A Mysterious book has appeared, Finding its origins may be easier.
While doing some poking about in his house, Justin finds a strange book of unknown origins inside of his attic. Bringing it to Twilight's attention and to both their curiosities. Why is it here? Why in Justin's home? What's with the strange world it came from?
The door to the library slammed open with such force it shook the entire place. Twilight stumbled a bit as books fell around her and glared to the door. She rolled her eyes and started to focus her magic on cleaning up the mess around her. Books slowly floating up into the air and some closing.
"TWILY!" Justin yelled out, breaking her concentration again. "I found something you might want to look at."
"Justin." Twilight inhaled, a bit irritated at him. "You know what today is, correct?"
The human took a moment to look at the mess. "Library RE-organizing Day?"
"Yes." Twilight lit up a bit, then came back down. "Do you know how important today is?"
"Obviously enough for me to interrupt?" Justin beamed at the alicorn with teeth bright.
Twilight shot him a glare, he quickly retracted his smile. "Fine, it can wait."
Justin thought it was best to help Sparkle Butt with her chores and reorganized the books with her. Careful to listen to her so well, that it was almost unnatural to him. Atleast, that's what Twilight thought about it since he's been known for his outbursts at times. She did appreciate the helping hand as it took a bit longer, but it was interesting to look over at the human and see him working with his fingers.
Golden Oaks was split into halves. Twilight took one half while Justin worked on the other. It was almost like clockwork with the quiet humming Justin was doing as he climbed up and down, putting books on the shelves. She'd occasionally look over her shoulder to check on his progress only to see that he was a decent pace ahead of her.
A few hours had passed, and the library was finally done. "So, what is it you wanted to show me?"
Justin stared blankly for a moment, before it came back to him and he pulled a book out of his pants. "This!"
"How did you-"
"Dimensional rift jeans." Justin stated with no indication of obscurity.
Twilight looks a t him confused for a moment before turning her attention to the book.
"It's just a normal book. What about it?" Twilight asked, looking back to the human.
"Look closer, Sparklepants."
Twilight rolled her eyes at his comment and observed the book closer. She noted the material of the book was something leathery, polished to a shine. The cover was decorated with gears, and what looked like a clock face with no hands. Twilight leaned in closer to examine them and noticed that they were moving.
"Justin." She called quietly before taking a few steps back. "Where did you find this?"
"In my attic." He calmly stated. Flipping over the book.
"Why're the gears moving?" Twilight asked.
Justin squinted a bit as he looked at the detail. "Those weren't moving before...."
Justin started to run his fingers over the book's cover, letting them feel the cold metal of the gears. Twilight was quietly objecting the touching, but to no avail. He stopped on the clock face, feeling the numbers as though he were blind. They were branded into the metal, the face clicked from and popped up.
Twilight was soon at Justin's side as he lifted the ornament to reveal a gem in the middle of another gear. Suddenly, the other gears stopped, switching direction and rapidly increasing speed. The gem in the center of it started to glow bright.
"Drop the book..." Twilight said, wanting the pull away.
The gem only got brighter, almost blinding, the gears kept spinning.
"Justin, drop the book!" Twilight exclaimed.
The human finally dropped the book to the floor when the gem was blinding enough. As soon as the book made contact, magic burst froth from the stone and grabbed both of them. They were helpless to escape as the book pulled them into it and disappeared. Leaving the library empty with no trace of where they had gone.
Justin was the first to come to. He sat up groaning and holding his head as his mind reeled from the spell. He gained focus and looked for Twilight first, who thankfully was closer than he thought. Justin reached out and placed his hand on the alicorn and shook her a bit. Twilight groaned a bit and slowly opened her eyes.
"Where..." Twilight took a moment to sit up and look around, "..where are we?"
Justin looked at their surroundings a bit. "Looks like an alleyway."
