Chapters The mystery of the dark lands
Ever since the day that Applejack nearly lost her life, she's been having dreams about the dark lands. Not necessarily nightmares, just dreams that kept on reminding her about something she should have done a while ago. It was on the fifth day after the incident that she decided that she couldn't keep it in any longer. Rarity and Rainbow Dash also had something to say to the same pony, but Applejack had something to say to more than just her.
Early that morning, Applejack happened to run into the one pony that she had hoped to find.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouted, drawing the attention of her friend that hadn't noticed her yet.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash turned towards her and saw her running over. "Oh, hey Applejack." Applejack didn't return the greet right away. There was clearly something on her mind. "What's up?"
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you for some time now, Rainbow Dash," Applejack replied as soon as she got closer.
"Well, I figured that much just from seeing you run like that." Rainbow Dash didn't feel any better after seeing the sad look on her friend's face. "This is about what happened 5 days ago, isn't it?" Applejack replied by slowly nodding. "Applejack, please, there's nothing you need to say that I don't already know...just..."
"No, Rainbow Dash...there is," Applejack interrupted. "This is something I won't be able to live with if I keep on keeping it in." Applejack took a few steps closer and stared into Rainbow's eyes, but she quickly turned her head sideways, breaking the line between their eyes.
"I was just doing what I felt was right..." She turned her eyes back at Applejack's eyes. "You would have done the same for me, I'm sure of it."
"I could say I would...but saying that and being there are two different things, unfortunately." Both of them took a short pause and didn't say a word for some time. They heard the hoofsteps of the ponies walking by, but didn't mind them, just as they didn't mind them. "Out there, when you're stressed and have but few seconds to think...your mind works differently, and the decisions you make..."
"Alright, alright, I get it," Rainbow Dash avoided the teary eyed moment. "Is that all you wanted to say?" Rainbow Dash kept on playing her usual tough guy attitude. She didn't want Applejack to know that she's not all that careless about the situation as she says she is.
"No, Rainbow Dash." Applejack placed her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder before continuing. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow and asked in a surprised tone. "For what?"
"For the things I said back at when we first entered that place...about how you would fly away if we came across some danger."
"Oh, that? Pfft." Rainbow Dash didn't take the whole thing anywhere nearly as serious as Applejack, so she kept swinging her head around to avoid further eye contact. "Don't take it too hard, you were just..."
Applejack hugged her friend tightly before she could finish her sentence. "I always knew you were someone that never leaves her friends hanging, Rainbow Dash...but..." A single tear rained down Applejack's cheek at that moment. "I had no idea just how loyal you really were..." Applejack paused for a moment and sniffed.
Rainbow Dash answered the hug by wrapping her hooves around Applejack only now. The hug had caught her off guard. "Gee, Applejack...It's really..."
"And to think..." Applejack didn't let her finish her sentence again. "That i didn't even believe you would stick around after the first sight or sound of an earthquake..." Applejack disengaged from the hug, but her hoof remained in Rainbow's shoulder. She looked deeply into her eyes once more before asking, "Can you ever forgive me?"
Rainbow Dash hadn't imagined that this whole thing meant so much to her. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, but she already knew her answer from the very start. "Sure, Applejack." She placed her hoof on the same hoof that Applejack was holding on her shoulder. "What are friends for?"
A huge weight got lifted off of Applejack's heart at that moment, and she could finally smile while looking at her friend again. Rainbow Dash didn't hesitate to return the smile.
"But I'm guessing you're here for more than just me, ain't that right?" Rainbow Dash asked. Both ponies took their hooves off of each other at that moment, and Applejack also hung her head, hiding the already obvious answer.
"Don't ya think it's about time we told her?" Applejack asked as she lifted her head up again.
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash slowly replied. "Think we should find Rarity too?"
"I reckon It wouldn't be fair leaving her out of something like this."
"You're right, it wouldn't," Rainbow Dash agreed.
"Are you fine with doing it right now? Or..."
"I'm good, lets go," Rainbow Dash quickly replied and lead the way. Applejack followed her and caught up right away. "I've been meaning to get this out of my system for some time now too, ya know."
***
Rarity was at the same place most ponies would expect her to be, just dusting the dust bunnies away from the inside of her boutique and humming her usual favorite tone...whatever tone that was. A knock on the door was about the last thing Rarity had expected at that moment. She even got startled and dropped her feather duster.
"Now who could that be?" she asked herself as she walked over to open the door. All questions became answered as soon as she saw just who were the ponies disturbing her. She bit her lip and frowned before speaking up, "I should have known you'd be coming."
The three ponies shared a few sad looks with each other. These few gestures said more than a hundred words for each of them. "Can't say i didn't expect you to come...just not so soon, perhaps."
"The sooner, the better, Rarity," Applejack replied.
"I suppose you're right...as always."
"If I was always right then we wouldn't be in this mess." Applejack's tone had a touch of sarcasm in it, but none really felt like laughing at that moment. All stood in silence for some time, looking around and at each other. Eventually, Rainbow Dash peeked inside the boutique and noticed something.
"Do you need a minute?" Rainbow Dash said and hinted at the feather duster on the ground.
