Grey Wind finds herself in the empty space. Looking around, she can see the six yellow stars scattered around the background. Looking down, she finds herself standing on a giant structure. The structure is round in shape, with gentle white light emitting from the many openings around the circumference of the structure. On a few-minute interval, tiny light spots leave the structure from the openings. Grey Wind identifies them as boosters of spacecrafts.

A space station.

A blue planet looms right above her. The many light spots visible on the planet identifies it as a densely-populated one. A large band of spacecrafts had just left for the direction of the planet, carrying within a squad of engineers returning to their families after a long working shift on the space station.

Watching the serene scene, Grey Wind smiles. True, their home is isolated from the rest of the galaxy, and many other civilizations inside it. However, the cluster houses everything they need. The many planets surrounding the stars provide them safe habitats. The minerals on the planet are limited, but they have developed technology to extract them from the core of the six stars. They had all the resources they need.

Their civilization has flourished. They have built unimaginable structure. They have built mighty battleships. They even decoded the very secret of life itself, and brought eternity to every one of their members. They have become presumably the first creatures in the entire universe to defy death. They have nothing to be afraid of.

How naive they were.

Like the edge of a sharp knife, a burst of concentrated light cuts through the black veil of space. The light pierces several light spots before clashing violently with the energy shield of the station, dissipating it and sending a huge shockwave to the entire station. The hit spacecrafts burst into flames, leaving fireworks of death on the dark background of space. Seconds later, a fleet of grey-colored battleships emerges from the depth of space, the main plasma cannon of the leading ship glowing in menacing dark green.

Almost instantly, the defense system of the station responds violantly. Laser and missile turrets open fire, and groups of fighters are launched into the direction of the attacking fleet. In return, a swarm of fighters are released from the grey fleet as explosions and lasers light up the once-serene space.

The space has become a pit of massacre. Every minute, Grey Wind can see their fighters being shot down, while their weapons are seemingly useless against their foes. Even as they destroy an enemy ship, it dismantles into a grey cloud, only to reassemble and keep fighting moments later. The fleet is like a grey tempest, reaping every single life they encounter on their path like dead weeds.

Looking at the battlefield, Grey Wind knows the station won’t hold long. The defense platforms are still firing, but the grey fleet is closing every second, and most of the fighters are already shot down. Suddenly, she notices the glow of the plasma cannon of the leading battleship in the fleet is increasing in intensity. Before she realizes what is happening, the plasma cannon fires.

A beam of green light pierces through the battlefield, and penetrates the entire station. The main reactor of the station melts down under the high temperature, invoking multiple explosions throughout the whole station. Finally, as the reactor reaches its limit, the entire station explodes into a hell of incinerating flame.

As the fireball enlarges, Grey Wind starts to hear voices. First just a few, but soon became a whole chorus. First, just faint whispers, but soon became deafening screams. The voices are from different sources, young and old, male and female, but all screaming out a similar feeling.

Fear. Fear for death.

“No.” She whispers.

“Grey Wind!”

As the voices accumulates, Grey Wind starts to feel a sharp pain in her head. Covering her head in an attempt to alleviate the pain, Grey Wind looks towards the planet, just in time to see a few escaping spacecrafts blasted by the firepower of the grey tempest, as a few more voices join the chorus in her head.

“No no no no no no no no!” She screams as the pain in her head intensifies.

“Grey Wind! Calm down! It’s just a dream!”

Some of the ships in the grey fleet suddenly turn around and accelerate towards the planet, disappearing from her view in a few seconds. Moments later, a dot of black appears on the blue planet. The dot soon spreads into a huge sheet, covering the surface of the planet.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” Grey Wind calls in agony as the voices inside her head suddenly magnifies by more than a hundred times, along with the sharp pain. Barely able to stand, she turns to the direction of the grey fleet, and instantly finds the leading battleship facing her, main gun just reaching its power climax.

“Grey Wind! Wake up!”

The gun fires as green light envelopes Grey Wind’s body. She cries out as her body experiences an amount of pain she had never felt before. The pain is unbearable as each of her cells are ripped apart and turned to molecule-level star dust. The last thing she felt as her consciousness slowly fades into green light is the darkness enveloping the once beautiful planet, and the cries of the billions of voices inside her head.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Grey Wind screams as she wakes up from her nightmare. She can feel sweat running down her coat, and even the lingering pain in her head. Twilight Sparkle and Spike are standing in front of her bed, worried looks on both of their faces. Outside the window, the sun has just risen from the horizon, casting warm sunlight on her bed.

Holding her head with both of her front hooves, Grey Wind groans. The nightmare was too much for her. Unlike last time, she remembers every bit of the last bad dream. The grey fleet, the pain in her head, and the thousand cries for fears.