It was dark out, a dim light shining down what corridor they were in. The walls of the buildings looked dingy and covered in dirt. Justin helped Twilight to her hooves before standing up himself. He just scratched his head a bit, stilling scanning the surrounding area. This time, he was looking for the book.
Twilight had been walking to the end of the alley. "What is this place?"
Twilight was looking at the street, seeing it was cobblestone and the buildings. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but the buildings seemed quite familiar to her. Something about this was eerily familiar to her. Twilight was about to take another step forward, but was quickly pulled back by Justin.
"Hold it there, Sparkle Butt.." He cautioned as she looked back to him. "..'bout to step on out ticket out of here."
She cocked her head to the side in confusion. He simply just pointed to where she was about to step and followed his finger. Surely enough, there it was, on the curb. Justin walked up and leaned over to pick it up. His fingers were about to touch the book's cover, then a foal scampered by and snatched the book away.
Justin straightened up his back with hands curled into fists. "Gawd... DAMMIT!" He yelled out in frustration, slamming his fist into the wall.
Twilight got worried that Justin just hurt his hand from the punch. It is a stone wall after all, yet, he pulled his hand away with a sigh. It looked just fine, but did he know? She then looked at the wall carefully and saw the impact and cracks surrounding it. Justin turned to her with some new found determination in his eyes.
"We have a new quest."
"What? Get back our book?" Twilight questioned.
"Precisely." Justin exclaimed with a grin. "And guessing by the surrounding buildings, and the foal, We're definitely in Equestria. Still."
"Still?" Twilight was taken back by the casual tone. "Are you saying we traveled through time?!"
"I can't say for sure..." Justin shrugged as he turned his head back to the edge of the alley. "I know these are Equestrian buildings, same architecture as home."
"How could you possibly know any of that?" Twilight asked, both both dumbfounded and impressed.
"I used to be an architect major." Justin declared with a wide grin.
Twilight just sighed, more inconvenienced at their predicament. Whether it was time travel or something else, she wouldn't know just yet. It seemed like Justin had some sort of idea what may be going on, which gave her hope above all. Justin walked back over to Twilight and knelt down in front of her.
"I'll get us out of this mess. I promise." She saw the sincerity in his eyes. She nodded at him.
Justin smiled back at her and stood up again. The duo soon left the alley to go find an inn somewhere. The human was looking up at the houses, noting the pipes on some of them and gears posted on others. She could see his face, his mind was at work. He was working on piecing together exactly when they are, and where they may be. They had gone a few more steps and reached an in with no problem.
Justin took moment to look at the sign. Reading it aloud to himself, it reads Ponyville Inn. Alteast they were still in town, still at home. Home was different now though, it was the familiar but also foreign.
"We don't have any bits."
Justin snapped out of his daze. "Say again?"
"We don't have any money." Twilight said, looking back at him.
"Don't worry." Justin smiled a bit at her, pointing both of his thrumbs to himself. "This guy's got a hundred sneak and a hundred pickpocket skill."
Twilight didn't know what he was talking about until he crouched. Somehow she lost sight of him, Justin just giggled as he stayed in front of her face. He whispered for her to go inside and distract the innkeeper for him. She nodded and did as she was asked. Twilight found it odd when there was a menu in front of her about the conversation.
Twilight quickly noticed that Justin's hand appear over the counter and reach into the keeper's pocket. And stopped. She tried no to let on, but something about this situation didn't seem right in the first place. A hundred in skills? Dialouge boxes? All of this felt strange. Then she could see him, something seemed off.
Justin closed his menu, thinking nothing of it as he got the key to one of the rooms and stood up again. He signaled for the alicorn to follow him upstairs. She did so and met up with him trying to find the right door the key works on. Twilight approached him as a door open, he smiled at her and ushered her inside.
"Didn't that seem a little off to you?" Twilight asked him.
"No.. Why?" Justin looked at her as the door closed and pocketing his new key.
Twilight shrugged a bit. "I don't know. Something seemed weird."