"Oh!" Rarity looked behind her and then back at Rainbow Dash. "It can wait...Some things are just more important." A smile found it's way to each of their faces as soon as Rarity finished her sentence. "Shall we get going then?" Rarity said and walked out of her boutique and closed the door behind her. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner i can get back to work."
Rarity started walking towards their destination, and her friends followed her right away.
"Right behind ya, partner."
***
Twilight was in the personal quarters of her castle by the time her friends got there. She had been reading a book up until the very moment her friends arrived and called out her name. She greeted them back and put the crimson bordered book back in it's bookshelf. As the two parties approached each other, Applejack couldn't help but notice the book Twilight had put away. She didn't get to read the whole title, but she saw enough to know it had something to do with the dark lands.
"So what brings you three here? I'm guessing you're here for more than just tea and biscuits." Twilight giggled as she tried to brighten the atmosphere, but the semi-frowns on her friends faces didn't move. "Why the long faces?"
"I'm just gonna go ahead and say it for all of us," Applejack said without much thinking and stepped forward. "Twilight...we owe you our lives." Applejack stared deep into Twilight's eyes without blinking for some time. Not out of lack of trust, but rather just out of plain instinct, Twilight also stared into the faces of the other two ponies that came in with Applejack, and their expressions were exactly the same.
"W-what?" Twilight asked quietly, she sounded rather unsure of herself. "Were you really in that much trouble?"
"You better believe it, sugarcube," Applejack replied. "I know we didn't tell you right away, and we're all very sorry for keeping this from you." Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash and Rarity, who were standing to her left and right. "Right, girls?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said while rubbing her hoof against her foreleg in shame. "Sorry, Twi."
"Forgive us, Twilight...that really wasn't too kind of us," Rarity added.
"See, Twilight?" Applejack continued, drawing the attention of her still confused friend. "None of us would be here now if it weren't for you."
Twilight kept staring at Applejack with wide eyes for some time before speaking up, "Gee, I...I had a feeling you were in more trouble than you said, but...I had no idea..." Twilight held a pause, but none of her friends dared to interrupt her. "But what about Rainbow Dash?"
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight without an answer.
"Would you also not be here if it weren't for me back then?"
Rainbow Dash got slightly nervous as she realized what Twilight had meant with that. "Oh...umm...No, actually..." She stopped stuttering as she faced Twilight. "I wouldn't...I wasn't strong enough to pull both of them out of that mess," Rainbow Dash explained.
"But...couldn't you have just flown away?"
"I could have..." Rainbow Dash quickly replied and shifted her eyes to the sides.
"What are you saying, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight walked closer as she awaited her friend to explain what her words meant, but Rainbow Dash did not answer. "Why didn't you save yourself?"
"Well what did you expect from me?" Rainbow Dash retorted. "For me to just fly away and watch my friends burn to a crisp?"
"No one would blame you, Rainbow Dash," Twilight calmed her friend.
Rainbow Dash hung her head and quietly answered after a short pause, "One pony would..."
"Who's that?"
Rainbow Dash lifted up her head and faced Twilight before answering. "Me." Silence filled the room, and no pony said anything for some time. Not that none of them had anything to say, it's just that the moment didn't seem right for it.
Rainbow Dash noticed that each of her friends seemed to want to say something. She didn't look too happy about it. "Can we please not talk about this? What's done is done, talking about it won't make anything better." Rainbow Dash looked away to not face anyone.
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight quietly spoke up after a short moment.
"What?"
"I'm glad you're my friend," Twilight said with a warm smile on her face.
"Thanks..." Rainbow Dash carelessly replied, even though deep inside she knew she cared. Despite her face being pointed at her own hooves, she knew that all eyes were on her at the moment, and all faces but her own were smiling.
All of a sudden, she just turned around and started walking towards the door. "Right, well, I'd love to stay and chat, but we really gotta be going. Right, guys?" she asked as she stared back at the two ponies that she came in here with.
"Hold on now, sugarcube." Rainbow's face froze up with a panicking glance when she heard Applejack's words. "There's something I wanna ask before we go," Applejack continued. "What were you doing there on that day, Twilight?" Applejack pointed her hoof at Twilight.
"Oh!" Twilight looked as though she had just remembered something. "I almost forgot." Twilight walked over to her bookshelf and picked up the same book she had put away when her friends arrived. She put the book on a table in front of her friends and continued, "That day, I was investigating."
"Investigating?" Applejack asked in an unconvinced tone. She looked at the book one the table and read it's name - The mystery of the dark lands .
"Yes," Twilight replied right away and opened the book and drew the attention of her friends towards a certain page. "You see, I have heard more than just one legend about that place. I wouldn't have paid much attention to it, let alone visit the place myself...but there was something about all these records that struck me as odd," Twilight explained so fast that none of her friends could even notice what she was pointing at in her book.
"Odd?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. You see, I had my theories from the very beginning, but I had to visit that place myself to know for sure." Twilight closed the book and went over to her bookshelf to switch it for a different one. "Sadly, everything i feared proved to be true."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked, but Twilight only stopped near her bookshelf and didn't answer, or even move. "Twilight?" Applejack asked again.
"The dark lands...they're growing!"
"What?!"
