Maretime Bay
It was the day after the eleven ponies and two dragons had their bonding session in the future. Twilight and the others had stayed overnight for a sleepover in the Crystal Brighthouse, after retrieving their sleeping bags from Ponyville. As the sun crept in through the windows, Twilight stretched her wings, and climbed out of her sleeping bag, waking up the others in the process. Soon enough, Hitch arrived, with Sparky in tow, and began whipping up pancakes for everypony.
"So, Hearth's Warming basically got split into a different holiday for each different tribe of ponies at some point?" asked Rainbow, taking a big bite out of her pancake.
"Pretty much, yeah," said Sunny. "Though they're all basically the same holiday. Some of the traditions are different, but that's it."
"And yet Nightmare Night stayed the same?" said Rarity. "Interesting. How did that happen?"
"Good question," replied Zipp. "It's been hundreds of years since your time, and we don't know everything that's happened since then. It's perplexing."
"I agree," said Twilight. "Though we probably shouldn't learn too much, or we could change the future." She finished the last bite of her breakfast, then cleaned her plate and put it in the dishwasher. "Anyway, my group and I should probably go back to our time and work on closing the portal."
"Awww, do you have to?" Izzy whined, while simultaneously using her magic to make Señor Butterscotch dance. "We've only gotten to spend one day together, and there's so many ideas I have for stuff we could do!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie, shaking her hoof with the new friendship bracelet from yesterday on it. "I haven't gotten to throw one of my super special Pinkie Pie parties with stuff from the future!"
"Now, girls," Twilight began, "I know we've gotten close to Sunny's group and all, but remember, we can't leave the portal open too long or the consequences could be catastrophic."
"Come on, Twilight," said Applejack. "We know the portal's dangerous, but couldn't we hang out for one more day? Or at least part of one? Star Swirl and Starlight have the portal research handled right now, and you said the portal won't collapse anytime soon, right?"
Twilight bit her lip. "Well, yeah, but still..."
"Don't worry, Twilight," insisted Fluttershy. "It's just one day, right?"
Twilight's smile returned. "Yes, you're right. We could have a bit more fun. Let's try to keep it close to Maretime Bay, though. Just in case something goes wrong."
"Sounds good!" said everypony else. Sparky cooed happily.
"That reminds me," said Hitch. "Izzy? Pinkie? Could you two watch Sparky today while I'm out on patrol? It'll only be for an hour, maybe a little longer."
"Sure thing!" replied Pinkie, bouncing over and picking up the small dragon in her hooves. "Oh, we're gonna have such a fun time, Sparky!" Izzy gave her own nod of agreement.
"Do you need any extra help with your patrol, Hitch?" asked Fluttershy. "After all, I know you deal with a lot of critters, so having two ponies that talk to animals would make it go faster."
"Good point, I hadn't thought of that," replied the stallion.
From beneath a bush, Misty's pair of binoculars protruded, focused on the front door of the Crystal Brighthouse. She'd set up a small campsite near the community garden where nopony would see her, waiting for the moment Maretime Bay's newest visitors (along with Sunny's group) would come out, and hopefully bring Sparky with them. Her eyes were drooping, as she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but she kept her gaze on the doors.
As fate would have it, her patience paid off, as the entrance swung open, revealing Hitch, sans Sparky. Fluttershy hovered a few feet above him, and the two trotted down the road towards the main part of town. Zipp and Rainbow were next, zooming out on their gleaming wings, multicolored trails spreading out behind them. After that came Rarity and Pipp, Sunny, Spike, and Twilight, and finally, Izzy and Pinkie. Sparky was held in Izzy's magic, and the little drake seemed to actually enjoy being floated through the air.
"Okay," Misty whispered, "so Izzy and the pink one have Sparky. That's good, Izzy trusts me. She'll let me get close. How to actually get Sparky, though..." Then her eyes widened. "I'm gonna need some supplies."