Justin had more or less been tossing and turning most of the night, probably due to him laying on the hardwood floor. Not like he'd fit on the bed, just that he gave it up for Twilight despite her insisting about it. He soon sat up and looked to the wall clock. 12:55 Justin groaned a bit at it going to be a long night.
Morning had finally hit, some warm sunlight peering into the window, hitting Twilight. She softly shifted under the covers and stretched out. Her eyes scanned the room only to find Justin slumped over the desk on the wall. The candle was just barely keeping life and a quill intertwined in his fingers. She slipped out of the bed and walked over to the desk, seeing what he had been doing.
It looked like Justin had been writing out letters. Twilight inspected the papers more closely, and they were pages of notes. Diagrams accompanied the several pages of notes. She stopped being nosey beyond what she saw and blew out the candle. Justin snorted and his body jumped a little. Smacking his lips as he raised his head.
He looked over to his side to be greeted with Twilight's face. "Oh hey, Princess Sparkle Butt."
"Good morning to you also, jackass." Twilight retorted back. "Did you sleep well?"
"Hardly." Justin then yawned out, sitting back in the chair. "Picking up on human language, are we?"
"Only from the best." She smirks at him and he does the same.
"Guess me appearing once a month is doing some rubbing off." The human just ruffled his hair some then stood to attention.
"You can say the same about Fudge."
Justin just smirked again and started to clean up the papers. Twilight just looked at his face; he was tired and looked like he had a rough night. She patted the shoulder and nudged him. It wasn't something she did herself normally, but something was telling her he needed it. Once the duo got everything gathered up, they headed out. Their eyes were met with a sight they never seen before: A busy street in Ponyville.
Ponyville was a good sized town from where they were, but the streets were never this busy before. Stallions and Mares bustled throughout the way, headed in all directions. Twilight and Justin were fortunate enough to squeeze in. Then they started to weave their way to where they thought the market might be.
Justin had been looking over the crowds, having this eerie feeling as he took notice of something rather odd. The Ponyville he was used to was abundant with diversity of all three types. He noticed a distinct lack of unicorns here. Something didn't sit right and he'd have to find out, after they got that book back first. Not before long, the market was reached, and to their luck, a wide and open area to walk around in.
"We should divide and look for the urchin." Justin said to Twilight as he was about to walk into the crowd.
Twilight looked at him and tugged on his shirt. "Urchin?"
"That foal who stole our book. Just look for any of them that has the book, no doubt they'd be trying to sell it for some quick bits."
Twilight nodded and split away from the human. Both of them were getting a few odd looks here and there. Nothing new for the human, and sometimes Twilight. Justin stopped to take a look at one of the stalls. The stall was a spice stall and the owner was looking at the human with a tilted head. Justin paid no minds as it looked at some of the spices.
"Hey, buddy." The trader called out quietly.
Justin looked up at him.
"What are ya?"
Justin smirked a little at the pony and chuckled. "What? Ain't you ever seen a hairless Minotaur before?"
The trader looked baffled for a bit but didn't get the chance to say anything else. Justin had walked away from the stall and somehow disappeared into the crowd. The human was looking around, having this strange feeling of being stared at by... something. His eyes continued to scan across the crowds. Looking at each head and each pair of eyes. That was until he locked eyes with it. A masked unicorn, only a few real feet away from him, stared right back.
The unicorn looked off to the side and Justin let his gaze follow the direction the hoof was pointing and saw it. A search that would've taken hours now only a few minutes with the help of this one mysterious figure. He turned back to thank the unicorn only to find Twilight standing there instead, looking at him, worried.
"Did you see that?" He asked, only for her to shake her head.
"Is there something wrong with you?" She asked, steeping a bit closer to the human. "You just had this really strange stare I saw from across the crowd."
Justin shrugged his shoulders and knelt down to her level. "I.. I don't know Twilie. Since waking back up again, I've been feeling this anger I can't explain. Like that I just want to destroy."