The mystery of the dark lands
Revisiting the dark lands
"What?!" The conjoined voices of Twilight's friends shouted out in surprise.
"You see..." Twilight continued after placing another book on the table and turning it a few pages forward. "The very first records about the dark lands say that the lands were very minimal in size, just small enough for an earth pony to be able to see the other end of the lands while standing at the opposite one."
Twilight saw how the eyes of her friends widened up and how their faces gained an unsettling expression as they began to recall the events from five days ago. "I don't think I need to remind you that the dark lands we witnessed weren't exactly what I'd call minimal in size."
Silence claimed the room again, and not a word was said for some time. Everyone looked to Twilight for answers.
"So...what can we do?" Rainbow Dash asked, unable to cope with her curiosity. "How do we stop these lands from growing all over Equestria?"
"I don't know...I don't have an answer to that yet," Twilight replied in a slightly desperate tone. Her friends almost seemed as though they were about to start panicking before twilight added, "The only thing I have is a lead..." Those words helped her friends regain some confidence. "And another mystery."
"Another mystery?" Applejack asked.
Twilight stood silent for a while and then slowly nodded. She took the book from the table back to the bookshelf, and started sorting through the books, freeing a way to the back end of the bookshelf. After a while of searching, she finally magically pulled out a dusty and really old looking map from the back of the bookshelf, and instantly proceeded to unfold it on the table in front of her friends.
"This is one of the oldest maps of Equestria ever made," Twilight said as she revealed the whole map and held down it's edges with her hooves. "Notice anything strange about it?" Her friends started patiently eyeballing every inch of the map, but none of them seemed to spot anything out of place.
"Why, no, darling...I do believe this looks just like any other map of Equestria I've ever seen...Apart from lacking color, of course," Rarity answered, and the two ponies next to her didn't see any flaws in her sentence.
"What if I were to tell you that this map is not as old that last book I showed you."
That statement certainly aroused the interest in her friends, but they only stood and wondered while rubbing their chins. "I'm not following you, Twilight," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Oh! Did I forget to mention? This map holds no secrets! Everything it shows is exactly the way it looked like back then!" Twilight said out in an almost overexcited tone. She felt like a teacher at that moment. She just eagerly awaited for her students to catch on.
The chin rubbing continued for another moment, but Applejack's face soon woke up. "Wait a minute..."
"Go on," Twilight encouraged her friend.
"If you're saying what I think I'm saying..." Applejack paused for a moment. All eyes were on her, and none dared to interrupt her. "Then shouldn't the dark lands be marked on this map?" Applejack asked and pointed her hoof at the place where the so called dark lands should have been at.
"Bingo," Twilight stared into Applejack's eyes and answered confidently.
A question had been answered, but the answer only brought in even more questions. The confused ponies began looking at each other for answers, but there wasn't one to be found.
"Huh..." Applejack finally broke the silence. "I see what you meant by that mystery, Twilight." Applejack stared at Twilight for a moment, as if awaiting an answer, but continued after seeing that there was no answer to come. "So are we supposed to believe that the dark lands were shrinking at first, and then started growing?" A bizarre theory, but not impossible. None knew the answer for sure, so there was no reply. "Or that, for some reason no pony can explain, the dark lands simply weren't there for some time?"
Another theory came up. Although it was no more legitimate sounding than the last one, it still seemed to catch Twilight's interest. "Huh...you know, I never actually considered that," Twilight said and joined her students in wondering while rubbing her chin.
"Anywho," Applejack interrupted the seemingly pointless wondering. "We sure as hay won't be able to figure that out by just standing here."
"Right," Twilight agreed right away.
"So why not tell us the other part of this story of yours, Twilight?" Applejack continued after noticing that Twilight didn't quite understand what she had meant, "Tell us what was that lead you mentioned earlier."
"Oh! I almost forgot about that." Twilight cleared her throat and continued, "You see, the thing about these dark lands is that they're not so much growing as they are just regaining the land they lost."
That explanation left Twilight's friends just as confused as before "Uhh...come again?" Applejack asked
"The earthquakes. Every time one hits, it tears the land apart, leaving less solid ground to walk on. If you ask me, our best chance at solving this mystery is by finding out what's causing the earthquakes."
"So let me get this straight," Rainbow Dash responded with a question to be sure she understood Twilight's suggestion correctly. "What you're saying is that if we stop the earthquakes, we also stop the dark lands from spreading?"
"I'm not sure, but it's the only thing that I could come up with," Twilight responded in a slightly concerned tone, as if afraid she was about to get scolded for a foolish idea. "If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."
"Who, me?" Rainbow Dash asked and lifted her hoof up to her own chest. "Naah! I was just making sure. Your idea sounds good to me, Twi." Applejack and Rarity didn't have any objections to the plan either, both of them nodded in approval.
Twilight was happy to hear such a positive response. "I'm glad you agree with me on this one Rainbow Dash. Because you're just the pony I want by my side on this mission."
"Huh? Just me?" Rainbow Dash was no less confused about this than Applejack or Rarity.
"What about us, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry, girls. To find the source of the earthquakes we'll have to venture even further into the dark lands than last time. Up to the part where there's no land left, just a massive sea of lava," Twilight explained. Her friends were sad about not being able to go with her, but she wasn't any happier about this than they were. "And I'm afraid there's only one way to get to those parts." Twilight spread her wings for a split second to let her friends get the idea.
