Later that night, Twilight arrived at Sunset's house. Since it was made apparent that sleeping in a library was bizarre for everyone else, Sunset and Twilight came to the agreement that the two of them could sleep together. The both of them were grateful to each other. Sunset, because Twilight always knew the right course of action, and Twilight, because Sunset had done a number of good things since her reformation.

"So, Twilight. How do you think you can deal with that hooded creep?" Sunset asked. "If he's got the Staff of Time, there's no telling what he could do..."

"I know, but we only know that he can travel through time and disrupt the past so far. And besides, none of the events he's done so far have altered the present," Twilight said back. "You, me, and the other girls are still here. And the world is still the same regardless, not to mention that he babbled on and on about safeguarding friendship..."

"But that's what really bugs me, Twilight," Sunset got very suspicious of the hooded man's goals. "Friendship is just fine as it is, why would he say that he'd want to protect it further? The voicemails that Celestia and Luna weren't much help either, saying that the missing students needed to grow up again..."

"Part of me wishes that I was here earlier to try and stop him, but I was unaware that he was doing such evil things before the map notified me again..." Twilight felt a little downhearted. "I feel like I've already failed, seeing as he's started to rob us of our CHS friends..."

"You haven't failed, Twilight," Sunset said, patting Twilight on the back to attempt to raise her mood. She was determined to help Twilight feel better so that she could save their friends. "I mean, come on. How can you fail something before it even starts? And I'm sure that not even some time hocus-pocus is gonna stop you from saving friendship."

"I know about that, Sunset. But if the unicorn isn't altering time with the Staff of Time, what is he trying to accomplish with it?" Twilight said. "If there is a third property to that staff, then what else is it capable of?"

"Maybe the third property is the most important one for this thief..." Sunset thought about what the mysterious pony was trying to accomplish with the staff. "If we can discover the secret power that that pony is running around with, then it could help us better understand what he means by saving friendship..."

"I'll try to work something out tomorrow, Sunset," Twilight said, letting out a little yawn shortly afterwards. "But right now, I think it's in our best interest to sleep on it..."

"If we sleep, then maybe we'll have a better chance of trying to figure out the thief's plan," Sunset said with a smile as she took Twilight up the stairs of her house. "Come on, you can sleep in my room for now."

Sunset's bedroom was rather presentable for what it was, but it had a bunch of clothes that was scattered around at certain areas of her room, such as the dresser, the bedside table, and over some doors. Besides the mess, it was all very well kept.

"I know it's a mess, but sometimes, I just need to get them off after a hard week of papers. I'm sure you had the same desires yourself when you were at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, right, Twilight?" Sunset said with a smile of content beginning to grow. It was true that ever since she had been at Canterlot High School, Sunset had been worked to the bone with the number of assignments that she and her friends had been given.

"Actually, I can see where you're coming from, Sunset Shimmer," Twilight said, returning the smile with one of her own. "I think everyone looks for some sense of relief when they're finished with their studies. Even I was excited to finally have some freedom when I finished my work back with Celestia. I was bouncing around like a schoolfilly, because I knew that I'd be able to spend time with my BBBFF after all of my hard work..."

"Your BBBFF?" Sunset was a little confused with the acronym that Twilight had just spelled out.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever," Twilight told her. "Shining Armour back in my world is my brother, and the captain of Princess Cadence's new Crystal Guard. He shows undying strength, and continues to fight back, even against impossible odds. It was with his strength that he not only defeated the Changelings, but also protected us from King Sombra's villainous curse."

"He must really care about you that much to protect you from such foes like that..." Sunset felt more and more lucky to have Twilight as a friend. "To know that I'm friends with the little sister of such a high authority figure like Shining Armour is truly a great privilege. I know that if some of his bravery rubbed off on you, then we can take on this thief together..."

"Thank you, Sunset..." Twilight shed a small tear of pride when she was given time. Sunset had always looked up to her in the past, so the fact that she was now looking up to her and her resolve was a great step up from what she had been in the past.