Twilight just looked at him, lifting her forelegs and placed her hooves on his shoulders. "Justin, what all do you remember from last night?"
"Just losing the book and waking up this morning."
Twilight brought him close and hugged him. "If there's anything you need to talk about, you always have a friend in me."
Justin gave her a weak smile, hugging the alicorn tight, "Thanks Twi, you being here with me means a lot."
The two departed from the hug, smiling at eachother. Justin had a sudden moment of realization as his eyes looked beyond Twilight. Seeing that the ponies behind her were still, frozen time like they were on ice. Twilight noticed the same behind Justin, her eyes a bit wide as they both scan the crowd. A small ding being heard and visible light bulb appearing over the human's head, leaving Twilight to pass through the crowd.
Twilight stayed silent, only watching Justin as he got the book and headed back. "Justin." The only word she could manage to speak.
"I know..." Justin replied with a sigh, the world around them moving again. "I have something and I want to get to the bottom of it."
"Well... " Twilight glanced at the book, "I am rather curious about this version of Equestria, its a marvel really."
"Yeah, going from magic to technology and steam. It's... rather interesting." Justin said back to her.
"Well, we are in Ponyville still-"
Both finished in unison, "So the library must be in the same place!"
The two left the marketplace in such a flurry, the ponies just looked at them in judgement. They were there in only minutes, somewhat due to Twilight attaching herself to Justin's shoulders, feet leaving the ground. The human felt like a kid, more or less, having to see this old sight anew: the perspective of a pegasus.
After landing in front of a rather familiar sight, the sign still read the same. Golden Oaks itself had a bit of a change inside however. Fine portraits hung from the walls, each of the ponies that were subjects of the paintings are finely dressed and bore neutral expressions. Furniture in the room adorned brass or copper trim and cushions with vibrant colors and had patterns of floral or industrial nature.
Twilight was looking up at the ceiling, "Celestia's sun isn't up anymore."
"Celestia ain't been around for a while, kid." An old earth mare spoke up as she rounded to the front desk. "Neither has any royalty been around Equestria for centuries."
Twilight took a double take on the mare, noting some odd features on her. Justin soon stood next to the alicorn, a finger pointed at the mare. Even thought her mane was faded, there was a distinct dark navy blue with a pink stripe down the middle, her coat a light lavender and the same star cutie mark on her flank.
"Don't you know its impolite to point?" The mare sneered at Justin.
Justin brought his hand down and leaning over toward Twilight's ears, "Hey, Twi, I think that's you." He whispered to her.
"I see that." Twilight quietly responded before coughing to speak up. "We're terribly
sorry to bother you miss-"
"Sparkle," the mare interrupted, "You and your friend there aren't interrupting anything, nopony comes in here anymore."
"Right..." Twilight coughed a bit in embarrassment, "..well, we were wondering if you may have am Equestrian history book we can take a look at."
Miss Sparkle's eyes lit up some but then lost it when she looked at Justin and pointed a hoof at him. "Your friend's nose is bleeding.'
"Wha?" Justin brought two fingers up to his nose to touch his upper lip, pulling them away in a daze to see the touch of red on his tips. "Oh, thanks."
The mare just nodded then her head disappeared behind the desk, Soon appearing again and dropping a dusty book on top of the surface. Both of them stepped up to the counter and started skimming through the pages. Most of the history was the same, that was until they discovered a different section labeled "The Fall of the Spirit of Chaos"
When the Spirit of Chaos know as Discord first rose, so did a being in a cloak to challenge him. At first, Discord humored the being, letting him be challenged to a game. The being, however, possessed otherworldly knowledge and championed over the spirit, leaving Discord to begrudgingly hand over his powers of Chaos to the cloaked figure. The figure wielded his new found abilities with an honor Discord had not, and assisted the royal sisters in ushering a new era of peace for all of Equestria.