Twilight sadly stared at Rarity and Applejack as they hung their heads. After a brief moment Applejack lifted her head and smiled as she walked closer to Twilight and placed her hoof on her shoulder. "Promise me you'll be careful, Twilight."
After seeing the frown wiped off of her friend's face, Twilight could easily smile right back. "I promise."
Both ponies spent some time happily staring at each other, and neither them nor Rarity would stop smiling as Applejack turned around and started walking towards the exit. "If there's anything you need, darling, you'll know where to find us," Rarity kindly added before following Applejack.
"Thanks, guys. You're the best." Twilight waved to her friends as they left, and they waved right back. "Ready to head out?" Twilight turned her head towards Rainbow Dash and asked.
"Huh?" Rainbow's counter question came like a reflex. She was still waving at her friends when Twilight asked that, so it caught her completely off guard. "Oh! Sure!" she replied after realizing what Twilight had just said.
"Oh! almost forgot," Twilight turned around and walked back towards her bookshelf. She picked up a book from the shelf and started reading it from around the middle. "Hmm..."
Rainbow Dash patiently watched Twilight eagerly reading her book and wondered what could possibly be so important that it simply must be read at a time like this. She didn't recognize the book since it wasn't one of the two books she had shown earlier, nor was it any other book she had seen Twilight reading before.
"Aha! Got it!" Twilight excitedly shouted and placed the book back before walking back over to the pony waiting for her near the balcony. "We're good to go," Twilight said as soon as she came closer to her friend. Although still rather curious, Rainbow decided not to ask.
***
Not long after Rarity and Applejack had left Twilight's castle, they looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight flying over their heads. They flew fast, but Rainbow Dash was clearly holding back and letting Twilight fly in front...Aside from the feeling of it being unfair to leave her behind, there was also the fact that she didn't even know the way to the center of the dark lands.
As the two ponies flew, Rainbow Dash noticed the determined look in Twilight's eyes. She seemed to be giving it her all. After remembering what happened the last time she was in the dark lands, Rainbow Dash became slightly worried about her friend.
"Save your strength, Twilight." Twilight turned her head back towards Rainbow Dash. "You're still kinda new to having wings, and the place you described doesn't sound like a good one for taking a nap."
"I'm fine," Twilight retorted in a slightly annoyed tone. She mistook Rainbow's concern for a mocking attitude towards her somewhat limited flying skills. "We don't have time to slow down."
"Really, Twilight? From what you said earlier, it sounded like it takes years for these lands to grow even a little bit, i doubt a few minutes will change anything," Rainbow Dash kindly explained, despite Twilight's rash response to her last sentence.
Rainbow's tone sounded compassionate, and her words convincing. It didn't take long for Twilight to agree. "You're probably right," she admitted and slowed down by a considerable amount. At first, Twilight felt slightly disappointed about having to stand down so easily, but she soon smiled as she began to notice how much easier the flying got.
With confident smiles on their faces, both ponies made their way to the dark lands. Even at a slower speed, it didn't take too long to reach their destination. As they flew above the dark lands, they started paying attention to how massive the lands had become. They soon reached the point where there wasn't a spot of land left underneath them.
As they flew over the fiery pools of magma, they increased their altitude to avoid the blazing pieces of magma rock flying out of the chasm.
"Phew." Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Aren't you glad we slowed down?"
"No argument there," Twilight gladly admitted.
As they pressed on, the land behind them faded away from view completely. As if the heat wasn't enough, now they also had to start worrying about being able to find their way back.
"This heat is really starting to become hard to take," Rainbow Dash said in a quiet and slightly nervous voice. She looked behind her to make sure there wasn't any land left in sight, but she quickly turned back when she heard Twilight performing a spell. As she turned her attention to twilight's shining horn, she noticed a large bubble of a dim, white color form around them.
The air suddenly felt a lot lighter, as well as less hotter. Rainbow Dash instantly took a deep, long breath and exhaled. She seemed overjoyed. "Oh, man...I can breathe again! Thanks, Twi." She stared at her friend who was just blindly flying forward without saying a word. "Twilight?"
"Huh? Oh...yeah, no problem..." Twilight turned towards Rainbow Dash to respond and then turned right back, as though she hadn't even heard her question.
The way Twilight acted seemed odd to Rainbow Dash. The air around them had gotten a lot easier to take, and yet Twilight still carried on as though it was the same as before. "You okay, Twilight?"
"I'm fine, Rainbow Dash...That spell just took a lot out of me," Twilight explained.
"You don't look all that fine..." Twilight didn't answer. "Hey, you don't need to keep that spell up just for me, Twi. If you're tired, just..."
"I'm fine!" Twilight interrupted with a loud and not so content response. "Ugh..." Twilight's head hung itself down. She rubbed her forehead and lifted her head right back up. "Sorry..." she apologized for the harsh reply.
"Don't sweat...just keep your head up, Twilight," Rainbow Dash responded in a sad and concerned tone.
"Don't worry, we're almost there."
"I hope you're right..."
