It was a cloudy day in Ponyville, it looked like it was about to rain. But this would not stop Twilight Sparkle from reaching her old home, which was destroyed by Lord Tirek right before she battled him. The shock she had did not settle, what she felt could not be forgotten easily. It was too intense to be forgotten. Sure, her friends, Spike and the princesses helped her forget. Even Discord helped as best as he could, probably because of Fluttershy, but she can't prove it. Yet, even with all this help, it only pushed it at the back of her mind waiting to be brought back to life by her dearest and closest hobby: Reading Books.
Every time she read them, she remembered the Golden Oaks Library. Her cozy room, her soft bed, Spike preparing nachos, and the main library itself. All the good times she had with her friends; the time when the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to try and earn their cutie mark (and the children invasion afterwards), the time when future Twilight came, the time when she had her first slumber party, all the times she and her friends searched for solutions for any problem that came forth like the time when Trixie came with her Alicorn Amulet. The time when she had her welcoming party in Ponyville. The moment she and her friends departed on her first adventure to fight Nightmare Moon and save Equestria. All of them, and many more, happened in that one particular place... now gone. Forever.
Twilight decided that one such visit was needed. She visited before, saved whatever she could and then left for her new home. She did it for a few days, sometimes with friends, sometimes with Spike. But now, none of them could be there; they had something to do. Twilight had too: to say her last goodbyes. Leaving the castle, she knew that she had to pick up the pace, the weather was not on her side. It looked like it was about to rain, and it was seriously unbecoming of her princess status to be in the rain in public. Despite knowing that, however, she couldn't care for today. Today she wasn't going there as a princess. No, she was going there as the librarian she was. As the owner she was. As the 'egghead' she was.
She walked at her own pace, thinking about all the memories, good or bad there were, regarding her broken library. With those memories came sadness and sorrow. She knew she wasn't going to live there anymore. She knew her place was in that castle. She knew that it won't be the same. And she had to cope with it, and she knew that as well. Taking a deep breath she pressed on, somehow an increasingly pressing feeling of hesitation came to her mind. The question was: Why? Was there another solution? What was she to do? The library is dead and it cannot be saved. Nothing can and nobody can. Not her, not her friends, not even Princess Celestia! So why is she reluctant?! Why does she have to stop dead in her tracks and think about how she cannot save the library and not want to go there when clearly the only thing to do there is save whatever was left and give her last goodbyes?!
She took a deeper breath and soon she came back to her senses. She was right; there was nothing else she could do. So she might as well just do this last trip to her old library. She shrugged those feelings of reluctancy from her mind and she continued walking, ignoring them as best as she could. She will not run away this time. It was time for her to grow up. And whether she liked it or not, she had no choice. It wasn't something time travel could stop either. It would have been too good to be real. When she fought Tirek, she was blind with fury, but now it all came clear to her. She threw so much power into him and attacked him so hard that regardless how powerful or maybe even invincible he was, the fact stayed crystal clear: He was an unstoppable force. Not even her, with all the alicorn magic, could stop him.
But just thinking about everything she lost; her memories, her first home, her books, everything she held dear to... Gone. In a blast! In a blast that should have never happened. What was his problem anyway?! Because if he had a secret hate for books, he clearly made it clear when she and Owlowiscious got blasted at least fifty meters from her burning house! How could Tirek do something like that?! Was he seriously that heartless? Ponyville never did anything to him! Neither the Library! Neither Owlowiscious! Neither any of the books there! Neither anything! By Celestia, how much she wanted to travel to Tartarus and give him a very good piece of her mind! Why-oh-why did he have to destroy her library?!
Twilight bumped into something hard, like wood... she arrived. And she couldn't help but feel tears building up as she looked up. The remains of the library standing even now, unmoved by wind, rain, or gravity. There was no longer any fire to devour it. Her house, her dear, beloved library... destroyed and gone in a blast. She fought not to cry in front of it. It may sound silly to her, but she somehow knew that this was not what the library wanted. However, the strong feeling of sorrow started to take over again. Her friends gathered here countless times to have fun and do whatever they wanted; from slumber parties to saving Equestria. Once, a large tree with a house full of rooms filled with furniture, books and friendship. Now, just an extinguished husk of a tree with nothing but destroyed furniture, burned books and nothing more. Nothing at all.
She decided that it was no point in standing like this and entered the remains of her once known house. The library was all grey and barely anything else. There were remains of books everywhere, torn pages and burnt wood. Even holes on the floor. The table now had no horse on it, it was plain empty and torn as well. Taking a deep breath she looked inside the tree, the fresh air was almost like a mockery to her; it felt like just yesterday the library smelt of fire, burned wood and shattered memories. And two days ago it smelled fresher but not as fresh as if she was outside. Now it smells as if she was outside, and that stench of fresh air was everywhere and only a subtle smell of ashes was mixed with it. One last glance was shot at the stairs that once lead to her bedroom, now leading to nothing. She painfully proceeded to get whatever remained from her old library for the last time. Forever.