Later that night, with the moon at its' peak in the night sky, Twilight Sparkle was having trouble sleeping. She lightly tossed and turned in her sleep, and made noises of discomfort as she did so.

She was having a nightmare, one that was too horrific for it to even take a physical form or make any sense to her whatsoever. But it ended with a frightening sight; her friends were taken away by the hooded man and his Staff of Time, and she let out a scream of utter heartbreak and defeat.

Twilight suddenly woke up with a gasp and quickly sat up. She looked around and saw that Sunset was still fast asleep, snoring quite lightly as she tightly clutched her pillow for comfort. It was still the middle of the night, so such a thing was something that Twilight expected to see from her friend.

As Twilight saw Sunset's peaceful state of mind, a part of her throat got dry all of a sudden. Noticing this, she walked downstairs to try and get herself a drink. Lightly tiptoeing out of the bed and towards the door, Twilight was very careful not to wake Sunset up at this hour. Eventually, she made it to the door and slowly opened it before walking out the other side.

Once she was outside, she slowly walked towards the stairs and descended each one with the utmost of care. The stair squeaked as her foot came into contact with it, but it wasn't loud enough for the whole house to hear. Slowly, but surely, Twilight made it to the bottom of the stairs and walked towards the kitchen.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she took a glass from the nearby cupboard and began filling it up with some water from the tap. However, she was unaware that the hooded man was suddenly behind her, watching her fill her glass with water. In fact, it was after she took her drink that she noticed the man's presence.

"Hello, Princess Twilight." he said to her once she had laid eyes on him. He held out the Staff of Time so that it was visible to both him and Twilight.

"You..." Twilight gritted her teeth when she noticed that the man was carrying the artifact from Meadowbrook's collection. "Me and my friends have been looking for you, you know."

"And I've been looking for you too, Your Highness. It's not every day that I get to be graced with someone who understands friendship just like I do," the man said whilst getting onto one knee and bowing before Twilight. "I came to warn you that the friendships of everyone, not just your friends, are all in danger."

"From what I've gathered, you stole Meadowbrook's Staff of Time, and are using it to steal innocent Canterlot High School students away from us," Twilight was disgruntled and refused to accept the man's hospitality. "Why would some thief and kidnapper tell me that friendships are in danger?!"

"Princess Twilight. I have come to notice that each and every one of us is afflicted with a curse unlike any other," the man said as he took off his hood and revealed his face. His skin was dark blue, but his hair was spiky, and black as a piano. "A curse that we all suffer, even though it does us no harm whatsoever..."

"First you steal people away, then you talk about friendships in trouble, and now you're going on about curses?! Explain yourself right now, and I might just decide to let you go..." Twilight's anger did not shift as she confronted the man.

"When I was a young colt growing up, I had many friends to play with. We spent day after day playing ball games, frolicking in the grass, and laughing at how fun our activities were," he said, smiling as he remembered that period of his life. "However, things quickly changed for the worse...

"When I grew up, I noticed that my friends began to play with me less so than usual; or that they would straight up abandon me for their work. But either way, I lost friends when I lost my childhood," the man spoke with his voice turning grim and foreboding. "My whole world spiralled into heartbreak and loneliness, but I wasn't the only one. I saw many other fillies and colts who became loners once they grew up. All of their old friends had completely forgotten them with age..."

"How sad for you. But still, that shouldn't lead you to committing crimes of this magnitude!" Twilight said, refusing to be won over by a sad story.

"If you would let me explain further, then you would know why I sought after the Staff of Time, and the plans that I have for the humans of this world, and the ponies of Equestria..." he said, showing no emotions of his own.

"Go on..." Twilight raised an eyebrow, but still crossed her arms nonetheless.