And so the two ponies pressed on, one at the top of her strength, the other barely breathing. Luckily for them, Twilight was right, and their destination had already begun to reveal itself. They had reached the center of the dark lands.
Rainbow Dash focused her vision on an indistinct object not too far away. "What's that?" she asked and pointed towards the object.
"Lets go find out," Twilight replied and slightly increased her flying speed.
As the two ponies neared the object, it became clear what it was...although the more intriguing question was who it was. Both of them stopped near the object - a stone statue of a pony standing on top of a giant pillar of land. The land underneath him was definitely magically secured, otherwise there would be no way such an unstable piece of land would be standing still.
Twilight became completely mesmerized as she locked her eyes on the statue. Both her eyes and mouth opened widely. She kept flapping her wings and levitating in one spot without saying a word. Rainbow Dash also seemed interested in the sight, but she wasn't anywhere near to as taken by it as her friend, but there was something about this statue that started seeming familiar to her...In fact, she was now almost certain she recognized it.
"Umm, Twilight? This isn't who I think it is, right?" Rainbow Dash slowly asked, but Twilight didn't give any signs of even having heard her question. "Twilight?" she asked again.
"No...It...It can't be..." Twilight whispered.
"It is though, isn't it?"
Twilight could deny it all she wanted, but she knew exactly who was this stone trapped pony. She had seen monuments of him before, she had both heard and read about him before. Heck, she had even dressed up as him before, and not just once.
"It's Star Swirl the Bearded!"
The mystery of the dark lands
How, when and why. Those were but the three core words of the multitudes of questions raised by this unexpected discovery. One can't help but wonder - was this even the actual source of the earthquakes? Or simply something that happened to be located in the very center of the dark lands by mere chance.
It would be almost funny to imagine the look on the faces of Rarity and Applejack after they ask Twilight and Rainbow Dash if they found the cause of the earthquakes, and got a reply like - "Yeah, it was Star Swirl the Bearded."
"Hello! Earth to Twilight," Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hoof in front of Twilight's face.
Twilight started shaking her head and finally got out of her state of trance, although she still remained rather stupefied. "I can't believe this...No matter what way I look at this from, this doesn't make even the slightest amount of sense to me."
Rainbow Dash felt like she should give Twilight's mind a moment to process all of this. She would have done just so, but the lava pool below them seemed to be getting more active with every passing second. "Unless you know how to break whatever spell he's under, I suggest we figure out what to do next when we get back home...Woah!"
Rainbow Dash barely dodged an incoming magma rock in time. Apparently it damaged the white bubble surrounding them, and Rainbow Dash could feel the air getting hotter again.
"You're right," Twilight replied and started flying backwards, still keeping the statue in her sight. "There's nothing we can do about it right now." Twilight turned around and started flying at normal speed. Rainbow Dash followed her without hesitating.
The journey only became harder to take, but neither one of them was about to slow down. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash, I don't think I can perform another protective spell without collapsing," Twilight regrettably admitted after seeing her friend panting and sweating.
"Don't worry about me, Twi. You just lead the way." Rainbow Dash got a sudden uneasy feeling after looking to her left and right and seeing nothing but lava everywhere. "You do know the way back, right?"
"Of course," Twilight replied right away. Although that answer didn't make Rainbow Dash feel any better, the first sight of land in front of them arrived soon enough, and even though it was about the ugliest piece of land you could find in Equestria, it was still quite a sight for sore eyes.
***
As the air got lighter, flying became easier, and before long, Rainbow Dash already found herself sitting in Twilight's personal quarters and watching her in her usual thinking routine - walking back and forth on the same spot.
"Anything yet, Twilight?"
"No..." Twilight replied. "The only thing I've acknowledge at this point is that it's not entirely impossible for that to have been the actual, one and only Star Swirl the Bearded."
"Well...It's a start, at least." Rainbow Dash realized her pep talk didn't work after Twilight looked back at her with an unfriendly expression. "Sorry."
Twilight continued her routine. "I tried to convince myself it wasn't him, I tried to think of anything from what I've read about him that could prove that he couldn't have ended up there, but out of all the books and records I've looked over, there's not a single one that says anything about his final days," Twilight explained. Rainbow Dash kept listening and had nothing to add.
"Hmm..." Twilight stopped walking.
"You figured it out?" Rainbow Dash ascended from the floor and asked in an excited tone.
"Not entirely..." Twilight slowly replied. "But if I could somehow get my hooves on anything that says something about Star Swirl's final moments, or future plans, maybe a journal, or personal notes, or something of the sort...Maybe then we could begin to get to the bottom of this!" Twilight got all excited at first, but her joyful mood soon faded.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nothing, really...It's just that I doubt such a thing would be easy to come by," Twilight explained. She looked at Rainbow's expression and practically read the words "So...what? You're just gonna give up?" off her face.
"But that doesn't mean I won't try!" Twilight added after a short pause and started searching for various useful objects around the room, as if getting ready for a journey.
"Where are you planning to go?" Rainbow Dash seemed surprised at how quickly Twilight seemed to figure something out.
"To Canterlot...I'm gonna need a bigger library than my own for something like this," Twilight explained while still packing her things.
