My Little Pony: Seeds of the Past
Chapter 25 - Worlds Apart
Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, Stardust Balance was created by the Warrior of Twilight, and Beck was created by FanficFan920, while I'm the owner of these and the previous MLP stories, as well as the OC known as Casey. Also, I apologize for any OOC moments that may have appeared in the story.
Author's Note: Okay, so it's not as long as the "dark/graphic" chapter, but when it comes to writing chapters like this, it's a real time-consumer... with that being said, please enjoy what I believe to be one of the most special chapters I've ever written in any of my stories.
A few days later
"Come on, Rarity, just give him the gift already!"
Today was the day of Casey's birthday, and he was celebrating it while being surrounded by Twilight, Spike, Starlight, the CMC, and the rest of the Mane 6, as well as Stardust, who had come with his world's versions of Twilight and Spike.
So far, almost everyone had given the light-orange pony their gifts, but for some reason, Rarity was a little hesitant in giving Casey his gift from her.
"You ain't exactly helpin' out, Rainbow," said Applejack, frowning at the blue pegasus. "Also, I'm pretty sure the cake and ice cream won't be goin' anywhere."
While Rainbow rolled her eyes, Twilight looked at Rarity, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Um, well, it's just that I didn't expect to give it to Casey while he was in a wheelchair, darling," replied the white unicorn. "I wouldn't want him to hurt himself trying to put it on."
A smile appeared on Casey's face, and he said, "I'll be fine, Rarity, it's not going to be any trouble."
Even though she still didn't look too sure, Rarity finally handed over the gift to Casey via magic, and as he started to open it, Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, but a glare from Applejack stopped her from saying anything hurtful.
"Um, Twilight? Where's Discord?" asked Fluttershy. "I thought he would've shown up by now."
"Oh, don't worry, he's here in the castle," replied the purple alicorn. "Just finishing up his turn to watch over Beck, so I'm sure Discord will join us later on."
The young pegasus nodded her head, but she was also feeling a little curious about what exactly the draconequs was doing down below with Twilight's sole prisoner.
############
"Got any sevens?"
Beck shook his head, and as Discord made another card appear in his own deck, the middle-aged Earth Pony asked, "You have a two in there?"
The draconequs sighed, and grumbled under his breath as he handed one of his cards over to a chuckling Beck. "Oh, don't be so amused, little pony… you're just lucky that Twilight stepped in to make sure I don't have you end up in an asylum… got an eight?"
"Son of a… yeah, I do," muttered Beck, and as Discord happily took the car from him, the Earth Pony mentally thanked Twilight for whatever she'd told Discord regarding him.
###################
As he held up Rarity's gift in front of him, a wide-eyed Casey said, "Wow, this is… beautiful!"
It was a jet-black cloak that had several streaks of red alongsids the edges, and while Starlight assisted in helping him put it on, Rainbow let out a sigh of relief.
"Ha! See, I told you he'd like it, Rarity."
Twilight looked at her, and she replied, "What?"
Now feeling a little more comfortable, the white unicorn replied, "Well, thank you, darling. I was actually inspired to make it after I saw the one worn by… um… Stardusk, was it?"
"Star… dust… Stardust," said the gold pony, and he glanced over at a sheepish Starlight, who knew that they would need to have a talk later on. "You didn't also make him a fedora, did you?"
"Wha… no, of course not," replied Rarity, with a slight frown. "I'm not trying to copy you, Stardust, so-"
Before the two of them could begin an argument, Casey stepped in to say, "Thank you, Rarity, I love it."
"You're welcome, darling, and happy birthday," said Rarity, and she walked away while Casey began to wheel himself out of the room, much to the surprise of the CMC. "Now, then… um… which one of you is the Spike from this world?"
Spike was about to respond, but his counterpart stepped in front of him, and said, "Um, that would be me, Rarity, so how about we - hey!"
"Nice try, little dragon," remarked Twilight's counterpart, who used her magic to bring Spike's other self over to where she was.
Rarity looked back over at the Spike that was now standing in front of her, and he sheepishly asked, "Sooooo, um… how are you doing?"