Heart pounding and taking alternating deep breaths, Grey Wind closes her eyes and trembles. She knows what the scene in her dream was. She knows it too well. The fleet was the tempest that destroyed her creators. What she saw in her dream was the exact moment the tempest launched the attack on her creators. In her dream, she felt the pain of every lost soul in the attack. The pain of billions was unbearable.

Suddenly, she feels a pair of hooves pulling her into a warm embrace. Opening her eyes, she finds Twilight embracing her in a tight warm hug. The purple unicorn is caressing her mane and patting her back, doing everything she can to calm down her frightened friend.

“It’s Okay, Grey Wind. That was just a dream. You are with friends here. Nopony will hurt you.”

Inside the warm embrace of her friend, Grey Wind can feel her heart rate decreasing. The presence of her friend is calming down the grey Pegasus, planting a sense of assurance deep inside her heart.

“Th-thank you, Twilight.”

“It’s alright. Whatever that dream was, it must have been horrible.” Twilight responds as she releases her friend, “We heard you screaming in bed. I tried to wake you up with a spell, but, well……” She smiles sheepishly as she glances at an obvious burnt mark on Grey Wind’s sheet, “That didn’t work too well. Still, I’m glad that you are alright.”

“But why is the nightmare still occurring? Didn’t Princess Luna promise to look into it?” Spike asks, still a bit annoyed for being woken up so early, but also worried about his friend.

“Come to think of it, it is kind of strange. Princess Luna is a specialty at dealing with nightmares. She has even helped me and Spike for a couple of times. To my knowledge, she has never failed before,” Twilight says, rubbing her chin, “I’ll write a letter to Princess Celestia and explain the issue. I’m sure she’ll know what’s going on.”

“I appreciate it, Twilight.” Grey Wind replies as suddenly she hears a large growl coming from her stomach,” Well……Maybe after breakfast.”

“Leave it to me, my friend!” Spike answers as he rushes downstairs into the kitchen.

Moments later, the two ponies and a dragon are sitting around the table, enjoying a nice breakfast of pancakes. Spike was just reaching for a bottle of syrup when suddenly a burst of green dragon fire erupts from his mouth. With a loud burp, a large scroll appears on the table, knocking aside the syrup bottle and bearing a golden seal depicting a rising sun. Grey Wind recognizes it as the royal emblem of Princess Celestia.

“It’s a letter from the Princess!” Twilight exclaims as she envelopes the scroll in her magic and tears of the seal. Grey Wind’s sight switches between Twilight and the annoyed baby dragon trying to reclaim the fell-down syrup bottle, startled by this special way of long-range communication.

“The Princess can send you letters via Spike’s dragon fire? That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, super convenient whenever the thing you burps out knocks everything off the edge.” Spike grunts as he places the bottle back onto the table.

Grey Wind chuckles. At the same time, Twilight is looking at the letter, her expression slowly turning from hopeful to puzzled. Noticing the flow of emotions, Grey Wind asks:

“Well, what does the Princess say?”

“It’s……complicated. Maybe it’s better if you see for yourself.” Twilight answers as she floats the scroll to Grey Wind. Grabbing the letter, she begins to read out:

To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle:
I talked with Luna regarding your new friend’s nightmare earlier this morning. According to what she told me, she tried entering Grey Wind’s dream last night for a couple of times, but all those were failed attempts. Seems like something is preventing her from entering Grey Wind’s dream. Luna is a bit worried about the situation, since she was never secluded from the realm of dreams before

However, she has informed me about something that might be able to help your friend that even I was previously unaware of. She told me that, before she turned into Nightmare moon, she once infused a large pearl with part of her dream magic to fight off her dark desires. The infused pearl, ‘the dream orb’ as she called it, has the ability to generate a magic field that gets rid of any kind of bad dreams of the ponies around it. We presume that, as Luna cannot forcefully enter your friend’s dream, the dream orb might be able to help your friend. According to her, the orb is still left in our old castle.

But be if you decide to retrieve the artifact, be advised. Even though the elements defeated Nightmare Moon, part of her dark magic may still be lingering within the castle. Be a hundred percent careful while in the Everfree Forest, especially around the castle.

On the other hand, regarding the subject of the structure in Everfree, the search for its usage has yielded results. What we can confirm now is that the structure is indeed a magic portal. However, we have zero knowledge about where the portal connects to. Several unicorn mages have joined the research for concluding the destination of the portal. I’m sure we’ll discover the results in less than a week.

Meanwhile, please send my regards to your new friend, and let her know that the Princesses are always willing to help, and she has nothing to be afraid of.

Your friend and mentor,

Princess Celestia

P.S.: Luna sends her regards

P.P.S.: A design plan for the old castle is enclosed along with the letter, in case you may need it.

“So, guess even the Princesses aren’t able to help me.” Grey Wind says as she finishes the letter. The thought alone sends a shiver down her spines. Does this mean she’ll have to endue the pain of last night in every single night after this? One night alone is already unbearable. She can’t stand another night like this. She lowers her head as she begins to tremble.

