//------------------------------//
// Part 6: Time Travel Trouble 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Cine-magic: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water 
// by IndyWriter Productions 
//------------------------------//

The first thing our heroes could feel was the feeling of weightlessness. The feeling was followed by the sudden sensation of being thrusted at insane speeds. SpongeBob, Plankton, and the Main 7 zoomed through the fabric of space and time, the only visible surroundings being bright, spiraling colors. Suddenly they blasted through a giant taco that was sitting in their path, all of them too entranced from the time travel for it to register in their heads. Finally, the time machine came to a halt. The team found themselves in the middle of what appeared to be a desert in the midst of a sandstorm. The left the time travel to look around, but it was difficult to see from the severity of the sandstorm.

"I think we might've went to far back in time." Spike stated.

"According to my calculations, the Krusty Krab should be right here." Plankton skimmed through the numbers on his calculator.

"All ah see is nothin' but sand." Applejack called out.

"How can there even be a sandstorm underwater?" Twilight said.

"What's that over there?" SpongeBob pointed to a pink object sticking out of the sand.

When it turned around, revealed itself to be Patrick. However, he looked to have aged fifty years. Thin, grey hair surrounded his head, his eyebrows had gone ghostly grey and he had a long beard to go with it.

"SpongeBob?" The sea star asked in disbelief.

"Patrick?" SpongeBob asked, also in disbelief.

"Is it really you?" Patrick reached out a hand.

"Yes, Patrick, it's..." SpongeBob tried to say, but was interrupted by the starfish.

"Finally! The Great Krabby Patty Famine is over!" He shouted.

"Say what?!" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Great Krabby Patty Famine? What year is it?" SpongeBob looked around hopelessly.

"It's Thursday." Patrick answered.

"That is not what he meant." Rainbow said.

"According to my calculations, we've only gone four days into the future." Plankton explained.

"Four days? What happened in the span four days that led to this?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"More importantly, where is everybody?" SpongeBob asked.

"They all gave up on you." Patrick said. "But not me! Cause I'm not very smart."

"Yeah, I think we already gathered that." The blue sea pony said flatly.

"Where is the Krusty Krab?" SpongeBob asked further.

"Right where it's always been." The wind brushed away the sand to reveal that Patrick was sitting on the Krusty Krabs sign the whole time.

The realization hit the team. The entirety of Bikini Bottom was now buried under tons of sand. SpongeBob and the others gasped in horror. Then came the sponge's panicked screams as they all made a mad-dash back to the time machine. Patrick waved goodbye to them as the machine disappeared.

It was back to the wacky time travel. The team were now in freefall with images of artistic patterns and music sheets all around them. None of them could exactly comprehend what was going on. When it was finally over, SpongeBob moved the machine's curtain out of the way. They now found themselves in a large, dark, triangular-shaped room. Soon as SpongeBob took a step forward, the room lit up and at the end stood a tall figure wearing a majestic, red robe staring off into distant nebulas.

"Where they hay are we now?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

"Are we even in the same world anymore?" Fluttershy added to the confusion.

"I think we may be lost in time, Plankton." SpongeBob said.

"You think? I'm over here wondering where we even are." The blue sea pony said.

"Let's ask him." Pinkie bounced over to coated figure.

"Pinkie, are you crazy? What if it's not friendly?" Rarity said fearfully.

"She has a point. Maybe we should ask this guy for directions." SpongeBob figured.

"I don't know. Should we really be conversing with someone we've just seen?" Twilight questioned.

"You didn't seem all that threaten when you first met me." SpongeBob argued.

"Well a yellow dish sponge wearing pants isn't exactly very threatening." Rainbow said.

"C'mon guys. He's pretty much are best bet at the moment." Plankton said in slight irritation.

Knowing that Plankton was right, they all hesitantly made their way over to the being. Fluttershy made sure to hide behind SpongeBob, incase things went south.

"Excuse me, sir? Can you tell us when we are?" SpongeBob called out to the figure.

"Who dares disturb The One Who Watches?" The figure spoke in an authoritative tone.

"The One Who Watches? Your name is The One Who Watches?" SpongeBob asked.

"No, my true name is Bubbles." The figure turned to reveal that he was, in fact, a dolphin.

"Bubbles?" Plankton laughed. "What kind of a name is Bubbles?"

"It is my ancient dolphin name." Bubbles explained.

"So what's a dolphin doing out here in the middle of space?" SpongeBob asked curiously.

"Yeah, doesn't your species need to be in water to stay alive?" Twilight asked.

"We have no need for that. My kind have been watching and protecting the galaxy for..." Bubbles suddenly began to click and make other dolphin calls. "...10,000 years!"