A small smile appeared on the white unicorn's face as she said, "I'm fine, Spikey Wikey, but I do think now is a good time to talk about… well, what you said to me several weeks ago, and what you did."
"Heh, heh, yeah, um, that…" replied Spike, who was now feeling his face begin to warm up, and could almost hear his own heartbeat. "Well, Rarity, I… figured if that'd be the last time I saw you, then I should let you know how I've always felt about you… which is also why I, uh, decided to give you that kiss… you aren't mad or anything, right?"
To his surprise, Rarity began to giggle, and she replied, "Well, of course not, darling, why ever would I be? And you do remember that you did try to somewhat tell me the same thing back when you, um, grew into a rampaging dragon?"
The memories of those events appeared in Spike's mind, and he began to chuckle. "Ohhh, yeah… uh, I mean, I never forgot about it. I just didn't know the small similarities between the two until now."
Then, he waited for Rarity to speak again, but she didn't say anything, so Spike knew that he had to continue.
"Does, um… that mean you and I won't be… friends or-"
Rarity chuckled again, and she ruffled the scales on his head as she said, "Of course we'll still be friends, Spikey Wikey… like I said before, friendship is forever… but, um, perhaps we could try reaching that next step when we're not about to face the possibility of losing our lives?"
Feeling more relaxed now, Spike nodded his head, and replied, "Sure! Lookin' forward to it!"
"You might not be the only one," said Rarity, and before Spike could say anything else, she kissed the small dragon on his cheek before walking away, while a bunch of tiny heart began to surround his head.
"Wow…"
Then, Spike fell backwards until he was lying on the ground, while his counterpart - who was sitting atop Twilight's other self - muttered underneath his breath.
"Something wrong, Spike?" asked the teasing alicorn, and her loyal assistant began to frown.
"Why can't you and Star help me out with having something like that happen to me?"
Twilight let out a chuckle, and she replied, "Well, you two did sing to me and our world's Rarity that one time on Hearts & Hooves Day, remember?"
Spike sighed, and he said, "Yeah, but… I haven't gotten to kiss Rarity yet, or tell her how I feel about her."
"Aw, don't worry, Spike," assured Twilight. "I'm sure your moment will come one day."
###################
Alright, buddy, just remember what Jack told you, and you'll be just fine.
After placing a special object into one of his new cloak's pockets, Casey turned himself back around, and was about to leave the room when he found himself looking at a trio of fillies.
"You okay, Casey?" wondered Sweetie Belle, and the young pony nodded his head, which made Applebloom swipe away some non-existent beads of sweat.
"Phew! For a second there, we thought you weren't enjoyin' your own party."
As he began to head back, Casey chuckled, and said, "No, of course I'm enjoying it… so if you'll excuse me, there's something I have to say to Twilight."
"Really? What are you gonna say to her?" asked Scootaloo.
"Something I should've said a long time ago."
##############
Well, here goes nothing, thought Starlight, who was now making her way over to Stardust.
"Soooo… how's it been having that scar over your eye?"
Stardust smirked at his friend's counterpart, and he replied, "Oh, just fine, actually… except for the fact that I've had almost all of my friends attack me because they thought I was the other pony who got sucked into a thermos."
A look of guilt appeared on the purple unicorn's face. "Well, the good news is that your scar was only temporary, so it should be gone by tonight or sometime tomorrow… and, uh, I think you deserve an apology from me."
The gold pony shook his head, and replied, "Don't even worry about it, Starlight, a simple scar is nothing for me to compl-"
"No, not… just that…" said Starlight, while rubbing the back of her neck with her "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for acting so hostile towards you. I was only like that because-"
"You were jealous of me, weren't you?"
"- I was jealous of the fact that you… you… you knew already?"
Stardust chuckled at the unicorn's surprised expression, and he said, "I sort of figured it out after we came back from Anti-Equestria… plus, the other you told me that she figured this is what the issue was."
"Of course, she did," replied Starlight. "But, uh... in all honesty, Stardust, I was just upset about the fact that he always seemed to spend time with you instead of… well, me and Twilight and everypony else."