Sunny had decided to take the day off from her smoothie business, in order to show Twilight more of Maretime Bay. Spike flew alongside Twilight as the alicorn hovered just above the ground, while Sunny led the way on her roller skates. More than a few ponies they passed stared at Twilight, but they were gone before any words could be spoken.
"I bet this was a fun place to grow up," said Twilight, as they reached the edge of the beach. "Living by the sea sounds exciting. Were you any good at socializing as a filly?"
"Not exactly," admitted Sunny. "Although, I think a big part of that was me constantly repeating the stuff my Dad told me about pegasi and unicorns. That alienated a lot of earth ponies who heard and believed nothing but the propaganda. Still, at least I had Hitch. And maybe Sprout, though he never wanted to play the way I wanted."
"That reminds me a lot of myself," said Twilight, looking off towards the horizon. "I was always so focused on my studies, I never found the time for making friends. There were exceptions, like Spike and Cadence, and I was always close with my family, but overall, I wasn't great at connecting with others. I think, if Princess Celestia hadn't sent me to Ponyville to study friendship, I never would've come out of my shell."
"Maybe, maybe not," said Spike. "But I guess that's not important. After all, you both have the best friends you could ask for now, right?"
Sunny and Twilight both nodded. "Through some pretty unlikely circumstances," said Sunny. "You met your friends to help defeat a thousand-year-old corrupted princess, and I met mine to reforge pony unity. You don't see those kinds of things every day."
"You really don't," replied Twilight. She took another look around the beach. "Is this where those fillies found the Time Twirler?"
"Yeah, they said it was half-buried in the sand. Why?"
Twilight placed a hoof against her chin. "Well, the only way I can think of it ending up here is that it washed up from the ocean. Of course, that begs the question: how did it get in the ocean in the first place? How did it have the power to open that portal? And that tapestry you showed me has been bothering me as well. Who made it? Why did they make it? Could it have something to do with us?"
"What do you mean?" asked Sunny, tilting her head in confusion.
"Well, you see—" Twilight began, only for an interruption to cut her off. That interruption took the form of another pony, carrying a full, sealed box, slamming into her from the side, causing Spike to fall off her back. The two rolling ponies tumbled forward and crashed into Sunny, bringing them to a stop.
"Oooow..." groaned Twilight from her position trapped beneath Sunny and the unknown pony.
"You okay, Twilight?" asked Spike, flying over to them with a flap of his wings.
After a minute, Sunny, Twilight, and the third pony managed to disentangle themselves from each other. "Sorry, sorry!" insisted the pony, a blue unicorn. "I'm in a hurry, and I wasn't watching where I was going!"
"It's okay," insisted Sunny. "It was just an accident—Oh, hi, Misty!"
Misty winced, probably because she'd realized exactly who she'd run into. Twilight got to her hooves, and took a look at the unicorn. Misty paled a little.
"Twilight, this is Misty Brightdawn. She's a friend of ours," explained Sunny. "Misty, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle! She's here because an ancient Equestrian artifact tore a hole in space time! Isn't that awesome?"
Twilight shook the sand out of her mane, and extended a hoof. "Hello, Misty. It's nice to meet you. Any friend of Sunny's is a friend of mine."
"Um, uh, hi, Princess Twilight!" Misty squeaked, pressing her hoof against Twilight's. Beads of sweat were beginning to drip down her face.
"There's no need to be nervous," Twilight replied, keeping her voice level and calm. "And you can just call me Twilight. In this time, my title doesn't mean anything."
"Th-Thanks, Twilight," said Misty. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm running late for...a dentist appointment! Sorry to meet and run!" She scooped up the box she'd been carrying with her hooves, and scurried away down the beach, heading for the main part of town. Twilight, Sunny, and Spike blinked as they watched her go.
"That's a shame. I didn't even get to introduce her to Spike," Sunny lamented.
"Sunny, is it just me, or did she seem a little...off to you?" asked Twilight. "I mean, I get somepony being in a rush, but she seemed almost...scared of me."
