What if....

Twilight Sparkle watched Princess Celestia walk out of the library with her four guards following. Once the Princess walked out of the room, all of her friends turned to face her. Applejack was the first to speak up.

“Twilight, please don’t scare us like that again.”

“You worried us so much Twilight.” Fluttershy sincerely said, with Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodding in agreement. Twilight felt warmth in her heart, for she knew that her friends truly cared for her. She looked up expectantly at Rainbow Dash, though, when she didn’t say anything.

“What, yeah, I was worried about you, but I knew that you were fine.” Twilight knew that she was lying, but one of her other friends spoke up for her.

“Please Rainbow, you were the most worried out of all of us.” Applejack said. Twilight watched Rainbow close her eyes and sigh.

“I know. I was really worried about you Twilight. You really shouldn’t make us worry like that.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m sorry girls for making you worry. I shouldn’t have walked off alone like that.”

All of her friends smiled, but Pinkie decided to give Twilight a hug as well.

“Aw, well at least your alright Twilight.” Pinkie broke the hug, and soon after she did a loud yawn was heard. Everypony turned to Rarity, the source of the yawn. She blushed in embarrassment.

“Sorry everypony, but I’m really tired. I think I’ll be going to bed soon.” The yawn proved to be contagious, for after Rarity spoke everypony else began to yawn as well.

Applejack spoke up.  “Ah agree with Rarity; ah think it’s time to hit the hay.”

Applejack began to walk towards the door.

“Ah’ll see you later girls.” Applejack said before she opened the door and left. Rarity turned and looked at Twilight.

“Well, looks like I better get going as well,” Pinkie Pie let out a large yawn. “and I think I speak for the rest of us. Goodbye Twilight.” Rarity and Fluttershy walked over to the door, opened it and left. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash walked over to the door.

“Alright Twilight, looks like I better leave. Please, don’t leave without us knowing again.” Rainbow turned an eye towards Spike. “And Spike, please keep an eye on her.” Spike saluted, making Rainbow chuckle.

“Oh, and don’t forget Twilight, tomorrow at 2:00 at Sweet Apple Acres is the party. I’ll be back to remind you later.” Twilight nodded, so Pinkie Pie opened the door.

“Alright, bye Twilight.” Rainbow and Pinkie left, leaving Spike and Twilight.

“You heard Rainbow. You can’t leave without letting us know. You made us worry… you made me worry.

Twilight smiled and walked over to Spike, giving him a hug.

“Don’t worry Spike, I won’t leave without telling you and our friends.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Spike said before letting out a large yawn.

“Well, looks like a certain baby dragon is tired. You should get some rest Spike.”

Spike nodded. “Thanks Twilight.”

“No problem Spike.” Spike walked up the stairs into the loft. Twilight watched as he opened the door and left. As soon as the door closed a flurry of thoughts entered her mind. She shook them off, but one still remained.

“Poor Charlie, he didn’t deserve it. It was probably Heinrich’s doing.” Twilight told nopony in particular. She let a small yawn after she spoke.

“Well, looks like I better get some sleep as well.”

Twilight walked up the stairs, but midway a thought came into her mind.

Princess Celestia never told me more about those scrolls… She yawned again. Oh well, I guess she can tell me next time.

She walked into the loft and heard snoring. She smiled, for she knew that Spike was very tired. She walked up the stairs and up to her bed. She let out one last yawn before she jumped into bed, pulled the covers over her and closed her eyes.

…no, he isn’t.

Then why are we here?

Because my good friend here wanted to see this place.

Where is he at again?

In that forest over there. A circle of…

“What, who’s there?!” Twilight sat up quickly in her bed. She scanned the area for the source of the voices she heard.

“Huh, I guess it was nothing.” Twilight pushed off the sheets and jumped out of bed. Once she was on the floor she stretched her muscles and bones. Once she finished she walked over to the window.