The gold pony sighed, and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, saying, "I can understand why you'd feel that way, Starlight, and I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, but something tells me that Casey's starting to realize, as well, that… wait a second…"
A confused Starlight watched as Stardust suddenly walked towards a bulletin board that was hanging on the wall, next to a long whiteboard that had all sorts of numbers and measurements and whatnot.
"Twilight… what is this?"
The purple alicorn made her way over to Stardust, and said, "Oh, that's something I have planned for the Friendship Festival in a few weeks-"
"No, I meant this," replied Stardust, pointing his hoof at the bulletin board, which she had used while figuring out Beck's identity.
"Oh, well, that's what I was using while trying to figure out who was capturing all of my friends," said Twilight, smiling at the thought of Stardust admiring her work. "Impressive, right?"
Stardust remained silent, for a moment, before he said, "Yes, but would you care to explain why a picture of me is listed under the suspects category?"
Realizing that she'd forgotten to take the photo off, Twilight let out a nervous chuckle, and replied, "Well, um… you do have a cloak."
A few minutes later
Once Casey returned to the Main Hall, and saw that Twilight was talking to Pinkie, he started to take a deep breath.
Alright, I can do this… I can do this.
The young pony wheeled his way over to them, and said, "Hey, Pinkie… um, you mind if I talk to Twilight for a little bit?"
To his surprise, the pink pony nodded her head, and replied, "Sure, take all the time you need…"
Boing! Boing! Boing!
As Pinkie happily bounced away, Twilight looked over at Casey, and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… great… loving the party," replied Casey, even though he could feel his face warm up, and almost hear his own heartbeat. "Also, uh… speaking of that certain word… there's something important that I want to tell you."
"Oh? Like what?"
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Trying his best to remain calm, and ignore the sound of his beating heart, Casey said, "Well, before I get there, I just want… to first say that… since the first time I ever laid eyes on you, I have always-"
However, before the young pony could finish his prepared speech, they heard a familiar voice say, "Wait, so whose birthday is this party for again?"
"I told you, Trixie, that it's for Casey."
Starlight and her best friend were now making their way over to them, and Casey forced himself not to groan while Twilight said, "Oh, how… nice of you to come, Trixie… even though I don't remember delivering an invita-"
"Uh, Starlight?" said the azure unicorn, who was looking back and forth between Twilight and Stardust's girlfriend. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees two of her in this place."
"You aren't the only one, trust me," replied an amused Starlight. "The Twilight that's over there is from a parallel version of our world, which means that-"
Trixie let out a gasp, and cried, "So there's another pony out that also claims to be the great, powerful, and unscareable-"
"Ahem!" The three ponies looked at Casey, who had cleared his throat, and said, "I don't mean to interrupt this conversation, but I was trying to tell Twilight something important, so…"
"Oh, sorry, Casey, my fault," replied Starlight, and as she led Trixie over to another side of the room, the light-orange pony began to eat a quick slice of cake.
Thank Celestia I didn't get my head whacked by a door or something.
"Okay, so… what were you going to tell me again?"
Casey was about to respond when, suddenly, he felt a sharp prick on his tongue, and the young pony let out a small shriek of pain before opening his mouth to release a bee that was now flying away from him.
"How in the frudhf difh a bee fjeok gepgle?" said Casey, wondering how in the world did a bee get into the castle, and make its way to his slice of cake, thus allowing his tongue to be stung by it.
A confused expression appeared on Twilight's face as she asked, "Huh? What did you say?"
"I sayth jowlll feeeth bah krek…" replied Casey, but then, he found himself sticking out his tongue, and the young pony realized that it was starting to swell up. "Oh, fulff blaaaam!"
Meanwhile
I hate being stuck in damn traffic, thought Jack, as he honked his car's horn once again. I swear to God, if these people start bursting into song, then I-
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of his cellphone, and after seeing who the caller was, Jack swiftly answered it. "I was actually about to call you, love… yes, I know I'm late, but this time-"
Honk!
Jack lifted his middle finger up in the air, and slowly began to move his convertible forward while saying, "Some people just don't have enough patience anymore, Sunset… oh, don't you even go there, I have plenty of-"
Honk!