Pg. 95
Peace in Equestria was then brought to an abrupt end when the cloaked figure had a change of heart. War soon broke out between the Royal Canterlot Guard and the Cloaked Figure. The figured was never touched by any unicorn magic, only to have it absorbed. The Figure waged a mighty battle against the sisters until they fled, leaving Equestria for good.
Pg.121
Cloudsdale was the next to challnge the Cloaked Figure, only to have their entire city brought down. In one show of great magic, the figure pulled the great metropolis out of the sky. It's factories and buildings crashing to the ground around the Figure. In the years that followed in the city's fall was of great technological advancement.
Pg. 142
Earth ponies soon found value in steam power, thanks to a pair of Unicorn twins. Equestria flourished once more as a great power and center of technological advancement, nether having to rely on magic nor weather crew once again. Cityscapes soon changed to house factories of great size, airships to transport high value goods and high class ponies. Trains saw great improvement, not having to rely on teams of earth stallions to pull them.
Pg.284
Justin looked up at the mare. "Do you know where this 'Cloaked Figure' might be?"
"Noone's seen that man for years, some say he's disappeared, others claim to see him around the Cloudsdale ruins. Depending on who ya ask, the answer varies." The mare replied.
"Well!" Twilight shot up a hoof to stuff the human's mouth before he could say something. "I guess we should be getting out your mane since you're rather busy!"
The human was soon ushered out of the library quicker than he had seen Twilight move.
His head poked back in through the door. "What's your name again?"
"Twilight Sparkle" The mare replied, getting a good look at the man, "You know, you look just like him."
Twilight and Justin were making their way down the street passed ponies in the streets. The Alicorn leading way as the Human followed. Justin's came to a halt, swiveling his head in different directions, a noise bothering his ears. Twilight, however, didn't take notice and continued on.
The was a slight buzzing noise as if a plane was shot down. "Look out!"
CRASH
Justin was brought to his ass by a pegasus pony. Stars circled his head and were quickly shaken away so he could look at the pony that landed on top of him. The coat was grey, a familiar shade, with a cap that hid most of the mane, but could tell there was a blonde coloring to it. The ponies eyes were closed, shaking as it was scared.
"You alright?" Justin asked.
The mare finally peeked out at him, and suddenly a wide grin as she gasped.
Twilight was racing through the packed streets, as fast as her legs could carry. Athletics wasn't a strong suit of hers, naturally being more attracted to books. Only the human she lost has the book that was worth more in this Equestria to her than anything right now. The book that could take them home. Her heart skipped a beat at the fear of losing that book and her friends.
Justin thanked the mare once more for her hospitality, tucking the book into the innermost pocket of his jacket. He was about to turn around until a pony's head struck his lower spine. Not really forceful enough to render him unconscious, but to make him eat dirt. Twilight whinnied and started prancing in a tizzy.
"Ohmigosh! I'm so sorry! I thought I had lost you and-"
Justin pushed himself back up and steadily got back to his feet. He dusted himself off and turned to Twilight as she was on a ramble. He smiled at her, something dark crawling at the back of his mind. Seeing her face however, how worried she was about almost trampling the man, he resisted. A finger was pushed against her lips and shushed her rather effectively.
"Twilie, it's okay. The book's safe." Justin reassured the alicorn. "We have a quest to do."
Twilight cocked her head after his finger was moved. "Quest? What quest?"
Justin shrugged, "Save this Equestria, go home, relax."
It wasn't long before Justin somehow talked Twilight into getting on an airship with him. The tug slowly puffed through the sky, it's heading towards Canterlot as the duo stood on the lower deck. Their eye fixated on a setting Equestrian sun.
"It's beautiful." Justin broke the silence. "Probably won't get another view like this, not unless I moved to Canterlot."
"Or sprouted pegsus wings and could sit on clouds." Twilight commented. "Not that you need to go to Canterlot."
"Yeah, too posh for my tastes, but the architecture is grand though." Justin smiled.
