Nec-Romantic

Twilight Sparkle slammed the book closed forcefully, letting out an annoyed and irritated huff. "Sheesh, Twi'," her friend Rainbow Dash, who was re-reading the first book of the Daring Do series for the third time that day, asked. "What's your problem?"

Twilight grunted. "It's this book. It keeps saying that there a whole lot more to Equestria's history than what most ponies know.."

"I still don't see the problem," Rainbow replied nonchalantly, her face still buried in the book.

"Don't you see? It says there's more, but it never says just what else there is!" Twilight snorted in frustration. She hated when she was led on like that: to be given hints about things over and over, and when the moment of truth came, a giant sign reading "gullible" with an arrow pointed to her would appear.

"Look, Twi'," Rainbow said comfortingly, putting the book down for a second. "You gotta take this like these Daring Do books. Some of the things in here are spread out over some of the other books. Look around and see if you can't find another book that maybe has what you're looking for." Rainbow rested a hoof on her friend's shoulder for a moment, before taking it away. "If that don't work," she said, picking the book back up. "I'm sure some of the other ponies might know."

"Who, though? Who would even have a chance at knowing what these historians apparently don't?" Twilight asked, softly but desperately.

"Well, for starters," Rainbow said, taking the term "Facebook" to a whole new level. "Zecora might know. She seems like the egghead type. Even if she's a little weird."

"Good idea, Rainbow. And hey," Twilight scolded. "I thought we'd gotten over her being different than us."

"Oh, I am," Rainbow defended herself hotly. "That doesn't mean she can't seem weird to me."

Twilight shook her head in defeat. If Rainbow didn't want to see logic, then she just wouldn't see logic. Sighing, she looked up at the numerous bookshelves lining her library home. Looking for a certain book herself was pretty tough. With Spike at a sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders at Carousel Boutique, as Rarity was generous enough to watch over them for the night, Twilight had to do every bit of work she normally assigned to Spike herself. Even Owlowicious was out for the night, probably sleeping in a tree somewhere.

She skimmed through every book that looked promising, even some that could only forcefully be made to be relevant with her topic, from books titled "The Complete History of Equestria" to "H1ST0RY G33K5 4R3 DUMB", all in an attempt to at least garner some kind of information pertaining to what she was specifically looking for. She didn't care if the information was wrong at the moment; she just wanted some kind of information to be there, period! Unsuccessful, to say the least, Twilight's search was called off.

"Rainbow, I'm heading over to Zecora's home. I need you to leave, please," Twilight spoke to her friend.

"Aw," Rainbow Dash moaned. "Can I take this book with me?"

Twilight chuckled. "Sure, go ahead. Just remember to bring it back."

"Remember who you're talking to, Twi'!" The Element of Loyalty sped out the front door, leaving Twilight to pack her saddlebags with her detailed, albeit minimal, notes. She packed a daisy and hay sandwich for the trip, and left, locking up her library home behind her. Placing the "Closed" sign on the door, she began her trek to Zecora's forest hut. As it was not yet dark, she had no problem finding the path through the Everfree forest that would take her directly to her zebra friend.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated, or simply forgotten, just how dark it could get underneath the canopies of the Forest. She poured a bit of magic through her horn to give a bit of light, but she did so just a bit too late. She tripped over a rock that sat in the middle of the path, and she fell face first into a ditch on the side of the path with an "oof!"

Standing, she rubbed her head. Twilight shook her head to clear the minor dizziness that had crept in from the tumble, and looked down at the ground. Her gasp could be heard for several feet. At her feet was what appeared to be a book, bound in simple leather. Holding it up to her face with telekinesis, she used the light provided by her horn to read the cover. The words on the cover itself looked very similar to what Equestrians used, but with slight differences in presentation and style. Nevertheless, she could read what it said, and the words on the cover read, "Diary of Private Edwin Gee."

She flipped it open to a random page, noticing that many of the pages were torn or ripped. "December 26," she read aloud. "Christmas just passed. Nothing much separated it from any other day, except the artillery stopped for the day. I guess Jerry's still gotta make their troops happy, too. Went over the top yesterday, found some sausages. I picked those up. In return I set down some sausages of my own, and a pack of Woodbines. Seemed fair. Today is mostly resting. It's freezing; Robert Doyle froze in his sleep, poor sod. I dread tomorrow, though. There's a lot of death to catch up with."