"No one's going anywhere, asshole!" yelled Jack, and he rolled his eyes before continuing to speak to his girlfriend. "Okay, everyone has their limit, sweetheart…. anyway, I'm not that far from CHS, so can you go to the school rooftop? I'll be there in about, um, thirty minutes so… huh? Yes, I know today is a Saturday, but trust me, it's for a very good reason."
After hearing Sunset Shimmer give her response, a sly grin appeared on Jack's face as he said, "Well, I'm certainly not planning on the two of us-"
HONK!
Flipping off the driver behind him once again, Jack let out a groan, and began to head towards the nearby freeway exit. "Add another five minutes, love… yup, I'll see you soon…"
Forty Minutes Later
With his car now parked in the CHS parking lot, Jack took a moment to make sure his pants pocket had what he needed, and then, the young man left the now-locked vehicle to start making his way into the school.
I hope everything turned out alright with your special someone, Casey, thought Jack. Now, it's my turn to do something special for my girlfriend.
Once he reached the door that led to the stairs, Jack began to take those up to the rooftop, and when he got there, a smile appeared on his face after seeing the person that had been waiting so long for him.
"Took you long enough," said Sunset, and as Jack came closer to her, he was about to give a witty remark when he noticed something a little different. "What?"
"Your hairstyle looks more, um, longer and fiery," replied the young man. "Also, I see that you have a new outfit, and… wait, why do you have those wireless headphones around your neck?"
"Uh, doesn't really matter right now," said Sunset, who placed the headphones by her feet, and she laid back against the dome with her arms crossed. "So, now that you aren't stuck in rush hour traffc, can you explain to me why we're meeting here instead of our usual spot?"
Jack let out a chuckle, and he replied, "Well, I figured this would be safer and less likely of a place for some crazy villain to attack the both of…"
Sunset just silently looked at her boyfriend, not saying anything.
"Right, sorry… anyway, the reason that we're currently up here is because I have a, um… well, a special surprise for you."
A teasing smile appeared on Sunset's face, and she said, "You already tried using your brownies on me once, Jack, it's not going to work twice."
"Ha-ha, good one," replied Jack, in a dry and sarcastic tone, even though he was feeling a little bit hungry now that she'd told him that.
"Well, what's the surprise, then?"
##################
As Casey tried to find a way to speak better, Starlight walked back over to him and Twilight, asking, "Is everything okay?"
The purple alicorn shook her head, and replied, "After you and Trixie walked away, Casey tried to tell me something, but then he started talking all weird and stuff, so now I can't even-"
"A ghee deun meuh tungh," interrupted an irritated Casey, pointing at his swollen tongue.
A confused Starlight asked, "How did a bee sting your tongue?"
Casey was about to tell her to ask Trixie when he and Twilight both realized something.
"You can understand him?" said Twilight.
After Starlight nodded her head, Casey quickly turned her body in his direction, and cried, "Starlithe, pleeth bii mai tramfsleiter!"
The purple unicorn had a nervous expression on her face as she replied, "Um, I don't know if me being your translator would-"
"Starlithe, eye am behhtttiinnth you," begged Casey, knowing that he needed to have Twilight understand now how he felt about her before losing what might be his final opportunity.
Before Starlight could say anything else, Pinkie Pie suddenly cried, "Can I have everypony's attention? Casey has something very important to tell Twilight, but she's having trouble hearing him, so can you all remain silent while he talks to her? Thank you!"
Then, she looked over at the young couple, and added, "There you go, Casey!"
"Um, Pinkie, I could hear him perfectly," replied Twilight, while Starlight and Casey both became nervous. "I just wasn't able to understand him."
While everyone else looked at the three of them, Pinkie said, "Ohhhhhh… my bad!"
Starlight was about to disagree with helping Casey when the light-orange pony gave her a pleading expression.
Please help me, Star, thought Casey, and his friend let out a sigh before whispering her response.
"You're lucky it's your birthday today."
Casey nodded, in agreement, so as he spoke to Twilight, the young Earth Pony would pause in order to let Starlight translate for him.
