The mystery of the dark lands

"Twilight?..."

Despite still being a bit on the edge after her talk with Rainbow Dash, Twilight simply couldn't raise her voice at Spike for no reason.

"Yes, Spike?...Aah!" Twilight's face suddenly turned pale. She gasped loudly after seeing what was Spike carrying. She ran over and snatched Star Swirl's journal out of Spike's hands. "How much did you read?" she asked in a loud and stressed out voice. "How much!?" she asked even louder after not getting a reply for some time.

"Enough..." Spike quietly answered.

"Oh Spike," Twilight said out in a sad tone and walked over to hug her young assistant. "What ever made you read it?"

"Just plain curiosity, I suppose."

"Oh Spike..." Twilight repeated in an even sadder voice and hugged Spike even more tightly. "I wish you hadn't..."

"Hggh!" Spike pushed his hands against Twilight's chest and broke free from the firm hug. "But I did!" Spike replied loudly. "And I know what needs to be done.

"Oh Spike...You don't have to..."

"I do, Twilight!" Spike interrupted. "You heard it from Star Swirl himself! His last resort was hoping that the future generations would have what it takes to succeed where he could not, and we can! He gave up his own life for this cause! We can't let all his work be for naught!"

Twilight wasn't sure what hurt her more - Spike's harsh tone, or the fact that he was absolutely right about everything. "You don't have to do this, Spike!" Twilight still attempted to reason with the young dragon. "Who's to say we are that exact future generation he meant? There's still time, maybe someone else will..."

"No, Twilight," Spike broke her sentence again. "We can end this here and now...We can and we will!" Spike shouted in a voice full of energy and life, like a commander inspiring his troops before a battle. "No more waiting, no more hoping...no more delaying." Having spoken his mind, Spike hung his head.

"There has to be another way, there has to!...I..." Twilight lost her voice for a moment. She turned around and stared at the window with a face full of sorrow.

"You know as well as I do, Twilight," Spike calmly explained and walked closer to Twilight. As he approached her, Twilight turned her head towards him. Spike stared deeply into her teary eyes and whispered. "The heart of a pony can cause a delay, but only a dragon's heart can end the corruption."

No longer able to keep her sorrow inside, Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike and started crying loudly. "Oh Spike..." Spike soon started feeling one cold teardrop on his back after another. He answered Twilight's hug to help soothe her pain.

As the two held each other in their grasp, they remembered all the times they've spent together. Twilight was like a mother to Spike, and her love for him was undying, just as Spike's love for her was no less genuine than a son's love for his mother.

Spike tried to stay brave, he tried to go through this with a straight face, but the memories finally got through to him. He sniffed loudly as a single tear rained down his cheek. Both of them disengaged from the hug for a short moment. During this short moment, both sets of teary eyes met each other and lingered.

"Are you sure about this?" Twilight asked in naive hopes that Spike had suddenly changed his mind. Her tone was desperate, even though she already knew just what answer Spike would give, she still couldn't help but ask one last time.

"I am," Spike answered confidently, right before both their heads reached for each other's shoulders again. "I'll miss you Twilight."

                                                                         ***

Spike and Twilight had already said their goodbye's, and the time for their final journey together was at hand. Twilight carried him gently on her back as she slowly departed for the dark lands. As she flew, both of them kept looking left and right, at all the sights on their way, and almost every single one brought back more memories.

By the time they had arrived at the dark lands, they had had the time to dwell in just about every single one of their memories together, and, naturally, the dark lands weren't a good place for reminiscence.

"No wonder no one comes here..." Spike quietly said while looking around.

Spike was a bit more resistant to the rough climate around this place, so he didn't start breathing heavier until the very moment they reached Star Swirl's statue, but, nevertheless, Twilight still cast her protective barrier spell. If not for Spike, than at least for herself.

Star Swirl's statue was already in sight. As soon as they reached it, Twilight let Spike off her back, right next to the statue on the pillar. Spike spent a moment admiring the statue, but he soon got all serious. After shaking his head, he spoke in an assured tone. "Alright," He exhaled loudly. "I'm ready!"

Twilight hugged him one last time, right before backing away. After moving a good distance from him, she sadly stared at him and waited for him to say the magic words. "I can't!" she suddenly cried out and covered her face. "I can't watch you do this!" she lifted her head and stared at Spike with tears blurring her vision.

"You don't have to!" Spike shouted back at her. "I know the words! I can do this on my own, Twilight!"

Twilight didn't let her eyes off of him for some time, she kept staring until her tears dried off, and then she slowly nodded. "Goodbye, Spike," she quietly said out while backing away and waving at her most beloved dragon.

"Goodbye, Twilight," Spike replied right away and also waved. They kept on waving at each other until the moment Twilight turned around and flew away.

Twilight landed in a spot that was safe from earthquakes, but where the land was still dark. She sadly stared at the ground and waited for something to happen.

