What if....

Charlie awoke slowly to the sound of laughter. He sat up and immediately pain shot through his head. He placed a hand on his head and rubbed it.

“Charlie!”

He turned and saw Twilight Sparkle running towards him.

“You did excellent!” She said as soon as he reached him.

Memories of the earlier fight began to return to him. He frowned.

“But I lost…”

“Don’t worry about it; you saved Rainbow.”

“Wait, what happened… and how long was I out for?” He asked.

“I knocked Dmitri unconscious, and you were out for a few moments.” The princess suddenly said as she walked up to him.

“With what?”

“A stun spell, not too hard to accomplish.”

“Where is he?” Charlie asked.

“Right behind you.”

Charlie turned around and noticed that indeed Dmitri lay on the floor behind him.

Charlie attempted to get up.

“Charlie, don’t get up to fast, it’s dangerous.”

Charlie nodded, and then got up slowly. He walked over to Dmitri and kneeled next to him.

I guess the princess is the real victor here… I wonder. Charlie reached for Dmitri’s chest and pushed his shirt aside. He found what he was looking for. He heard the clop clop of hooves coming from around him. He turned his head around and saw Rainbow, Twilight, Spike, the princess, and a few guards walking up to him. He then looked around and saw a bunch of ponies dispersing.

“What are you looking at?” Rainbow asked.

“I wondered if he had an OFE necklace, and it appears that he does.”

“What’s OFE?” The princess asked.

“A group formed by humans. Their intentions were on keeping kingdoms tyranny free and on obtaining immortality, in any way possible. They had necklaces that they wore at all times, one that I was about to take from Dmitri.”

Charlie once again reached for Dmitri’s chest, but this time he reached for the necklace. He grabbed it and ripped it off Dmitri’s neck.

“Alright, that takes care of that.” Charlie pocketed the necklace. He then stood up. “Oh, there’s one last matter that I have to take care of.”

Charlie reached into his cloak and pulled out his book.

“Why do you need your book?” Twilight asked. Charlie smiled.

“My mentor taught me a trick that lets me view other’s memories. I need to know what happened before the purge, and he was present for it.” Charlie said before he opened the book. He levitated it using magic, and then placed one hand on the page with the heart on it. He then knelt down and placed one hand on Dmitri’s forehead. Charlie closed his eyes and whispered a few words. Blue light began to surround the book. He opened his eyes and light suddenly erupted from the book, surrounding the area. Charlie removed hands from the book and Dmitri, letting the book float on its own. He then walked next to the ponies as a projection began to appear.

“Nikolai, pick up zhe relic.” Dmitri turned to Nikolai. “Vith care.”

He watched as Nikolai picked up the relic, and then nodded to him.

“Come on, ve must get ready.”

Nikolai nodded, and then followed his mentor out of the room.

They headed up the tower. Finally, after a while, they reached the top.

“Come Nikolai, ve are almost zhere.”

They walked through the large room, where there were thousands of people, all crowded in the room. They did made space as Dmitri and Nikolai walked through, though. They eventually walked into the middle, where there were guards who surrounded a pedestal. Dmitri stopped in front of it, and Nikolai walked up to it. He placed the Relic of the Sun and the Moon on it.

“Zhank you Nikolai… ehem.”

He turned around and faced the huge crowd in front of him.

“NOW IS THE TIME, MY COMRADES! NOW IS THE TIME THAT WE END THIS WAR, AND RESTORE PEACE UPON THE LAND!”

The crowd cheered.

“NOW, LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR MAGIC, AND WE SHALL LIVE IN PEACE!!!”

The crowd let out another hearty cheer, and then Dmitri nodded and turned to the relic.

“Ready Nikolai.”

Nikolai nodded, and then turned around to face the relic as well. Dmitri placed his hands on it and began to focus. A light blue magic began to encase the relic, but something else began. The ground suddenly began shaking. Everyone looked around with fear in all their eyes.

“YES, NOW IS THE TIME!”

The ground began to shake violently, toppling people over. The relic began to glow a different color, a bright shade of violet. Dmitri kept his hands on the relic, but he felt power through him.

“YES, IMMORTALITY SHALL BE MINE!”

Suddenly a violet streak of energy struck out, striking hundreds of people. Immediately they turned into a pile of bones. People began to panic as they saw their fellow humans turn into bones and ran for the exit, yet they wouldn’t make it. More violet streaks of energy struck out, killing more and more people. Many close to the relic faced death a different way. Violet arms reached out and absorbed the people’s energy, leaving piles of more bones. An arm reached out for Nikolai, who scrambled to leave. Dmitri watched in fear as the violet streak of energy grabbed Nikolai. Nikolai turned to his mentor, but when Dmitri saw his face, he saw a smile. He saw white energy being absorbed from Nikolai, who kept on smiling.

“Nikolai!?”

“Goodbye… Mentor.” Nikolai said in a deep voice before he disintegrated, right in front of Dmitri’s eyes.

“NOOOO!!!!!”

The projection ended, leaving everypony shaken. Twilight was the first to recover. She shook her head and glanced up at Charlie, who was tearing up.  She glanced down at Rainbow, Spike and the guards, who all appeared to be shaken up. She finally glanced up at the princess, who was staring straight forward, mouth wide open.

“Princess, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

A few minutes passed, yet the princess didn’t respond. Everypony else recovered and glanced up at the princess.

“Your majesty, are you alright?” A guard asked.

“Yes, I’m fine; it’s just that the symbols on that relic… they’re very familiar.”

“….”

“To what?” Twilight asked.

“To the Elements of Harmony.”

Part 3, “Memories” Duo logy

What if another human survived the purge?