Chapter 16: Time to Head Home

Aaron and the Young 6 were getting ready to head back to their home time. Ocellus was making a list of who the New Mane 6 were descendants of. They found out that Sunny was Twilight's descendant due to Nyx giving birth to Sunny's mother, and they used the Family Tree Scanner to find out who the rest of the New Mane 6's ancestors were. Izzy was Pinkie Pie's descendant, Pipp and Zipp were Rainbow Dash and Rarity's descendants, and Hitch and Misty were both Applejack and Fluttershy's descendants.

Twilight, Nyx, the New Mane 6, Sparky, Alphabittle, Queen Haven and Grandma Figgy entered the room of the Treehouse of Harmony they were all in.

"So, I guess this is it," Queen Haven said. "I so wish we could have gotten to know you all more."

"Yeah, you all changed our lives for the short amount of time you were here," Alphabittle said. "Now that you're leaving, I guess we might not be able to see you all again."

"Who knows?" Aaron said. "Maybe one time in the future, we will see each other again. Hopefully when we're all old enough to be parents." He then tilted his head towards Sparky to give an example. Sparky giggled at that.

"He's still too young to understand," Smolder said.

"Okay, all of you," Twilight said. "Misty and I have found the portal that leads to your home time. And we made sure it opens up to the time you all left."

"Like we never left at the present time," Sandbar said.

"Exactly," Twilight said. She then put a hoof to her chin in thinking. "Huh. I feel like there's something I should be remembering." Just then, a cell phone started ringing. Hitch then brought out his cell phone and saw who was calling. It was Phyllis Cloverleaf.

"Why is Phyllis calling me?" Hitch asked. He then answered. "Hello?" Just then, the sound of panicked chattering came from the phone. "Okay, okay, okay, calm down, Phyllis. What's wrong?" Just then, the sound of a roar came in, surprising everyone there.

"What was that?!" Aaron asked. Then they all headed towards a balcony. There was a telescope on that balcony. Twilight looked through the telescope.

"Oh, no," Twilight said. "Now I remember."

"What is it?" Aaron asked.

"Just look," Twilight said, stepping out of the way to let Aaron look through the telescope. He saw the Red Beast charging through Maretime Bay. "It's that thing again!"

"What is it?" Gallus asked.

"It's a creature created by Grogar," Twilight said. "It's purpose was to hunt the most powerful magic and steal it for Grogar so he could put it into his bell."

"Grogar?!" Aaron asked. "Isn't he supposed to be... you know..."

"Dead?!" Aaron and Twilight asked in unison.

"Yes, he is," Twilight said. "Grogar perished not too long after Princess Luna was banished to the moon."

"Guess Gusty the Great had a lot to do when she thwarted Grogar," Ocellus said.

Aaron then got a good look at the creature. He then said, "That thing... looks familiar."

"It should," Twilight said. "You saw it on one of the stained glass windows in the series finale of the G4 show you watched."

"Oh, that's right," Aaron said. "He was supposed to be defeated by my friends here."

"What?" Silverstream asked, pushing Aaron away from the telescope. "We're supposed to fight that thing in the past?!"

"Wait, if that thing's supposed to be defeated in the past, why is he showing up now?" Sunny asked.

"That's a mystery," Twilight said. "But now, we need to get you seven out of here."

"Whoa! That thing can jump!" Silverstream said. "It's like it's... coming right at me!" She then went wide eyed. "Uh-oh." Then they all looked out ahead and saw the Red Beast coming right towards them.

"Yona smash!" Yona said, getting ready to ram the Red Beast. Yona and the Red Beast headbutted each other, but Yona was out-muscled, sending her back. She landed on those who were behind her. "Ow. Yona head hurt."

"What do we have here?" the Red Beast asked. "Pathetic little ponies and other creatures who think they can stop me? Grogar's greatest creation. Don't make me laugh."

"Wait a minute," Aaron said. "He's... never seen us before?" He then got a realization. "Oh, no. He's coming with us to the past."

"Not on my watch!" Twilight said. She then fired a beam towards the Red Beast, but the Red Beast started absorbing Twilight's magic, which was hurting her. "Gah! It... hurts!" She then struggled to stop firing, but the magical blast kept going uncontrollably.

"Twilight!" Aaron said.