The airship soon moored at Canterlot and started to let off it's passengers and cargo. Twilight and Justin leaving the mooring station and taking a good, long look around this Canterlot. Most of the buildings were identical to the city they knew. Few details were different, like the street lights and guards. Then there was the Palace, it was now a museum to dedicate the valiant efforts of Celestia and Luna during their defense for Canterlot.
Justin was looking at a good bit of the displays that held objects of the Royal Guard. Twilight looking at many of the objects that once belonged to her mentor and her sister. The human stopped in front of a tapestry and stared. The cloth displaying another human, bearded, almost the same complexion as him. His mind flicked on and the gears started to turn.
You look like him
Dad?
"You know who that is. Right?" A voice piped up from behind.
Justin's peripherals picked up the mass of another pony. "I think so."
The pony was masked, but looked towards the human anyway. "No. No... you do know. It's just now clicking."
"And you are?" Justin asked, looking to the masked pony, now seeing the horn.
"Just call me a friend, or, if you prefer, the Stranger." The unicorn chuckled to him.
Justin only had to blink once, and the masked unicorn disappeared before him. His eyes shifted back to the tapestry and studied it a few minutes more. Then it clicked. A wave of excitement and dread washed over him. His feet became jittery and he suddenly fled from the display to go find his friend.
"Twilight!" Justin called out out as he rounded the bend.
His shoes lost their grip and he slipped, hitting the floor as his head tapped a set of armor. Twilight had to stifle a grin, the human's antic reminding her of a certain pony. Justin quickly scrambled back up to his feet, quickly dusting himself and rushing toward the alicorn again. Only to slip again and stumble into an open doorway. Twilight peered in to see if he was alright, but didn't see the human.
Doors burst open a bit away down the hall and Justin lurched forward. "Twilight?"
"Over here, goofball." Twilight called out with a slight smile.
"Twilight." Justin came over, his own smile on his face.
"That's my name... and you're kind of wearing it out." Twilight giggled.
"I've figured it out." Justin got eye-level with his friend. His eyes looking into hers. "I know what's been going on."
"Then what's been going on?" Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.
Before she knew it, Twilight was scooped up into the human's arms. "I'll explain on the way!"
"What?!"
After a little while, the duo were on a return trip to Ponyville. Justin pacing worse then Twilight ever will as he was rambling in both excitement and fear. His hands were making various gestures that Twilight couldn't quite understand. She had enough though, so she coughed up, making sure she was heard. Justin stopped mid-pace, staring blankly for a bit then turning to the mare.
"I need a plan." Justin simply blurted out.
"First, tell me what's going on." Twilight stopped the human's train of thought.
"I've figured it out. Why I feel so strange and why I can do things i normally can't do." Justin started up. "I'm sharing this power with myself."
"What." Twilight was confused now.
"I was the being that showed up those years ago! The man that challenged Discord and beat him at his own game!" Justin blurted out excitedly. "I gained the power of Chaos, used it as a force for good for a while." His face grew somber. "Then something happened. An event, that upset me... sent my other self into a rage."
Twilight stared silently as she watched him
"This Derpy called me... 'father.' The other you said i looked like him, the Cloaked One. It only makes sense... but.. what." Justin mused as he grabbed the railing. Softly muttering a single word. "Shame."
Twilight walked up behind him an put a fore hoof on his lower back. "It's okay."
"Shame." He said, louder. "He feels anger and shame!"
Here they stood, on the edge of Ponyville. Justin staring blankly at the plain, and Twilight staring up at him. Sure, what he said sounds crazy, but Twilight's seen a lot herself too. She did try to warn herself about worrying too much also. This was some next level stuff for her to be in a different timeline, a human who was determined to talk to himself.
"What is your plan?" Twilight asked.
Justin took in a deep breath. "If I know myself, I've gone back to being antisocial, separating myself from the rest of society. So know I'm a cold, calculating machine of hate. With luck, I'll appeal to his humanity and make realize he can still have his daughter."