As if yours wasn't big enough... Rainbow Dash thought to herself "Canterlot, eh...That's a nice change of scenery. Want me to fetch Applejack and Rarity too?" She spread her wings, ready to fly off right away.
"Actually..." Twilight stopped packing for a moment while she responded. "I was sorta hoping to go on this trip alone," she replied with an awkward smile on her face.
"Huh? Why?" Mildly disappointed, Rainbow Dash closed her wings and descended back to the ground.
"There's actually a number of reasons I could name. Mainly it's because this will be just an ordinary studying trip that involves a lot of reading..." Twilight paused for a moment to rethink something after noticing that Rainbow Dash only raised an eyebrow at her statement. "And I'm not talking about any Daring Do books!" Twilight added with in a slightly sarcastic tone.
Rainbow Dash didn't say a word, she just maintained a serious look on her face as she rubbed her chin. Maybe coming along isn't all that good of an idea after all... She wondered.
"So..." Twilight interrupted Rainbow's thinking and drew her attention towards her. "Unless you've got a sudden craving to sit in a corner and watch me walk around and read books all day..." Twilight noticed how swiftly Rainbow Dash reacted to what she just said. It only took a few seconds for her to imagine the situation, and that was all the anti-motivation she needed "I suggest..."
"Actually," Rainbow Dash interrupted. Twilight didn't seem one bit angry about that. On the contrary - she was counting on it. "I think I've changed my mind." Rainbow Dash got up and was ready to fly off again, only with a completely different destination in mind this time. Nothing particular, just somewhere away from here. "Sorry, Twilight. You're on your own."
"It's probably for the best," Twilight replied contently.
"Anything you need from me before you go?" Rainbow Dash offered to help, although her question was actually more rhetorical.
"Nothing springs to mind right now," Twilight replied. "But if I think of anything I'll be sure to let you know!" Twilight added in a loud voice as she saw Rainbow Dash already flying off.
"Yeah...you do that," Rainbow Dash replied without giving much thought to it and dashed away through the window. "See ya, Twilight!"
As Rainbow Dash flew off, Twilight was about ready to do the same. She had already finished packing, the only thing she still needed to do was find Spike to let him know he's in charge. Naturally, Spike was curious about why and where was she going and when she'd be back, but the only reply he got from Twilight was "No time to explain!"
***
Twilight was absent from Ponyville for more than a full day. Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to let Applejack and Rarity know what had happened on their last journey to the dark lands...Needless to say, they had a hard time believing it as well.
While Twilight was gone from her castle, Spike's curiosity got the better of him and he practically begged Rainbow Dash to tell him what was going on. Since she didn't think it would change a lot, nor did she get any warnings not to tell this to anyone, she decided to fill him in as well.
Spike took the whole thing surprisingly well for some reason. He didn't even ask any additional questions, apart from "Star Swirl the Bearded? You sure it was him?"
Twilight returned to her castle late on the next day's evening. She didn't tell anyone about her return, and so the only pony that knew about her being back was the one that saw her on her way back - Rainbow Dash. It was late, and Spike was already asleep, so Rainbow Dash decided to keep her questions for tomorrow.
Between the morning and noon of the next day, Twilight was up and her eyes were already lost in the pages of another one of her books.
"Didn't you already do enough reading over the last two days?" Rainbow Dash asked as she approached Twilight from behind, startling her as a result.
"Agh!" Twilight shouted out and dropped the book she was reading. "Rainbow Dash! Don't you know how to knock?" she scolded her friend and stared at her reproachfully.
"Knock?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. "I doubt you'd hear if I knocked on that giant door of yours." Rainbow Dash giggled and walked closer to Twilight. "So, found any new records about Star Swirl?"
"No..." Twilight replied, still maintaining her angry look. "But I think I have a good idea of how we might get them now."
"Man...a day and a half of searching and reading, and all you've found is just another lead?" disappointed by Twilight's reply, Rainbow Dash responded in a serious tone.
"Hey!" Twilight protested. "It's not my fault! I..."
"No, that's now what I meant," Rainbow Dash interrupted her upset friend. "What I meant to say is...All this work, all this flying around and searching for a solution, but the only thing we keep on finding is new leads and even more questions in need of answers!"
Twilight calmed herself after realizing she had clearly misunderstood Rainbow's argument.
"I mean, come on!" Rainbow Dash shouted with her hooves raised up. "Can't we get just a bit of luck for a change?" Rainbow Dash sat down heavily with her back against a wall and crossed her hooves.
Twilight walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. She stared right into her face, even though Rainbow Dash wasn't looking back at her. "Hey...I know you're upset..."
"Aren't you?" Rainbow Dash swiftly asked back and turned her attention towards Twilight. "I mean, you're the one that's been doing all the research around here...All I've done so far is just tag along, and even I'm starting to get annoyed by this whole thing!"
"Don't worry," Twilight replied in a sincere tone. "I've got a good feeling we aren't far from getting to the bottom of this!" Both ponies still hadn't broken the link between their eyes, and Rainbow Dash saw that there wasn't a trace of doubt in Twilight's eyes as she spoke.
"If you say so." Rainbow Dash stood on her four hooves again and cheered up a bit. "So what's this good idea of yours you mentioned earlier?"