"Let her go!" Smolder said. She then inhaled and let out a burst of purple fire, which hit the creature. The creature was now frozen in some kind of dark purple crystal which was set ablaze with Red Violet and Magenta fire on top. The creature also stopped absorbing Twilight's magic. "Whoa. I didn't know I could do that."

Twilight was breathing heavily. She then said, "That was close. Thanks, Smolder."

"No way I couldn't let my old headmare be taken down by a creature like that," Smolder said. Just then, she started floating with a light surrounding her. "Whoa, hey, hey, hey!" The light then went towards Smolder's right hip. Then her hip started growing brown stone scales where the light went into. Then the stone scales fell off, revealing a Dragon Cutie Mark on Smolder. The mark was of a small dark purple crystal set ablaze in a Red Violet and Magenta flame in an orange hexagon with a red outline. "I got a Cutie Mark, too?"

"That just leaves Aaron with his," Gallus said.

"I'm not sure I'll be getting one this time," Aaron said. "We gotta go."

"He's right," Misty said. "C'mon, Twilight. Let's start the spell." Twilight nodded.

"Nyx, let's do this!" Twilight said. Then Nyx teleported in. Then Twilight, Nyx and Misty got into position. Then they all fired a blast towards the same spot and a portal opened up. Aaron and the Young 6 looked into the portal, but the destination was unclear.

"Twilight? Where's the other end of that portal?" Aaron asked.

"Don't worry about it, Aaron," Twilight said. "Just go through and you'll end up back in your time." She then hugged Aaron. "Just be careful."

"We will, Twilight," Aaron said. Just then, the sound of something cracking came in. They all looked towards the sound and they saw the Crystallized Red Beast trying to break out of the Crystal, and it was working.

"Oh, that's not good," Gallus said.

"We have to go!" Ocellus said.

"Hang on," Aaron said. "Let's take this thing down before we do."

"You're becoming more Dragonic everyday," Smolder said. "Let's hope you're not too much of a dragon when your aunt gets home."

Then the Red Beast broke out of the flaming crystal. He then looked towards Aaron and the Young 6.

"Did you honestly believe you could contain me?!" the Red Beast asked. "All the powerful Magic in Equestria belongs to Grogar. And there's nothing you can do to stop him!"

"Grogar isn't undefeatable," Aaron said. "He lost a long time ago. In fact, he died a long time ago." Twilight nodded in agreement.

"You lie!" the Red Beast said. "Grogar cannot be defeated!"

"Sheesh," Aaron said. "Bad guys never learn. No matter how powerful they are, and what they use, they're still gonna end up defeated."

"HOW DARE YOU?!" the Red Beast roared. It then charged at Aaron, but Aaron flew out of the way, the Red Beast hitting the wall.

"Oooh!" Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6, Twilight, Nyx, Alphabittle, Haven and Grandma Figgy said in unison.

"That's gotta hurt," Nyx said.

"No, it didn't," Ocellus said, seeing the beast getting back up. "It's skin is like armor."

"What is he supposed to be?" Smolder asked.

"It looks like a combination of rhino, stegosaurus and dragon," Aaron said. "An almighty beast."

"Now, you're all gonna perish for defying the law of Grogar!" the Red Beast said. "Prepare to perish!"

"Not today!" Aaron said.

Yona then yelled and charged towards the Red Beast. The Red Beast then rammed right back at her. But Aaron, Smolder, Gallus, Silverstream and Ocellus came flying in from behind Yona and were helping Yona push the Red Beast back. And it was working. The Red Beast was then pushed back and went out of the room, and it fell down a stairwell.

"That thing will be back," Sunny said. "We'll take it from here, Aaron."

"Sunny, no," Aaron said. "That thing absorbs magic. You saw what it was doing to Twilight."

"He's right," Twilight said, putting a hoof to her head. "I never felt such a migraine from that before."

"Right now, you all need to get out of here as quickly as possible," Hitch said. "Just go!" Then the New Mane 6 blocked the doorway in case the creature came back in. Aaron and Smolder then grabbed the folding wagon that had their stuff in and both of them went through the portal. Gallus grabbed the ice box and went through the portal. Ocellus and Silverstream grabbed the tech they brought and went through. Sandbar and Yona then went through the portal. As they went through, the portal didn't close.

"Why isn't the portal closing?" Queen Haven asked.

"I... might have placed a time limit on the portal," Twilight said. "Sorry."

