Final Confrontation

by Tower of 0

Bonus! Cutie Re-Mark: The Guardian

Author's Note:

A small word, if you will. First off, thank you all for giving this story a read. Some might be wondering why this is here. Well, while writing this story up and watching the show again, this idea came to mind during the Cutie Re-Mark episodes. Mainly this is because I adore alternate universes and timelines. Anyway, that's enough from me. I hope you all enjoyed my stories, if not, that's okay too. Hope you all have a wonderful time reading.

The time portal rips open, dumping Twilight and Spike back out to the present. Whatever messed up present they now found themselves in. Twilight smacks into the map table first followed by Spike landing on top of her. Both of them groan out in a bit of pain, one a little more from two impacts. Spike is the first to get up and walk towards the edge of the deactivated table.

"Oh great, now what kinda Ponyville did we come back to?" Spike grumbles.

Twilight lifts her head off the table and shakes it few times. She blinks her eyes a couple of times as she focuses in on their surroundings. It's Ponyville all right, but it looks like it had been turned into a warzone. A lot of the buildings are destroyed. Twilight steps off the table as she spies plenty of scars going across the landscape. She almost couldn't believe her eyes, something here is far different from the other versions she saw.

"Twilight! Watch out!" Spike calls out to her.

Twilight looks up in the nick of time and kicks off the ground with her wings as something collides with it. An item goes flying off, landing in the middle of the table as whatever was coming from the sky is now imbedded in the dirt before them. The sound of metal clanging against the crystalline surface of the table catches Twilight's attention. She flies over to investigate the helmet while Spike is staring at the ground where something lay. The princess lifts up the helmet with her magic and examines it a little more closely.

"Strange." Twilight mutters as she rotates the helmet. "This looks like a Royal Guard helmet, but not meant for a pony. It's smaller."

"Uh. Twi. I think this thing is waking up." Spike comments as he backs away from the table.

Sure enough, he is right. A loud groan can be heard from the impact sight as hands grasp solid ground. Lifting itself from the crater, he glances around for his helmet and spots it. Using a bit of magic, he snatches it from Twilight's grasp in a mix of gold and blue aura and levitates it to his fingers. Twilight only watches with some curiosity and slight awe. She has already identified the creature as a human, but something about him seems familiar to her.

"It's dangerous to be here, little pony." He speaks as he places his headwear back on his head and his voice hits her like a ton of bricks. "You should be somewhere safe, like Canterlot."

"Justin?" Twilight calls out to the surprise of Spike.

He freezes, not bothering to look at her. "Been a while since I heard that name. I thought only the Princesses knew that name." Justin finally looks at the pony who dared to address him by his real alias. "Twilight?" He chokes out and approaches the table.

The look on his face speaks volumes to her. He's looking at her like an old friend that hasn't been seen for years. His palms press against the table as Twilight lands on it. She sees tears forming in his eye as she slowly walks up to him. Once she's close enough, he wraps his arms around her in a tight hug, quietly weeping into her neck. She just lets him, having her forelegs around him and comforting him by rubbing her hoof along his back. After a few minutes, Justin calms down and finds his composure again.

"I thought I lost you." He mutters, still holding the alicorn in his arms. "Also an alicorn, strange."

"Justin." Twilight says as she slightly pulls away from him. "What happened here?"

"Kronos happened." Justin growls. "I've been able to keep him here, but Ponyville has suffered. Many losing their homes, some, their lives."

Twilight lets out a gasp as she fully pulls away from him. Finally getting a good look at his armor. It's a golden color that gleams in the light. Various jewels adorn the shoulders that mimic the colors of the Elements. A bit of style over utility it seems. A very interesting part of the armor is an amulet embedded in the right area of the chest piece that's split in two colors; orange and a dark blue.

"Justin." Twilight starts as she rests her hooves against his shoulders. "What happened to you?"

"Whole life story or just the good parts?" A typical response from him.

"Whole story." Twilight answers.

"Very Well." Justin nods and sits next to Twilight on the edge of the table. "Imagine if you will, a young unicorn filly who's distraught over failing her entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." Twilight flattens her ears against her head. "So, she becomes a tad obsessed with increasing her magical talent to try again. Except she does something extraordinary in secret, she pulls forth a creature from another world, a boy, a human, about her age." Justin starts to stare off into the distance as he speaks. "She forgets about the school, focusing on this child. At first, keeping him a secret from her family. Until her brother finds out, then her parents, and they instead adopt the boy into their family and raise him like one of his own. He grows up just fine, loving his new pony family, years pass on. Then He happens one day. Just comes out of the blue, invading Equestria on some warpath to conquer the land. He starts in Canterlot, practically razing the city. He attacks the Sparkle Family home. Makes the mistake of leaving one survivor, a man. Celestia and her Sister fend off the attacker and find this man after burying his family. They give him an offer, to avenge the very ponies that raised him. He accepts, they make him some armor to protect himself an imbue an amulet with a portion of their magic for him to use. Ponies start referring to this man as The Guardian and his real name lost to the public."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know all this happened to you." Twilight comments.

"I have been fighting him for years now, keeping him tied up on me so the rest of Equestria to be safe." Justin looks at the alicorn. "I carry the mantle of Sparkle we won't perish in vain."

"Hopefully I can find a way to fix this." Twilight stands up with some renewed resolve.

Justin looks over his shoulder at her. "Say what? What's going on to have brought you here?"

"This unicorn, name's Starlight Glimmer, is messing with time to prevent me from ever meeting my friends and getting our Cutie Marks." Twilight tells him. "But each time we fight, I get sent back to a worse Equestria."

"Ah, time anomaly caused by magic." Justin nods his head. "Interesting. Explains why you're here with a dragon and an alicorn of all things."

Twilight looks over to the human and opens her mouth to say something. "There you are!"

The three look up to see Kronos, the princess noting he looks extremely powerful. Justin jumps to his feet and casts a protection spell over the area as a beam of red magic collides with a white barrier. Twilight jumps at the noise but looks around at the gigantic bubble protecting them. To say she was impressed with his current ability to control the magic gifted to him is a bit of an understatement.

"Twilight." Justin says, his eyes on her, she sees that they are glowing white. "Go. Beat Starlight and fix our timelines. Make sure this possibility never sees the light of day."

Twilight looks at him and nods. "Justin, whatever happens, don't forget your heart. It's makes you who you are."

The human just smiles at her and turns his attention to Spike. "You, dragon." He pauses for a moment and speaks in a softer tone. "Spike. Make sure Twilight achieves her goal and protect her."

Spike gives the human a bit of glare before being snatched up in Twilight's magic and placed on her back. He looks at her and she smiles back at him, giving him a small nod. "Sure." He mutters just loud enough for them to hear.

Twilight pulls the scroll out of her bags and casts the spell, causing the portal to open up above them and suck them in.

"May you succeed, Twilight Sparkle. Make our family proud." Justin says to himself as he watches the portal close and turns to face his old foe once more.