"The first time I ever saw you, Twilight, a few days after you defeated Nightmare Moon, I knew that you were special… I never felt the same way about anypony else whenever I saw or thought about you… but then, my feelings changed after I lost my parents because of Tirek…
"A few days later, I found myself hating the fact that while you got to experience the joys and wonder of a shiny new castle, I was busy grieving over the loss of my mom and dad… at one point, I thought that it was entirely your fault instead of Tirek… but I soon realized that you were only doing what needed to be done, in order to save Equestria… and everypony else you care about."
Then, Casey was about to speak again, but after seeing the way that Starlight was right now, he let out a sigh, and said, "Nebrher minthe, Starlithe… I kaine duuu tha resthe."
Starlight was about to respond, but Casey shook his head, and so, she decided to help instead by firing a tiny blast of magic at his tongue, which caused it to roll back into his mouth as he cried in pain.
"Starlithe! Whatha hell was that for? You could have…" He started to say, but after hearing what he now sounded like, Casey cleared his throat, and sheepishly said, "Uh… thanks, Starlithe."
The light-purple unicorn nodded her head, and replied, "Your tongue's still gonna be a little numb for a while, but I think you're good enough to talk to her."
Casey thanked her again, and looked back at the alicorn princess. "Twilithe, you are tha best thing that has ever happened to me… I learned what it was like to have friends because of you… and I'm sorry for the way I have been acting these path few days… as well as not saying what I am abouth to tell you rithe now."
Then, Casey reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small red box, which made Stardust quietly chuckle in amusement while Twilight's other self let out a silent gasp.
Jack, is he about to do what I think he's planning on doing right now?
I'm not sure, love… let's just watch to see what happens ne - and, you're taking notes now... great...
###################
Jack took a deep breath, and after letting it out, he said, "This, love, is the surprise that I have for you."
Sunset watched quietly as Jack pulled out a small gold-colored ring box, and she felt herself starting to blush. "Um… Jack… are you…"
"Huh? Oh, no, no, no… it's not that, Sunset," replied Jack, now feeling a little embarrassed, and he handed the small box over to his girlfriend, who was staring curiously at it. "Could you open it for me, please?"
Sunset nodded her head, and she did what he asked… which resulted in her being immediately surprised, and a warm smile appearing on Jack's face.
Inside was a beautiful sterling silver promise ring that had a diamond stone-version of her Cutie Mark, and as Jack placed his hand around her own, Sunset noticed that he was wearing one, as well, but with a different stone.
################
"I love all of the friends I've made since the day we met, Twilight… and I'm in love… with you."
Then, he opened up the box, which was revealed to contain the turtle dove necklace that she'd given back to him after their argument, and asked, "Would you be… my… special somepony?"
Instead of speaking, Twilight used her magic to place the necklace around her neck, and before Casey could say anything, she delivered a soft kiss to his muzzle, with the young pony closing his eyes as he eventually returned the favor.
################
"You are… amazing and… beautiful, Sunset Shimmer… and I never once imagined that I would be in a relationship with such a lovely goddess…"
Then, after he gently placed the promise ring around her finger, the young man said, "I'm not sure exactly what the future holds for both of us, but I do know that, whatever happens, it will be with us always being there for each other... and I'll always love you, no matter what."
At first, Sunset was speechless, but then, a playful smirk appeared on her face, and she asked, "Even if I were to ask you to come with me and the rest of our friends on a return trip to Camp-"
"Sunset, love, if you even mention that godforsaken place, I will…"
The red-and-yellow haired teenager let out a laugh, and replied, "I was kidding, Jack… you can't be the only one to have a sense of humor."
"Oh, ho, you're going to pay for that, then," said Jack, who had a sly grin on her face.
"How so?"
Instead of speaking out loud, Jack whispered his response into Sunset's ear, and as he continued to talk, her face was becoming almost as red as her hair.
"Ow! Rarity, stop pushing!"
"Well, I can't help it if I want to see what the ring looks like - whoa!"
Suddenly, their intimate moment was interrupted by the arrival of EG Rainbow and EG Rarity, both now lying on the ground after accidentally opening the door.
"Uh… hey, you two, how's it going?" greeted the athletic teenager, trying to sound casual as Jack rolled his eyes, and a red-faced Sunset tried not to laugh. "Did, um, either of you happen to see my soccer ball anywhere up here?"
