Time travel seemed like it was a farfetched concept, but in this world, it was pretty much real. Thankfully, Twilight had outfitted both Crash and Coco with receivers on their left ears in order to communicate with them as they travel through time. Keeping in touch with them was very important in case they ever ran into trouble. Crash started things off by traveling into Toad Village. As soon as he entered, though, the girls received a message from Dr. Cortex.
"Crash, Crash, Crash. Why must you always muck in my mud?" he groaned. "Oh, look! I have a mask helping me, too."
Uka Uka was a bit taken aback by this. He didn't expect Cortex to be a showoff by telling his archenemy that he existed.
"Well, girls, I know you're there in the Time Twister. What do you think of this mask, hmm? Evil, isn't it? We will find out which one is more powerful soon enough!"
And with that, Cortex ended his message and the image on the big screen showed Crash arriving in the Dark Ages.
Despite the level being called Toad Village, there were actually more frogs than there were toads. Even so, the girls didn't worry about it too much, as Crash made his way through the level without too much difficulty. He even managed to break all of the crates in the level, as well, earning himself a Clear Gem, along with finding the level's crystal. As soon as he returned back to the Time Twister, both the crystal and gem disappeared into the Time Twister. After that, Crash did his victory dance, since he had just found a gem. He then decided to go back into the level, as there was one final thing to get: a Time Relic.
Upon reentering the level, there was a floating yellow clock that looked like a pocket watch in the level. Crash grabbed it and started blazing through the level, even breaking yellow crates with numbers on them. These crates froze a timer for the amount of seconds that the numbers on the crates displayed. After he finished the level, Crash was awarded with a Sapphire Time Relic, the lowest tier of Time Relics. Despite that, it was still a relic and one step further to stopping both Cortex and Uka Uka from taking over the world.
After that, Crash stepped on the second button and saw that it was an underwater level. As soon as he noticed it, he panicked. Fluttershy quickly ran over to him and knelt down.
"What's wrong, Crash?" she asked.
Crash explained through gibberish that he couldn't swim.
"What's wrong with Crash, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
"He's too scared to go into the next level, because he can't swim."
Twilight put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Crash. I'll make sure that as soon as you enter any underwater level, that you'll be equipped with scuba gear."
Twilight nodded to Coco, who typed in a program on her laptop. After she did so, Twilight pulled one of the levers on the machine, powering it up.
"There we are. Now you should be good to go."
Crash was still unsure, so Fluttershy gave him a small peck on the cheek for good luck.
"Don't worry, Crash. We'll be watching you from here in the Time Twister. Now, go get that crystal!"
Filled with a new sense of confidence, Crash jumped into the portal and instantly transported underwater, complete with scuba gear.
After a bit of traveling, Crash obtained both the crystal and clear gem from the level without any trouble. He then went back into the level for the second time to get a relic. He emerged victorious with another Sapphire Relic. After getting it, he stepped on the portal to the next level, Orient Express. Just before he could enter, Twilight stopped him.
"Wait, Crash!" she called.
Crash tripped and fell flat on his stomach. He got up just inches away from the portals, scratching his head.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but this next level is for your sister."
"Me?!" Coco asked enthusiastically.
"Yep. Go get 'em, girl."
Coco excitedly ran to the portal and jumped straight in.
Soon, Coco was teleported into ancient China, during the construction of the Great Wall. On the wall was an excited tiger cub named Pura. Coco gave a little wink, then hopped onto Pura's back and started riding him across the Great Wall. She rode the young eccentric tiger cub with ease and even managed to get both the crystal and clear gem in the level. As soon as she reached the portal, she got off of Pura and nuzzled him like a house cat.
Back in the Time Twister, Fluttershy couldn't help but find Coco's actions to be adorable.
"Aw, isn't that just the cutest thing?" she cooed.
Eventually, she and the others heard the portal open back up. Coco emerged from the portal and dug into her pocket, pulling out the crystal. She then checked around for the gem, as she couldn't feel it inside her pockets. She turned around upon hearing the sound of the gem cling on to something. It turned out that the gem had somehow got stuck to her back. Of course, this little mishap caused both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to laugh uncontrollably. The two of them both thought that it was the funniest thing in the world.
After having the laugh of their lives, Coco went back inside the level. As soon as she did, a message appeared on the Time Twister monitor coming from the old Roman Colosseum. It was from Tiny Tiger, who was chained up between two pillars while dressed up as a gladiator.
"Uka Uka and Cortex want Tiny get crystals and bring them to big colosseum in Rome," Tiny explained. "Crash! Leave them for Tiny... Or Crash get CRUSHED!"