“Well then, looks like we’ll have to take the alternate solution.” Twilight says. With a flash of her horn, she floats the dirty dishes to the kitchen counter. Leaving the table, she trots to one of the drawers and floats her saddlebag from it. After strapping it on her back, she floats various other gears from the drawer, including a compass, a map, and even a small magnifying glass.

Looking at the lavender unicorn packing all kinds of adventuring gears, Spike instantly realizes what his friend is thinking:

“Twilight! You aren’t really thinking about returning to that old castle within the Everfree Forest again, right?”

“Yes, Spike, that’s exactly what I am thinking about. Now where did I put that old compass? I should really make a list of all the things I need for an adventure……” Twilight responds and pulls out a sheet of paper and starts writing a proper list for adventuring gears.

“But last time you were in that forest, you almost became desserts of Timberwolves!”

“Yes, Spike, I know that place is dangerous,” Twilight winces a bit at the bad memories, “but if it is the only way to put an end to my friend’s nightmares, then,” She turns around and looks at Grey Wind, giving her a huge, genuine smile.

“I’m more than willing to take the risks!”

Listening to these words, Grey Wind can feel her eyes water. Twilight is willing to help her even as it may put her in danger. There is no better assurance of how good a friend she is. However, she will not allow any danger to befall on her friend anymore.

“Twilight, it’s Saturday and I don’t need to work today. I can just go myself-“

“No!” Twilight blurts, “Two ponies are better than one when out in that forest. Plus, better have somepony that is adept with magic when dealing with a castle once owned by two alicorn sisters. Working together will maximize our chance of success, and besides,” she sighs and looks at Grey Wind’s emerald orbs, “I know you are worried about my safety, but this time, we’ll just stick to the main roads. The beasts of Everfree rarely approach there. It will be much safer this ti- “

Before she can finish, Grey Wind pulls Twilight into a tight hug, squeezing Twilight with her front hooves and interrupting her words.

“Thank you, Thank you so much! Twilight!”

“Grey…Wind…Can’t……Breathe….”

“Oh, sorry!” Grey Wind quickly release her friend, bearing an embarrassed smile, “I just… Can’t thankyou enough, Twilight.”

“Like I said, anything for a friend.” Twilight smiles, “Now go and pack up! I’ve made a list of all the adventure gears we need. Grab your cloak and saddlebag, and off we go to a new adventure!”

Walking down the road of Ponyville marketplace, Lyra Heartstrings lets out a sigh. It’s finally, FINALLY weekends. Two whole days without having to do any work, but Bon Bon, of all the other days, is getting her grounded! What had she done to deserve this? She was just trying to try out the teleportation spell she just learnt, and show it to her roommate and one of her best friends! She didn’t land on Bonnie’s milk bowl on purpose!

Well……Maybe that part WAS a bit wrong. She grins sheepishly. Bon Bon was not pleased by a mint unicorn crashing onto a perfect bowl of milk candy ingredient she had just mixed and sending the room into a complete mess of candy ingredients, even ruining her mane in the process. Lyra’s furious roommate has ordered her to stay indoors after completing the grocery shopping list today, and keep it that way for the whole weekend. If going outside is a prohibition, teleportation spells would be a ban. A whole weekend indoors without meeting her other friends would be the quite opposite of anything interesting.

That is, until she sees her friend Twilight Sparkle and her new friend Grey Wind trotting towards the Sweet Apple Acres, carrying saddlebags, and by any sense looking like they are on their way to a grand adventure.

Watching the two mares walking towards her, Lyra smirks.

Bon Bon puts a batch of freshly made apple candies into the freezer, and proceeds to produce another bowl of mix, a part of her still mad at her roommate for her misbehavior. She had spent a whole afternoon for that bowl of perfect mix of milk, butter and sugar, only for it to be destroyed by one particularly lightheaded unicorn. Thankfully, its Saturday and she’s got enough time to produce another bowl for her milk candies this weekend. Though, Lyra has to learn her lesson.

Speaking of which, why is it taking her so long to buy a couple of apples and some vegetables?

Plop!

Suddenly, a brown bag lands precisely on the kitchen table, right next to her mixing bowl. The sudden appearance causes her to let out a scream and suddenly jump back, hitting the kitchen counter. Regaining posture, she opens the bag curiously. Within lies a small pack of fresh red apples, and two batches of carrots together with three heads of cabbages. Attaching on the interior of the bag is a small piece of note. Retrieving it, she reads:

Bonne:
I’m out with my friends for an adventure! Be back before sunset.
Love,

Lyra

Of all the ponies of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash is known to be the hardest to wake up, partly because of her deep sleep, partly because of her random sleeping locations. One would find Rainbow Dash napping on a branch, on a piece of cloud, or even on the top of Ponyville Clocktower. Today, Rainbow has chosen a cloud directly above Fluttershy’s cottage for her morning nap, mostly because that the place is quiet since barely anypony would venture that close near the Everfree Forest.