###############
"Awwww, I just love happy end…" Sweetie Belle started to say, but then, she noticed something strange, and cried, "Oh, come on!"
As Casey and Twilight broke apart from their kiss, a nervous Rainbow said, "Um, you two might want to turn around."
The two of them did just that, and they saw what everypony else was now seeing, which was a swirl of silvery magic that was forming into the shape of a very familiar pony… well, to everypony except Trixie, who was now hiding behind Starlight. "Who is that supposed to be?"
"Uh, hey, Kronos," greeted Stardust, making his way over to stand by Casey and his girlfriend's other self. "How's it going?"
The elderly pony, who was holding his staff once again, had an unreadable facial he said, "I told you both what would happen if I needed to show up again."
"Well, now, hold on a sec," replied Casey. "The problem was taken care of, Kronos, and we were just about to end off on a happy note until-"
Kronos looked at him, with a slight frown, and said, "I see how grateful you are for me bringing you back to life, Casey… what was the point if you ended up being this close to death?"
"Hey, don't start blaming him for anything," replied Stardust. "He wasn't the one who had an evil psychopath trapped inside a damn ther-"
The elderly pony glared at Stardust, and he exclaimed, "Don't you start with me, Jack Wright… like I said, there would be consequences if I needed to show up again… and you two have no idea what I had to go through to get this back… as well as having to fix the damage that Evil Stardust did while using it."
"Hey, you know how I feel about your [BEEP] memory erasing solution," said Stardust, now becoming irritated, but to his surprise, Kronos shook his head.
"If I did that, things will probably get much worse before they even got better," replied the elderly pony. "Instead… you two - and everypony else, for that matter - are forbidden from going into the other pony's world until further notice."
"What?!" exclaimed Casey, who did not expect that to be his response. "Kronos, can't you just have us do, like, community service or something?"
"Not after everything that's happened in these worlds, along with others," replied the elderly pony. "But since it's your birthday, I'll make things a little easier for you… once you prove to me that you deserve to go see him, or have Stardust come here, then my decision will be null and void."
"Prove myself? Kronos, you've seen the things me and him have done together, why else-"
Before he could continue to speak, the elderly pony interrupted by saying, "That doesn't hide the fact that I have had to restore your life twice, Casey, and thankfully, it did not need to happen for a third time… but you have to start being more responsible, and spend more time in this world than in his… no two worlds are supposed to be the same, but you're becoming more like Stardust every time I see you."
"Okay, how in the he… ohhhh… right," replied Casey, having realized what Kronos was talking about. "Well, it's not exactly the same type of cloak… and I haven't cursed that much."
Kronos let out a sigh, and he said, "Look, I know this seems bad, but it's what's best for both your world and his… now, you have until the end of the day to spend with him, but as of tomorrow, no one is to go from this world to Stardust's world. Is that understood?"
Everyone nodded their heads, but before Kronos got the chance to leave, Stardust said, "Hey, wait a second. Why haven't you told me anything?"
"Because I'm currently not fond of any Stardust, especially one that looks like the pony who has now given me a headache," replied Kronos, frowning at the gold pony. "And you die almost every week, so there's no reason for me to interfere in your world's events…"
Then, in a darker tone, he added, "I've also given you enough chances, so this will be the last one… because after today, if you or any Stardust causes me trouble, then I will make it so that you'll forever be stuck in the world that comes from one of the worst movies ever to be made... and it rhymes with Cabbage Patch Kids... so, in a way that's easy for you to understand, do not [BEEP] this up."
Having finished saying what needed to be said, Kronos used the magic from his staff to make himself vanish into thin air, and once he was gone, Trixie asked, "Uh, does anypony here know what just happened?"
[Awesome (to me) Background Music - "Proposal" by George S. Clinton]
Everyone else looked at Casey and Stardust, who were now facing each other, and Casey was the first to speak. "So... does that mean we've reached the..."
"The what happens now part?" replied the gold pony, and he nodded his head. "Yeah, I... guess so..."
Hearing him say that made Casey realize something else. "So that means... until I 'prove myself'... this is the last time we'll probably see each other..."
Stardust was about to respond with something that involved him assuring Casey they would be able to find some sort of loophole around Kronos' ban, but to his surprise, Casey added, "I think... I'm okay with that."