"When I stole the Staff of Time, I watched the children mature into mares and stallions. They would go on to do incredible things with their Cutie Marks on their flanks, but I saw a similar pattern with all of them," he spoke, thinking of the many faces he had seen. "Each one of them lost all of their friends as they grew up, so I came to the conclusion that it wasn't their fault that they lost all that they held dear...

"No, their friends weren't taken away by other friends, work, or any other means. The real culprit behind the loss of the ponies' friendship was..." he paused for a moment and locked gazes with Twilight. "Age..."

"Age?" that word struck Twilight like a sharp dagger. It was all making sense to her now. "You mean that..."

"That is right, Twilight Sparkle, I noticed that age was the cause of all of this heartbreak and loss of friends, so I decided to take decisive action. Using the newly acquired Staff of Time, I liberated ponies from their curses and gave them eternal friendships!" he spoke. "By stripping the friendless ponies of their age, I opened up infinite possibilities for them to make new friends. Now that they never age again, they now have friendships that last forever!"

"That's..." Twilight was lost for words.

"There are two sides to friendship, Twilight Sparkle. There are blind friendships that you see, and eternal friendships that I create. Blind friendships only lead to destruction, whereas eternal friendships are ones that remain in the minds of everyone I liberate with the Staff of Time," the man got prophetic again, telling Twilight his story in large words. "You have spread blind friendships, whilst I have been spreading eternal friendships. And I know that even you, Sunset Shimmer, and your friends in this world are at danger of losing one another!

"There is no choice, Twilight! Sooner or later, you will allow me to break the curse of your age, and create a world where there is nothing more than ageless newborns. They won't be able to think, I will admit. But at least they will have friendships that will retain throughout all of time!"

"You're a sick man, and I will defeat you and stop your plans!" Twilight's fury returned. "Even if it means snapping that stupid staff in half!"

"I know your game, Princess Twilight. I have seen you fight before. Every time you defeat your opponents, you combine the powers of each of your friends," the man said back, making her recoil once more. "I saw you defeating both Sunset Shimmer and The Dazzlings in this world, so I know that your power still retains, even without your alicorn magic. However, there is a saying that goes around these days; take out the weakest link, and the whole tower comes crashing down..." he then smiled as he looked at Twilight closer. "And knowing that you rely on your friends to unleash your true potential, it shall come to you as a surprise that I shall begin saving all of your friends as well! You might not be able to see my vision for a better world, but once I'm done with each and every one of your closest friends, I'll come after you," he opened up a time portal with a swing of his staff. "And when next we meet, I expect you to agree to my terms, and join your friends in salvation from the curse of age!"

Twilight merely watched as the portal closed as soon as the man disappeared through it. After it had vanished, her expression turned into one of fright. If what the man said was true, then he would be going after one of her nearest and dearest friends even as she thought. However, her mind ruled out the possibility of Sunset Shimmer, since Twilight would have been able to take him out if he suddenly came back and tried to take her.

"Twilight, I heard something down there!" Sunset came running down from the stairs to see that Twilight was standing in the kitchen, stunned after what she had just witnessed. "What happened?"

But Twilight was completely speechless, her blank expression was a sign of that. After the speech her guest had told her, she began to question a number of his powers. "How is it possible for someone who carries the Staff of Time to stop someone from aging...?"

"Aging? What do you mean by that, Twilight?" Sunset asked as she finally saw her come to her senses and turn around to face her.

"Sunset, our friends are in danger! You have to call each of the girls as we speak! The thief who stole the Staff of Time just came to me as soon as I came down to get a drink!" Twilight began to explain in a panicked voice. "He said that he was using the Staff of Time to save people by preventing them from aging, and said that he'd come after each of my friends here before meeting me again! He could come after you too, so you have to watch—" but before she could even finish, she was given a quick and painful slap on the face.

"Twilight! Calm down!" Sunset said, watching Twilight stop talking altogether. "I think you had a nightmare, and that you did some sleepwalking to get a drink. If this thief took The Snapshots out of the blue, what makes you think that he would walk right up to you and tell you his master plan in the middle of the night?"