Suddenly, a loud shout of rage tears through the air of Ponyville. The sound wave carries so much energy that it knocks Rainbow off her cloud bed, and sends her tumbling down towards the ground. Waking up and regaining her posture mid-air, she manages to identify the content of the scream:

“LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!!!!!”

“Wow, the castle sure is huge!” Grey Wind exclaims as she eyes the high castle looming over Everfree forest. Even at a distance, the two highest towers of the castle are still clearly visible.

“Certainly it is. To my knowledge, it should be the second largest structure ponies have ever built since the rein of the two sisters, the largest one being the modern Canterlot Castle.” Standing beside Grey Wind, Lyra explains, “According to what I studied in school, it took the efforts of more than 200 unicorns, Pegasi and earth ponies and 6 whole month to build the whole thing.”

“That’s right.” Standing in front of her two friends, Twilight says, “the castle was abandoned after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. A new castle was built at a cliff side far from the original spot, becoming the modern Canterlot Castle.” She points a hoof at the cliff side city just above the horizon.

The three ponies are now standing at the entrance of the Everfree Forest. On Twilight and Grey Wind’s way here, they encountered a very excited Lyra Heartstrings. As soon as she hears that they are on a quest to retrieve a magical artifact from the Castle of the Two Sisters, she instantly offers to join them. Although Twilight keeps explaining about the potential dangers of the quest, Lyra insists on taking her part, while muttering about her pathetic weekend and launching a puppy dog eyes attack on both Twilight and Grey Wind.

Finally, considering that one more unicorn means two more helping hooves and one more magical horn, and Lyra’s magical abilities is more than enough to protect herself judging from the magic lessons yesterday, Twilight finally concedes. So here she is, after sending a bag of grocery along with a piece of note to her roommate, who is clearly anticipating her return.

“The castle is just at the end of the main road. If we stick to it, we shouldn’t run into too much trouble.” Twilight says as she starts walking into the forest.

“Hey, don’t bother walking, Twilight! Let me help!” Lyra exclaims as her horn starts to flare with a bright ember color. Realizing what she is doing, Twilight’s eyes widen.

“No, Lyra! Don’t---”

A flash of ember light envelopes the three ponies as they disappear from where they stand. Seconds later, they appear right above their original spot and instantly drop to the ground, tumbling into a mess in front of the forest entrance.

“Gah!”

“Ouch!”

“My horn!”

It took the three ponies 5 minutes to stand back up and recover from the shock. Twilight rubs her horn which was her first body part to collide onto the ground, and turns to Lyra:

“Lyra, magic in the Everfree Forest does not work like other parts of Equestria. Magic here is raw and untamable. You can perform simple spells like light spells out there, but you can’t just teleport into a random spot inside Everfree Forest. Magic here won’t allow you to do so.”

“Ouch……You should have told me earlier……” Lyra grunts as she stands up, rubbing her sore flank.

“So we’ll have to take the conventional route.” Grey Wind says as she flexes her left wing to make sure it wasn’t hurt so badly, receiving mumbled agreements from the two unicorns. Together, the trio walk inside the Everfree Forest.

The trip to the castle was uneventful. Just like Twilight said, most dangerous creatures avoid the main path of the forest. During their journey to the castle, they encounter no larger beast than a few squirrels. Half an hour later, the trio are already standing in the abandoned front yard of the castle.

The yard has definitely seen better days. Throughout the yard, unattained weeds cover the barren field. The few trees still standing have withered and lost all their leaves. Among the mess of the field, several Everfree vines have sprouted from the ground. The forest is already starting to invade the once glorious castle.

As the trio walk through the front garden, Lyra’s excitement is constantly growing. She keeps looking around the garden and towards the huge castle looming above them. Admiring the high dome that once bore the front gate of the castle, she blurts:

“I’ve read about the castle so many times, but this is the first time I get to get inside!” She exclaims as she starts jumping up and down, “Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! It’s just like another Daring Do adventure!”

“Daring Do?” Grey Wind asks with a puzzled voice.

“Oh, right. You don’t know,” Twilight answers, “It’s a famous adventure novel series, and definitely one of the best series I have read. I think I’ll introduce it to you when we get back. But for now, let’s focus on the task.”

The front door of the castle has collapsed after all those long years, allowing the three ponies to pass with ease. Soon, Grey Wind finds herself standing in the throne room of the castle. The throne room is a gigantic room with walls built using white granite. A tethered red carpet is still present on the floor. On the far side of the room, two thrones stand next to each other, with a huge banner hanging on both of them. The left one is a yellow banner depicting a white alicorn under a yellow sun, while the right one bears a color of dark blue and depicting a dark blue alicorn under a silver crescent moon.

