MLP: Playing With Fire

Chapter 5 - Unexpected Reunion

Disclaimer: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media while I just own Casey and this story.

Once Twilight had left the dungeon, the young alicorn made her way towards the library, and once she got there, she was surprised to find that her special somepony, along with her former pupil, were both getting ready to step through the Crystal Mirror.

"Leaving so soon? I thought you'd be interested in seeing what-"

Casey gave a quick chuckle, and he shook his head before saying, "I'm not exactly 'interested' to see what the outcome is of Beck owning up to the mistakes… though I certainly hope that it's a positive one."

Or else I'm gonna have to beat the living hay out of him if he causes her pain in any sort of way.

Although he'd come to accept the fact that taking Beck's life would not have solved anything, Casey was still unwilling to befriend the middle-aged pony in any sort of way because the memory of Beck assaulting Twilight was one that would never leave his mind.

Twilight looked over at the purple unicorn standing nearby, and she responded by giving a shrug. "He offered me the option of accompaning him, and I accepted… even though I honestly have no idea where we're going."

The light-orange pony let out a sigh, and replied, "It's like I told you, we're seeing an old friend that I really feel like talking to."

"Stardust?" wondered Twilight.

A smirk appeared on Starlight's face as she said, "Oh, he wishes that he was seeing him right now… isn't that right?"

"No, but he does have somethin to do with the pony that we are planning on seeing," answered Casey, even though part of him was agreeing with her.

It had been almost an entire month - more or less - since the last time he'd seen Stardust and Twilight's counterpart, and because Casey was still trying to fix his wristwatch, he'd been unable to get into contact with them to see how they were doing.

I'm really starting to regret not asking him or Princess Twilight if they'd been able to give me an extra book that works like the one Sunset uses, thought the young pony, and since all the time that had passed meant it had almost been a year for Stardust's world, that only made him miss the two of them even more.

"Not really surprising to hear that from you," Starlight rolled her eyes, and she shook her head. "Why don't you just spit it out, then, and tell me who it is that we're seeing exactly."

"Alright, sheesh, just relax," said Casey, trying to calm her down. "We're going to the world that Miles lives in."

Twilight became a little surprised after hearing him say that name. "The yellow Pegasus that Rowan took possession of?"

"Yup…" Casey nodded his head, and he was about to step through the Crystal Mirror when the purple alicorn told him to wait a moment. "What do you-oof!"

She handed him a very thick book, which had almost made Casey fall to the ground after recieving it, and she said, "Whatever you end up learning about Stardust, I want it to be put in here, along with the rest of what we know about him so far."

I should've known that she would ask me to do that for her… sheesh, how much stuff has she written in this thing?

After getting used to holding the book, Casey placed it in one of his cloak's pockets, and replied, "I'll do my best, Twilight… love you."

Then, after giving his special somepony a quick kiss on the cheek, Casey walked through the Crystal Mirror, and after a flash of bright light, he was gone.

Before going in herself, Starlight looked at Twilight, and asked, "So are you sure you'll be okay with whatever you have planned today regarding Beck?"

The confident alicorn nodded her head, and she replied, "I've got everything under control. You just enjoy your time with Casey."

"Eh, I'll try to," said a smirking Starlight, even though she was pleased that they'd been able to make up for lost time back when Casey had spent most of it in either virtual limbo or Stardust's world. "See you later, Twilight."

Then, after the two of them waved good-bye to each other, Starlight walked through the Crystal Mirror…

… and she expected to step into an exact replica of the library, but for some reason, that wasn't the case.

"Um, Casey? Why aren't we standing inside of a library?"

As the two ponies took a look around, a confused Casey replied, "I, er, don't know… but it looks like we're in some kind of laboratory."

They saw tables that held various test tubes and vials, along with several labeled potions, multiple pieces of machinery, and a few inventions that were catching their curiousity, but their focus on them was broken by the sudden appearance of a somewhat familiar Pegasus that wore a labcoat and a pair of glasses.

"Well, this is a surprise… can I help you two with something?"

Not wanting to get in some kind of trouble, Casey nodded his head before saying, "Hello, sir. I was wondering if you could tell us where, um, a Pegasus named Miles lives at in this world?"

Letting out a chuckle, the yellow and middle-aged pony smirked at Casey as he replied, "This may not be the castle, but this is somewhat my second home… and hello to you, too, Casey."

How did he know my name? thought the young Earth Pony, but after noticing the familiarity in his voice, as well as a few other recognizable body features, his mouth almost dropped to the ground once he realized who the Pegasus was. "Miles?"

"What… you're him?" said Starlight, who was equally surprised. "But how is… I mean, you were around our age the last time we saw you, and now, you look like someone's father."

An amused Miles, who also had a white-haired goatee, gave the two of them a warm smile, and replied, "That's because it's been almost 15 years since the day that I thanked you and the others for what you did."

"Fifteen years?" cried both Starlight and Casey.

Miles nodded his head, and he explained, "Time works very differently in this world than how it is for you two in your own world."

No kidding, thought Casey, who was feeling relieved and grateful for that not being the case with him and Stardust.

And, as if by concidence, Miles became slightly nervous while asking, "Oh, um… is that one friend of yours coming, as well? Stardust was his name, if I recall correctly, yes?

Seeing the change in his expression and tone, Casey replied, "Not really, no… was there something you wanted to tell him?"

A sheepish smile appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "It's just that I, uh, never got the chance to personally offer him and his special somepony my sincere apologies for what had happened regarding my, um… well…"

Remembering all of the terrible stuff that a possessed Miles had done that involved Stardust, Casey let out a sigh, and tried his best to make the Pegasus feel better.

"I know that he isn't here, Miles, but I'm pretty sure Stardust and his Twilight aren't holding any sort of grudge or hard feelings against you for what happened… and, um, I'll be sure to mention this whenever I see them again."

A look of surprise appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "Really? You would do that for me?"

Casey smiled at the middle-aged pony, and he nodded his head. "I give you my word."

"Thank you very much," said Miles, giving him a warm smile of his own, in return. "I would've done it myself a long time ago, but personally, I'm not exactly comfortable with any sort of traveling that involves going to another world or universe, or back in time."

Starlight let out a small chuckle, and she replied, "You aren't the only one who thinks that, Miles… but, uh, I hope you're okay with talking to us about your own past… sort of."

"Well, I don't see what the problem is there," said an amused Miles. "What would you like for me to tell you?"

The purple unicorn looked over at Casey with a smirk, and the orange pony let out a sigh as he pulled out the book that Twilight had given him.

"That's quite a lengthy book you've got there, son…"

Casey let out a chuckle, and he replied, "Thanks, but Twilight wrote pretty much everything in here… anyway, what I wanted to ask was-"

Suddenly, before he could finish his sentence, Miles had something else that he wanted to say.

"Before you ask your questions, Casey, I wanted to know if you and Starlight would be interested in testing out one of my newest inventions."

"Really?" replied the young pony, who had been secretly hoping for him to ask something that. "Sure! Which one of these-"

Miles shook his head, and said, "It's over in the other room down the hall."

Casey looked at Starlight, who gave a small shrug, saying, "Sure, I guess… doesn't sound so bad or anything."

"Wonderful, then, just follow me," said Miles, and he began to lead them out of the lab. "Oh, you can leave that book in here if you want, Casey… no reason to continue carrying it."

"Thank you!" The young pony let out a sigh of relief after hearing that, and placed the book on a nearby desk before he and Starlight followed Miles to the door that would lead to wherever he planned on taking them.