"W-What was that about?" Spike asked.

"I apologize for that. Some dolphin habits..." He clicked away again. "...never go away."

"Oh, so you're the one keeping the meteors from hitting us." SpongeBob said in realization.

"Yes, I am." Bubbles confirmed. "And I could really do with a potty break. Would you mind keeping an eye on things?

Bubbles swam away towards a restroom.

"Wait, what?" Rarity asked in surprise.

"Sure thing. But what am I keeping my eye on?" SpongeBob asked, but Bubbles was already gone.

The Main 7 looked amongst each other as SpongeBob and Plankton walked over to the edge of the observation area.

"I'm...still reeling from the fact that our worlds have been under the observation of a dolphin." The purple sea pony said in a troubled tone.

"You'll get used to that kind of stuff." Plankton turned his attention to SpongeBob. "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching." SpongeBob viewed out into the vastness of space.

"We don't even know what we're watching for." Plankton argued.

"Meteors...I think." Twilight said, though it was obvious she didn't much of have a clue either.

"Maybe we should split up the workload." SpongeBob suggested. "You guys watch the one with the big red eye, and we'll watch the one with the ringy thingies. Like a team."

And so, Plankton, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack were staring the larger planet, while SpongeBob, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Spike we left staring at the ringed planet.

"Ah don't think we need five separate creatures to look after one planet." Applejack said.

"It's so boring, too." Rainbow whined. "Doesn't anything interesting happen here?"

"Okay, ours is moving." Plankton said.

"Wait. You're right." Twilight's eyes widened.

"Ours, too." SpongeBob concurred.

Both planets were moving. And they were moving towards each other.

"Uh, is this supposed to be happening?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"No, this doesn't seem right. Should we call Bubbles?" Plankton said with concern.

"Let's give him a minute. He's been holding it for 10,000 years." SpongeBob said.

"But, what do we do if they..." Twilight's thought was interrupted when the two planets collided with one another. The team shielded their eyes from tremendously bright explosion.

"...collide." The alicorn sea pony finished.

“Welp, you got ya wish, Dashie.” Applejack half-teased, half-chastised.

“Shut up, Applejack. I didn’t ask for something like this to happen.” Rainbow said defensively.

Piles of rocks now lay all over the futuristic-looking floor. SpongeBob gasped at the wreckage.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen." He said. "Come on, everyone, we got to clean this up before Bubbles gets back!"

The panicking sea sponge began to pile up the rocks. He pull over a piece of the floor and tried to broom the pile underneath it.

"How are we supposed to hide this from him?" Rarity pointed to the now destroyed planets.

Then came the sound of a toilet flush and Bubbles floated out of the restroom with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his tail.

"Much better. Yes." He sighed in relief. "You all are free to go."

The team all looked at him with apprehensive looks. SpongeBob threw away the broom and gave a, rather unconvincing, innocent smile. Bubbles noticed the pile of rocks behind him and turned to the observable universe.

"What happened to Saturn and Jupiter?" He asked in shock.

Saturn's ring dislodge and dropped into oblivion.

"You were supposed to..." Bubbles clicked and squealed, while the others looked on in worry and fear. "...Keep them from smashing into each other!"

"Sorry." SpongeBob squeaked.

"You didn't explain to us what we had to do if something like that did happen." Rainbow said defensively.

"Now I am going to lose my job!" The ancient dolphin said angrily. "And you will lose your lives."

Almost instantaneously, a laser shot out of Bubbles' blowhole. Thankfully, he missed and knocked the team away, creating a hole in the floor.

"Run, run, run!" Twilight yelled.

SpongeBob, Plankton, and the Main 7 high-tailed it out of there as fast as they could, narrowly avoiding Bubbles's laser barrage.

"Quarter me!" SpongeBob said as they neared the time machine.

Plankton quickly handed him a quarter. One laser got close enough to send the team flying into the air. The screamed as the barrel right into the time machine. The quarter bounced and landed on the floor. Luckily, SpongeBob grabbed it just before it could be vaporized by another laser. The time machine spluttered and disappeared in cloud of smoke and colors.

Colors spiraled around them as Sponge, Plankton, and the Main 7 flew through time's fragile fabric. Suddenly, there was nothing but black and white, their silhouettes flashing about.





SpongeBob entered Mr. Krabs's office, but then stopped.

"Plankton?!" He gasped.

"SpongeBob!" Plankton said in surprise, just before he could replace the real formula with the fake one.

Suddenly, the time machine appeared, catching both off-guard.

Plankton was the first to appear out of it.

"Plankton?" SpongeBob said in confusion.

Then SpongeBob came out.

