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!