"And why didn't she levitate that box?" Spike pointed out. "She's a unicorn."
"Now that you mention it, she's always been like that around us," admitted Sunny. "I mean, it's probably nothing, but she's always been awkward and nervous, and she runs off a lot. I've never seen her use magic, either. But maybe she just has social anxiety. Nothing serious."
"That's some pretty extreme social anxiety," Twilight replied, putting her hoof on her chin again.
Back at Hitch's office, Sparky cooed happily, rolling around on his back, while Izzy levitated Señor Butterscotch in the air above him. The baby dragon was swiping at the fake unicorn's legs, trying to pull him down, but Izzy would always yank him just out of reach. Meanwhile, Pinkie was busy writing down a list of party supplies that they would need for a cross-temporal celebration before the portal was closed.
"Don't forget the glitter!" Izzy chimed in, while using Señor Butterscotch's golf club leg to prod Sparky's belly. "Do you have any cannons that shoot glitter instead of confetti?"
"No, but I'm sure I could modify one of them!" replied Pinkie. "That's a great idea!" She made a quick note on the list, which was already as long as Hitch's entire office. "How's that collar coming along?"
"Great! I'm just finishing it up now!" While using her magic to play with Sparky, Izzy was also using her hooves to decorate a collar she'd been making for him. She was gluing brightly colored plastic beads around the outer edge. Satisfied, she levitated Señor Butterscotch down onto the floor, trotted over to Sparky, and slipped the collar around his neck. The baby dragon immediately began pawing at the collar, but was distracted when Izzy offered him an emerald snack.
Pinkie, meanwhile, rolled up the list, and stuffed it into her mane. "Alright! I just need to remember to stock up on all that supplies when I go back to Ponyville!"
Izzy opened her mouth to reply, but a knock on the door cut her off. The unicorn then lit up her horn, and the doorknob was enveloped in a pink glow, before being pulled open. On the other side was Misty, carrying a large cardboard box.
"H-hi, Izzy!" Misty squeaked, rocking from side to side. Clearly, she was having trouble carrying the box.
"Hi, Misty!" Izzy enthusiastically responded. "Let me help you with that!" She lit up her horn and pulled the box out of Misty's grip, levitating it inside the office.
"Thanks for that," said Misty. "I just wanted to drop by to..." She noticed Pinkie staring at her. The earth pony's jaw was dropped as low as it would go.
"Oh. My. Goodness!" squealed Pinkie. She bounced over to Misty and grabbed one of her forehooves, shaking it as hard as possible. "Are you a friend of Izzy's?! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm a time traveler from the past, and I've wanted to meet more of Izzy's friends all day! Normally, I'd sing the welcome song, but we're not in Ponyville right now, so instead, I can—"
"Uh, Pinkie? Can I talk to you?" asked Izzy in a hushed voice, pulling her away from Misty. The two perky ponies trotted over to the corner.
"Could you tone it down a little?" Izzy requested. "I did the same thing when I first met her, and she got really afraid. She's a nice pony, but her sparkle's kinda out of whack, if you know what I mean."
"Oh, okay," replied Pinkie. "Thanks for stopping me, I've made that mistake before."
Satisfied, Izzy led Pinkie back to the door. "Pinkie, this is Misty Brightdawn. She's my unicorn friend. Misty, this is Pinkie Pie. She's a time traveler." The last sentence came out as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, uh, nice to meet you, Pinkie," said Misty, holding up her hoof. Pinkie pressed hers against Misty's. "Are you watching Sparky today, Izzy?" She pointed to the spot where the young dragon was rolling around on his back.
"Yep! Hitch is out on patrol, so we're keeping an eye on him."
"What brings you down here, Misty?" asked Pinkie.
"I thought you guys might be bored, so I brought you some party supplies!" Misty popped open the tabs of the box, revealing a collection of rocket balloons in all colors of the rainbow, along with an air pump to fill them. There were also streamers and eggshells filled with confetti.