Right after Twilight faded from his view, Spike took a deep breath and said to himself, "Alright...here we go!" Right before he began the chant.

The heart of a pony can cause a delay,

But only a dragon's heart can end the corruption.

Stand tall, cast all fear and all doubt away.

Stand proud and witness the final eruption.

Know that I won't stand by and see my home torn apart.

I will act, that which was tainted, I'll make pure.

The fire under me burns hot, but not as hot as the one in my heart.

And I offer it here today, I offer the only cure.

A bright surge of light shined over the center of the dark lands, and the broken land pulled itself together quick enough. Soon enough, there wasn't a single drop of lava to be seen anywhere. As Twilight stood near the end of the dark land, she saw the grass under her hooves turn green.

"It's over..." she whispered to herself and walked away slowly with her head hanging low.

                                                                         ***

Later that day, Twilight's closest friends found out about everything that happened on that day. Even though all of them were sad bout the fact that they would never see Spike again, it was no secret that their sorrow couldn't even be compared to Twilight's.

All of them found themselves sitting in Twilight's castle with wide frowns on their faces. They were all there because they knew Twilight needed them now, more than ever. It hadn't even been a full hour since Twilight's last return from the dark lands, but already it felt like something was missing...

Twilight sat with her head on on her crossed hooves on the ground. So much had been said already, but she still waited for more to be said. Time heals all wounds, they say, and this one would take a lot of time.

Twilight sat wondering and waiting. Waiting to hear another one of her friend's voices. She wasn't certain about which one would she be hearing next, but she sure as day knew which one would she like to hear - It was the same one she expected least likely to hear...but like an answer to her prayers, that voice was exactly the one she heard.

Twilight raised her head up and focused on the voice, she made sure her ears weren't deceiving her...If they were, then her ears weren't the only ones that were in error. All of her friends also raised their heads up and widened their eyes as they listened to the voice echoing through the staircase leading to their current floor.

"Hah, if you thought that was impressive, wait til I show you the upper floors!" The voice got so distinct that every word could be understood.

Twilight quickly stood up and rushed over to the stairs. Her friends followed her right away.

"Aah, yes. I can't wait." Another voice joined the other one in the staircase, also one Twilight recognized.

As she reached the staircase, she rubbed her eyes and stared at the sight she found so hard to believe.

"Oh! Hey Twilight!" Twilight got cheerfully greeted by the same dragon she thought she would never see again.

"Spike?"

"The one and only!" Spike proudly replied.

"Spike!" Twilight rushed over to hug her most beloved assistant. Twilight's friends gathered at the top of the staircase. Some of them smiled after seeing Spike, and some stared in awe as they realized just who was the author of the other voice.

"But...how?" Twilight asked in a surprised voice after disengaging from the hug.

"Turns out I didn't need to become a statue to stop the curse. Hah! Even better! As soon as I opened my eyes, this old pony was already stretching his legs!" Spike explained in an almost overjoyed tone.

"Well...I'm not that old," Star Swirl interrupted. "My beard makes me look older than I really am." Twilight smiled at Star Swirl.

"And you!" Star Swirl pointed his hoof at Twilight. "How come you had to scare this poor creature into thinking that he would be turned to stone? I never mentioned anything like that in my journal!" Star Swirl scolded Twilight.

"Oh!" Twilight blushed from shame and started rubbing the back of her head. "I just thought that...Well, you got turned to stone, didn't you?" Twilight pointed back at Star Swirl.

"And that made you think that everyone else that had something to do with this would also be turned to stone?"

Twilight looked away from Star Swirl's piercing gaze and didn't say a word.

"For one so wise, you sure are a silly one, Miss Twilight." Star Swirl laughed. "But enough about that!" He changed to a much more cheerful and energetic tone. "I have some catching up to do!"

"Oh!" Something struck a chord in Twilight's memory. "Speaking of which..." Twilight used her magic to reach for Star Swirl's journal which was on the nearby table. "Here, I thought you might want this back," Twilight happily handed the journal back to it's owner.

"Aah! I thank you!" Star Swirl happily responded and reached for the journal, but hesitated to grab it. He stared at Twilight's face and read her like a book - she was clearly not ready to part with it. "On second thought..." Star Swirl lowered the hoof with which he reached for his journal. "You can hang onto it for just a while longer."

"Huh?" Twilight looked confused, but secretly she felt overjoyed.

"No need to hide it from me, young princess...I can see you haven't read it's contents yet, but would very much like to do so."

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight shouted from excitement and gripped the journal tightly. "Thank you so much!"

"However..." Star Swirl interrupted Twilight's excited dance. "In return, I would like you to be my personal guide through this tour." He smiled at Twilight, and she stared back at him with a smile twice as wide.

"It would be an honor." Twilight bowed, right before she welcomed Star Swirl into her personal quarters. "Right this way!"