Twilight nodded, it seemed sound, but would it really work?
Justin started walking away from Ponyville, Twilight quickly following suit. It was gonna be a few hours until they reached the ruins of Cloudsdale. The human had to get in touch with a reliable source, Stranger. Being told of seeing a shadow-like figure hanging around one of the shells of the factories.
Twilight pulled out the map, looking over the marked route while Justin handled the compass. The trip was gonna be a might longer than any of them thought. Luckily thought, they did have enough supplies for a camp. Both due to the efforts of them both splitting the goods. Justin, even though he had the compass, was handling the larger and more weighty supplies they had. His role including sticks, rocks, hazardous materials that could catch fire easily.
Twilght had the other supplies, food, water, assorted snackage and beverages. The map taking the largest space in her inventory. The two soon started making camp as the last of the sun disappeared again. The fire was at a healthy blaze, tent set up and bags in place. Justin had a bottle of soda in his hand, but it kept jumping between forms. It'd look like a typical bottle, then switch over to something of a rocket, then back again.
Twilight couldn't help but watch the bottle. She was wondering what the full extent of his powers were here. First, was manipulation of the world, making her and himself see inventories. Second, was his.... teleportation... for lack of anything better, going through one door and coming out of another not connected to the same room. Third, was the bottle, object manipulation. His power here could be limitless, practically is due to it once belonging to Discord.
Justin poked her with the bottle. "Something on your mind?"
"Uh.. yeah." Twilight said back.
"My powers here? Cause this bottle transforming is pissing me off some."
Twilight nodded some and the bottle changed back to looking like a rocket. "It's almost scary."
"Power of Discord is rather scary." Justin stated, looking at the bottles label as it stayed as he rocket. "Especially in the wrong hands."
"Or your hands?" Twilight asked.
Justin smirked a little a nodded. Indeed his imagination could be wild and with the right motive, could be reality. This power wasn't something he knew a lot of. Yet, it seeped from him, like it wanted to be used. He finished his drink and set the bottle back down, turning back as soon as his fingers let off. He leaned back to look up at the stars, the moon looked no different. Then a hoof rested on his hands and he looked to Twilight.
"Maybe we should get some rest. We still have quite a journey ahead." Twilight suggested.
Justin nodded. "Thank you, Twilight."
She looked at him.
"For being here, helping me, and coming with me." Justin smiled.
"I'm always there for my friends." Twilight smiled back.
Justin was laying awake in one of the sleeping bags, staring at the top of the tent. Twilight was sleeping soundly in the bag next to him with his back turned to him. Softly snoring with each inhale. To the human, it was cute, and a sure sign she wasn't waking up anytime soon. He wasn't going to bother with moving though, he had no reason to. He was collecting his thoughts on this entire thing.
Twilight softly shifted next to him. It was almost the end of the journey here and they could go home. Justin settle in again for the night, finally closing his eyes and resting his mind. He soon dozed off and the fire died out, leaving the crickets to sound the night. Tomorrow was a new day, and time would be of the utmost essence.
It was Stranger again. Justin blinked at the masked unicorn, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He then gazed into the bright yellow irises that seemed to glow from beyond the eye hole of the mask. The human just shooed him of, which the Stranger did. Justin just nodded and noticed the second presence in his sleeping bag. Then noticed the bag was bigger.
"Oh great..." Justin mumbled.
The morning sun cascaded down on the tent. The two were sitting at the fire having breakfast, toast. It was a simple meal, not quite filing but it would have to do for the time being. They sat in silence, eating their toast. Then Justin threw his food to the ground and stood up.
"You know what?" He asked. "What's with this morning's tension?"
Twilight said nothing, her ears pinned back.
"Is it because the bags combining sometime last night?"
"No.. no." Twilight reassured, looking up at him. "I had a terrible dream last night where you turned against our Equestria."