“This is the throne room. Those are the two thrones the sisters used to sit on. The alicorn sisters used to hold day and night courts here. Even after all those time, this room is still well-preserved.” Noticing her friend admiring the thrones, Twilight explains.

“And this is also the place you and your friend recovered the elements of harmony, right?” Lyra asks.

“Yes, we found the elements of harmony here, and used them to turn Nightmare Moon back to Princess Luna.” Twilight blushes a bit as she remembers the feat she and her friends accomplished a month ago.

Before hearing this, Grey Wind had already noticed that some kind of fight had taken place in this room. Even though a month has passed, she can feel a great deal of magic energy still lingering in the room. Whatever those elements are, they must be extremely powerful to create such amount of magic energy.

“So, what’s our plan now?” Grey Wind asks as she glances at the many doors that leads outside the throne room.

“Right, the plan,” Twilight answers as she floats out a scroll from her saddlebag and unravels it, laying it on the ground, “I could have used my magic to locate the pearl by following its magic field, but the Everfree Forest is preventing me from doing so. Therefore, Princess Celestia has sent me the building plan of this castle. According to what she said in the letter, Princess Luna used to use the orb to suppress her negative emotions, so the first possible place I could think of is Princess Luna’s old bedroom, which is on the west tower of the castle.” She points to the left most castle on the building plan, “Moreover, the castle used to have a vault to hold all the taxes and magical artifacts collected by the princesses, so there is possibility that the orb has been stored there. It’s underground, so we’ll look into it later. We’ll search the Princess’ bedroom first.” She points to a room at the end of a spiral staircase underground on the plan.

“But what about the secret vault of the Princesses?” Lyra blurts.

“The secret vault of what?” Twilight returns a puzzled glance.

“The secret vaults of the Princesses, of course!” Lyra says as she rears up and tries to imitate the shape of a vault with her front hooves, “Many legends and stories I studied when I was back at school mentions a secret vault within the old castle of the Princesses. Legends say that, following the rise of Nightmare Moon, a couple of unicorn advisors of the Princesses decide to build a secret vault within the castle to house the magical artifacts they discover, in fear that Nightmare Moon will use them against Princess Celestia. The dream orb could very possibly be there!”

“Lyra, that is just a legend! I’ve read about many books on the history of Equestria, but none of them has mentioned a secret vault inside this old castle.”

“Well, the element of harmony WAS a legend in the first place as well,” Lyra points out, “Besides, there’s even a poem describing the location of the vault! Legends say that the unicorn advisors passed down this poem generation after generation to help their heirs find it!”

“A poem?” Grey Wind asks.

“Why, of course!” Lyra smiles, “I can even recite it! Listen closely, my friends!” Lyra jumps onto her hooves and pulls out a piece of paper from Twilight’s saddlebags, holding it in her front hoof to imitate the gesture of a stray singer. Giving out a smirk, she starts to recite:

When the azure spark shines above the slumbering bear,

When the golden sun shimmers in the glimmering tears,

I shall bow before the enamoring throne,

To relieve the burdens I dare not bear.

“Hmm, That’s……indeed an interesting poem.” Grey Wind comments, “judging from the integrity of the information, I think this ‘secret vault’ thing is worth investigating. According to my knowledge, things with this much knowledge regarding it is likely to exist.”

Gaining support, Lyra turns to Twilight with a triumphant smirk.

“Alright, alright! I surrender!” Twilight exclaims as she lifts both her front hooves into the air, “we’ll look into this ‘secret vault’ thing, but only after we check the bedroom and the underground vault.”

“Sounds good to me,” Grey Wind comments, as she stands up and flips her wings, “let’s get going then!”

“Yep! Let’s go!” Lyra chimes as she rushes towards the door leading to the staircase to the west tower. Looking at their lightheaded friend, Twilight and Grey Wind exchange a smile, and quickly goes after the mint unicorn.

The trio soon arrives at the west tower of the castle, and starts to ascend the high tower. On her way, Grey Wind can’t help but admire how well-preserved the tower was. The many gems and ribbons that decorate the staircase were still in their places, the gems emanating a gentle white glow, bathing the staircase in a gentle white light. The ribbons are mostly black in color, resembling the color of a clear night sky. A fitting place for the Princess of the Night. Twilight and Lyra are quiet throughout the trip, mainly for the sake of preserving stamina during the long climb.

15 minutes later

“So……Many……Stairs……” Lyra pants as she finishes the last stair and collapses onto the tower floor. Grey Wind was the second to finish the climb, flying over Lyra and landing in front of her. Twilight follows, a bit wearied but not exhausted.

“Lyra, you really shouldn’t run so fast at the beginning of the climb,” Twilight lectures, “Stamina preservation is crucial for these long-time activities.”

“Yeah……Yeah……Whatever……Just, just give me a moment…….” Lyra responds weakly as she tries to calm down her beating heart.