As soon as he finished, the feed cut back to Coco, who was doing her time trial in Orient Express. Upon finishing the level, she came back through the portal and presented the second-best Time Relic there was, a Gold Relic. Now that she was done, Crash could go into the next level, Bone Yard.
He entered and immediately started getting chased by a triceratops.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Rainbow cried in shock.
Pinkie let out a huge gasp. She wasn't expecting to see a big dinosaur chasing their friend.
"Don't let it catch you, Crash, unless you want to end up as flat as a pancake!" Twilight shouted into her mic.
Crash continued running until he got far enough away from the triceratops. He stopped to catch his breath, as all of that running made him exhausted. Luckily for him, the crystal was right in front of him. He grabbed it and put it into his shorts pocket.
Twilight wiped off a bunch of sweat from her forehead. All of that chasing made her extremely nervous.
"That was too close. I just hope he manages to survive the rest of the level."
"I'm certainly sure he will, darling. Crash may be a bit dense, but he does know what to do whenever someone is in danger," Rarity said reassuringly.
Sure enough, despite being chased by another triceratops, Crash managed to get the first clear gem on his way out and complete the level unharmed. Upon getting back, he dug into his pocket and pulled out the crystal. After that, he tapped his left ear and the clear gem came out of the other. He then went back into the level to obtain the relic. He was really fast this time, as he came back with a gold relic for his troubles.
After that, he stepped on the fifth button and saw that it was filled with surface water and a jet ski. He was extremely nervous, as he didn't know how to properly use one. Coco decided to take the level instead. She jumped into the portal and instantly got transported into the golden age of piracy.
She rode the jet ski through the level until she came across a pirate ship. There, aboard the ship, was an oddly familiar girl with light blonde hair, wearing an eyepatch and pirate clothing. It was Applejack.
She captured both Coco and her jet ski and brought her aboard.
"What are y'all doing here, ya landlubber?" she asked suspiciously. "And what are ya supposed to be? Some kind of rodent?"
"I'm a bandicoot," Coco responded. "Now, let me go! If I don't help my big brother and his friends gather the crystals, Cortex and Uka Uka will enslave the entire world in my time!"
Applejack lifted up her eyepatch upon hearing that. She was deeply concerned now.
"Did you just mention something about crystals?" she asked.
Coco nodded her head as she struggled to get out of the rope. Applejack walked over to her and cut her free.
"Lucky for you, I found one here. Would this be it?"
She showed her a crystal, causing her face to brighten up.
"That's it! That's the one!"
Just then, Twilight's voice came over Coco's earpiece.
"Coco! Coco! Is that Applejack with you? You need to get back to the Time Twister with that crystal! Cortex's lab assistants are coming after you!" Twilight said.
"Was that Twilight?" Applejack asked.
Before Coco could answer, some pirate lab assistants slowly made their way towards them.
"Quick, you need come with me!" Coco exclaimed.
"But yer jet ski's only got one seat! I can't sit on the back of that thing!"
Applejack noticed two loose boards and decided to use them as water skis.
After a quick change of clothes into her everyday outfit, Applejack rode on the water skis as Coco blazed through the level, while breaking crates along the way. The two of them eventually collected the clear gem on the way back into the Time Twister.
As soon as they arrived, Applejack slid onto the cold, metallic floor in front of her friends.
"APPLEJACK! YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Pinkie shouted, giving her distant cousin a big hug.
"It's good to see you, too, Pinkie," Applejack chuckled, returning the hug.
She then turned to Coco.
"It's, uh, Coco, right?"
Coco nodded her head.
"What the hay can these crystals do to stop some crazy people from taking over the world, anyhow?"
Aku Aku suddenly transported into the Time Twister behind her.
"The crystals have extraordinary power that if in the right hands, can be a force for good," he explained.
Upon hearing his voice, Applejack jumped and noticed that he was a talking mask.
"Y-Y-Y-Y-You're a talking mask!"
"I am Aku Aku. And my evil twin brother, Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex, the creator of both Crash and Coco, here, plan to use the crystals to conquer the entire world."
"Hold up. You're saying that some crazy mad scientist created these two?"
"Unfortunately, it's true. And if it wasn't for me, they'd be fully under his control by now," Twilight explained.
"Woah. I-I-I-I-I didn't realize that."
"There is no need to be sorry for what has been done in the past. As of now, Tiny is waiting for the crystals in ancient Rome. Crash, you must defeat him once more, but beware! He has some new tricks this time. Good luck."
And with that, he teleported out of the Time Twister.