"SpongeBob?" The other Plankton said in confusion. "Who are you two supposed to be?'

"They're not alone." Twilight and her friends swam out of the time machine.

"I'm you from the future." Plankton said.

"And I'm him from the future." SpongeBob pointed to his past self.

"SpongeBob, what's going on." The other Twilight peered into the office and spotted the Main 7 from the future.

Her jaw dropped. The rest of the past Main 7 swam up with shocked looks.

"Wut in Sweet Apples' name is goin' on?" Past Applejack said in surprise.

"Were from the future and to take back the secret formula." Applejack said sternly.

"So you traveled back through time to help me? Great thinking." Past Plankton said happily.

"Nope. He's helping us." SpongeBob said confidently.

"But, he's the enemy!" Past SpongeBob said.

"Exactly! He's probably only helping so he can take the formula for himself." Past Rainbow accused.

"Trust me. With how much this town relies on that thing, it's not really worth it at this point." Plankton admitted.

"Right. He was the enemy. Now we're a team." SpongeBob said, as Plankton hopped onto his hand.

"What? A tee-am?" Past Plankton questioned.

"A team!" Plankton said confidently. "All right, go get the formula."

SpongeBob and the Main 7, minus Pinkie, charged at the safe.

"What have I become?" Past SpongeBob said grimly.

"I still don't understand." Twilight massaged her head. "Shouldn't the space time continuum be tearing apart since me and the same Twilight are now in the same time plane?"

"That only happens in movies." Plankton scoffed.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Another Pinkie!" Past Pinkie squealed.

"Yupper-doo! Isn't this amazing?" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Urgh. It was bad enough with all those Pinkie clones we had to deal with that one time." Past Rainbow groaned.

SpongeBob and the Main 7 all tried to reach their hands-slash-hooves to grab the formula. Past Plankton ran for his life with the formula in hand.

"Wait. My fins can't reach in there." Spike realized.

"Do you have flying boatmobiles in the future?" Past SpongeBob asked.

"We only came back from the day after tomorrow, dimwit." Plankton said in annoyance.

"Are there rocket packs?" Past SpongeBob pressed on.

"Wait. If you're not here to steal it for your own personal gain, then why are you stealing it?" Past Twilight asked suspiciously.

"Long story short, in a few minutes the formula will disappear into the thin air. I was accused of stealing it, but then SpongeBob saved me at the last second. So, we've been traveling through time to this exact moment right before it disappears." Plankton explained.

"Disappear into thin air? Like that's believable." Past Rarity said, unconvinced.

"Don't believe me all you want, you'll be thanking us in the long-term." Plankton said.

SpongeBob and the Main 6 reached all over the safe, dollar bills and coins flew all over the place as their hands and hooves swung about.

"Did they outlaw clothes in the future?" Past SpongeBob asked.

"No!" Plankton said.

"Then why are you naked?" Past SpongeBob pointed at him.

"Because they don't make clothes in my size." Plankton said in exasperation.

"Should we do something about this?" Past Spike asked.

"Nah, they're doing fine." Plankton responded nonchalantly.

"Hold still, you!" SpongeBob grunted, slamming his hand against stacks of coins.

"You can't run forever in there." Applejack warned.

At this point, Past Plankton was trying avoid getting crushed by the onslaught of hands and hooves.

"If you're from the future, what am I gonna say next?" Past SpongeBob asked curiously.

"Something moronic?" Plankton said quizzically.

"Wow." Past SpongeBob said, awestruck.

"Hey, hurry up over there!" Plankton called out to the others.

"Maybe instead of having small-talk with our past selves, you help us instead." Rainbow said, annoyed.

Inside the safe, SpongeBob knocked the bottle of the pressure plate, setting it off.

"Uh, oh. That ain't good." Past Plankton said.

"Initiating lockdown sequence." A robotic voice said from above.

Sirens went off and red, flashing light hovered from the ceiling.

"Come on, guys, we gotta get out of here!" Plankton yelled.

Finally, SpongeBob's hand caught the familiar sensation of a glass bottle.

"Got it!" He said.

"Come on!" Plankton rushed into the time machine.

"Let's get out of here." Rarity beckoned the others.

"Wait! What about us?" Past Twilight said. "Mr. Krabs won't be happy when he finds the formula is gone."

"He won't have to for long." Plankton answered.

"You wouldn't happen to know what my favorite kind of cake is. Would you?" Pinkie asked her past self.

"Nope. I've cooky-cuckoo thinking about what my favorite cake is." The two Pinkie's shared a laugh.

"Pinkie, let's go!" Rainbow grabbed the pink sea pony by the mane and pulled her inside the machine just before it disappeared in a flash.