“I hope Spike doesn’t mind me opening up the blinds.” She opened the curtains and let the sunlight in. Twilight shielded her eyes because it was too bright.

“Ugh, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Why is it so bright anyway?” She turned around and looked at a clock on the wall.

“One o’clock! I missed my breakfast with Rarity!” Twilight ran over to the mirror and brushed her mane quickly. Once she finished she bolted down the stairs and used her magic to open the door.

“Good morning Twilight.”

“Rarity?! I’m so sorry; I didn’t make it for breakfast.”

“No need to worry Twilight, I knew you were tired. Besides, we can go for lunch instead.”

“Hey, can I go too?” Spike, who was next to Rarity, asked.

“Certainly my little Spikey Wikey.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you Rarity.”

“It is no problem Twilight.”

Twilight cleared her throat.

“Well then, shall we get going?”

Rarity nodded. “Absolutely.”

Twilight walked over to the door to the outside. She opened it for Rarity, and while she did Spike hopped on her back.

“Thank you Twilight.”

“No problem.”

Twilight walked out of the library and closed the door.

“So Twilight,” Rarity began. “what was he like, oh wait, more importantly what was he wearing?”

Twilight thought about it.

“I think he was wearing some kind of cloak.”

Rarity frowned. “I thought it was rather drab. It might have been dark, but I could clearly see that it was worn out.”

“Well, he had a suite of armor.”

Rarity laughed. “Was it plain?”

“Yes.”

Rarity smiled. “Well, I think I could have made him something absolutely wonderful.”

Twilight also smiled. “I think he would have liked it Rarity. Oh look, we’re here.” They stopped in front of a restaurant.

“Twilight!”

“Huh.” Twilight turned and saw a familiar pony running up to her.

“Oh, hello Lyra, what’s the hurry?”

“I’m glad to see you’re alright. A guard told me what happened.”

Rarity’s ears flicked when she heard this.

“Oh the guards weren’t supposed to tell anypony about that. Princess Celestia didn’t want to cause anymore of an uproar.”

Lyra smiled guiltily. “Well, he didn’t exactly tell me directly. I kinda listened to them talking.”

“Don’t worry about it Lyra,” Twilight said. “and thank you for your concern.”

Lyra gave Twilight a hug. “No problem, and remember about the books on my project.”

“Thanks for reminding me, I’ll have them ready for you when you drop by the library.”

With that said, Lyra walked off in another direction.

“Well how about we get something to eat now.”

“That sounds marvelous.”

Twilight, Rarity and Spike emerged from the restaurant an hour later.

Spike rubbed his belly.

“Ahhh that hit the spot.”

Twilight giggled.

“Well thank you Rarity for this treat.”

“Oh it is no big deal to me Twilight.”

Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back.

“Well, looks like we better get going Rarity. Thanks again for the meal.”

“No problem. Bye Twilight, bye Spike!”

With that done, Spike and Twilight headed back to the library. In short time they reached the library and Twilight approached the door.

“Hey Twilight!” A voice called out. Twilight and Spike turned their heads to see Rainbow Dash flying towards them.

“Good afternoon Rainbow Dash.”

“Twilight, I found this near where the crater of the explosion was.”  She pulled a book out of a saddlebag. Twilight enveloped it with her magic and pulled it out of Rainbow’s mouth.

“Thought it might be important, knowing you would never want a book outside on the ground like it was. Did I also mention that the crater was gone? I think the Princess might have covered it up, but it was also very big!”

“Alright Twilight, I’m going to bed. That was a very big meal and it made me very sleepy.” Spike said before leaving the two outside.

Twilight ignored both Spike and Rainbow. She looked at the book once and immediately recognized it.

“Impossible… this is Charlie’s book!”

“What!”

“Yes,” Twilight shoved the book in Rainbow’s face. “this is the exact book that Charlie had shown me when I was in the tower!”

Rainbow pushed the book away from her face.

“Wow! What’s in it?” she asked.

