The mystery of the dark lands

Twilight didn't know what to think at this point. Her wings flapped themselves, and her hooves were wrapped tightly around Star Swirl's journal, but her mind was in a completely different place.

"Deja vu, eh?"

"Huh?" Twilight instantly turned her head towards the voice. Rainbow Dash had stayed out of her conversation with Star Swirl completely, nearly making Twilight forget that she was even here.

"You know..." Rainbow Dash continued. "The way we arrived here just to leave the old pony standing the way he was...Just the same as last time."

"Yeah..." Twilight replied and shifted her attention back towards the statue in front of her.

"Well...almost the same," Rainbow Dash said and hinted at the object Twilight held onto so firmly. Twilight was still dazed from the whole thing and wasn't responding. For a moment there, Rainbow Dash felt like she was talking to herself. "Sooo..." Rainbow Dash raised the tone of her voice, hoping that Twilight would finally hear her. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah...sure..." Twilight slowly replied, as if unaware what she was saying. Despite the positive answer, Twilight just kept on flying in one spot.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flew a bit closer to her friend. "Twilight!" she shouted right into her ear.

"Huh? What? Wh-Wh-who..." Twilight started energetically shaking her head, as though she had just awoken from a nightmare. "Rainbow Dash?" she asked after she stopped shaking her head and focused her sight on her friend.

"The one and only," Rainbow Dash proudly replied. Apparently the chance to shout in Twilight's ear like that put her in a good mood. "Ready to head back?" she repeated once more.

"Of course!" Twilight replied, no longer sounding like a mindless slave. Both of them flew off at the same time and continued their conversation on the way.

"I sure hope that journal has something useful for us," Rainbow Dash said while inspecting the book in Twilight's hooves.

"No kidding!" Twilight agreed right away "If it doesn't, then we won't even have so much as a lead anymore."

"So that's what it all comes down to, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"That book!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "We're putting all our hopes on some withered, old scrapbook...I mean, I'm not saying that I don't trust old Star Swirl, it's just that..." She paused for a moment. Twilight stared into her eyes during this interval. "What if that journal doesn't have anything for us?" Rainbow Dash asked deeply.

"It has to!" Twilight instantly replied with an assured look.

"But what if it doesn't?" Rainbow Dash repeated her question.

Twilight turned her head back to the road in front of her as she pondered on the question. She gave it some consideration and kept thinking for some time, but couldn't come up with anything. "Well, lets just hope that doesn't happen."

And with that, the journey continued without another word said during all the way back to Ponyville.

                                                                 ***

The two ponies parted ways shortly before reaching Twilight's castle. Twilight promised to let Rainbow Dash know as soon as she found something out before they separated, but Rainbow Dash still couldn't help but think that this whole thing wouldn't have a happy ending.

As Twilight sat down into comfortable position, she held the journal in front of her, trying to decide whether to read every last word in it, or just the part of it that actually mattered - Star Swirl's last few entries. Twilight would have loved nothing more than study it from top to bottom.

After all, it's not every day you get to hold such a treasure. Even in a place as peaceful as Equestria, there would no doubt be those who would be willing to hurt someone just to get their hands on that journal, but Twilight was able to resist the temptation. She opened the journal at a part slightly past the middle, and kept turning one page after another, slowly nearing the end.

She soon noticed something that seemed to be relevant to their cause, and so she started reading from that point, all the way to the end. As she kept on reading, her expression only kept on turning more and more grim with each page she turned. Whatever it was that she found out, it certainly didn't seem like it was the answer she had hoped to find.

She soon turned the journal over to the very last page and started reading the final paragraph. As her eyes quickly drove over the last line of words, she closed the book right away and kept sitting without moving or saying a thing. She looked scared, as though she had read something that only made things worse instead of providing a solution.

The book may have been closed, but the final words in it rung through her head long after she had stopped reading them.

Those fools...

They will never realize!

They leave me no choice, I'll have to give up my own life to save many others.

I can only pray that the ponies of future generations have more wit than those I currently know.

                                                                       ***

Rainbow Dash quickly got tired of sitting and waiting for Twilight to find her, so she decided to find her instead. Already on the noon of the next day, Twilight's castle got it's first visitor on that day, and, what a surprise, Rainbow Dash found her reading again. She actually expected to see her reading, but she expected to see her with a completely different book in front of her.