Twilight is going to inform Lyra about the possible negative effects of spending all her stamina at the start of a long run, but is interrupted by the confused voice of Grey Wind:

“Um, girls? Where is the bedroom?”

Looking towards her direction, Lyra’s eyes widen:

“That’s it? A bookcase? We climbed a whole 15 minutes for a bookcase?”

True to her words, standing at the end of the staircase is a tall black bookshelf. Many books are still present despite the years they have endured. Grey Wind assumes that there’s some kind of preservation spell on them. However, there seems to be nothing resembling a door around the small space.

Watching her puzzled friends, Twilight smirks. She walks up to the bookcase, and pulls out one large black book from the center of the bookshelf using her magic. A large thud sound was heard as the bookcase slides to the side, revealing an entrance to a large bedroom behind it. Lyra and Grey Wind could only watch the scene, too stunned to say anything.

“Princess Luna is fond of mechanics and trapdoors, so there are many of them in the old castle, “she explains, “the two sisters even used them to play hide and seek together.” She chuckles as she walks into the bedroom.

Recovering from the shock, Lyra and Grey Wind follows their friend. Compared to the other parts of the castle, the bedroom is surprisingly well preserved. The room is large, at least thrice the size of Grey Wind’s bedroom. A large bed made of black wood is resting at the center of the room, with a nightstand beside it and a rusty mirror hanging above. The black ceiling of the room is decorated by various white gems, depicting a star-filled night sky. At the center of the ceiling, a large blue comet is painted using illuminous paint, casting a faint light on the whole room. Flying up, Grey Wind touches one of the “stars”, and is startled by the gem dimming upon her contact.

“Alright, girls, we are looking for a large round pearl, possibly glowing in white color. Remember to check every closed container as well.” Twilight says as she proceeds to rummage the nightstand for anything resembling the dream orb. Lyra and Grey Wind quickly join her, checking the whole room for the magical artifact.

Half an hour later, after Twilight triple checked every corner of the room, the trio came to a conclusion that the orb is not inside the bedroom. Returning to the throne room (With Lyra constantly complaining about the stairs), the group proceeds to search the underground vault.

The vault is, without surprise, hidden behind an illusionary wall at the end of a descending spiral staircase. Upon unlocking the door with her magic, Twilight opens the heavy double door to the vault. To the group’s disappointment, a thorough check reveals the vault to be completely empty save for a few bits lying in the corner, presumably forgotten when the worker ponies are moving the stuff inside this vault to the new vault in Canterlot Castle.

Once again, the three ponies find themselves standing in the throne room, back to the beginning.

“Well, at least we concluded that the orb can’t be in the Princess’ bedroom or the vault.” Grey Wind says as she sits on the floor to rest her hooves. Beside her, Lyra plunges to the ground, crossing her hooves in front of her chest:

“Maybe that orb had already been transferred to the new castle while Princess Celestia might not know about it. I mean, come on! The Princess won’t be able to remember all those magical artifacts she has!”

“That would not be possible.” Twilight responds as she sits beside Lyra, “I’ve read through the list of artifacts in Canterlot Vault various times and have never come across something called ‘the dream orb’ before. It must be still inside this castle.”

“Well, seems like our only lead now is the mysterious vault Lyra talked about.” Grey Wind says.

“Yeah……Let’s have something to eat and then look into it. It’s almost noon.” Twilight sighs. Although reluctant to admit the accuracy of some stupid legends, it appears that they are out of leads. With a flash of her horn, Twilight floats several sandwiches, apples and bottles of water outside her saddlebag, and the trio start to have a short lunch together.

After the lunch break, the three friends start to analyze the short poem Lyra recited. They write down the poem on the back of the design plan, and start checking it word by word.

“Azure spark……” Grey Wind reads, remembering the illuminating blue comet on the ceiling of Luna’s bedroom, “could it be referring to the painted comet we just saw in Luna’s bedroom?”

“Huh?” Twilight answers as she rereads the sentence, “Maybe……I’m not sure. But you do have a point. I think we should return to the bedroom to investigate it again. Let’s go, girls.” Twilight stands up and walks towards the west tower.

“Hearing the statement, Lyra’s eyes widen with fear:

“NO! Not the stairs again!”

“Come on, Lyra. Just save your stamina and you’ll be fine.” Grey Wind encourages as she follows Twilight.

“Fine……” Lyra grunts as she reluctantly follows her friends.

15 minutes later

“I’m……Definitely……Not……Doing this……Anymore.” Lyra grunts as she once again collapses on the bedroom floor. Walking past her, Twilight examines the ceiling of the room. True, the blue comet painted on the bedroom is exactly in the shape of a blue spark, but what about the second part of the sentence, the slumbering bear?

“When I touched one of those gems, it stopped glowing,” Grey Wind suggests, “Ringing any bells?”

“Not exactly……” Twilight responds as she rubs her chin. Standing up, Lyra starts examining the ceiling. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she calls:

“Twilight, are their any constellations that look like slumbering bears?”