“His memories.” Twilight replied.

Rainbow stood speechless. “What?”

“Yes, he told me that this was his memory book, but that he was never able to unlock it.”

Rainbow snatched the book from Twilight’s magical grasp.

“Well, how do we unlock it?”

Twilight looked up at Rainbow.

“You’re rather quick to unlock it aren’t you.”

“Well yeah, I want to know what happened to him.”

“Come on Rainbow, I’ll show you inside.”

Twilight and Rainbow walked into the library and sat down.

“I suppose your right. Here, give it to me please.”

Twilight took the book from Rainbow once with her magic and opened it to the first page.

“So Twilight, how do we unlock it again?”

Twilight glanced at the writing.

“Well, I would have to study it and find out what this writing is.”

Twilight’s horn and the book flashed. At first nothing happened, but then the book suddenly began to steam.

“Oops.”

Rainbow smirked. “Nice job Twilight.”

A few moments passed before the steaming stopped. Twilight pulled the book close to her and scanned it.

“Hey, the writing is gone!”

Rainbow dropped her smirk.

“What writing?”

Twilight looked up to Rainbow.

“Sorry, I accidently forgot to show you the writing. There was foreign writing on the first page, but now it’s gone. Here, let me show you the second page.” Twilight turned to the next page.

“Look.” Twilight moved the book to Rainbow.

“Looks like someone drew a heart on the page.”

“Yeah, but touch it.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight suspiciously.

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Rainbow lifted her hoof and placed it on the page while keeping an eye on Twilight. Immediately she retracted it.

“What the hay!”

Twilight chuckled.

“I know, it feels weird huh.”

Rainbow looked at the page with awe in her eyes.

“Awesome!”

Twilight smirked. She then brought the book back in front of her.

“I still don’t get it though, why does the heart feel like that.” Twilight lifted her hoof and placed it on the page.

“Oww!” She received a shock and attempted to retract her hoof, but she was unable to.

“What’s going on!?”

The book suddenly began to shake. Twilight pushed the book with her other hoof and managed to pull off her hoof.

“What did you do Twilight?”

Both ponies watched as the book fell to the floor and suddenly stopped.

“What just happened?” Rainbow asked, surprised.

“I don’t…” Suddenly light appeared from the book and it engulfed the room. Twilight closed her eyes, but a voice began talking, prompting her to open them.

“Mentor, why does it feel like that?”

Twilight looked to her right and noticed that Rainbow was looking towards the middle in awe. Twilight turned her head towards the middle and noticed two transparent humans, one small and another tall with a beard.

“Well, it’s a spell that I placed on the book. It allows one to view their memories.” The bearded one said.

He must be the “mentor” I just heard about.

“Wow, it must have taken you forever to make that spell mentor!”

“Yes it did Charlie, along with that protection spell before this page.”

“Charlie!” Twilight and Rainbow both exclaimed. As soon as they said this the projection disappeared.

“Wait, so that’s Charlie when he was younger! Wow, he was quite tall.” Rainbow exclaimed.

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, he was tall when I met him, but Heinrich was the same height too.”

Rainbow walked over to the book and grabbed it with her mouth. She walked over to Twilight and placed the book in front of her.

“Twilight, do whatever you did to activate it. I want to see what happened before that big explosion.”

“Alright Rainbow, but after that I have to get started on cleaning the library.”

Rainbow frowned. “Aw but why?”

“I have to clean the library Rainbow, and besides, don’t you have an organized weather job to do at 2:30?”

“Well I…” Rainbow glanced up to a clock on the wall. It read 2:25.

“Oh horse feathers, hurry Twilight!”

Twilight smiled, and then opened the book to the heart.

“I think I know how to do it.” Twilight placed her hoof on the heart. After a few moments, however, nothing happened.

“I think you broke it Twilight.”

“I don’t get it, why doesn’t this work?” Twilight asked, but almost immediately after she received a shock. She pulled her hoof from the book and immediately a light engulfed the room once more.