Twilight closed the book in shock. Where had this come from? She didn't recognize any of the proper nouns. Christmas, Jerry, Woodbines, Robert Doyle... nothing made sense. This couldn't possibly be a diary; there was nothing in Equestria like this. And at the end of the entry, the author wrote death. "A lot of death to catch up with," Twilight repeated. "What could the author have meant by that?" She looked at the cover again. "What could prompt Private Edwin Gee," she shook her head with the unfamiliarity of the name. "To speak of death as if it were something to deal with at the breakfast table?"

Twilight shook her head, the extremity in question only swimming with even more questions. What astonished her was the ratio of answers to questions; so far, Twilight had enough of a chance of finding an answer in her head as she did seeing a pony on the moon unaided. She continued on the road to Zecora, hoping that the zebra enchantress would know some of the things she wanted to know. She increased the light output of her horn dramatically, so as to not be as easily tripped up as she was last time.

The hut eventually appeared before Twilight, though the only reason she could see it in the first place was because the lights in the windows were shining through. She knocked on the door, and almost immediately Zecora the zebra answered. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, how good of you to visit. Please, come in and sit."

"Thank you, Zecora. It's good of you to have me," Twilight responded, taking a seat on a pillow that sat on the floor.

"Please, you are my guest," Zecora scolded lightly. "Sit in my chair; for you, the best."

"Thank you," Twilight accepted, moving to the comfortable chair in the corner. Meanwhile, Zecora sat on the pillow.

"Would you like some refreshment, my dear? Would you prefer something dark, or something clear?"

"Oh, no thank you, Zecora. I actually came to ask you a few questions."

"And what would my guest like to know? I'm sure I can give a few answers or so."

Twilight fidgeted in the chair. "Well, as far as I can tell..." she gulped. "It's not exactly a pleasant topic," she said nervously, pulling out the diary from her saddlebags. She magicked it over to Zecora.

Zecora took one look at the title before exclaiming, "Oh my, this intrigues me! We have something special on our hooves, don't we?"

"I'm worried, though, Zecora. It talks about... death inside. It mentions death so... casually."

"Mm," Zecora acknowledged. She flipped through a few pages before closing it. "I have seen a few things similar. Every time, they fall into my disfavour."

"Is there any other reason, aside from the casual take on death?"

"Much more." Zecora looked around before continuing. "You'll be surprised at what I have in store." She moved to a bookshelf that was placed on the back wall. She searched for a certain book, and pulled it out. It was an unassuming book, with a black cover. She brought it over for Twilight to see. The title read, "Dark Secrets of Magic." "This dark tome will take you back," she intoned. "It will give you flashbacks. You will be there, but cannot interfere."

"Oh... thanks, I think." Twilight said, confused. "But I thought you couldn't travel through time for any long time."

"You are not traveling time, Twilight. It is more like an interactive highlight."

That put Twilight's worries to ease slightly. "Thank you Zecora. This will help me understand what this book is, I'm sure of it." Twilight's face lit up. "Actually, could I have something to eat, if it isn't too much trouble?"

"No, no, no, my dear. If you wish to do this, your stomach must be clear."

"Oh," Twilight said. "Okay. Well, thanks anyway, Zecora." Twilight left the zebra's hut, and made her way back to her library home. It took over forty five minutes to reach it in the dark, but that was because Twilight was being more careful about tripping over snags and rocks this time around. Not bothering to remove the "Closed" sign, Twilight unlocked the door and went inside, closing and locking it again behind her.

Spike would be gone until late the next day, so Twilight thought that beginning now would be a good idea. In truth, it wasn't a bad idea. She set both the diary and the spell book on the table before mentally preparing herself. Opening the spell book, she looked through the table of contents to find the spell that Zecora spoke of. It was rather easy to find, since it was named exactly after what it did. The spell, "Shadow Spell," would not be all that difficult for Twilight to cast, as its recommended power usage was less than that of what she used to lift the Ursa Minor.

Twilight took one long breath and read, silently, the spell and how to operate. She learned that you did have to state a name of something, living or no, for the spell to work. Nodding, she began to cast the spell, saying softly, "Follow Private Edwin Gee." The room began to shift and distort itself, slowly at first but picking up speed as it went along. Soon, Twilight found herself in a place she never would have guessed existed. She gasped, but nothing heard her, as according to the real world, she didn't technically exist in the time she went to.

She never would have thought what she saw could even begin to exist or be real.