Phono Trigger

Chapters

[Chapter 1] Triggering Time
[Chapter 2] A New World?
[Chapter 3] Dragon Survivor
[Chapter 4] Home Again, Gone Again

[Chapter 1] Triggering Time

Time is a constant. Always has been, and always will be. It moves by every moment, never stopping nor slowing down for any of us, until eventually it kills us. That's why we have to live our lives to the fullest before our time runs out. No one quite understands it, yet we still yearn to learn about it, and perhaps even control it. Though controlling time seems far too complex for us, traveling through time is a possibility. Many have tried, and failed. But alas, none give up hope.

Then one fateful day, a young stallion by the name of Starswirl the Bearded had accidentally crafted a spell that allowed him to travel back in time, much to his excitement. Though the spell only went back a few hours and lasted no more than a minute, who wouldn't be happy they invented a way to travel through time?

However, he knew that if he was to announce this spell to the world, everyone would take full advantage of it. Time would be messed and meddled with until nothing remained but a cold, empty world. Saying his farewells to the spell, he placed it in the Canterlot archives, hopefully away from the prying eyes of ponies.

That is until one thousand years later, when two mares and a baby dragon found the time spell to use to warn a past version of impending doom, even if that doom happened to be herself, funny enough. You'd think that would be the end of the spell, right? Well, this one pony took it home. She had hoped to finally complete the spell and travel through time with her friends at last. Little did she know this seemingly small choice in her life would affect the world as she knew it.

Ponyville was always a tranquil place filled to the brim and bustling with ponies of all sorts of shapes and colors. The birds sung beautiful songs everywhere they went, and the wind never seemed to be discomforting. Well, most of the time, perhaps. However, something big was about to happen today; something not even Princess Celestia could see coming.

Of all the days Twilight had to be late for something her friends were planning, it had to be today. She was right on the verge of a major breakthrough in her secret experiments when she got the call she was supposed to meet with her friends at Sugar Cube Corner half-an-hour ago. Her test was in the final stages as well, much to her dismay. However, nothing could separate her and her friends, and she was more than happy to let go of her experiments for a bit to join them.

"C'mon... Don't be more late than you already are, Twilight..." she muttered to herself as she ran through the busy streets of Ponyville.

Her purple mane and tail, as well as lavender coat felt the cool summer breeze blow on past her when she finally extended her wings and began flying ever faster. She had begun to become exhausted from all the running and flapping of her wings. But she was determined to make it to whatever event her friends were planning for her.

"Good morning, Princess!" called out a voice that halted Twilight in her tracks over the town hall "Sorry for intruding, but I have some documents here that I would like you to read over and-"

"Mayor Mare! Lovely day today!" Twilight let out an exhausted huff at the older earth mare with a tan coat and wavy white hair whilst still in the air "How about you file those away for, um... Spike to look over?! Yes, go and get Spike!

"Princess, are you okay?" Mayor Mare asked "You look absolutely tired!"

"Just running... and... flying..." Twilight had begun to droop back down onto the ground, finally collapsing onto the floor and letting out a disappointed sigh "...I need more exercise... maybe Rainbow Dash will be able to help me?"

"Um... Perhaps I should just let you be on your way?" Mayor Mare suggested "I'll just go and speak to your assistant about this matter. Farewell, princess."

"No, no, wait..." Twilight reached out her front hoof "What are the documents about?"

"Oh, they're just about the upcoming festival this week" explained Mayor Mare "I was hoping someone with a bit of authority could look them over and sign them before we got the show on the road."

"Eh, why not?" Twilight shrugged "I mean, how long could it possibly take m-"

A giant pile of papers was placed right in front of Twilight, causing her to gasp a bit from shock and stand back on her hooves. She looked at the stack of papers that was nearly as tall as she was, which caused her eyes to widen. She then turned her head back to Mayor Mare and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Mayor, but I can't do this today" she shook her head, much to the disappointment of the mayor "I have to meet up with my friends for something, and I'm already pretty late. Maybe I can do it tomorrow though?"

"Oh, of course!" Mayor Mare immediately cheered up again "It's not like this is the due-date or anything, right? You go on ahead and enjoy your time with your friends."

"Thank you" Twilight nodded before spreading her wings and flying away from the town hall and over to Sugar Cube Corner. Mayor Mare watched her leave before finally letting out a sad sigh.

"This WAS the due-date though" she slowly walked back inside "But I suppose Twilight should still be with her friends. You're only young once, and she IS the Princess of Friendship after all. Well, time to start signing, I suppose."

Finally, Twilight reached her destination; the building that looked like it was made entirely out of giant pieces of candy and tasty treats. Low and behold, all of her friends were awaiting her out front, including Rarity, the white mare with the the curly, purple mane, Fluttershy, the cream yellow mare with soft, long, pink mane, Rainbow Dash, the cyan mare with the shortish rainbow-colored mane, Applejack, the orange mare with the blonde mane tied up in a ponytail with a stetson on her head, and Pinkie Pie, the pink mare with a darker pink, extremely bubbly mane.

Twilight landed on the ground and immediately greeted with her friends, who were more than excited to finally see her after waiting so long. Rarity was the first to speak.

"Darling, good to see you again" she smiled "Now we will finally be able to see my surprise!"

"By surprise, she means a pendant she found in some weird jewelry store" Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile, causing Rarity to pout "But anyway, mind if ah ask why y'all we so late?"

"I'm sorry, you guys" Twilight apologized "I was pretty caught up in something back at the castle, I completely forgot we arranged something today."

"Well, you're here now, right?" Rainbow grinned "Now we can finally do whatever we were gonna do."

"YES!!" Pinkie ecstatically shouted "I have so much stuff planned out for us! Well, this is sorta a meeting about what we're gonna do during the festival, but same thing, right! Anyway, I was planning on doing some of the rides and games, but I'm not sure what you guys will like doing, so I decided to host this so we can talk about the stuff you want to do as well! Oooh! Oooh! What about the apple dunking for Applejack, the raceway for Rainbow Dash, and the intense, ultra, super-amazing sewing competition for Rarity, where you use your sewing skills and race for the top!"

"Ooooh, that does sound very interesting!" Rarity's eyes sparkled.

"But that was a lot of words you just said there, Pinkie" Rainbow pointed out "Not quite sure if I got all that."

"That's okay, I can repeat everything I just said!" Pinkie smiled before taking a deep breath in "I have so much stuff planned for us! Well, this is sorta a meeting about what we're gonna-"

"Thank ya kindly, sugar cube," Applejack stopped Pinkie from continuing her speech "but ah think ifin Rainbow Dash missed somethin' 'cause she was zonin' out, that's her loss."

"H-Hey!" Rainbow called out, appalled Applejack would say that.

"Girls? Maybe we should just, um, settle down for a moment" Fluttershy quietly spoke up, thankfully falling on listening ears "Thank you. Now, why don't we head on inside and have something to eat before we talk about what we're going to do at the festival?"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Twilight nodded "Thanks, Fluttershy."

"Of course, any time" she kindly smiled.

"So Twi, what were you so caught up in that you barely made it today?" Rainbow asked "Was it some sort of experiment in your secret underground lab or something?"

"Actually, yes" Twilight nodded.

"Truly, darling?" Rarity questioned "Well, that certainly explains why you were so kept up..."

"What were ya experimentin' on?" Applejack wondered.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Pinkie jumped up and down "Is it the spell that we found in the Canterlot archives made by Starswirl the Bearded that allows him to travel back through time a few hours that we used when you were trying to warn yourself about not worrying about an impending doom but instead was the one who made you worry about an impending doom?!"

"I, um..." Twilight looked shocked her friend knew and remembered all that "How did you..."

"Just a hunch" Pinkie shrugged.

"Um... okay then" Twilight shrugged "Anyway, yes, that's what I've been working on. I've been trying to extend its time limit and reach so we can eventually travel through time as we please!"

"Sugar cube, don't ya think that might be a bad idea?" Applejack brought up "Ah mean, ah have no idea how time really works, but somethin' in mah gut jus' tells me yer doin' somethin' ya might regret."

"Indeed" Rarity agreed "Messing with time could result in drastic changes to our world. Good or bad, I prefer the world as it is, thank you very much."

"Relax, you guys" Twilight giggled "I'm not going to go around time and start changing whether or not Nightmare Moon wins when she and Celestia fought each other. Besides, the machine isn't even complete yet..."

"Machine?" Fluttershy wondered "Ohhh... that sounds dangerous..."

"Not really" Twilight shrugged "It's more along the lines of a teleporter-like thing. Spike helped make the rough design... and despite being as rough as it was, I was able to make just what he thought was right for the time machine. All I have to do now is put the time spell into its memory somehow, and I would be able to travel through time!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow's eyes sparkled with interest "Do you know what we could do with that thing? We could fix all the mistakes we ever made! I could fix all the times I fell asleep in school, and I would be a Wonderbolt for sure!"

(Music Stop)

"Now hold on, Rainbow" Twilight began again "Even I'm not oblivious to the butterfly effect, so no changing time for anyone."

"Butterfly effect?" Rainbow wondered.

"Basically, in a story I read once, this guy used a time machine to travel back in time" Pinkie remembered "He was told to stay on the path and not mess with anything. But of course he didn't and just went about his day until he actually stepped on a butterfly!"

"Oh my..." Fluttershy nervously shrank down.

"But the weirdest part was when he went back, everyone spoke a different language! OOooooOOOOooooo!!" Pinkie made noises a typical ghost would.

"...I don't get it" Rainbow shrugged "How can stepping on a butterfly change something as big as that?"

"I think it's more along the lines of a metaphor, Rainbow" Twilight pointed out "It means that if we had the ability to change the past, a seemingly small thing we do there could seriously affect the future of the world, be it good or bad. True, you could change if you slept or not in class, but it could also affect the conversation we're having now. In fact, we might not even know each other!"