"You... are?" replied Twilight's counterpart, and the light-orange pony nodded his head.
"I haven't exactly been... fair to my friends in this world, Twilight, when it comes to spending quality friendship time... and from what I can tell, some of those friends haven't exactly been very happy about that..."
A look of guilt started to appear on Starlight's face, but before she could say anything, Casey continued to talk. "I've always thought about what things that you and I could do after having gone through some kind of epic adventure... instead of wondering what I could've done with the friends I have here..."
He was about to say more, but then, Stardust held up his front left hoof, and said, "Let me stop you right there for a second... as much as I respect and understand what you're saying to me, I am not about to let someone like Kronos have the birthday of one of my closest friends on a bittersweet note... we'll talk about ways of communication later, but right now, tell me something that you'd want the two of us to do together."
"Um... okay..." replied Casey, who took a moment to think about it, and then, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Actually, there is one thing I had in mind..."
A few minutes later
As Twilight magically lifted the light-orange pony onto the bird creature in front of her, she asked, "You sure about this?"
"It'll be fine, Twilight, don't worry," assured Casey. "I'm gonna be sitting down on him anyway, so it's not like my hind legs will be of much use."
Even though she didn't agree with him completely, Twilight found herself nodding her head, and he replied, "Thank you... oh, I just remembered, I never received a birthday gift from you."
A playful smile appeared on the young alicorn's face, and she said, "Well, the day's still not over yet... and I prefer to give it to you when it's only the two of us, so-"
"Hey! You two can flirt with each other and stuff back in your world," interrupted a grinning Stardust. "Right now, I got a race to win!"
Twilight and Casey shared a quick kiss with each other, and as she backed away, the young Earth Pony rolled his eyes as he said, "Dream on, Stardusk, I beat you once already, and I can sure as hell beat you again!"
"The hell you did," exclaimed Stardust, but before he could say anything else, Spike's other self - who was standing nearby - gave Twilight's counterpart a pleading look.
"Can I ride with him, Twilight? Please?"
Twilight let out a sigh, and she reluctantly nodded her head. "Fine, but no fire attacks or anything, Jack... alright?"
"Uh-huh, yeah, sure," replied Stardust, as his girlfriend used her magic to place the little dragon beside him."You ready, little bro?"
"Heck yeah, I am!" cried Spike's counterpart, now full of excitement.
Stardust looked back at Casey, with the two of them sharing a smile together, and the light-orange pony said, "Alright, the race will begin in 3… 2… 1… go!"
Then, both his Pidgeot and Stardust's Charizard took off flying, and after they made a turn, the dragon-like Pokémon opened its jaws to perform a flamethrower attack.
"Whoooo-hooo!"
"Jack!"
Fade to Black… A swirl of magic appears on-screen to create two words as the background music ends...
The End
Author's Note: So, yeah, in other words, this concludes the storyline featuring Stardust Balance as a main character in my MLP stories. It was fun to write almost 50-ish chapters about him, and I thank his creator greatly for allowing me to use Stardust in a way that made both of us happy, as well as the rest of our readers and fellow MLP fans.
Now, will Stardust come back? Eh, not really sure exactly… probably by the time that "A Journey Beyond Sanity" catches up to this story's timeline, which will be around the start of season 7 (for Stardust's world), and as of now, he's at the conclusion of season 5, so it'll be a while before the gold pony shows up… there are a few, um, possible loopholes that will not affect AJBS' continuity, but we'll see after-
[Pinkie] Ooh, ooh, can we show them what to expect in the next story?
[Me] Well… I don't know if they'll be excited to see what-
[Pinkie] Oh, please, please, please, PLEASE show them a tiny sneak peek! I already have it right here, anyway.
[Me] What the… how did… never mind… alright, everyone, here's a sneak peek to what you can look forward to in my next story.
…
[Me] Pinkie? The sneak peek?
[Pinkie] Huh? Oh, right, sorry, my bad!
A few weeks later
"Answer it!"