Justin started to laugh at the absurd idea. "As if. There are way too many ponies I respect and love to do that."
"That didn't seem to stop the you here." Twilight pointed out.
It was now noon and the the two were well on the way to their destination. Justin took a sharp inhale of air as they walked. Twilight looked up at him and playfully nudged him with her flank. He just smiled and nudged her back with the side of his foot.
So the duo played and joked with one another, both lifting their spirits and relieving some stress along the way. And as most friends would, going slightly over board with the other. The two were laughing, giggling, and having a good ol' time just being playful.
Justin caught his foot on something and found his face meeting the ground. Twilight was quick to helping the human back up, his hand rubbing his nose. His eyes went to look at what he failed to to step over and noticed a large piece of metal jutting up out of the ground. It looked old and just slight rusted, but most of the pale alloy remained untouched.
"Is that a piece of metal?" Justin asked.
"Yeah... but most of Cloudsdale is.. well, supposed to be, clouds." Twilight said.
They started to climb up the hill, only to find a crated with destroyed buildings and factories. This was something both weren't used to. At the heart of the ruins was a dome that was mostly intact. Justin was feeling something towards the dome and motioned the alicorn to follow him.
The inside of the dome was derelict. Years of corrosion weren't nice to the structure. Yet, it also smelled of cotton candy and lemons for whatever reason. Further they delved into the funky smelling halls. The duo soon came into a large center room with a single figure standing at the other end.
"You came a long way to see an old man." His voice carried.
"Yeah, a long way to come see myself." Justin said back.
The other Justin turned around rather slowly and pulled his hood down, staring at his younger self. "I suppose that book does have a will of its own after all."
Twilight just stared.
"No matter, it was foolish of you to come here." The older suddenly brandished two swords.
"Now wait a sec." Justin said, putting his hands up. "Let's talk about this."
"What is there to talk about? I lost everything." The older retorted.
"Not everything." Justin smiled, starting to approach the center of the room. "You still have your daughter."
As soon as the younger mentioned of the mare, a specter of Derpy appeared in front of the elder. Not the Derpy the younger was used to, but the older. The specter said nothing as she stared up at him with a smile. The older human just stared back, eyes wide and an almost somber expression.
"She misses you, y'know? I met her and she grew up well." Justin smiled. "She's in Ponyville too."
"I abandoned her..." The older fell to his knees, looking at the specter in the eyes. "..After her mother died... I.. I just lost control.."
"What was her mother like?" Justin asked.
"She was a great mare, the most beautiful pegasus I had ever seen." The older human paused for a moment, wiping a tear with his sleeve. "I met her during my time in Canterlot, was there when she gave birth to Derpy."
Justin stood there in silence.
"I stood by her side, raising little Derpy like she was my own. I was proud to be her father, even if she wasn't really mine." The older started to break down.
Justin approached and the Spectre vanished, putting his hand on the other's shoulder. "It's what's in the heart that counts, not blood."
The other Justin just sat there on his hands and knees.
"It's not too late to go back to her. Be with her as she makes her own way here." Justin told him.
He started to get up, looking at his younger self, then nodded. "You're right.... I shouldn't let my shame and anger control me."
"Heh, well... if you don't mind. I have my own family to go back to." Justin said as he shook the other's hand and turned to see Twilight.
He smiled a bit warmly as he saw his own specters for Derpy, Vinyl, Fudge, Rarity, and the others from his home. Justin stepped slowly as he approached the alicorn, whom of which was caught up in her own tears. He just took her into a tight hug and pulled out the book with the gears on the cover.
"Ready to go home?"
The human closed the book and ran his fingers over the cover. He then set the book on the mantle of his fireplace and smiled a little. Another adventure down, how many more remain? Justin felt a sudden tug at his leg and looked down to see Fudge. Justin picked her up and held her in his arms, going over to the couch and sitting among the other mares. Derpy and Vinyl leaned in on him and Chrysalis lounged on the rest of the couch.