"Okay, point taken..." Rainbow sheepishly chuckled.

"Hey, that machine Twilight has sounds pretty cool!" Pinkie excitedly said "Let's go and check it out!"

"But Pinkie Pie, didn't ya say ya wanted ta find out what we wanted ta do at the festival?" Applejack wondered "Then again, somethin' dangerous like that WOULD attract Pinkie Pie's attention..."

"I see no harm in observing the invention" Rarity shrugged "Very well, we shall head over to Twilight's castle and see this machine for ourselves. That is, of course, Twilight is okay with that. I wouldn't want to be intruding on the privacy of someone else."

"It's fine, Rarity" Twilight nodded "I was going to show it to you sooner or later, so why not now?"

"Alright! Let's go!" Rainbow grinned and fist-bumped the air.

"And no, you're not using it, Rainbow" Twilight caught onto her friend's unnaturally cheerful disposition, causing her to become disappointed very quickly. Nonetheless, the six friends began walking back to Twilight's crystal castle in the center of Ponyville. They never quite saw the pair of eyes watching them from the shadowy alleyways as they trotted along.

"Spike, we're back!" Twilight called as soon as she reached the basement level of her castle filled with electrical wires and various devices Twilight's friends had never seen before "Did you make sure nothing happened to the time machine while I was gone?"

"H-Hey, Twilight!" Spike called over from the other side of the room "Y-Yeah, nothing happened while you were away! Nothing at all! Nope! Haha!"

"Spike... what did you do?"

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!!" Spike cried out "It just did the thing and then something else and then this happened!"

"This?"

"Come and see for yourself, I guess..."

The group all navigated themselves around the messy floor to where Spike was awaiting them. Immediately they saw what Spike was talking about: the nearly-built machine had somehow turned on despite being incomplete. The machine looked exactly how Twilight described it, what with the teleportation pad on the bottom and some sort of semi-sphere thing overhead it with blinking lights around the rim. Next to the machine was a giant lever with a red ball on the top.

"Twilight, ya said yer machine didn't work yet" Applejack reminded her.

"Because it didn't" Twilight confusingly looked at the machine, running a few circles around just to make sure she wasn't dreaming "But that's impossible... I hadn't even put in the spell's words yet, and yet here it is already turned on..."

"Looks good to me" Rainbow shrugged with a smile "So, now that it's kinda, y'know, working, how's about we-"

"NO!" all her friends shouted.

"Aww..."

"But I can't deny this is a very intriguing device" Rarity praised "Is there any way we could test it out, darling?"

"Well... I don't know..." Twilight sighed "Since, y'know, this happened, I haven't had a chance to test out the machine to see if it both safely transports ponies to the destination, and safely brings them back... but I suppose it never hurt anyone to try something right away, right?"

"Ah dunno, sugar cube..." Applejack skeptically said "Ifin ya say this thing hasn't been tested yet, y'all should really test it first before givin' it an actual run."

"Oh, come on, Applejack" Twilight rolled her eyes a bit "My inventions are second to none! What's honestly the worst thing that could happen, hmm?"

"Um... what about your automatic toaster oven?" Fluttershy spoke up "I'm still cleaning all the jelly off the roof... Maybe Applejack is right though, Twilight. Maybe you should just turn it off and give it a test before you try it yourself. Um... if you want to, of course."

(Music Stop)

"...well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to try it out first..." Twilight shrugged "Spike, could you get me something I don't need from this lab? Maybe a piece of paper?"

"Here you go, Twilight" he handed her a sheet of paper with a random scribble on it. She smiled and took it with her magic before placing it onto the machine. Walking over to the lever, she pushed it down and started the machine up.

The blinking top half starting spinning around, eventually creating what appeared to be some sort of blue dimensional rift. Papers lying around the basement began flying around and even into the rift as well before it finally closed with a sudden and rather disappointing finish. Everyone looked over at the teleportation pad only to see the piece of paper was gone.

"How far back did you send it, Twilight?" Rainbow wondered.

"Back? Oh, nonono!" she shook her head with a small smile "If I sent it back through time, we would have already seen it before we even found the machine here activated. No, I sent it a few seconds into the future, which means the paper should be appearing right about..." another blue rift opened back up on the pad, pushing out all the absorbed papers before finally disappearing "...now."

"WHOA!!" everyone gasped in fascination as they saw the very same scribbled on piece of paper

"So cool!" Pinkie tried her best to contain her excitement "Me next! Me next!"

"Sorry, Pinkie, but inventors first" Twilight giggled, much to the slight disappointment of Pinkie Pie. She perked right back up again when Twilight stepped onto the pad.

"Should ah pull it?" Applejack wondered "Still time ta turn back, y'know."

"I know, Applejack. Thank you, but I'd like to test this thing on a live subject" Twilight explained "What better subject than its creator, right? The paper seemed fine, and obviously it must be okay for organic things to travel through because, well, the paper seemed fine!"

"...alright, sugar cube" Applejack nodded "Ah trust ya... Alleyoop!" she pushed down the level all the way to the ground and sent a surge of power into the machine like last time.

Everything went as per normal, but when the time came for the rift to open up, the time machine suddenly began shaking and beeping. The blinking lights on the top turned red as more and more electricity began entering the machine, eventually starting to overload it.

"Twilight, what's happening?!" Rainbow Dash shouted over the noise.

"I-I-I don't know!!" she shouted back. Before she could run away from the scene, a red rift then opened up and sucked Twilight into it before quickly closing back up. Twilight had now disappeared.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted "No! This can't be! I set it to 30 seconds! Twilight! TWILIGHT!!!"

"Ah knew that machine was bad news" Applejack shook her head "Now Twilight's somewhere in the past or future, and we might never see her again..."

(Music Stop)

"Don't say things like that, Applejack" Rarity scolded "But you are right... The question is..."

"...where is she now?" Rainbow wondered.

SuperKamek presents...

An RPG story...

In association with Team Brachydios...

PHONO

TRIGGER

Starring:

Twilight Sparkle

Princess Celestia

Pinkie Pie

Mysterious Colt

Rogue Diamond Dog

Hyracotherium

Also Starring:

Rainbow Dash

Rarity

Fluttershy

Applejack

King Sombra

And...

Lavos

Written by:

SuperKamek

Inspired by:

Chrono Trigger

Reviewed by:

Timeline
(But only if he wants to)

Art by:

ZeroCartin

Chrono Trigger is owned by SquareEnix. Any and all credit should really go to them because they made this fantastic game in the first place. Seriously, to the 2% of the American population who hasn't played Chrono Trigger by now, play it! It's really good! Oh, right, this was a legal note. My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro, and is sorta the second best show ever. Well, it can't be the first! That would go to Avatar: The Last Airbender. SHIT! Now I have to credit that too! Um... Screw it! Oh, also, the title is pronounce "Pone-oh", not "Fone-oh".

Author's Note

Ready for a grand adventure? But, be warned, like the actual game, this story may be short! And I cannot stress this enough, the title is pronounced "Pone-oh", not "Fone-oh". This story is unfortunately not about phones. The Matrix is, though. Go watch it! It's good!

[Chapter 2] A New World?

A harsh wind blew through the air, filled with coarse dust and fragments of debris. In the middle of a field of brown, charred dust lay a lavender being with a purple mane and tail. She had a pair of wings on her back and a proud horn protruding from her skull. It wasn't long before she finally opened her purple eyes to the world around her. Still half asleep, she couldn't quite comprehend where she was. She lazily looked around the area before stretching and standing on her legs.

"Where... am I?" she tiredly asked herself "What did that machine... do to me? Mental note: Don't ever make time machines ever again, or stuff like this will happen..."

Finally, she shook her head and removed all form of fatigue from her mind. Her eyes widened as she saw the desolate landscape around her, filled with no fauna, no flora, no housing nor artificial light. Just dust. She looked up to see that the gray clouds had completely blocked out the sun.

A small trickle of light flooded down, but it wasn't enough to sustain anything. Instead, all she felt was cold. Her breath froze the moment it touched the air, and the very dirt she stepped on was cold to the touch. She remembered back to the time when she had very few friends, if any. If not for Spike, she would have felt lonely and depressed, which would have eventually turned her insane.

Was this what it was like to be lost? To be lonely?

"Never thought I'd end this way" Twilight darkly chuckled "Dying alone on some sort of cold, war-ridden planet without my friends. Or... am I already dead? Is this what Tartarus is like? Is this what... hell is like?"

If she was going to die soon, or was already dead for that matter, she saw no harm in looking around the place for any semblance of life or activity. Slowly, she began walking forward. Every step she took felt like she was putting her hoof on dry ice. She eventually got used to the cold on her hooves, but the small pain stayed there. She looked in front of her and saw a small hill to scale.

"Not too far, I suppose" she muttered to herself "At least I won't have to walk on this dirt much longer..."

The cold had finally gotten to her though; it had started to make her body colder and weaker Every step up the hill was like trying to push a 700 ton object up Canterlot mountain. But, using every bit of warmth and strength she had left, she finally made it to the top of the hill. She had hoped that there would be a small settlement or something warm near her to strengthen her again.

(Music Stop)

But all she saw was dust, debris and dirt.

"What the heck happened here?" Twilight questioned herself "Or... maybe this is just what hell really looks like: a lonely world filled with cold dust. If this is my fate, darn... I was kinda hoping I'd go out fighting some sort of big monster or something."

It was at that moment when something caught her eye. It was something she questioned why she didn't see sooner, due to it being pretty much the tallest thing in the entire wasteland. It looked near identical to Canterlot mountain back home, albeit with a few sharper edges on it. Her curiosity expanded when she saw something on the side of the mountain, still latched onto it. It was extremely crumbled and in complete ruins, but it looked exactly like...