"Well, we'll keep him busy," Sunny said. Just then, the Red Beast came charging up the stairs. Sparky held onto Hitch during the impact. The Mane 6 and Sparky got launched towards the portal and they went through.

"NOOOOO!!!" Twilight, Nyx, Queen Haven, Alphabittle and Grandma Figgy all shouted.

The Red Beast then looked around. But then, he felt something off. He then looked towards the portal and said, "The Harmonic Magic... They have it!" The Red Beast then growled and went through the portal. After the Red Beast went through, the portal vanished.

"He... went back to the past," Twilight said. "Wait a minute. That was destined to happen."

"Which means it's his destiny to fail," Nyx said. "Hopefully our friends made it back to the past safely." Just then, Alphabittle came up to Twilight.

"Please tell me my little Misty is alright!" Alphabittle said, frantically.

"Oh, don't worry, Alphabittle," Twilight said. "They'll make it back here. My past self made sure of it."

Somewhere in the present time in Equestria, a portal opened up. Aaron and the Young 6 came through the portal with the stuff they brought. They then looked at themselves, seeing they were back to their normal Equestrian looks.

"Sweet," Smolder said. "We're back to..." She then saw that she still had a Cutie Mark. "Well... we're almost back to normal." The rest of the Young 6 looked at each other, seeing that they all still had their Cutie Marks.

"Oh, Gabby is seriously going to be jealous," Gallus said.

"Especially since you're the first non-pony creature to gain a Cutie Mark," Aaron said. "As for me, I don't have a Cutie Mark yet."

"Good for you," Smolder said. "Although, with magic evolving through the future, who knows if that'll happen." She then looked around. "Whoa. This is a shiny place." Then Aaron and the Young 6 looked at where they were. They found themselves in...

"The Crystal Empire?" Aaron asked.

"Hey, that was one of the places we were gonna visit when we were gonna show you around Equestria," Sandbar said. "It was just a pit stop on the way to Yakyakistan. You're gonna need winter gear."

"Yeah, that's true," Aaron said. "Let's get going." Just then, the sound of screaming came from the portal. Aaron and the Young 6 looked towards the portal and the New Mane 6 and Sparky came out. They all changed to fit in with the time they were currently in. "Sunny?"

Sunny looked up and saw Aaron and the Young 6 in front of them. She then said, "Oh. You're all back to your normal forms." Just then, the sound of roaring came. Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6 and Sparky looked towards the portal and saw something coming towards them.

"Close the portal!" Aaron said. "Close the portal!"

Misty then got up and she used her magic to try and close the portal. Her horn was glowing in a pink aura, with the same aura surrounding the portal. It was starting to close, but it was giving off resistance.

"It's... too strong," Misty said, her eyes shut closed. The portal then started shifting to a different angle. Then the Red Beast came flying out of the portal, shooting through the sky and out of sight.

"Where... was he heading?" Aaron asked.

"That... was South," Ocellus said, holding a compass. "Which means he's heading towards Twilight."

"Okay, that's not good," Hitch said. "We need to warn her. But how?"

"I'll text her," Pipp said, pulling out her cell phone. But she saw she was getting no service. "What? How come I'm not getting a signal?"

"Because you're in a time where cell phones haven't been invented yet in Equestria," Smolder said.

Pipp gasped at that, and started making multiple gestures and asked, "What did you just say to me?!"

"But don't worry about that," Gallus said. "We got a way to contact Twilight."

"Oh, yeah?" Pipp asked. "How?"

"We go see her brother and sister-in-law," Aaron said, pointing his left thumb towards the castle.

"Whoa!" the New Mane 6 said in unison, seeing the castle.

"Where... are we?" Hitch asked.

"Fillies and gentlecolts of the future... welcome... to the Crystal Empire," Sandbar said. "Now, we should get their as quickly as possible." Sparky then jumped off of Hitch's back and started running towards the castle.

"Sparky!" Hitch said. "Wait up!" Then Aaron, the Young 6 and the New Mane 6 started chasing Sparky as they were all heading towards the castle.

Author's Note

Well, Aaron and the Young 6 made it back to their time. Unfortunately, the New Mane 6, Sparky and the Red Beast are also there. Hopefully, they all can overcome the Red Beast and save Equestria again.

Smolder's Cutie Mark is based on this image by Prixy05: