She had been standing there for who knew how long, but even after so much time had passed, she still could not believe what her eyes were telling her. Twilight Sparkle, newly-crowned Princess of Friendship, had only yesterday accomplished what was once thought impossible. She and her friends had united to vanquish the ancient creature known as Tirek, a brutal despot bent on stealing all of the magic from the ponies of Equestria. With the help of the Tree of Harmony, and the power it had given them, they had brought down the beast and sent him back to Tartarus where he belonged.

That victory had undone virutaly everything he had unleashed, with unicorns regaining their magic, pegasi once more able to fly, and earth ponies strong again. But, as Twilight now understood, that victory was not total. The scars of Tirak's rampage across Equestria still remained in places, but for her, no place was more apparent in this than what now stood before her. For here, in the centre of Ponyville, was the charred remnants of the town's library. A place that, for many years, had been her home.

She hated to see it like this, broken and burned, with scarcely anything left to show of the great tree that had once stood here. Taking a deep breath, she started moving forward. The air was still thick with the smell of smoke from where Tirek had incinerated it. It was a sickly smell, and once that caused her to scrunch her nose once she took a whiff of it. It didn't take long for her to reach the front door, barely holding onto it's hinges. Raising a hoof, she brought it to the door's handle and began to turn. But, as she suspected, the damage was already too great, and all it took was the mere turning of the knob for the door to break off it's hinges and fall forward.

To see one's home brought low like this would have been a terrible experience for any pony, but for Twilight, this place was far more to her than just a home. That train of thought was interrupted however by a sudden and unexpected voice from behind.

"Twilight?"

The young alicorn spun around to see, standing not three feet from her, was her loyal friend and assistant, Spike. The young dragon looked at her, his face showing clear concern for her right now. Twilight put on a small smile, trying her hardest to put on a brave front for his sake. But the way he looked at her with those big green eyes of his made it clear that he knew perhaps better than anypony just how much she was hurting right now. So, sighing, the smile vanished from her face as she spoke to the young dragon.

"It's okay, Spike. I...I need to do this."

Spike had known Twilight long enough to know that when she planned on doing something, she was always going to see it through. The Princess turned from her friend to the now-open doorway before her, before taking a few steps inside. If the outside was bad, the inside was even worse. There was no ceiling any more, merely the remnants of the staircase that had led upstairs to Twilight and Spike's bedroom. The wooden furnishings were all blackened with the fires that had been raging here. All about there was nothing but broken book-cases and burned books strewn about the floor.

Twilight had always loved books, ever since she was just a little filly. She'd never liked seeing them damaged or mistreated in any way. In some ways, she treated them with just as much reverence and respect as she did with any living,. breathing pony. To see so many destroyed like this, it was a terrible thing for her. But even with that, there was one thought that kept nagging away at her. A single notion that had latched onto her mind ever since Tirek had decimated this place. A thought which, in a wobbly voice, she now uttered.

"This...was our home."

Spike said nothing, but walked alongside his lifelong friend to see the look upon her face. He detested ever having to see Twilight sad at any moment in her life, and here, it was clear to anypony that she was simply crushed by all this. It was not as though Spike felt any differently though. This had been his home just as much as it had been hers. A point he was now willing to speak of to her.

"I know. We had so many good days here. That awesome welcome to Ponyville party that Pinkie threw for us both. Meeting Owlowiscious for the first time. Heck, it was even where you unlocked Starswirl's spell and became a Princess!"

Twilight's small smile from before returned, but only briefly.

"You're right, Spike. There were many great memories we had here. I remember when I first came to Ponyville all those years ago. I was so eager to get my work done, I felt I couldn't leave this place fast enough. But..."

Twilight stopped and looked around, looking upon what remained of her beloved library, with many parts of it still smouldering. Her lips tightened at the sight of it, as did her eyes when she closed them, and she hung her head low.

"...but after I decided to stay here...after making so many friends...it felt more like home to me than any other place I'd ever been. More than where I grew up in Canterlot. More than Celestia's school. This was the first place where..."

Opening her eyes once more, she looked down at her dragon friend, who only now saw that her eyes were welling up.

"...where I felt I belonged."

The young dragon watched his friend, increasingly upset by the state she was in, but nevertheless carried on listening to her.

"I never had any friends besides you or Shining Armour before I came here. I never went on any adventures. This place was a part of me. And now..."

It was here that Twilight finally broke down, buckling down onto all four knees, with her tears finally coming loose.

"...now it's gone!"

As Spike looked at her, he couldn't help but feel the sheer heartbreak she was experiencing. That monster had blown this place away like it was nothing, just for his own selfish ends. It was the only home the two of them had ever wanted, and it had been stolen from them. Spike didn't know what to say to her. What COULD he say to her? There was nothing he knew of that could possibly make her feel better about this. He knew what he might have said, that maybe a new tree could be planted, or a new library built. But he knew that was pointless. Even if they rebuilt it from scratch, made every single square inch of it the same, it wouldn't be their library anymore. It would just be a copy, an imitation, and a constant reminder of what the two had lost.

He watched her, seeing the seemingly endless flow of tears come from her, when he suddenly noticed something. There was a slight glimmer in the corner of his eye, and he turned to see that something was buried in the rubble on the ground. He didn't want to leave Twilight's side, but he knew that if something had survived Tirek's attack, it was worth finding. So, he walked over and began removing all the debris from the site, catching Twilight's attention as he did so. Once he'd uncovered as much as he could, he looked upon what was there, and a smile crept onto his face.

Twilight craned her neck to see what he was now picking up from the ground, but Spike was now turning around and walking back to her. The young Princess' eyes widened when they saw that, somehow, one book had survived. But this was not just any book, but one very familiar and dear to her. Adorned with the golden symbol of an alicorn head, this might have appeared to some as nothing but a mere children's story, a fable telling of the tale of Nightmare Moon. But to Twilight, it was far more than that. It was the book that had led her to speak to Celestia of the possibility of Nightmare's return, which had led to her being sent to Ponyville in the first place.

As she took the book from Spike, she looked at her young friend, who was now smiling at her.

"Twilight...our home here is gone. Nothing I can say or do will change that. But losing it hasn't made you lose what it brought you."

Twilight tilted her head as the dragon stepped forward, placing one hand on Twilight's hoof.

"You were right when you said that living here helped you make friends. Those friends are still there, Twilight. They haven't gone away, neither will all the great memories you, me and the girls made here. The building might be gone, but you still have what made it special. And that's something Tirek could never take away."

There were moments when her young friend truly surprised her, and this was most definitely one of them. He was right about this place, and about her. The friendships she forged here, and the wonderful times they shared, would always be a part of her, tree or no tree. She had to remember that, and she knew she would for as long as there was breath in her body. For the first time today, she broke into a genuine smile, and moved forward to nuzzle Spike, which resulted in the young dragon returning the favour with a hug.

As the two held each other in the ruins of their old home, they felt a great appreciation for each other in this one moment. But, as was always the case, their embrace ended, and they gave each other knowing looks. A sound from behind diverted their attention, and the two looked on to see that their friends had gathered outside. Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie were all standing there, bearing big smiles on their faces, as if they knew what Twilight herself had only just realized. Chuckling to herself, she got up off the ground and made her way towards her friends, with her now-rescued book hovering beside her with her magic, and Spike walking in-tow.

But before she reached her friends, she turned and looked one last time on the place that had meant so much to her for so long, and gave a small smile.

"Goodbye, old friend. And thank you...for everything."