"Canterlot Castle..." Twilight gasped "But... That's not possible! Canterlot is in my world! Unless..." she finally put two and two together, he hooves shaking with both excitement and fear "...it worked. The machine, it worked! I can't believe it! It ACTUALLY worked!!"

A sudden thought then crossed her mind.

"But... I shouldn't be questioning where am I, but rather WHEN am I?" Twilight deduced "Furthermore, how in Equestria am I going to get back to my time? I might be stuck here... forever..."

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a faint rumbling sound from behind her. Her curiosity turned her head and body back only to see, off on the horizon, a small cloud of dust slowly approaching her. She squinted her eyes to try and see what was making the cloud, but she couldn't quite make it out. A gust of cold wing blew by her body, reminding her of how cold she was. She didn't know what the cloud was, but she hoped it would provide her with some sort of hospitality.

"What are you thinking, Twilight?" she pounded her hoof against her head "Clouds of dust can't give you warmth or protection... but, it's certainly worth checking out anyway. If I can move my body, that is."

"Pony?" asked a odd male voice from beside her.

She looked down to her left and saw a small head sticking out of the ground. It was very dog-like with short ears, piercing green eyes, gray fur and a black nose. She instantly recognized it as a diamond dog, a semi-intelligent monster from her time with an affinity for jewels and basically anything shiny. Both looked at each other for a moment before Twilight finally broke the silence.

"Um... Yeah, I'm a pony" she nodded, getting even colder now "N-Nice to meet you. I-I'm T-Twilight Sparkle and I'm l-lost. If y-you can understand m-me, c-could you please h-help me o-out?"

"Pony..." the diamond dog popped right out of ground, revealing its normal elongated front legs that acted more like arms than legs, larger front paws for digging, curved back legs, a spiked tail and an unzipped blue jacket on his body. The only difference from the diamond dogs she's seen before was that this one was smaller and more childlike. His voice certainly gave it away that he was only a kid.

"Aww, y-you're s-so c-cute..." Twilight gushed "D-Do you m-mind if you t-tell me where y-your parents are s-so I can maybe g-get s-something hot into m-my body?"

"Pony... How?" the child diamond dog wondered "How pony? Pony gone. Mommy said so."

"Wait... what do you mean by 'pony gone'?" Twilight wondered. Before the child could answer her, two more diamond dogs emerged from the ground. One was male and the other female. The female looked almost like the child, with the exception of a slimmer build, a zipped purple jacket, and longer, curlier hair on the top of her head going over her left eye. Her right one was yellow. The male on the other hand had a much stockier build with floppy ears, beige fur, a green unzipped jacket and green eyes. His lower jaw was bigger than his upper one, a feature most diamond dogs usually have.

"Honey, is that a pony?" the female asked in a more intelligent voice than the ones Twilight remembered them having "Aren't they supposed to be extinct?"

"Indeed it is, dear" the male nodded "How curious... Do you think it has the ability to understand us?"

"Um... y-yes..." Twilight nodded slowly, still sort of dying from the temperature.

"Dear me! It spoke!" the female gasped "That's so... odd. How is it that just one pony survived... y'know... that day?"

"Dear, you know we don't speak of that day" the male reminded her "But you are right: if one of them survived, there may be more of them! Then we can make contact again! Quick, someone try and communicate with it!"

"Hell-oh, pone-ee" the female spoke very slowly "Me, Lucy. This, Rocky. Lit-ul, one, Milo. Where, are, your, ah-ther, pone-ees?"

"I-I'm not d-dumb, I-I'm c-cold..." Twilight shivered.

"Oh my! My apologies, dear" the female diamond dog, now revealed to be Lucy, begged for forgiveness from Twilight before turning to her mate, apparently named Rocky "Rocky, would you be so kind as to show our friend here to our home? I'm sure she needs something to warm her right up. Oh, and try to be secretive about it. We don't need the newscasters in our home right now."

"Of course, dear" Rocky nodded "Milo, my boy, help me dig a path home for our guest!"

"Sure, daddy!" Milo nodded and jumped down one of the holed the three created, Rocky following him soon after. Lucy smiled as she watched her family dig their way back to their home. She turned back to Twilight with the same kind smile, which quickly faded away when she saw Twilight shivering uncontrollably. She took no time in grabbing her and plummeting down the same hole the others had made.

One thing was for sure; Twilight felt warmer now that she had entered the depths of the earth. The fall was quick and painless for her, but that was more than likely due to Lucy holding her close so she wouldn't break during the plummet.

After Lucy released her from her grasp, Twilight looked around the area they were in. It was a rather roomy cave lit only by a single lantern hanging by a wooden post. Made entirely out of chipped-away rock was a house with a few open windows and a porch. Inside was completely lit up by more lanterns, and she could see Rocky and Milo playing inside.

"Look at them..." Lucy laughed "Those two are absolutely inseparable... But, Tucker on the other hand..."

"Tucker?" Twilight wondered.

"Oh, listen to me babble on! It's nothing dear" laughed Lucy "I'm getting old, it's something canines like me do. Anyway, please, come inside. I'll prepare some tea for us. Though, I'm not sure if you'll like it or not."

"Thank you... Lucy, was it?" Twilight asked, to which the diamond dog nodded "Yes, thanks."

"Now, tell me dear, how on earth did you manage to survive out there so far away from any sort of civilization?" Lucy wondered "By the looks of your fur, it doesn't look like you would survive ten minutes out there, let alone how long we found to frozen."

"Ah, yes, about that..." Twilight hoped the family would avoid that question for as long as possible, but it would appear to not be her lucky day "Well, you see, um..."

"Time travel, right?" spoke a rather monotone voice near Twilight and Lucy. They both turned to see a teenaged diamond dog with beige fur and floppy ears, though a much slimmer build on him. He too had hair on his head going down over his left eye, which his right one was blue, though a strand of said hair was dyed black. He wore a black unzipped jacket and a spiked collar around his neck. On his back was a black electrical guitar with a strap around his shoulder.

"W-What?" Twilight questioned.

"Tucker, you're supposed to be in your room!" Lucy shouted "You know what you did, now scram!"

"Whatever..." the diamond dog, named Tucker to Twilight's knowledge, rolled his eyes and went back inside the house. Lucy sighed and turned back to her guest.

"I'm sorry about him" she apologized again "That was our eldest child, Tucker. He's simply going through a phase most boys his age do, I'm sure of it. I can assure you he won't be causing any trouble for anyone again today. He used to be such a sweet little boy... then we made a terrible mistake... We told him about that day..."

"Everyone keeps talking about 'that day'..." Twilight brought up "If it's okay with you, do you mind if you tell me what that is, exactly? I've been, uh... kind of living under a rock. Metaphorically, of course."

"I'm afraid we don't really like talking about that day" Lucy sighed "We already told Tucker, and look what became of him! I don't want the same thing happening to a fine young lady such as yourself... or, are you a lady? Or even young? I'm sorry, I haven't seen a pony in my entire life, besides those old history books."

"I'm a girl, I can assure you" Twilight giggled "But... your son was onto something. He was kinda... right."

"About time travel?" Lucy's smile came back "Oh, dear, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day! Time travel is impossible, uh... sorry, what was your name again?"

"Twilight" she nodded "Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship."

"Twah... Twilah..." Lucy stuttered "D-Don't be silly, young lady. The Princess of Friendship died a long, long time ago. In fact, a little before that day, as a matter of fact..."

"Lucy, I would really appreciate if I spoke with your son about something" Twilight plead "I know he's grounded or something, but he might just be the only pony, er... canine who can help me now."

"I'm not sure..." Lucy's eyebrow rose "I'm not sure how I feel about a stranger being around one of my kids..."

"Lucy, please" Twilight begged "Just... ten minutes. That's all I'll need."

"...well, alright" Lucy skeptically agreed "Just know that even though he's disobedient, he's still my son. If you in any way try to harm him, you better watch your back."

"I'll, um... keep that in mind, thanks..." Twilight sheepishly chuckled. She then let out a sigh before entering the house.

(Music Stop)

Inside looked mostly like a normal house, albeit with some minor devices Twilight was less than familiar with. She shrugged them off as simply not being invented yet in her time. After searching around the house, she finally came across a room with guitar music playing from within. She knocked three times, hoping for some sort of answer.

"What is it this time, mom?" spoke the voice of a very annoyed Tucker after the music stopped

"Well, I just wanted to say I loved you, dear" Twilight jokingly tried her best to mimic Lucy's voice, unfortunately to no avail.

"Oh, it's you... The pony" Tucker sighed "Go away, I'm not interested in talking with anyone right now. Besides, your impersonation of my mom is terrible."

"You were interested a few moments ago" Twilight brought up "Hey, I seriously need to talk to you right now though. You managed to figure me out before I even revealed myself."

"That you used a time machine to get here?" she could hear him groan on the other side "Please, that's really stupid. I only said that to make you look bad in front of my mom. Now leave so I can practice for my concert next week."

"You're a guitar player?" Twilight tried to spark conversation.

"Go away now!" Tucker shouted as he continued to play his guitar.

"Look, if you're not interested with me talking, then could you please tell me what 'that day' was?" Twilight stopped him up immediately "Your entire family refuses to tell me what it is, and it's been nagging my mind ever since your mom mentioned it. So, since you're the only one who doesn't care about keeping it quiet, could you please tell me?"

A moment passed of complete silence. Twilight's heart beat faster and faster as the anticipation for Tucker's answer lingered. She even felt sweat beads begin to roll down the sides of her face, though that was probably because she was too hot now. Finally, the door opened to reveal Tucker, more than likely questioning why he ever bothered agreeing to her pleas. He let her inside and closed the door behind him, sitting back down on his bed soon after.

His room looked as if a tornado had hit just it and it alone. Cloths lay scattered across the ground, as well as magazines Twilight knew were way too old for him. This wasn't even mentioning the smell, which was as if the room hadn't been cleaned in weeks. Nay, months. Nonetheless, Twilight stood ready for her answer.