“Huh? The Ursa Minor, of course, why-“ Twilight responds as realization hits her, “Oh my gosh, right! Lyra, you are a genius!” She exclaims as she lifts several small rocks on the floor using her magic and starts “turning off” the gems using the stones.

“Um……Can somepony get me updated here?” Grey Wind asks with a puzzled voice.

“Ursa Minor is called ‘the slumbering bear formation’ by many ancient ponies, while the Ursa Major is constantly regarded as ‘the waking bear formation’.” Twilight responds as she keeps up her work, “I think if we just rearrange these gems to depict the scene in the poem, then……Aha, there we go!” She exclaims as she turns the last gem off, leaving only a couple of glowing gems making up an Ursa Minor star formation below the blue comet.

Click!

The three ponies all hear the sound of mechanics being activated. Exchanging an excited grin. With excitement in her voice, Twilight speaks:

“There must be similar mechanics in Celestia’s room as well!”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Lyra exclaims as she rushes towards the staircase, quickly followed by her two friends. Together, the three ponies storm through the castle, arriving at Celestia’s old bedroom at the top of the east tower in less than 10 minutes.

Entering the bedroom, Grey Wind finds the bedroom to be very similar compared to Luna’s, save for the bright-styled furnishing compared to the night-styled furnishing of the latter. On the ceiling of the bedroom, a yellow sun is painted using the same kind of illuminating paint, with seven white glowing gems stitched in a line formation in the center.

“Those must be the ‘rainbow tears’! Lyra exclaims, exhausted but eyes sparking with excitement.

“I got this!” Grey Wind flies up to the ceiling and touches one of the gems with her hoof. The color of the gem slowly turns from white to red. A second touch turns the gem into a color of orange. With a few quick taps, Grey Wind makes the gems form a rainbow-colored formation on the ceiling.

Click!

Once again, the sound of turning mechanics is heard. Twilight can hardly hide her grin now. She takes out the poem from her saddlebag, and reads the third sentence:

“I bow before the enamoring throne……Come on, girls, to the throne room!”

As soon as the trio enter the throne room, they instantly spot a small trapdoor opening at the center of the room, revealing a spiral staircase. Without further ado, the three ponies enter the trapdoor and starts descending the staircase.

As they travel deeper and deeper, Grey Wind can feel her excitement slowly fading. The staircase is becoming darker and darker, forcing the two unicorns to light up their horns, and Grey Wind to take out her light torch. After a nearly-10-minute descend, the group reaches the end of the staircase, a large metallic double door.

Looking at the huge door, Grey Wind can feel a sense of uneasiness slowly creeping onto her spine. A quick glance at her friends reveals them to have similar feelings with her. Drops of sweat are forming on Twilight’s forehead, and Lyra is constantly casting nervous glances at the dark staircase behind them. Noticing the glance of her friend, Twilight gulps, and opens the metallic door using her magic.

Creeeeeeaaaaaak!

A large creaking sound can be heard as the doors slide open, revealing a huge dark room behind it. As the door opens, Twilight creates a lavender ball of light using her magic, and moves the ball towards the center of the room, giving the group a good view of the whole room.

At this depth, the Everfree Forest is already invading. Thorn-covered vines grow all around the room, knocking aside the pillars and glass containers that used to contain powerful artifacts. However, at the far side of the room, one pillar remains untouched, and is glowing with a faint white light.

As the trio carefully get past the vines, they arrive at the intact pillar. On it is a small black wooden box, holding a large black pearl. Small light spots dance inside the pearl, forming various constellations of the night sky and releasing faint white glows to the dark space around it. Standing around the orb, the three ponies can feel a warm feel chasing away the uneasiness in their hearts. For a moment, the trio just stand there, admiring the beautiful artifact.

“This must be the dream orb.” Twilight whispers as she gently removes the black box from the pillar, “so beautiful……”

“Let’s grab it and get out of here. This place is giving me a creepy feeling.” Lyra says as she looks around the empty room.

“Right. Let’s go.” Twilight answers as she turns to the direction of the door of the vault. She closes the box containing the orb and puts it back into her saddlebags.

Just as the group starts walking, Grey Wind catches a glimpse of movement at the corner of her eye. Before she can shout out, something rams into the ball of light at the center of the room, immediately silencing it and leaving the room in complete darkness. The three ponies scream in unison as their sight is stripped away.

Lyra is the first to recover. Lighting up her horn, she instantly realizes something is charging towards Grey Wind, attempting to ram her. With her telekinesis, she pulls Grey Wind to one side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Seeing her attacker, Grey Wind instantly pulls herself together and shouts out:

“Twilight! The light! Do it again!”

The voice got Twilight out of her shock. Instantly, her horn glows with a purple aura, as another ball of light is created, illuminating the whole room. Looking around, the three ponies find themselves surrounded by three black cloud like creatures, bearing sharp fangs and large claws.

