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!