"As soon as I'm finished talking about it, I want you gone" Tucker grumbled before sighing and beginning his story "If you're right about your time machine thing, that means you came from the past; ponies are extinct in this time."

"Ponies are all wiped out?" Twilight was finally given confirmation "But... how?"

"I'm getting to that" Tucker silenced her "If I'm right, you come from 1000 AN, correct?"

"1001 After Nightmare, technically" Twilight shrugged "But close enough."

"Then in your time, you have 998 more years to live" Tucker sighed before noticing something he hadn't before "You... have wings. Are you some sort of princess or something?"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, actually" Twilight blushed.

"...so it IS true" Tucker recalled hearing about her "You're really Princess Twilight? Very... interesting. You're a lot dorkier than I thought you'd be, not to mention a lot shorter."

"H-Hey!"

"Anyway, you came here so I could tell you the truth, and honestly I want you gone as fast as possible" Tucker remembered "Do you remember all the dust and dirt? The blocked out sun? The cold winter winds in the middle of summer? The lack of any sort of pony settlements or ponies at all?"

"How could I not?" Twilight shrugged.

"Only one thing was capable of destroying the world in a single day" Tucker's eyes widened as he looked down onto the floor "That day was the day everything changed."

"A-And that day was?" Twilight was beginning to become more nervous than she should have been. She quickly shook her head free of any sort of thoughts like those and listened in on Tucker's speech.

"The day... of Lavos" he finished.

"Lavos?"

"Lavos was a monster that emerged from this planet's core, presumably with the intent of destroying it" Tucker remembered what his mother told him "Fiery hell rained upon the world as it appeared, and the waters became tainted and the earth shattered. The wind eventually stopped blowing. In its wake, it left nothing but a desolate world for us surviving diamond dogs to live in."

"Ponies were wiped clean off because they lived on the surface" Twilight pieced everything together "The diamond dogs had a higher chance of survival, so they became the dominant species."

"There, now you have it figured out" Tucker scoffed "Now leave."

"Wait, there's something I still want to ask you" Twilight brought up "This, um... Lavos thing. Is it still on the planet?"

"No, it flew away after blowing our world up, probably off to some other place to destroy that. Not like I care what happens to anyone else though" Tucker simply went back to his guitar again "I know what Lavos looks like, though. It left some of its spawn brats here before it left. If you ever see a cloud of smoke on this planet now, it usually means they're migrating."

"So that's what that was..." Twilight muttered to herself.

"I told you everything you wanted to know" Tucker growled "Now scram, before I make you wish you never asked me to tell you this stuff in the first place!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going" Twilight assured the teenaged canine. She quickly walked out of his room and closed the door behind her, letting out a sigh of relief. She turned around to walk away only to see Lucy there crossly tapping her hind leg.

(Music Stop)

"You asked him about that day, didn't you?" she asked Twilight, to which the latter slowly nodded her head "...well, I suppose you were going to find out sooner or later. So now you know, hmm? You know about Lavos and how its destroyed every semblance of life on this planet? Well, almost every semblance, I suppose."

"Well, yeah, there's the diamond dogs right?" Twilight inquired.

"Yes, most of them survived the end of the world" Lucy nodded "But there are some other species that survived as well. Off the top of my head, there's that purple dragon that lives up top on Canterlot mountain..."

"Wait... Purple dragon?" Twilight's eyes began to sparkle "D-Does it have green spikes all down its back?"

"Yes, it does" Lucy's eyebrow "How did you know?"

"YES!! I knew he was a fighter!" Twilight tried her best to contain her excitement "Not even the end of the world can kill Spike!"

"Is that the dragon's name? Sorry, but I'm confused..." Lucy rubbed her head a bit "Are you two acquainted with each other? But, that's impossible, dear. That dragon is overprotective of something lying on top of the mountain. As such, he's extremely aggressive and never lets anyone even near the mountain."

"Yeah, I know him" Twilight smiled "Let's just say he's an old, old, old friend of mine."

"If you say so..." Lucy shrugged "This isn't all part of that time machine nonsense, is it? Honestly, the very idea of time travel is astoundingly stupid. Wait... you aren't seriously thinking of going to meet with him?!"

"Of course I am" Twilight nodded "It'd be nice to talk with someone I know again. I have no idea how long it's been since he's seen me last, but I bet he'd be overjoyed to see me again! I, uh, hope anyway... heh..."

"You're leaving already?" Rocky came in with Milo on his back "To find that old dragon Spike on the mountain? It'll be tough, but I also think you'll need this..." he pulled out a comfy-looking purple winter jacket "It's made for diamond dogs, obviously, but I think it should fit you. It's Tucker's old coat anyway."

"Hahaha! Thanks, Mr. Rocky" Twilight bowed.

"Rocky! You aren't actually ALLOWING this, are you?!" Lucy gasped.

"Lucy, honey, she's not our child; she can do what she so wishes" Rocky defended Twilight's decision "Besides, if she says she can communicate with that dragon, then let her have a shot at it."

"...oh, alright" Lucy rolled her eyes "I just don't want her dying out there."

"Because your legitimately concerned or just saving her for the newscasters later?" Rocky smirked.

"Sh-Shut it, now!" Lucy blushed.

"Thank you. All of you" Twilight nodded before going for the door "Oh, and give Tucker my thanks as well. He did kinda tell me the stuff you refused to tell me, so..."

"Yeah, yeah" Rocky rolled his eyes as he chuckled "Now scram, kid."

"Hahaha! Alright, alright!" Twilight exited the house and finally closed the door behind her, leaving the others to let out a great sigh of relief. They didn't mind having guests over, but guests that questioned their standards and made them gasp in fear they never really liked that much.

(Music Stop)

"She seemed like a very nice body- I mean, pony" Lucy quickly corrected her theory on what might happen to the former later "A-Anyway, you two go on ahead. I'll give the message to Tucker."

Milo and Rocky nodded and went right back into the living room to play some more. Lucy walked over to Tucker's room door and knocked on it three times, hoping to at least get some sort of answer out of him. However, no such answer came. She knocked again, but to nothing once again.

"Honey, are you okay in there?" she asked her son. After getting no reply, she finally decided to open up the door on her own only to gasp and scream at what she saw.

"Lucy! What is it? What's the problem?" Rocky came rushing out of the living room next to her.

"T-Tucker, h-he's..." Lucy began to cry "...gone!"

Author's Note

And so the plot thickens! I think we all kinda knew Lavos was going to be in this story. You can't really have a Chrono Trigger story without Lavos. Heck, even Chrono Cross had Lavos in it, but, uh... shh... I won't spoil what it is.

This story is getting loads of support! Funny story, this actually began with a dislike! A dislike of all things, can you believe it? Nevertheless, everything seems to be in order now, so nothing too bad has happened. Oh, and if you haven't already, be sure to leave a Like, as that really helps me and the story out! Helps it grow and stuff. That's good, I think!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Chapter 3] Dragon Survivor

Even with the admittedly very warm coat covering the front half of her body, Twilight still felt the cold wind and temperature of the desolate world on her body. A strong breeze blew by her, making her feel like her legs were turning into ice. Her hooves once again felt the coldness of the ground, freezing to the touch. For a moment, Twilight wasn't exactly sure if she would be able to make it to Canterlot Castle. Alive, that is.

"Ugh... Hah..." Twilight huffed in the near-frozen wasteland, her breath turning cold the moment it touched the cool air "I'm... not sure if I'll... m-make it there... Well, warm, at least..."

Twilight continued to walk, now finally over the hill she looked over earlier. The horrid view reminded her of the damage Lavos had done to this world. Lavos. She swore she heard that name before in one of her books. She couldn't think of that now, though; she had to continue on towards Spike.

"Spike..." she muttered "I wonder w-what you've been doing while I-I was gone..."

She continued on her path to the castle, sliding down the hill which was a lot longer on the other side than she thought. However, just a few more steps after that, shivered once again and collapsed onto the dirt, finally feeling like she was too cold to move again. Her wings felt as if they were falling apart, and her horn, being part of her bone structure, was giving her pain every time cold wind passed by her head.

"C-Crud..." Twilight sighed, trying to inch her body forward, to some success "C'mon, T-Twilight... You can't... pass out... n-now... You still need... t-to meet with... Spike... again..."

Slowly but surely, the willpower to see her literal last friend alive was enough to bring her back up on her hooves and keep trotting along. She shook her head, attempting to free herself from the fatigue the cold winds were giving her, but nothing she could do really helped. At last, she collapsed again, this time for good.

"Ahh..." she winced at the cold "N-No... I have to... k-keep going... S-So... cold... Need to... M-Must... Nng..."

Her eyes felt heavy. In one last desperate attempt, she reached her hoof out towards the castle, wishing she was there. Wanting to be there. Needing to be there. But nothing happened. Soon enough, Twilight's eyes closed completely and she passed from this world, regretting she couldn't be with her friends one last time...

Or she would have, if not for something grabbing her and tugging her along towards the castle.

(Music Stop)

Twilight felt warmer for some reason. Why? Wasn't she supposed to be dead out in the cold wasteland of Equestria. She heard the light sounds of fire crinkling near her, and saw the soft orange light of fire through her eyelids.

She at last opened her eyes to see that, surprise, surprise, a small, controlled fire pit had been made near her. On the other side of the pit was a familiar-looking beige diamond dog with floppy ears, a black unzipped jacket and a spiked collar around his neck. He had a less than excited expression on his face.

"It's about time you woke up" he said "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to start a fire when it's minus 30 degrees?"

"T-Tucker?" Twilight questioned "Were you the one who saved me? Why?"

"Yeah, I was" he nodded "I knew you'd freeze out there, so I brought you to the castle. Don't take this the wrong way, pony; once I'm done helping you, I'm out of here."