"Mornin, Twi!" Twilight wasn't nearly as startled by Rainbow's greet as she was last time.

"It's a bit too late to be calling it morning, don't you think?" she answered the greeting with a question.

"Well, I only just woke up, so it's still morning for me, he he," Rainbow Dash laughed. "Shouldn't you be reading Star Swirl's journal instead?" Rainbow Dash asked and pointed at the book in front of Twilight. (which wasn't Star Swirl's journal)

"Oh! I actually finished reading it already," Twilight explained.

"Aaand?"

"You were right!" Twilight happily replied.

"I was?" Rainbow Dash asked. She got confused as she tried to recall what she said yesterday.

"Mmhm," Twilight nodded. "There wasn't anything useful for us in that journal," Twilight happily admitted and kept on reading her book.

Rainbow Dash froze up in a state of utter confusion. What kind of game is she playing? she wondered. If she wanted to see the look on my face after pulling my leg like that, then now's the best time to take a look... Rainbow Dash waited, assured that Twilight was about to turn around and laugh at her priceless expression, right before admitting that she was just kidding and has everything figured out...but none of that happened.

"Umm...Twilight?"

"Hmm?" Twilight responded, but didn't let her eyes off of her book.

"Are you...feeling alright?"

"Never better, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight gladly answered. "Why do you ask?"

Rainbow just kept flapping her wings and hanging in mid air with her mouth half open and her hoof raised as though she she was about to ask a question. Even though Twilight didn't get an answer to her last question, she didn't seem one bit bothered by it. She just kept on reading her book as if unaware that Rainbow Dash was still in the room.

"Sooo...we're not going to do anything about the dark lands?"

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash," Twilight calmed her friend. "The dark lands only grow a little bit over a full century. You won't be around by the time they reach Ponyville," Twilight explained in a very cheerful tone and continued reading.

Something definitely wasn't right, but what exactly, Rainbow Dash couldn't answer, so she just kept asking questions in hopes that she could get an answer that wouldn't just leave her even more confused than before asking.

She's being serious, isn't she? Rainbow Dash asked herself, right before she put her hooves on the ground and slowly walked up to Twilight to ask her question out loud. "You're being serious, aren't you?" Her voice seemed to have regained some confidence.

"Of course! I wouldn't joke about something like this," Twilight replied without changing her joyful tone.

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. She continued after a long sigh, "Twilight...what was in that journal?"

"I already told you," Twilight retorted, shifting her eyes towards Rainbow Dash for the first time since their conversation began. "Nothing important!" She turned back to reading. Even though she could no longer really focus on what she read.

"Actually, you said - nothing useful," Rainbow Dash corrected her.

"What difference does it make!?" Twilight shouted back in an irritated tone.

"I know you, Twilight..." Rainbow Dash stated in a quiet and caring voice. "And I know something's not right here...This isn't you!"

"If you knew me, then you would also know that I don't like meaningless conversations!" Twilight's tone got less and less friendly as the conversation went on.

Rainbow Dash let out another loud sigh again and lowered her head for a moment, balancing it on one hoof. "Listen..."

"No, you listen!" Twilight shouted back and turned around. "I've had just about enough of your pointless arguments!" Twilight kept shouting and walking closer to Rainbow Dash while pointing her hoof at her. Rainbow Dash backed away slowly. "So unless you can come up with something actually relevant to ask or say, I'd appreciate  it if you would leave me alone!"

By the time Twilight finished shouting, she had her friend backed up into a corner, and the hoof she was pointing at her was now right on her chest. After giving her one last angry look, Twilight turned around and walked back to her book with an arrogant look on her face.

Rainbow Dash wasn't one to get easily hurt by a few harsh words, but Twilight's attitude was still hard to take. Whatever had gotten into her, Rainbow Dash no longer had it in her to try and get through to her. Rainbow Dash hung her head and slowly walked over to the window. She quietly said out a few last words to her friend right before flying off.

"Give me a call once you've gotten a hold of yourself, Twilight."

"Uggh! For the last time! I'm..." Twilight shouted and turned around, only to find herself pointing her hoof at thin air. "Whatever," Twilight said out in a careless attitude and resumed her reading.

Twilight calmed herself as she thought that she could finally get some time to herself...Unfortunately for her, she didn't get to enjoy her peace for long. Not long after Rainbow Dash left, another visitor came up from behind her and quietly said out her name.

"Twilight?..."