"But, Sunset, I—"

"That's enough, Twilight. Look, nightmares come and go these days. You must have had a really bad one, and now it's causing you to hallucinate. We'll get you another drink, then you can use the bathroom before you go back to sleep with me, alright?"

Twilight wanted to tell Sunset more, but she had the feeling that she wouldn't believe her in the slightest. Even after she had told Sunset exactly what the mysterious man had said to her, she was partially worried that Sunset would try and argue with her and damage her trust in her. Reluctantly, she said, "Alright, Sunset..." and watched as Sunset poured her another drink.

Applejack slept quite deeply at Sweet Apple Acres. Even though there was the presence of a time-travelling, friend-stealing thief in the city, she still slumbered as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, the mysterious man appeared in Applejack's room in the middle of a flash of white light, seeing his next victim sleeping without any signs of waking.

"That's right, Applejack..." he began to spin his staff counter-clockwise once again. "Sleep... sleep like the infant you were always meant to be..."

Applejack slowly woke up from bed and noticed that there was a mysterious man spinning his staff in her face. Her reaction was one of shock and horror, which was to be expected with such occurrences like this.

Before she was given any time to climb out of her bed and try to contact her Big Mac, Applebloom, or Granny Smith, her chest was impaled by a stream of white light, the same ones that the man had used on all of his other ponies and humans. With nothing else to do as she was being struck, and ultimately transformed, Applejack let out a loud scream that shattered the silence and caused a number of crows to fly off of the trees they were perched on.

The next morning, Sunset Shimmer was awakened by not only the alarm in her room, but also the phone that was vibrating beside her. Hearing these noises, she struggled to open her eyes, but did so nonetheless and turned her alarm off. Seeing that her phone was shaking, she stretched her hand out and picked it up with an adequate amount of effort.

"Who could be wanting to call me at this hour?" Sunset asked to herself as she turned the phone on and tapped on a little icon that showed a letter. To her shock, messages came from all of her friends except for Applejack and Twilight.

She opened one message and was horrified with what it said.

Sunset! Emergency meeting at the park! Applejack's been stolen, and her voicemail's turned into that creepy one from yesterday! Please hurry! :(

Seeing the message was a fright to Sunset. The more she looked at it, the more she thought about what Twilight had said last night. Now that it had been confirmed that the man was going after Twilight's closest friends, they were all at a grave risk.

"Twilight! Get up!" Sunset shook Twilight from her sleep, getting her friend to wake up feeling groggy. "We've got a problem!"

"W–What is it, Sunset?" Twilight asked.

"It turns out you were right after all. I just got a message from Pinkie Pie, and it said something truly terrifying..." Sunset's expression never faded from that of terror. "It's Applejack... she's been taken by the thief who stole the Staff of Time!"

"NO!" Twilight shot up from the bed in panic upon hearing what Sunset had said. "We've gotta save her, before that fiend does anything to harm her!"

"She said that there was an emergency meeting at the park going down now," Sunset said, quickly getting changed into her jacket and clothes. "We need to get together as quick as we can so that we can meet the others and figure out a plan of action!"

Sparing no more time to speak, Twilight got changed into her daylight clothes as well. Once the two of them were dressed, they charged out of the bedroom and ran down the stairs towards the door.

As they ran out of the house, they were too busy to notice that the man with the staff was observing them from the rooftops, looking rather disdainful as he watched Twilight and Sunset run off. He stroked a large object in his hands, but it was cloaked by his black coat, so it was hard to make out what it truly was.

"You can run all you want, Twilight Sparkle, but I will see you again soon enough..." he said to himself as he looked at how worried Twilight and Sunset's facial expressions were. "And after I taken down your other friends, I'll make you watch as Sunset is the last to be saved. Then you will have no choice but to join your friends and be freed from the shackles!"