As one of the two Storm Creatures that had entered the throne room poured a liquid from a tiny bottle into a basin, Tempest Shadow - a sinister unicorn whose horn was damaged - glanced over at the small and sheepish creature beside her, a hedgehog named Grubber that had been unsuccesful in obtaining the Princess of Friendship.
Whoosh!
Once the bottle was empty, a swirl of magical and mist-like energy came out of the basin, creating a communication portal that would allow her to give a report to her boss, known as the Storm King, who was now being shown in the portal, but unfortunately, he was facing the wrong direction. "Where am I supposed to look? I don't even know how this spell works… Tempest!"
"Over here, your Excellency," said the commander pony, who was used to the frightening creature shown in front of her not being able to understand the way some things worked. "Turn to your… no, that's left… right, go to… move right… yeah."
The two of them were now facing each other, and after Tempest nodded her head, the Storm King said, "Oh, there you are. Here's the deal, I'm in the middle of a big rebrand here, and so far, the Storm King - that's me - is being described as, um, intensely intimiditating,but you know what? I need to back it up… you know what I need to back it up? A storm, that would be great!"
The satyr-like creature brought into view an object that he was holding, which was an ancient, thin-and-purple mystical staff, and exclaimed, "You promised me magic that could control the elements, and right now, I'm holding onto… what? A branch, a twig, blehh!"
"That would be the Staff of Sacanas, your Excellency," corrected Tempest, also used to her boss acting as if the staff was like something you would find in the desert. "And it will channel the magic of the four rulers of this land… you'll soon have the power of a thousand armies."
A small and hopeful smile appeared on the Storm King's face as he asked, "So that would be a yes on you locking down the pegacornicuses - whatever you call them."
All except for the purple one, thought Tempest, who avoided answering the question by saying, "Give me three days. I'll have everything ready for your arrival."
A frown appeared on the Storm King's face as he gave his response to the dark purple unicorn,with his sinister tone sending chills throughout Grubber's entire body. "Remember Tempest, only I have the power to make you whole…"
Then, bringing the dark-purple staff back into view, the Storm King added "Make this twig work, and you'll get your reward. Fail me, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken."
"It won't be a problem," said Temepest, and she bowed to her boss, who now had a smile across his face.
"Great! I'll just power up, grab some… and we'll…" replied the Storm King, but the connection between them was breaking up, so she was unable to hear the rest of what he was trying to say before the portal eventually vanished into thin air.
For a few seconds, there was only silence in the throne room, but then, Grubber found himself being the one to say, "Sorry, bad spell service. You want me to call him back?"
With tiny sparks of raw energy shooting out of her horn, Tempest scowled at the pudgy hedgehog, and to the Storm Creatures, she yelled, "Prepare my ship!"
As they hurried themselves out of the room, the damaged unicorn looked over at the other three princesses of Equestria in the room - Cadence, Celestia, and Luna - all of them now turned into stone, and she had a look of determination on her face.
That little pony can't hide from me forever… how far can she even get on her own?
[Pinkie] DUN-DUN-DUNNNN! Wow, she is one baaaaaaaaddd pony... I wonder what will happen next?
[Me] You already know what happens next, Pinkie
[Pinkie] Well, yeah, but they don't know that I know what you know what me and the rest of my friends know-
[Me] Uh, Pinkie? You mentioned something about being able to yawn the whole alphabet... can you show me how that works again?
[Pinkie] Sure, I'd love to! Okay, here we go... *starts yawning*... ZZZZZZZZZZ...
[Me] Works every time... anyway, for those who don't know yet what the next story is about, I'm about to tell you right now... it'll be an adaptation of the MLP movie coming out in a few weeks on October 6th! Sounds exciting, right? I hope it does... anyway, I might publish a few more sneak peeks on my Fimfiction blog, but the story itself won't be put on here until I've seen the actual movie, so until then, check out the other MLP stories I've written before this, and as a reminder for fellow music lovers, the soundtrack for the movie will be released on Sept. 22, which I will definitely be listening to.
With all that being said, see you in a few weeks, and be sure to check out the actual "My Little Pony: The Movie", coming out in theaters on October 6th, 2017.
[Pinkie] Bye, everypony!
[Me] Aaaagghh! Wha... Pinkie, I thought you were asleep!