It took less time than she expected. Within two or three hours, everything Twilight managed to save was put in a carton box. Half burned pictures of her friends and Spike, some old, slightly-burned books, and other nothings now converted into things that have a higher moral value than she would usually expect. She was in the basement, where most of the things were taken from. The basement, as Twilight came to expect, was the least affected. Nevertheless, the wood that fell from the floor above her, ash and a generic pile of debris and mess had another opinion; the basement, despite being underground, was still in a pretty bad shape. All this gathered made her not want to leave this place. The fact in front of her that this place is gone forever was something she tried to deny, but it failed. All the memories spent here, everything which happened here; she wanted to keep them. She wanted to live them again. Her whole life was here. But... what was she to do now? She must start over. She couldn't just start over. She can't just let all of her library go away from her mind in a snap of time. It was so easy to say yet so hard to do. How could she restart her life just like Tirek blew her house out?
Suddenly, those thoughts were silenced by the rain which started. She was late. Great. Most of her cherished things will have to be covered or shielded. But when she got upstairs, something was different: A yellow rose grew from the middle of the table.
'Was that there before?' Twilight thought perplexed. She didn't remember seeing it there before. It was clearly brightly colored; or the contrast between the rose and the library was so strong it made it look as if it was bright. Leaving the levitating box on the ground, she came closer for a more detailed inspection. Inspecting closer, Twilight realizes that the rose wasn't simply put there; it literally grew from the middle of the table. But that's impossible. Not only that this rose did not have the conditions to grow from a tree trunk, but this tree does not grow bright, almost shining, yellow roses. And even if it did; she would have seen it when she entered. She took a good look at the room when she was scavenging, she most certainly would have seen it. There was a note pinned down near the flower. Twilight took the pin off and brought the note closer to her and she began reading what seemed to be written in an ordered manner and in a beautiful font. Whomever wrote it, wrote it with magic and knew how to write elegantly.
Dear Twilight,
I left this letter and this rose here to express my deep condolences. When I first heard the news, I was completely devastated and shocked beyond words. I know that words cannot help you much right now, especially if they are written on a nailed piece of paper. But believe me when I am saying that I truly care for you and that I really sympathise with you over your loss. No pony deserves what you received; let alone someone like you.
When I visited Ponyville, I always wanted to visit this library and borrow some books. But that never happened; and not a single day passed without me thinking about visiting the library and borrow books or learn the spells I needed. Even if I never showed it, deep down I always wanted. And now, I regret not doing so. When I heard who did this to you, I wanted to pull him out of his misery. To make him pay for doing what he did to you. Even as powerless as I was. I wanted to bring him to justice as much as you.
I know this must be incredibly hard for you, but please, Twilight. Follow this advice: You must continue without it. I know your life happened here and I know it's going to be hard. But nothing lasts forever. Things get torn and changed by age. Even the Princesses had hard times. You may be ageless, but you, like all of us, are exposed to sadness and feelings which bring us down. And that is our mutual weakness. Celestia felt the same at one point. Yet, she managed not to get consumed by it.. And now, she is the leader all of Equestria could ever hope for. I believe the same thing can happen to you Princess Twilight Sparkle.
For any pony that has ever been great, has passed through some great obstacles in their life. It's what makes them strong. It's not magic which makes the unicorn strong, or the wings of a pegasus, or the muscles of an Earth pony. It is our heart. For our hearts drive us to go further. To pass the impossible obstacles and become greater than before. To be strong and never yield to sadness or depression. That is hope. And hope is what pushes us to pass those obstacles. The hope that everything will be better.
And after hearing what you have done for all of us, I have never hoped so strong before; that you, not only as a Princess, but as a strong leader and pony, will pass through these hard times. For I have seen you never give up. And I shall never see you give up.
I cannot speak for every pony, but I can speak for myself. And I have to say, that you have what it takes to get over this terrible event, and pass many others that will come. If Princess Celestia can do it, so can you. You saved Equestria at least four times! You purified a Princess. You stopped chaos from spreading and turned it into a valuable friend. You stopped an invasion. You stopped a demonic centaur who had all of Equestrias magic at his fingertips! You may not be aware just how much you did Twilight Sparkle, but let me tell you this. You have the strongest magic within you. The Magic of Friendship. And you shall overcome anything with it. Even terrible events. I don't think that. I know that.
You may not know who left you this letter and the rose. Again, sincere condolences for your loss. I know at one point you will overcome the sadness in your heart. I know your friends will help you; so let them help you as much as you can. Be the pony you were meant to be; Princess Twilight Sparkle. And don't let anybody, not even life, say otherwise. Because when you are with friends, not even life can stop you.
Yours truly,
A Great and Faraway Friend.