"You see..." Twilight walked back to the table with her book on it.
Wasn't that the same book she was looking at right before we left for the dark lands the last time? Rainbow Dash started wondering after giving it a closer look.
"I may not have had any luck finding Star Swirl's journal, but I did happen to find out that he never let it out of his sight," Twilight gladly explained.
"Great..." Rainbow Dash said with a grumpy attitude. "So, basically, we're right back where we started?"
"What makes you think that?"
Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, unsure of whether Twilight was being serious. "You do realize that this means that his journal got trapped in stone along with him, right?"
"Of course!" Twilight happily answered. Her cheerful attitude left Rainbow Dash rather confused.
"You seem awfully cheerful considering that we have no way of recovering that journal."
"That's where you're wrong!" Twilight answered with the same confident look on her face as before.
"Huh?" and Rainbow Dash asked with the same confused look as well.
"What? Did you really think I spent nearly 30 hours just to confirm that there wasn't a journal to be found anywhere?"
Twilight's words put Rainbow Dash in a rather embarrassing situation. "Uhm...no...I just..."
"Oh you," Twilight interrupted before Rainbow Dash could come up with an excuse. "I found that out nearly right after arriving in Canterlot! I spent most of my time there trying to figure out how to acquire it," Twilight explained.
"So you're saying there's a way to get that journal?"
"Even better!" Twilight's face lit up as she revealed her intentions. "I think I've found a way to bring Star Swirl back to life!"
"No way!" excited about the news, Rainbow Dash shouted out, barely able to believe what she just heard.
"Temporarily, of course," Twilight quietly added.
"Oh..." Rainbow dash instantly calmed her excitement and got her hooves back on the ground.
"But that doesn't mean we won't be able to bring him back to life for good!" Twilight tried to reignite Rainbow's interest. "If we could just talk to him, maybe we can find out what was his initial plan and help him succeed!"
"Or succeed where he has failed," Rainbow Dash added. "That wouldn't be the first time you'd be doing that, ya know."
Twilight smiled at the compliment and even blushed a bit.
"Anywho..." Rainbow Dash continued after a short while. "Should we head out right now?"
"Yes," Twilight quickly replied. Her cheeks returned to their normal color right away. "If you're alright with coming along, that is."
"Hah!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "I can't let you have all the fun, Twilight."
That kind of response only made the smile on Twilight's face even more solid. She was very happy to hear that she wouldn't have to do this alone. "Then lets not waste another minute!" Twilight said with a tone that would befit a battlefield commander. She lifted up from the ground and was ready to fly off.
"Way ahead of ya, Twi!" Rainbow Dash saluted to her friend and bolted off through the open window. Twilight didn't hesitate to follow her.
***
The situation was no different from last time. The two ponies flew with the same speed, reached the dark lands in about the same amount of time, and Twilight also performed her protective barrier spell as soon as the air started getting hard to bear.
The journey was a bit easier for Twilight this time, since she had already performed the spell once before. And it's a good thing too, because she needed all the strength she could get if she wanted to break Star Swirl's curse. As the two ponies reached their destination, both of them stopped in mid air and just stared at the statue for some time.
Twilight took a deep, long breath before beginning, "Whew...alright...here we go."
Rainbow Dash moved a small distance away to give Twilight some extra room.
After another long inhale, Twilight started casting the spell. Her horn started shining brightly. It shined brighter and brighter with each second, and after that, a blinding flash of light filled the area. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and put her hoof in front of her face, taking it away and opening her eyes again after the spell was done. She didn't even need to look to realize the spell had worked, because she heard it.
"Khe, khe, khe!" a loud cough came from the pony that was still but a stone figure just seconds ago. "Huh? Wha, who, where..." The old sage started shifting his head to the right and to the left. "What in the?" he asked after looking down and seeing an unending pool of lava under him. "How..." he asked again and directed his attention to the two ponies in front of him. "Oh...I see..." he quietly said to himself.
Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle stared back at the pony of legends with wide eyes, but Twilight simply couldn't hold her excitement in any longer. "Aaah!" she shouted out like a young fangirl and grabbed her cheeks. "Oh my gosh! It's really him! It's Star Swirl the Bearded! I can barely believe it!"
The old unicorn looked at the overexcited mare and raised his eyebrow.
"Ahem..." Twilight quickly calmed down. She felt slightly ashamed of having reacted like that. Even Rainbow Dash got a slight smirk on her face as she watched her friend dance in the air like a filly that had just learned to fly. "Good afternoon, my name is..." Before Twilight could start a fresh conversation, Star Swirl interrupted.
"I'm sorry, but we have very little time for this nonsense!" Twilight stared back at him with an utterly confused and slightly unhappy expression. "Tell me, how long have I been trapped?"
"Uhm..." Twilight rubbed the back of her head as she tried to figure out a way to answer that question.
"Never mind," Star Swirl interrupted again and made a slightly different approach, "How old is princess Celestia?"
His alternate question could be considered both a harder and an easier one. Nevertheless, Twilight felt slightly ashamed for not knowing the answer to this one as well. "Well..." she slowly started her answer. "Can I ask you something instead?"