"OOH!" squealed Pinkie, before she composed herself. "I haven't had a chance to use those things in Ponyville for years! They're a little loud, so not everypony likes them. But I'm sure we can get away with them here!"
"Nice! Thank you, Misty!" said Izzy. She levitated out the balloons and the air pump. "Shall we start with these? I like to fill them up and let them fly around the room!"
"Sure thing!" replied Pinkie. "But forget the air pump!" She tossed it to the side. "Let me show you how a real party pony does it!"
Entranced, Izzy sat down to watch as Pinkie began filling the balloons solely on the power of her lungs. She pinched the ends to keep the air from escaping, until she had about five of them. Then she let them loose, allowing them to fly free all over the office, bouncing off the walls.
"Cool!" exclaimed Izzy over the squealing of the balloons. However, she didn't notice Pinkie chucking one of the confetti eggs at her, where it shattered, covering Izzy's face with bright purple plastic pieces. Izzy just laughed it off, and soon enough, the two ponies were busy hurling eggs and balloons at each other, and running around with streamers tied to their tails. Señor Butterscotch was soon covered in confetti as well.
Meanwhile, Misty crept over to Sparky. The baby dragon was so busy watching his two caretakers having fun, he didn't notice the unicorn sneaking up behind him. Once she was within reach, Misty seized Sparky with her forehooves, shoved a needle-less syringe in his mouth, and depressed the plunger. The syringe was filled with a sedative Misty had "borrowed" from the local Maretime Bay veterinarian. It would've taken effect more quickly if injected, but Sparky's scaled hide would've prevented that.
Once Sparky had taken the entire solution, Misty released Sparky, who rounded on her, not looking happy. Misty dropped the now empty syringe in fear, and started to trot backwards, as Sparky advanced on her, panting purple flames. However, the dragon's steps soon slowed, and his eyelids began to droop.
Misty released the breath she'd been holding. "Good," she whispered. "Now to get you to Opaline."
Picking up the now-empty box she'd brought, Misty scooped Sparky off his feet, and slammed the flaps closed. She grabbed a roll of scotch tape from Hitch's desk, and pinned them down, but not so much that Sparky couldn't breathe. Then she hoisted the box onto her back, and with a quick check to confirm Izzy and Pinkie were still lost in their game, scurried out the door.
After another minute of giggling together, Izzy took a breath, and glanced around the room. Her eyes widened.
"Uh, Pinkie?" she asked, tentatively.
"What?"
"Where are Sparky and Misty?"
Misty galloped as fast as she could towards Opaline's castle. Inside the box on her back, she could hear Sparky snoring away. She made a quick glance back at Maretime Bay.
"I'm sorry, everypony," she whispered to herself.
Ponyville
Inside the research lab of Twilight's castle, Starlight and Star Swirl worked away on the Time Twirler. They'd been studying it for the past day and a half, running magical scans on the device to try and determine how it opened the portal.
"Any progress on your end?" asked Starlight, going over her notes once again. "I still can't understand how this thing got so altered."
"Sort of," admitted Star Swirl. He levitated up a pen and scribbled more on some parchment. "I've isolated the magical signature that imprinted the spell inside, but I don't recognize it. The time travel spell actually reminds me of one of my own, but I never tested it."
"Can I take a look?" asked Starlight. Star Swirl nodded and levitated over his scroll. Starlight took it in her hoof, and examined the writing. As her eyes scanned over his measurements, her eyes widened more and more.
"Is something wrong?" asked Star Swirl.
"Are you one-hundred percent sure about this?" demanded Starlight. He nodded. "Hold on, I need to check something!"
She fired up her horn, and teleported away. Star Swirl blinked in confusion, but before he could do anything else, a flash of light proceeded Starlight warping back into the room. In her magic, she held a purple file folder. She placed the folder down next to the scroll and opened it, comparing the contents to what Star Swirl had just written down. Once she was certain, she rounded on Star Swirl.
"Call Twilight. Now. She's gonna want to see this."