"Tucker, um..." Twilight shrugged, not quite knowing how to respond to that "...thanks."

"Whatever..." Tucker rolled his eyes.

"...Celsius or Fahrenheit?" Twilight wondered.

"What?" Tucker scoffed.

"You mentioned that it was minus 30 degrees outside" Twilight recalled "You never said if that was in Celsius or Fahrenheit."

"Is this seriously how you ponies try to spark conversation?" Tucker insultingly questioned "Does it really matter, anyway? Celsius, Fahrenheit, what's the difference anyway?"

"Well, Celsius is a temperature measurement created by an inventor in Vanhoover... or what's left of it, but this point" Twilight chuckled a bit "Fahrenheit was created by a mare in Manehatten. Both measure temperature, yes, but both are different. Celsius measures 0 degrees as the freezing point, whereas Fahrenheit measures 27 degrees as the freezing point. So by that logic, we're either facing the new ice-age, or it's just a mild minus 17 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit measurement."

Tucker just looked at her like she had five heads and four noses.

"...and I'll just assume that went over your head" Twilight sheepishly giggled "Basically, Fahrenheit and Celsius DO have a difference, but the difference is a little weird."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Tucker wondered.

"Hmm?"

"All this about Celsius and Fahrenheit. Why would you want to tell me something I clearly don't care about?"

"Well, because I'm just trying to spark some conversation, like you said" Twilight smiled "It's important that you talk with at least one other pony, er... person every once in a while, or you might start to go a little insane."

"Talking with... others?" Tucker questioned "...that's stupid. What good are others anyway?"

"Tucker, sorry if this sounds rude of me, but," Twilight began, sighing for a moment before continuing on "do you, um... have any friends? Any at all?"

His response was something Twilight sort-of expected: he tossed a plastic bag filled with grass. Plastic was something Twilight had seen in Equestria before, though she hadn't seen all that much of it. She was only able to recall knowing this was plastic when she saw Pinkie holding some at a party she threw one day.

"Eat it" Tucker sounded almost commanding "Or don't. I don't really care."

"Just grass?" Twilight wondered "I mean, I'm not complaining, but-"

"Diamond dogs are carnivores, so we ate the surviving animals to live" he explained "All vegetation was wiped out in an instant when Lavos emerged. You're lucky you're even getting this."

"Okay, okay, I'll eat it..." Twilight opened the bag and took in the scent of freshly cut grass; something she was secretly always fond of "Mmmm... Wait, where did you even find this? I thought you said all vegetation was killed. "

"Aren't you supposed to be a nerd or something?" scoffed Tucker "Life always finds a way."

"Oh, right, sorry" Twilight nodded before looking down and sticking her muzzle into the bag, munching on the fresh, uncooked grass with a gleeful smile on her face. She gulped her food down and let out a satisfied sigh before turning to Tucker. Before she could ask him anything else, he got up and walked away from her.

"C'mon; let's get this over-with" he said in an annoyed tone "The mountain is warmer inside, so we'll climb the old mine shafts to get to Canterlot. That's where you dumb dragon friend is."

"Hey, he's not dumb!" Twilight dropped the plastic bag and ran after Tucker.

Not many ponies in Equestria knew this, but the old mines of Canterlot were made of the entire mountain; hollowed out from the bottom to the top. A thousand days and a thousand nights is how long it took, Twilight's mother told her. Since she was a filly, she was always so interested in the mines; the ancient technology, the questionable design choices. But the beauty of the sparkling crystals in the mines was always something that captivated her.

When Twilight entered the caverns after all this time, she was thankful that not much had changed. The crystals were not quite as beautiful as they were before the apocalypse, but still, they retained most of their beauty. She took a moment to take in the sights as they continued on their trip upward.

"Stop standing there and move it!" Tucker shouted "It's bad enough I have you with me anyway."

"Jeez, what pruned your pineapples?" Twilight sighed, recalling that Pinkie Pie said something along those lines once before "But yeah, you're right. I think we both need to go home after this... Speaking off, how did you convince your parents to let you go?"

"I didn't" Tucker flatly said.

"...oh."

"Here: this looks like an elevator" he pointed at a highly technologically advanced lift that seemed to bring them into the upper levels of the mine. As Tucker walked towards it, however, Twilight blinked and curiously examined the elevator. This caused Tucker to groan and wander the cave a bit.

"Look at the edges... they're so... perfect..." Twilight's eyes sparkled with interest.

"Long story short, so I won't have to explained everything," Tucker began "fifty years after your original time, that kid of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor said this mine was safe, they started mining again. Technology advanced, Lavos killed everyone, end of story. Happy?"

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"Just shut-up and get into the elevator" Tucker groaned.

Twilight nodded and entered the lift, despite Tucker's rude behavior. How badly did the talk about Lavos really affect him? She didn't know, nor could she feel his pain. It must have been horrible learning about how his world became like this. How do you tell someone it'll be okay after something like that? Short answer: you can't.

The elevator ride was surprisingly short, though that was partially due to the elevator being so fast. According to the blinking elevator map inside the lift, they had already escalated up halfway through the mines. As the door opened, Twilight saw they were now on a very long bridge that seemed to go straight onto the other side of the mountain. Below the bridge was a long, long drop, so both travelers tried not to fall off. Thankfully, the bridge seemed wide enough to allow both passage, though the sides had no railings.

"There's another elevator on the other side of this bridge that will bring us to the top and into the castle" Tucker explained "After that, you're on your own."

"Well, as long as you don't push me off..." Twilight muttered under her breath.

"I'm certainly thinking about it" Tucker scoffed as he began walking forward. She wondered how Tucker fully understood her muttered sentence before the thought hit her.

"Oh, right... You're a dog..." she sighed before running up to him walking alongside him, much to his dismay. They continued on their long walk until Twilight felt something tap her head. She quickly looked around her to see what had done so, but to no avail. She tread carefully from then on.

"Any animal that DID survive Lavos mutated from the radiation coming from the core" Tucker told her, causing her to stop in her tracks and widen her eyes in fear "If you actually want to see your stupid dragon pet again, I'd quiet down if I were you."

"He's not stupid!" Twilight angrily whispered.

"I don't really care, pony!" Tucker turned around and scolded her "Now shut-up, or I'll do it for you. You're lucky you're still alive. Without me, you'd be dead."

"You can call me whatever you want, but never insult my friends!" Twilight was shouting by this point "I get that you're sad that you have to live in a world like this, but-"

"You don't get anything..." Tucker growled "You aren't from this time. You don't know what it's been like living the way we do!" he paused for a moment "...why am I telling you this? Just get a move on and..." he suddenly turned his head over to the left side of the bridge, sniffing a bit.

(Music Stop)

"W-What?" Twilight looked at her escort curiously "What is it?"

"You mean you can't hear that?" Tucked wondered before rolling his eyes "No wonder you ponies went extinct. If you really have to know, I hear something getting closer to us..."

"Like what?"

"Will you stop asking so many questions all the time?!" Tucker shouted at her "Y'know what? I'm not answering that question for you. You can just figure that out by yourself. And I guess today's your lucky day, because here they come. I hope you still have some energy left from all that walking, pony!" he began running towards the other elevator on all fours.

"One of these days, you'll call me by my name!" Twilight shouted as she ran after him. At last she saw what got him so riled up; chasing after them were what seemed like thousands of giant bats with glowing green eyes. Were these the mutated animals he spoke about? If not, Twilight didn't want to know what else was mutated.

"They're gaining on us!" Twilight updated Tucker "We have to run faster!"

"No, I just have to run faster than you!" Tucked called out behind him "If they catch you, I'll have an easier time escaping! Not to mention I won't have to go through this stupid quest of yours!"

"You're a jerk!" Twilight shouted, now starting to run out of breath. After her legs could take no more stress, she flapped her wings and took to the skies, now going faster than Tucker. She passed him and reached out her hoof.

"Grab on!" she urged, much to his dismay.

"Like heck, I would!" he scoffed.

"We don't have time for this, Tucker!" she groaned "It's either die here or suck it up! Your choice!"

"...fine, whatever" Tucker sighed and leaped up onto Twilight's hooves, having her take him away from the fast-approaching bats "But know I'm doing this so I can live, not to help you."

After a little while longer, they finally reached the other lift, and with just moments to spare. Twilight threw her passenger into the elevator before flying in herself and closing the doors behind her. The last thing she heard of the bats before the elevator started its journey upward were their desperate attempts to try and reach the two. Twilight then let out a sigh of relief.

(Music Stop)

"Sorry for throwing you" Twilight sheepishly apologized "Some Princess of Friendship I am, huh? Hahaha!"

"Don't throw me next time" Tucker angrily clenched his front paws into a fist "You could have killed me."

"Well, you know what? Sorry for saving your life!" Twilight crossly spoke to the teenager "Speaking of, you still haven't told me why you went with me without telling your parents. Is this something you want to talk about?"

"What do you think?"

"Tucker..." Twilight sighed "I don't care if we're friends or not. It's always a good idea to talk about your problems to someone just to get them off your chest. Since we're the only ones here, and I'm not exactly sure there are any other living beings here for miles, I think you can tell me. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"It's... It's none of your concern..." Tucker turned away from Twilight "I already told you enough about me anyway. Why should I tell you even more, huh?"

"...I asked you before about how many friends you had" Twilight recalled "You never answered, but I think I finally understand now. You have no friends. Not even your family feels close to you anymore. Is this why you act the way you do? Is this why you're so... this?"

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it" Tucker growled "You of all ponies should understand that."

"Tucker, I..." Twilight was about to say something, but she ultimately decided against it "...you're right. Sorry for intruding..." she did however give him a warm smile "But if at any time you're feeling up to talking about your feelings with me, don't hesitate for a moment. I'll always be here to listen."

"...whatever" Tucker scoffed. But Twilight knew he was thankful. She knew after looking at him from every angle that despite his rough and rude exterior, he still cared about something. But what could it be?

Finally, the elevator stopped and the door opened, showing the two that they had arrived in building in Canterlot which had certainly seen better days, as shown by the giant hole leading into the outside world. Tucker immediately got up and walked out, never once looking at Twilight. However, as soon as she stepped out, she looked to her left and saw a control panel that seemed to connect to the elevator. With a sigh, she pressed the down button. This attracted Tucker's attention almost immediately.

"What are you doing! No!" he shouted, but it was too late: the elevator was gone "Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm sorry, Tucker, but I can't allow you to abandon me now" Twilight shook her head "I still need your help, and you still need to talk to someone about your problems."

"I'm not going any further with you" Tucker stated "I'll wait here for the elevator to return."

"Don't be stubborn" Twilight bowed her head and aimed her horn at the control panel, firing a small beam of magic at it and utterly destroying it, causing much anger to start swelling up inside Tucker "Now c'mon, we have to find Spike. He should be around here. Stay with me, okay?" she grabbed him with her magic, much to his reluctance.

(Music Stop)

"Stop! Now! Let go of me!" he complained.

"SPIKE?!" Twilight shouted "ARE YOU THERE?! HELLO?! SPIKE?!"

"I doubt it would be able to hear you" Tucker mentioned "It lives deep within the castle. It doesn't usually leave unless it needs to find something to eat."

"Spike is a he not an it, just so you know" pointed out Twilight.

"Whatever..." Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Well, if he's in the castle, then we have a long way to climb" Twilight shrugged "In that case, I guess we better get going. Hey, do you know how big he's gotten over the course of over 1000 years? Well, I guess over 1500 now. 2000? He has to be bigger than this castle by now, wouldn't you think?"

"I've told you before that I don't care" Tucker grumbled "And guess what? I still don't care."

"Well fine, be that way" Twilight rolled her eyes "With an attitude like that, I'm surprised Spike hasn't eaten you already... Not that he would; dragons tend to eat gems, but-"

A great roar fell upon the two's ears, forcing them to cover them. The both looked up to see that a silhouette had appeared in the sky and was coming straight for them. Tucker looked blankly onward, knowing exactly what it was. But Twilight looked like she was about to have a miniature heart-attack.

"W-What is that?!" Twilight panicked.

"You'd think you'd be able to recognize your old friend, wouldn't you?" Tucker spoke flatly. Twilight looked confused for a second before finally realizing what he meant. Taking a closer look at the silhouette, she noticed the large wings and purple scales on its body, as well as the long, green spikes running down its spine. Twilight gasped; the silhouette was none other than her number one assistant, long-time friend and practical younger brother, Spike.

"SPIKE!!!" she shouted, causing the silhouette to suddenly stop in place. It then slowly descended down to where Twilight and Tucker were, finally confirming Twilight's suspicions. Now that she had a closer look at him, he saw that he was a little more than an old dragon now. He stood five-times as tall as Twilight, though he was more likely taller since his neck hunched over. A white beard and mustache dawned his face, as well as bushy white eyebrows.

"Twilight?" he questioned in a much deeper and older voice than she remembered him having "Is that really you? No... These old eyes must be seeing things... Leave now, I'd like to be alone."

"No, Spike, it really is me" Twilight tried to convince him "Remember the time machine and how I was flung into it? This must've been where I ended up."

"So... the time machine... worked?" Spike's voice brightened up "But... how can I be certain you're the real Twilight?"

"Because I'm the only one who knows you sometimes use my old and unreadable books as toilet paper" Twilight smirked, causing Spike to blush through his beard.

"Heh..." Tucker chuckled darkly.

"Okay, okay, so you're the real Twilight..." Spike sighed before realizing something "...wait... you're the real... Twilight..." he then started smiling before bending over and laughing "Twilight! I can't believe it! Never did I think in my old age did I think I'd see you again!"

"It's nice to see you too, Spike" Twilight laughed with him "And I see you've grown old without me!"

"Heh... Don't remind me..." Spike blushed "But at least I have that mustache I always wanted. And look! Wings of all things! They started growing a few years after you vanished."

"So I noticed" Twilight giggled "We really need to catch up with each other."

"Boy, do you ever" Spike joked.

"Oh, shut-up, you."

"Are you two done bonding yet?" Tucker called out "Or was that the entire purpose of this trip and I just wasted my time for nothing? If it's the latter, then you can go and suck my-"

"Tucker, let the adults talk, okay?" Twilight scolded him, now that he was in HER custody, before turning back to Spike and continuing their conversation "So, any way you can tell me what happened during all that time?"

"To avoid a paradox, nothing really..." Spike shrugged, much to Twilight's dismay "What I can tell you however is that saved that old time machine of yours in case you'd ever need it again. Truth is, Twilight, I kinda already knew you were coming to this time period. I may be old, actually coming close to my end now, but I got smarter."

"Spike, you're dying?" Twilight worryingly asked.

"Twilight, I'm over 2000 years old" he explained "Dragons can only live up to 1900 years. I'm lucky I managed to hold out this long. Besides, I think I still have a good 100 years left in me."

"Well... Did you live a good life?"

"Twilight, with you and your kids, then their kids and so on, I had the greatest life I could have ever asked for" Spike smiled "And what a great way to end it off with seeing you again. The mare that started it all."

"Ohhh, Spike..." Twilight began to cry.

"Oh, nonono! Twilight, don't cry..." Spike delicately put one of his pointy fingers below Twilight's chin "This happens to everyone, right? Besides, who would want to live in a bleak world like this? I'll be going to a better place."

"...t-true..." Twilight sniffed.

"There we go" Spike smiled before flapping his wings "Now, stay there. I'll be right back" he then took off back to Canterlot Castle quickest that she's ever seen him go.

"I still can't believe you brought me out here for nothing" Tucker grumbled "I could have stayed home and stayed grounded, but you had to show up from the past and ruin everything..."

"What, ruin your sulking?" Twilight asked, now calmed down a bit from her crying "I think I may have just made you life ten-times better. And, if I can get back home, you'd love to meet with Pinkie Pie. She's basically the life of a party, and I can bet you that your day will be brighter when she's around."

"You're not actually going to take me to your dumb past, are you?" Tucker questioned.

"Where else would you go?" Twilight wondered "Back to your home? Don't you hate it there?"

"Anywhere is better than where you are" Tucker rudely stated "If you never showed up, I would have been just fine living my life away in my room."

"Would you have been?" Twilight asked him with a raised eyebrow "I think we both know that's not exactly the case, Tucker."

"Back!" Spike flew in, flapping his wings a bit before he landed "And I brought something you, Twilight might enjoy" he placed down an old-looking machine that looked very similar to the time machine Twilight created, if not the exact same creation "After all this time, it still works! It only has enough power for one more trip, though."

"Spike, this is amazing!" Twilight's eyes sparkled "Even in old age, your always faithful to me and the people around you."

"Aww, thanks, Twilight" Spike chuckled.

"It sounds so weird hearing you say that with that deep voice" Twilight smiled before shaking her head "Anyway, thank you so much, Spike. I, um... guess we better get going."

"Your taking him with you?" Spike wondered "Be sure not to cause a paradox!"

"I'll try" Twilight smirked before stepping onto the machine "Okay, now... how does this work again?"

"The lever, remember?" Spike reminded her.

"Oh, right."

Twilight used her magic to pull the now rusty lever on the side of the machine. With a sputter and a clank coming from the invention, the lights on the upper dome flickered on and a blue tear in the time-space continuum opened up. Before entering, Twilight checked to make sure it was set to the right time, just in case something horrible happened again. Once confirming this was the case, she smiled and entered the rift, levitating Tucker along with her.

As soon as the rift safely closed up, the machine shook and stuttered before internally exploding and giving off dark gray smoke that mixed with the atmosphere. Spike smiled, knowing his friend was at last safe from this unspeakably terrible world.

"See you later, Twi..." he chuckled "I guess we'll meet again on the other side soon... Well, this time's version of you, anyway."

With that, he began flapping his wings before taking off and heading towards the ruined castle where he called home. There he would at last take the eternal rest he so desperately needed and deserved. He was ashamed he lied to Twilight about living for a hundred more years or so, but he didn't fear anything anymore; he had seen it all. And now, after seeing his friend one last time, he was finally ready to go.

It was a calming feeling, to say the least.

Author's Note

And so, Twilight escapes the bleak future and returns to the past... or present, I guess. Spike, from his old age, finally passes away peacefully. The future Spike anyway. Don't worry, our favorite baby dragon will appear in the story frequently.

I should point this out right about now: Like Chrono Trigger, there will be a few optional side-quests right before the final battle. I'll post these as "Extra Chapters", as they're not actually part of the main plot. It would be wise to read them, however, as they will have elements of the plot that will carry over into the final battle. What are these elements, you may ask? Well, you'll have to read and wait to find out. Sorry!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Chapter 4] Home Again, Gone Again

Sassy Saddles was more than just surprised when she saw the blue crack appear in the Canterlot Boutique, she was absolutely flabbergasted to the point where she showed little emotion in her face besides utter awe. Her long, orange and yellow mane and tail blew in the breeze coming from the rift, and her cyan coat, as well as her long horn, felt the coolness of it. Her entire faith in logic was completely shattered when Princess Twilight Sparkle of all ponies stepped out of the rift, with a diamond dog in magical tow behind her. The rift soon closed after both had safely made it out.

The nighttime moon shone down upon the boutique with a certain exquisite feel to it, and before this all happened, Sassy Saddles was preparing to close the shop for the night. And then, obviously, this happened. She wasn't exactly sure what to say after a missing pony suddenly appeared in her store.