Star Swirl hesitated to answer. He seemed a bit confused about this, but definitely not displeased. "If it's of relevance to the matter at hand, then I see no harm in that," he politely replied. "But do so quick!" he yelled at Twilight.
Twilight ignored the harsh tone and asked right away. "Do you know anything about Luna's imprisonment on the moon?"
"No..." Star Swirl slowly replied, unsure of whether this question really wasn't out of place. "What has this got to do with anything?"
Twilight paused for a moment. She was almost afraid to answer, but Star Swirl's piercing gaze convinced her to speak up. "Then that means that you've been here for no less than a full millennium."
Star Swirl kept his eyes on Twilight's face for some time. He was almost certain that he either heard her wrong, or was being played for a fool, but the eyes of the young alicorn held no lies. "Sweet mother of mercy..." he quietly whispered and hung his head. "How is it not already too late?" he swiftly raised his head back up after a moment and asked.
There was no answer, but he wasn't expecting one. This wasn't a question that could be so easily answered. Judging by the way things were going, it seemed as though all hope was lost. The one and only lead Twilight still had seemed to have lead to a dead end. Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash kept staring at the wise, old unicorn and hoping that he would still have a solution for them...For if he didn't, then this truly would be a completely lost cause.
"I'm afraid there is nothing that can be done to save this world, young princess..." Star Swirl said in a tone full of despair.
Just like that, all hope faded away at the blink of an eye. Twilight could only sit and watch as her spell started failing, and as the hooves of her beloved scholar started slowly turning back to stone.
As Star Swirl looked at his own hooves, he realized just what spell had been used to temporarily set him free. He looked around and also noticed the white bubble around them. "I must say," he said to Twilight. "Keeping up both of these spells and still looking fighting fit...You are quite the talented magic user, Miss..."
"Twilight Sparkle," she proudly introduced herself. Even at this desperate moment, a word of praise from her idol was enough to raise Twilight's spirit, if even for just a short moment.
"Twilight Sparkle," Star Swirl finished the sentence he began before. There was still one thing on his mind - one crazy idea, one final resort when all other options had already been used up. A desperate plan that he decided to reveal after realizing there was nothing left to lose.
"Ahem...Miss Sparkle?"
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't happen to know any dragons...would you?" Star Swirl asked. All of a sudden, he got a weird feeling in his gut that kept telling him that he was about to get a positive response.
"Why, yes...Why do you ask?"
Could it really be? Star Swirl wondered. His face froze up for a moment, and he whispered a short sentence without closing his mouth, "There's still hope..." He seemed so taken by his thoughts that he barely got to snatch a book from his backpack in time, right before it turned to stone. "Here! Take this, it will explain everything!" Star Swirl pushed his journal into Twilight's hooves, and then his own hoof turned to stone right before her eyes.
"Huh? Wait! I don't..."
"Time is of the essence, Twilight Sparkle! You have the power to save Equestria!"
"Wait!" Twilight shouted, but it was already too late. By the time Star Swirl finished his last sentence, his entire body had already been turned back to stone. Come to think of it, it almost looked as though he shouted out the last word already after his face froze up.
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?..."
The mystery of the dark lands
*Earlier that morning*
Star Swirl's journal
Entry #136
Blackheart
Very few have heard the ancient legend,
Fewer still remember it,
And out of those few, I'm the only one that believes it.
This is the tale of Blackheart the dragon.
A long time ago...back when the dragons still ruled Equestria, there lived a dragon named Blackheart. He did not earn his name because of his cruelty or hateful nature, but because his heart didn't have a fire burning in it. He was a weak and cowardly dragon. He was mocked by his own kin, and he was a disgrace to his own family, not to mention his very own race...
Amongst all his people, he didn't have a single ally. The mighty dragon kingdom had no place for a creature so pathetic, so he was expelled for all eternity.
At this point, many might think that this tale would end up having a happy ending.
That the dragon would conquer his fears and return to his homeland as a mighty hero one day...
No such thing happened.
Blackheart gave into his sorrow and despair. He left his home. He flew far away and found a desolate place devoid of any life. He spent the rest of his days sitting here. As his sorrow only grew, he almost literally cried his heart out.
As his tears rained down by the gallons, the grass around him started matching the color of his heart, and the land began to crack from the sound of his unending moans.
It's uncertain what happened to Blackheart, but I believe that the dark lands absorbed his very heart and soul over time, and that up to this very day, he sits and waits for a real, brave-hearted dragon to arrive and reignite the flame that his own heart was missing.
Unfortunately, I alone believed in this legend, and so I was the only one willing to do anything about it...and there is only so little that one lone unicorn can do...but for now, it will just have to be enough.
The heart of a pony can cause a delay,
But only a dragon's heart can end the corruption...
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.
"Woah..." The reader closed the journal and took it with him. He stood and wondered for some time, even though he had already realized the answer a while ago. "Something tells me I'm going to be that dragon..." Spike whispered to himself and left the room in order to find the pony that takes care of him.
He didn't catch a glimpse of the conversation, but the way he noticed Rainbow Dash leaving the castle with a very grim looking expression...that didn't exactly make him feel any better. Nevertheless, it was time to get something out of his system. After a deep, long breath, he walked up to the only pony left in the room and began a conversation.
"Twilight?..."
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!"