“Mentor, why doesn’t this work?”

Twilight watched as the mentor walked over to Charlie, who was sitting on a chair with the book on a table.

“Charlie, it won’t work unless you don’t say and think of what you want to see…”

The projection once again disappeared.

“Alright, know you know what to do Twilight.”

Twilight nodded then walked over to the book. She placed her hoof on the book.

“Uh, explosion?” Immediately she received a shock. She retracted her hoof as light once again engulfed the room. A projection showed Charlie, Heinrich, who was kneeling next to a crystal, and a guard pony with a sword.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Oh, because you are helping me with my plan, the main reason why I went to the capital of your accursed nation in the first place!”

Twilight and Rainbow watched as Charlie removed his hand from Heinrich’s head.

“Fool”

Heinrich suddenly swung his head. He hit the crystal and it fell. It hit the ground and broke in half. Charlie’s eyes shrunk to pinpoint size.

“NOOO!! Do realize what you have done!”

The guard pony spoke up.

“What! What did he do sir?!”

“He destroyed the crystal and now the one downstairs is going to explode!”

The guard pony’s eyes also shrunk. A dead silence fell in between them. The guard pony was the first to speak up.

“I don’t wanna die sir…”

“Don’t worry Swift, it’ll be alright.”

“….. can you give me a hug?” Rainbow snickered, but Twilight gave her a short glare.

“...yes Swift.”

Heinrich began to laugh.

“Hah! Veaklings.”

“Shut up!” Charlie and Swift said together before a flash engulfed the room and the projection ended.

“Wow…” Twilight said in awe.

“So this is that guy’s fault.” Rainbow said angrily. Twilight nodded.

“Yes, it looks like it was Heinrich’s fault.”

“Well, why couldn’t they escape?”

“I don’t think they would have escaped in time Rainbow.”

“Well that stinks… poor Charlie.”

“I know.” Twilight glanced up at the clock.

“Well Rainbow, looks like it’s time to go, sorry.”

“It’s alright Twilight.” Rainbow sat up. She ran over to the door.

“Bye Twilight!” She said before she opened the door and left.

Twilight didn’t move for a few moments, but then she got up and picked up the book with her magic. She walked upstairs and into the loft. She walked up to her bed and placed the book on it.

“I guess I can read it after I’m done cleaning.”

She looked down at Spike, who was softly snoring. She smiled.

“I can do it by myself. Spike can sleep in today.”

10:00 P.M.

“Ya know Twilight, this would have been done earlier if you had woke me up earlier.”

“I know Spike, but you were sleeping so peacefully, I don’t think that you would have wanted to be have been woken up.”

… Great City…Council…The Purge…

“Twilight...”

“Twilight!”

Twilight looked down at Spike, who was looking at her expectantly.

“Yes Spike.”

“Please open the door.”

Twilight smirked, and then reached towards the door handle.

She pulled it and…

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWILIGHT!!!”

Twilight blushed as her friends ran and gave her a hug.

“Thank you everypony!” She addressed everypony there after her big hug.

She walked over to the table and greeted everypony while on the way there. Once she reached it she poured herself a glass of punch.

“Happy Birthday Twilight!” Twilight turned to those familiar voices.

“Mom, Dad, Shining Armor, you’re here!”

She ran up to them and gave them all a hug.

“Glad we could make it Twilight!” Shining Armor said after his hug.

“I’m happy you all could make it too!”

“Happy birthday Twilight!”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Twilight walked up to the Princesses and bowed.

“No need to do that on your birthday Twilight.” Princess Luna said with a smile.

“I’m so glad you could make it!”

Twilight looked around, but she noticed that she had greeted everypony already.

“Well, I think that’s everyone.” Twilight said aloud.

“Don’t forget about me Twilight.”

“…”

“Happy Birthday Twilight!”

“…”

“Charlie!?”