"Sassy Saddles?" Twilight wondered "If I'm here in your shop, that would mean I was transported to the exact same place in time, just... Ohh... You, um... You don't want to know what happens to this shop in the future. Seriously."

"Paisley and poplin! P-Princess Twilight?" Sassy stuttered, finally breaking free of her trance "What an, um... unexpected surprise."

"Oh, with the time rift and everything?" Twilight sheepishly chuckled "Yeah, sorry about that. It was the only way I could get back from the future. Seriously, don't ask what happens to this shop in the future."

"I'm afraid I don't follow..." Sassy's eyebrow rose curiously as she eyed the diamond dog behind her guest "Princess, why on earth would you bring a filthy diamond dog here?"

"Oh him?" Twilight looked at Tucker before gently placing him down onto the ground and releasing him from his magical trap "He'll behave, I can assure you. He's from the future where diamond dogs have evolved into more mannered beings. And yes, before you ask anything, I just came back from the future for real. No magic tricks here."

"So... Rarity was speaking the truth?" Sassy wondered.

"Rarity told you about my time machine?!" Twilight shouted before calming down after thinking things over "Well... that would be the most obvious thing to do when your friend goes missing, I suppose."

"Oh, the others will be so happy now that you've finally returned!" Sassy smiled.

"My friends! Wait..." Twilight paused for a moment "...how long was I gone for?"

"Only a few days, at most" Sassy admitted "The others have been so worried that you were gone for good. They never gave up searching for you, though. May I ask, if you story really is true, how far into the future did you travel?"

"How far did I travel?" Twilight questioned "Oh, well I traveled... oh... that reminds me..."

"Reminds you? Reminds you of what?"

"Reminds me of my mission and what I have to do" Twilight explained "In the future, the entire world has been destroyed by a monster known as Lavos. Now, I haven't seen Lavos, nor do I know what it looks like, but I can safely say that it has the power to annihilate the world and then some. The world in the future was so... cold and empty..."

"Best get some rest first, Princess" Sassy suggested "I'm sure it's been a long while since you last laid your eyes to rest in that bleak future you described. Please, stay in my room for the night."

"Sassy, I couldn't allow that!" Twilight politely argued "It's your bed, you should sleep in it."

"Nonsense, Princess Twilight!" Sassy laughed "You need it far more than I do."

"...well, as long as you're okay with it..." Twilight shrugged "Thank you, Sassy Saddles."

"Say, where did that diamond dog friend of yours go?" Sassy looked around before spotting Tucker sitting by the front window, looking up at something "Hmm? Is this something he normally does?"

"No, I've never seen him do this before..." Twilight recalled. She observed for a little while longer before finally walking toward him to see what was the matter. Without saying a word, she stood right next to him and looked up at what Tucker was viewing. It was the moon, in all its glory. Twilight didn't blame him; never once in his life did he ever see the beauty of the moon or the warmth of the sun. She smiled at what he might think of the latter.

"Leave me be" he said as he turned his head and glared at Twilight "I'd like to be in peace."

"...okay, Tucker" Twilight nodded "Just be sure to get to bed later."

"You're not my mom" he scoffed.

Twilight sighed before walking off, hoping she or one of her friends could finally break his shell and discover what he's so worked up about. She knew that it wasn't just his ruined world or that he was going through a phase. Something was emotionally hurting him, and Twilight was determined to finally figure it out.

"Well... at least, try and get some sleep tonight, alright?" Twilight prompted, even though she knew he heard it as a suggestion "And no roaming around the city! This is my present time, which means things are different. At the VERY least, understand that, okay?"

"Fine, whatever..." Tucker rolled his eyes before going back to watching the moon.

"Don't fret, Princess Twilight" Sassy Saddles assured "I'll make sure he doesn't cause any trouble. You just go ahead and rest."

"Again, thank you, Sassy" sighed a relieved Twilight before letting out a yawn "...ah... yeah, I should probably 'hit the hay', as Applejack would put it... Oh, speaking of, could you please write a letter to my friends telling them to come down to the Canterlot Boutique tomorrow for a 'special surprise'?"

"Sequins and sashes! That sounds simply amazing!" Sassy grinned gleefully "Oh, the others will be so happy to finally see you again! But yes, of course I'll keep it a surprise."

Twilight nodded as she let out another yawn. Now she knew she was feeling tired as she felt her entire body droop a bit. Slowly, she walked up the stairs towards the manager's bedroom, remembering the layout of the boutique the last time she was here. As soon as she got up, she opened the bedroom door and immediately collapsed onto the soft, cushioned bed with blue covers, a white mattress and a beautifully crafted wooden headrest.

She instantly fell asleep.

The middle of the night came around, however, and was far different than earlier. Tucker, by some heavenly miracle, was finally put to sleep by Sassy Saddles and had been resting on the main floor. Twilight on the other hand simply could not sleep. For the first time in her life though, she didn't know why. Was the thought of the secret Tucker held still pounding on her head, or the knowledge of Lavos destroying her world in only 998 years?

She then heard something coming from downstairs. It was a light banging noise. Something was amiss; even if it was Sassy Saddles, the mare who loved working late at night to get something done, Twilight knew she would have been quieter than a mouse. No, this had to be something else.

"Tucker, perhaps?" Twilight guessed to herself "Only one way to find out, I suppose."

Slowly, she crawled out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, grabbing a candle with her magic to help her light the way. She questioned why she did this when she could simply use an illumination spell, but she supposed she would feel safer with a comforting, warm light that wasn't her own.

She stepped down the stairs to check what the matter was. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for whoever or whatever may be threatening the shop and continued down the steps. She quickly turned the corner to see what was making the ruckus, but much to her surprise, there was nothing. Other than Tucker sleeping on the main hall's carpet. Twilight was confused, for what could have made such a sound as that?

Suddenly, there it was again.

"Sassy?" she whispered as she tiptoed around Tucker's sleeping body "Is that you?"

There was no answer. She assumed this was because she was whispering, which she promptly slapped her head for. However, movement occurred behind her. She turned around and saw she had accidentally awoken Tucker.

"What the heck, pony?!" he shouted, forcing Twilight to hush him.

"SHHHH!! Somepony else is in this building" she alerted him "Somepony not Sassy Saddles..."

"Does it look like I care?" Tucker wondered.

"How did you wake up anyway?" Twilight questioned him "I was being quiet. I even whisp- Oh... dogs have a greater hearing than most other animals... right..."

"Fine, you figured it out. Whatever" Tucker rolled his eyes "Now let me get back to sleep. Solve your own problems, and don't get me involved. It's bad enough I've been flung into the past with you, so at least give me that."

The clanging sound happened again, seemingly emanating from the sewing room.

"Stay..." Twilight half-joked with the diamond dog, much to his dismay. With an amused grin on her face, she began walking toward the room still with her candle in her magical grasp. She took yet again another slow breath to allow her to ease up slightly before she finally entered the room.

(Music Stop)

There, whereas she expected some sort of burglar or monster which she accidentally brought back from the future, she saw a young Unicorn colt sitting in the corner with an absolutely terrified expression on his face. His gray coat glistened with sweat from exhaustion, and his short, messy black mane flopped down over his right eye. The eye that was revealed was green and filled with horror and fear, most likely of Twilight but perhaps of something else.

"St-Stay away from me!" he covered his head with his arms "Please... Don't hurt me..."

"Hey, it's okay..." Twilight gave a warm smile after finally coming to terms with the situation "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise..."

"Th-That's what the other pony who was chasing me said!" the colt exclaimed before starting to cry "How c-can I trust you?"

"Other pony?" Twilight wondered "Sorry, but it's just me, my friend and my... um... tag-along."

"You tagged ME along, stupid pony!" Tucker shouted from the back room.

"Trust me, little guy, I wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, maybe I would..." Twilight shrugged, causing the colt to become nervous again "But, but, but! Only if that fly tried to annoy or attack me. Vicious creatures, those flies."

"S-So... you aren't going to... hurt me?" the colt wondered.

"No way in Equestria" Twilight shook her head "Now, come on up. Let's go, up, up, up!" she gently pulled him back up to his hooves "Good, there we go... Now, do you want to tell me your name, little guy?"

"M-My name?" the colt questioned "I... I can't remember my name... I'm not even sure if I had one..."

"Oh... Well, that certainly makes things a lot more difficult now, doesn't it?" Twilight giggled a bit "Tell you what... Why don't I give you a new one until we can learn your real name, hmm?"

"Yeah, I'd like that" the colt nodded, wiping away a few of his tears.

"Great! So, what should your name be..." Twilight looked all around her, closer at the colt and ever closer at her surroundings "Well... it's nighttime right now, as well as the moon is pretty bright right now... um... How about, uh... Nightlight Crescent?"

"Nightlight, um... Cress-scent?"

"Good point" Twilight nodded in understanding "Alright then... how about just 'Nighty'?"

"Nighty?" the colt questioned before a smile appeared on his face "Y-Yeah, I like it!"

"Ah, good" Twilight sighed in relief "If you couldn't tell, I'm not good with names. For heaven's sake, I named my newly hatched friend Spike, literally the most common name you could ever give someone."

"Newly... hatched?" Nighty wondered.

"Ah, that's not important right now" she shrugged off her last comment "What's important is how you managed to get into the boutique. You know that's breaking and entering, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I know..." Nighty nodded shamefully "I was kinda hungry, so I found the first place with an open window and sneaked in so maybe I could, y'know... eat."

"First place that-" Twilight wondered before noticing the light draft and the open window to her right "...oh."

"I'm sorry... I-I'll leave now if I'm-"

"No, nonononono!" Twilight urged "That's not- No, Nighty, it's alright, you can stay here with us... Well, so long as you don't cause any trouble, of course."

"F-For real?" Nighty wondered "Thank you, um..."