Once again, they flew through space in time, but, now the mission was complete.

"We did it!" Rainbow said victoriously.

"That was crazy!" SpongeBob laughed.

"So that's what teamwork is." Plankton said, sliding down the formula bottle. "All those years I tried to make you mine, and I finally did it."

"Don't you mean..." Applejack teased.

"I mean, we did it!" Plankton corrected himself.

"That's right. And I can't help but be proud of you, Plankton." Twilight.

"Heh. Thanks, I guess." Plankton chuckled.





"And so it would seem that our heroes have accomplished all they had set out to do." The pirate slammed the book shut.

"Now that's an ending." One of the seagulls said.

"Andy, cue the music." Another said.

Andy pulled out an accordion and was about to sing a tune when the pirate dropped the book and kneeled down at them. The seagulls felt a little scared.

"Oh, no. That's not the end." He said cryptically.

"So you mean the ending might be even happier?" The second seagull asked.

The pirate stared at him and pull at his telescope. He turned forward and looked through, seeing beach filled to the brim with tourists and beach-goers.

"Land ho!" He yelled, pointing to the shore.

Everyone at the crowded beach were casually enjoying the bright, sunny. An older African American man was sifting through his cooling when he caught a glimpse of the oncoming pirate ship.

"What?" He whispered to himself.

The ship came onto the shore. Any normal ship would've crashed into the sand, but this ship was different. As it came out of the water, wheels presented themselves allowing the ship to keep going. The beach-goers had surprised or confused looks as the boat thundered toward them.

"I'm coming! Come on, you lazy people!" The pirate yelled, urging people to move out of the way. "Out of the way! I'm coming!"

People panicked as the moved their things and themselves out of the ship's path. Some Just ran out of the way. The ship smashed through coolers, umbrellas, and towels that were in it's way.

"Sorry!" The pirate shouted.

The seagulls, meanwhile, were hanging onto dear life.

"Too fast!" One of the them said.

"Slow down!" Another cried.

A lifeguard from atop his tower blew his whistle in a attempt to get the pirate to stopped. It was clear he wasn't, forcing the lifeguard to jump from the tower just before the ship crashed into it. The pirate smiled as he reached refreshment area. The ship jumped across the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding panicking roller skaters and bicyclists. He viscously turned the held, turning the ship to the right. People ran out of the way as the ship finally skidded to a stop right into between two food trucks.

"Yeah!" The pirate pumped his fist. "All right, you feathered rats, time to shove off!"

"What, why?" one the gulls whined.

"Well, I can't have you pooping all over my restaurant, can I?" The pirate said gruffly.

"Restaurant? I thought this was a pirate ship." The gull said in surprise.

"Oh, it is." The pirate spoke softly. "But it is also..."

He rushed into preparation; opening up the order window, laying out condiments, turning on the grill, setting up stanchions and rope, putting up two coolers in the shape of chests, opened the ship's sail, and put on a fry cook uniform.

"My very own food truck!" He said flourishingly.

"A What?" One of the gulls asked.

"You know, a restaurant on wheels." The pirate shortly explained.

"Like a garbage truck." Another gull said.

"No! Are you trying to scare away my customers?" The pirate shouted.

"Well, we're not leaving till we see how the story ends." A third gull said.

The pirate smiled darkly.

"No problem." He grabbed a covered plate. "You guys like a little snack while you wait?"

"Sure, I'll take a curdled milk." The gull said.

"How about a fish head?" Another added.

"And a French fry covered in sand." The first one finished.

"Who wants some...hot wings?" The pirate uncovered the plate to revealed a pair of freshly cooked seagull wings.

The gulls stood there, mouths agape.

"Wait a minute. Where's Kyle?" One of the gulls asked.

"Which one of you is next?" The pirate asked threateningly.

The gulls all screamed and took to the air.

"He's a madman!" One of them shouted.

"Let's get out of here! You crazy, man! You crazy!" Another said in alarm.

The pirate laughed, but then stopped when he heard a toilet flush. He turned to see a small porta-john.

"Bye-bye, Mr. Poop." The gull inside said. "Now I can get my gold sticker."

He opened the door and looked around.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Piwate." He closed the door. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

The pirate slowly leaned toward and pull out a megaphone.

"BOO!" He yelled.

The gull screamed as all his feathers left his body, revealing that he was wearing a pair of SpongeBob underwear the whole time.

"I can't fly without my feathers." The gull said in embarrassment.

He whistled sharply, catching the attention of a taxi driver. It stopped and the gull climbed inside.

"Where to, Mac?" The pigeon cab driver asked.

"Just dwive." The gull begged.

The taxi drove away. Far away from the pirate.


To be continued