with a slight edge now added to his voice, and even Starlight became a little surprised. "In almost three years, I have not seen or heard from my friend, and I am legitimately on the verge of asking either Twilight to have it so there can't be anymore traveling down between our worlds."

I think it's time for us to get some fresh air.

Before Twilight's former pupil could say anything in response, Casey began to walk away from the table, so she asked, "Where areyou going now?"

"Outside for some fresh air," answered Casey, and left the library without saying another word.

Once he was gone, Starlight gave the Crystal Mirror one more look, as if she were considering going to the world that she had mentioned to deliver said coronation invite, but the pink unicorn eventually sighed before also making her way out of the room.

Maybe I should ask Twilight if she would be okay with - huh?

Starlight suddenly stopped walking, and looked a few times around the hallway with a confused expression. That was… weird. She then began to slowly resume her walk. I could've sworn I felt some sudden burst of magic nearby. Strange.

Little did she know that the castle's dungeon was, as of now, currently unoccupied…

Meanwhile, in another universe

"Um, Pinkie Pie, where exactly did you find this much rope?" Rainbow asked, as she watched Applejack and Fluttershy tie one end of two separate ropes around the waists of Anti-Stardust and Starlight while Twilight and Spike worked fast on the final repairs to the damaged weapon.

"In the bedroom of my other self," replied Pinkie, in a casual tone before giving a shrug. "Not sure myself why she had it in there."

Once Fluttershy was done with Anti-Stardust, he politely thanked the kind Pegasus before looking over at Starlight, who was also now tied up securely. "While I sincerely appreciate you going with me into… there… you know that you didn't exactly have to volunteer yourself."

"I am aware of that, but I have my reasons for doing this… with one of them being that you clearly aren't in the best condition to bring back all of your friends from dimensional limbo on your own." The pink unicorn then used her hoof to point out Anti-Stardust's appearance. "Not to mention that I think this should make us even for what happened back in Twilight's castle."

Letting out a small chuckle, the scarred pony just shook his head before turning his attention to the alicorn princess once everyone had heard the sound of the device being activated, and it was currently aiming at the Cutie Map table via Twilight's magic.

"Just another reminder, okay? Once you two have found everyone, just give your rope a tug, and we'll pull from our end as quickly as possible."

The two ponies nodded their heads, and Twilight added, "Good luck, Starlight, and good luck, J…"

She paused for a moment, with Anti-Stardust quickly figuring out what she was going to say, and the stallion gave her a small smile that the alicorn returned in kindness. "Thanks, Twilight… all of you, really, for helping me out."

"That's what friendship is all about, sugarcube," said Applejack, giving him a small pat on the back before stepping a few feet away from the table. "Let'er rip, Twilight."

"Alright, in 3… 2… 1…" The princess let out a deep sigh, and fired a small enough blast to the table. Instead of it becoming bits and pieces, there was now a portal hovering over the entire table, and Fluttershy let out a quick yelp when small sprouts of static energy shot out. "Go!"

Starlight and Anti-Stardust quickly leaped into the portal, with the group of friends now just watching two separate ropes go deeper and deeper inside.

"Um, Pinkie, darling, how much of their rope is going in there?" Rarity wondered, as everyone looked at the two piles of rope placed near the door, with neither looking to be small anytime soon.

The party-planning pony responded with an honest shrug, which made Applejack shook her head. "I'm not sure about that either, Rarity. I brought as much as I could in case they had to go really, REALLY far into limbo to find our other selves."

"So, then how are we supposed to know when either of them tug the rope for us to start pulling?" Rainbow asked, with a look of disbelief on her face.

"That's easy, Dashie! We just wait for the rope to almost run out, grab the ends once we see them, and then pull after we feel the tugs," answered Pinkie, with the two piles having shrunk by only a few inches.

Letting out a quick yawn, Spike began to walk out of the room with the intent of exploring the castle some more. "I'll be back in a little bit, then, everypony. Just start yelling and stuff once it's time to bring them out."

Applejack looked over at Twilight, as if they both knew what a possible solution would be, and the purple pony replied, "Let's just wait a few more minutes. Then, I'll use my magic to shorten the rope."