"Oh, right, sorry" Twilight sheepishly chuckled "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle, of course, but please, I don't really like the formali-"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Nighty questioned her introduction "But there are only two princesses in the world; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Unless, of course, I forgot that too... But, before I got here, I do remember someone saying something about the two princesses and how one of them is gonna be promoted to queen one day."

"...Nighty, where do you come from?" Twilight sternly asked.

"I remember being in a city with lots of wooden houses on top of a mountain..." Nighty recalled "I can't remember the name of it, but there were lots and lots of rich ponies there."

"As I suspected" Twilight nodded "Nighty, this might be a little much to take in, but you come from the past, 20 BC, or Before Celestia's reign, to be exact."

"W-What?" Nighty tilted his head "I don't get it..."

"Did you happen to go through a dimensional rift while running from your enemy?"

"S-Sorry?"

"Ugh... Did you go through a big blue crack in the sky when running away from the bad pony?" Twilight begrudgingly simplified her sentence so Nighty could understand.

"Oh, yeah, I did" he remembered "I thought it might've been the only way to get away from that bad pony... but I ended up in a whole new place with tall buildings and even more ponies than last time! Then, um... you know what happened next."

"Ohhh... This is bad..." Twilight shivered a bit.

"B-Bad?" Nighty wondered.

"Um... Never mind. We'll talk about it in the morning" Twilight put on a fake smile "Why don't you sleep with Tucker for the night? I'm sure he won't mind."

"Ugh..." Tucker groaned from the other room.

"O-Okay..." Nighty nodded slowly "He won't, um... eat me, will he?"

"Relax, he's rude, not a cannibal" Twilight chuckled as she rolled her eyes "You'll be fine. And if I find out that he hurt you overnight, then he'll certainly be getting a punishment of high magnitude that not even Lavos could give..."

"Don't even joke about that..." Tucker sighed "You haven't seen the stuff I've seen..."

Twilight sighed before gently bringing Nighty out of his corner and closing the open window. She guided him out to where Tucker was and, with a slight bit of persuasion, managed to get the two together. With a yawn, Twilight headed back upstairs to the bedroom, let alone the bed that patiently awaited her. Tomorrow was going to be a big day...

(Music Stop)

Twilight awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. With a small groan, she slowly got out of the bed and went to see who her technical alarm clock was. She woke up immediately the moment she saw Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down with a gleeful smile on her face. Behind her were her other friends, all happy to see Twilight once again.

"You guys?" Twilight wondered "Wait... How long have I been sleeping in?"

"That dun matter, sugarcube" Applejack nearly cried "We're jus' glad ta see ya back safe an' sound."

"You certainly gave us quite the scare, darling" Rarity sighed with a smile "It's good to finally see you back safe and sound. Speaking of, wherever did you go anyway?"

"I bet she went to the future!" Rainbow Dash grinned "Tell me, is my great-great-great grandkid as awesome as I am, or my even greater-grandkid even awesome-er?! Or did you go to the past and meet my great-great-great granddad?"

"I, um... went to the future" Twilight admitted "But there's something I-"

"The future?!" Pinkie gasped "Tellmetellmetellme!!! Do they have GIANT cakes in the future?! How about GIANT water slides or GIANT cotton candy machines! OR ALL OF THE ABOVE?!?!"

"Pinkie, relax" Twilight giggled, glad she was finally able to hear Pinkie's upbeat voice and personality again "I'm so very glad that I'm back and can be with you again, but there's something extremely important that I have to tell you all. Speaking of all, you guys didn't happen to see two other downstairs, did you?"

"The diamond dog and the young colt?" Rarity questioned "I brought the colt to safety whereas I put the foul beast outside the boutique on a leash like it should be."

"...oh dear" Twilight immediately rushed past her friends and down the stairs. She opened the front door only to see Tucker sitting lazily on the boutique's steps with a heavy-duty leash attached to his collar and a nearby lamppost. Twilight couldn't help but giggle a bit at the sight, much to Tucker's dismay.

"This isn't funny..." he growled.

"Well, it's a little bit funny" Twilight admitted.

"Just get me loose from this thing" he grumbled. After a few seconds to allow Twilight to stop giggling, she used her magic to detach him from the lamppost. She then brought him back inside where her friends were waiting for her now on the main floor. Rarity was the only one really affected by Tucker being inside the house.

"Twilight!" she gasped "How could you just let that beast inside the boutique?!"

"Rarity, relax, okay?" Rainbow casually placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder "I'm sure this guy is from the future or something where diamond dogs are more intelligent now, right, um... diamond dog buddy?"

"I'm not your buddy, pony..." Tucker grumbled.

"Well, their behavior certainly hasn't changed..." Rarity scoffed.

"Oh, hello there, little one..." Fluttershy eyed the young colt off to the side "And what might your name be?"

"My name is, um... Nighty" he responded "I can't remember my real name, if I even had one, so Miss Twilight has given me a new one until we can figure out what it really is."

"Aww, that's so sweet, Twilight" Fluttershy smiled at her friend.

"Nighty, there's no need to call me 'Miss', okay?" Twilight blushed a bit "It makes me sound like I'm forty..."

"Ah swear, ah've seen him somewhere before..." Applejack raised her eyebrow in suspicion "Eh, probably nothin'..."

"A-Anyway, I suppose I should introduced everyone before I continue on" Twilight shook her head a bit before continuing "Allow me to introduce Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Tucker the diamond dog, Nighty, and... um... where's Spike?"

"The message Sassy gave us sounded of no real importance" Rarity mentioned "We decided it was best to leave him there so he could guard the castle. If we knew YOU'D be here, we would have taken him without question."

"I already know who he is anyway..." Tucker huffed "He's an old dragon where I come from. Probably dead by now."

"Tucker, don't say things like that" Twilight scolded him before finally getting back on topic "Maybe I'll see Spike later... Anyway, I supposed you're all wondering why I've summoned you here."

(Music Stop)

"Because you've returned, darling?"

"Because ya have somethin' ta tell us?"

"Because that something is gonna be something about how awesome the future is?"

"Because you have a Welcome Back Twilight cake you want us all to eat?!"

"Because, um... I don't know, actually..."

"Applejack, you're right, I do have something to tell you" Twilight nodded "Rainbow, you're half-right, I do need to tell you about the future, but believe me when I say the future is far from awesome. Pinkie... um, maybe next time."

"Aww..." Pinkie disappointingly sighed before perking back up again.

"You guys, the future is an absolute disaster" Twilight explained "Everything is ruined and destroyed, as well as extremely cold. Not because of some sort of world-ending war or a natural disaster, but rather something known as Lavos. This Lavos thing had appeared from the core of the planet in the year 1999 and rained down destruction upon the world, basically ending it."

"That's horrible!" Fluttershy gasped "I couldn't imagine why any creature would do such a thing..."

"Wait, why are you telling us this, Twilight?" Rainbow wondered "I mean, any future without awesomeness is a bleak one, so y'know, just kinda wondering?"

"It's simple, Rainbow" Twilight smiled "We have a time machine, remember? We're going to stop Lavos and change the future!"

"We're going to what?!" everyone shouted.

"Darling, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of changing time?" Rarity wondered.

"Yeah, a little bit" Twilight shrugged "But I'm not letting that be the end of our civilization! I think we can change time a little bit so we don't, you know, die. Besides, the chance to see what this Lavos thing looks like and acts like... ooohhhh~ That would be the scientific breakthrough of the century! Or centuries, really..."

"Well, sounds good ta me" Applejack nodded "Ah'm ready ta go ifin y'all are."

"Wait, wait, you guys" Twilight urged "I don't know how the time machine really works yet. I think just three entities traveling through time at once is enough. I've already decided to bring Tucker with me, for his knowledge on Lavos. I can only bring one mo-"

"OOOH!! OOOH!! Bring me! Bring me!!" Pinkie hopped up and down "I'll be super-exciting to see this Lavos thing! Maybe he blew up everything because he was lonely!"

"Um... I don't think so, Pinkie..." Twilight shook her head and sighed, smiling a bit "But if you really want to go, then you can come with us. Now, we should head back to the castle in order to-"

Suddenly, a floating blue crack in the building appeared before them. It gave off the same powerful energy that any time rift would, and as the group looked closer, they saw the expanse of space and time swirling around endlessly. Twilight, above all others, was of course confused by this.

"Or rift could appear here... That works too..." she confusingly stated.

"Let's get this over with" Tucker stood back up "At last though, I'll be able to get Lavos back for... taking my world away" Twilight heard the obvious pause in his sentence. He was hiding something, and she hoped to learn what during this ordeal.

"Okay, you two!" Pinkie smiled, grabbing her two partners in time, so to speak "Let's... GOOOOO!!!" she pulled them both into the rift with them panicking a bit before then. The rift then closed behind them and became a blue ball with electricity inside it. This was the beginning of a grand adventure through time!

(Music Stop)

"So, um... what are we supposed to do?" Rainbow wondered.

"Why don't we all just sit down and have a nice cup of tea?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Oh, that sounds lovely, darling" Rarity smiled.

"Ugh... Sounds boring..." Rainbow rolled her eyes "I'll catch you guys on the flipside! Later!" she flew out of a thankfully open window of the boutique.

"Sometimes, that girl jus' has ta calm down every once-in-a-while" Applejack smiled before going over to her remaining friends and sitting down with them "Ah'm up fer somethin' fancy ta drink anyway."

"I'll get the tea set~!" Rarity spoke in a sing-song voice.

Author's Note

Wow, took me long enough to post this! But you know the reasons by now. Anyway, we're finally gonna take on Lavos! But I think that mysterious time rift says differently... Find out next time!

I won't be able to answer any of your comments for a while since my family is over for CANADIAN Thanksgiving, and I gotta spend some time with them. I don't mean that in a bad way though, heck I love my aunt and grandparents! It's just that a family member's gotta do what a family member's gotta do, y'know?

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!