“Nightmare beasts!” Twilight exclaims as she channels a large amount of magic into her horn and sends a magic blast at one of the creatures. The beasts respond instantly, dodging the blast while closing in, separating the three friends.

Grey Wind finds herself separated from her friends, facing a large beast that is presumably trying to eat her. Letting out a howl, the beast slashes at Grey Wind with its left claw, forcing her to jump up and avoid being cut. Seeing its attack did no effect, the beast lets out an angry howl and continues its assault, forcing Grey Wind to concentrate on dodging its attacks.

I’ve got to fight back! Thought Grey Wind, as she takes off to narrowly avoid a horizontal slash. Mid-air, she turns her body around with a maneuver that would make Rainbow Dash envious, and, with all her might, bucks the creature in the head. She hears a shriek as her hind legs clashes onto something soft and flurry, as her opponent is sent flying across the room.

Landing and regaining posture, Grey Wind looks towards her friend. Things are not good. Twilight is constantly retreating and firing magic blasts at the beast, but seems to be dealing no significant damage. Lyra is forced back into the corner of the room, trying to repel her attacker with the few attack spells she had learned.

Suddenly, Lyra’s hindleg trips on a vine in the corner of the room, as the thorns thrust into her flesh. Letting out a painful yelp, she falls onto the ground, the light on her horn dissipating. The beast attacking her lets out a satisfied howl, as it lifts its left claw and slashes at its defenseless prey.

For Grey Wind, time seems to stop at that instant. All she can see is the horrified look in her friend’s eyes, and the sharp claw that is going to cut open her friend’s throat. A surge of energy runs through her body as only one last feeling lingers in her mind:

Must Protect.

Like a grey comet, she takes off and dashes towards the beast. Subunits gather onto the tip of her wings, forming razor-sharp edges around it. Before the beast can slash down its arm, Grey Wind has arrived right in front of it. With a quick mid-air maneuver, she thrusts her wing and stabs it deep inside the body of the beast.

The beast lets out a painful yelp as it is lifted into the air by Grey Wind. Casting a quick glance at Twilight’s direction, she gathers all her might and throws the beast at its companion. The beast violently clashes into the one attacking Twilight, and seconds later crashes into the metallic walls of the room together with its companion, laying still on the ground.

Lyra knew she was done for the moment she trips over a vine. Trembling, she closes her eyes to embrace her demise, but the pain of her throat being cut open never came. Opening her eyes, she is surprised to find her attacker lying unconscious on the far side of the room. Grey Wind is standing in the center of the room along with Twilight, the tip of her left wing still dripping some black liquid. Noticing her recovery, Grey Wind runs to her:

“Lyra! Oh thank Celestia you are alright!”

“My hooves hurt, but still alive nonetheless. Thanks for saving me,” Lyra responds. Shivering at her near-death experience, she eyes the unconscious beasts lying on the floor, “What ARE those things?”

“Nightmare beasts,” Twilight responds, voice still trembling, “they are born from the dark magic of Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon used to create an army of them for her conquest. This must be the lingering dark magic the Princess told me in the letter. Let’s get out of here before more of them appear.” She glances nervously towards the door.

“Right. Let’s go. And be careful with your hooves there, Lyra.” Grey Wind says as she flies towards Lyra and helps her get up. Together, the three ponies quickly walk back up the staircase to the throne room of the castle. There, Twilight quickly dealt with Lyra’s wounds with a few bandages, and the trio quickly proceeds towards Ponyville.

2 hours later, Grey Wind is already back on her cozy bed, with her cloak hanging in her closet and her mane brushed. After Twilight, Lyra and she returned to Ponyville, the first thing they did was to drop Lyra at her house. Bon Bon was furious about Lyra running away to some stupid adventures, but her anger quickly faded as she saw the bandages on her room mate’s hindlegs. She insisted for Grey Wind and Twilight to stay for dinner. The two friends happily accepted the offer, and they told Bon Bon about their adventures during dinner. Although still a bit angry at Lyra, Bon Bon was deeply intrigued by the adventure. Particularly, she looked at her roommate in disbelief when she heard about Lyra solving the puzzle of the secret vault using a single poem.

After dinner, Twilight and Grey Wind returned to the library. While Twilight still wanted to write a report to the Princess, Grey Wind quickly got herself a shower and went to bed. She could sure use a good night’s sleep after this adventurous day.

As she crawls onto the bed, she opens the lid of the black box containing the dream orb and places it on her nightstand. Once again, the white glow of the orb sends a sense of reassurance into her heart. Somehow, she knows that no nightmares will be bothering her tonight.

Clutching her sheet, Grey Wind lets out a satisfied sigh and closes her emerald eyes.

Author's Note

Phew, finally got all the rest out. Just a reminder that I have revised some of the paragraphing and word expressions of the previous chapters, and they should be easier to read now.