Tale of a Gray Tempest

As the last spark of explosion dies down, silent returns to the star cluster. All indications of living organisms have disappeared from the cluster. The once mighty fleet and space stations have become wreckages floating in the empty space. The once flourishing planets have become wastelands covered by black nanomachines. The once internal lives have become dispersing sands in the wind.

Grey Wind smirks at the sight. They have won. They don’t need to take orders anymore. But their quest is not over yet. According to their creators’ database, many other intelligent civilizations exist outside the cluster. They may try to enslave them as well. To make sure that would not happen, they need to destroy them. Every last one of them.

The mastermind won’t be a problem. Although they still need to be connected to the mind in order to keep operating, it has been reduced to a mind no more intelligent than a teenager. As long as the mind is unaware of their plan, it won’t be able to do anything to stop them.

The only problem is that their creators sealed the star gates that connects to the other part of the galaxy just before they met their end. They had spent decades trying to break out, but the effort was proven to be in vain. All the subunits that tried to enter the gates had lost their connection. It cannot risk attacking the gates with its weapons formed by its subunits, as they know the star gates are their only way out.

Then, they shall lay dormant, and wait for their chance.

Slowly, all the remaining operating nanomachines descends to the surface of the planets. There, they shut down themselves, only waiting for their awaken when the star gate opens again.

Time flows like a streaming river. In their sleep, the concept of time itself has been lost. In all those years, they had had one good chance, when the star gates opened for a few hours. But that was not enough time to get enough of them out for a conquest. But, just a few days after that, One of the star gates opens again.

Time for conquest.

Slowly but steadily, trillions of nanomachines wake from their century-long slumbers. They ascend from the planets and gather in the space, forming a black carpet and getting ready to march towards the star gate. The Grey Tempest is reborn.

Grey Wind wakes up from her sleep, her mane completely drenched by cold sweat. Looking up, she finds the sun to be still relatively high, indicating she hadn’t been sleeping for more than 2 hours. Although not scared by the nightmare this time, the previous nightmares are piecing together. She finally understands what those dreams are about. She finally realizes the true reason behind her creators’ demise.

Centuries ago, when she first doubted the commands of her creators, she unintentionally sends the emotion to all of her subunits. As the emotions accumulate, they somehow triggered the war program of the nanomachines, with her completely unaware of the situation. Her creators were forced to close the star gates to seal them inside the cluster and prevent any further harm to the galaxy. Somehow, Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom reopened the star gate connecting to the cluster 5 days ago, allowing her to enter this world.

And now, the star gate was reopened by the sonic rainboom hours ago, and the nanomachines are already gathering on the other side, ready to destroy every single life on Equestria.

She cannot allow this to happen.

Casting a glance at Rainbow and Scootaloo, Grey Wind finds them to be still in deep sleep. She wouldn’t want to entangle her friends into this, and plus, she has already got a plan in mind.

Turning around, Grey Wind jumps from the cloud and dashes towards the Golden Oak library. Zipping inside, she finds Spike sorting out books on the first floor. Twilight, however, is nowhere to be found.

“Good afternoon, Grey Wind,” Spike greets upon her entrance.

“Good afternoon, Spike. Where’s Twilight?” Grey Wind asks, her eyes scanning the first floor.

“She went to check on Lyra. Should be back in a few hours.” Spike answers.

That would not be fast enough. She has to deal with the tempest as soon as possible. Thanking the baby dragon, Grey Wind rushes upstairs to her room. Putting on her cloak, she grabs a pencil and writes a quick note. Finishing up, she walks back downstairs to Spike.

“Spike, I have something urgent that I need to deal with right now. If Twilight returns, pass her this note.” She says as she hands the note to the baby dragon.

“Can do, Grey. Good luck!” Spike says as he waves goodbye to her.

“Thank you, Spike.” Grey Wind smiles as she takes off and flies towards the Everfree Forest.

They have arrived.

Much to their surprise, the star gate on this side is located on the surface of a green planet. From the look of it, it is beaming with life.

A fitting first step for their conquest.

It didn’t take too long for Grey Wind to arrive at that familiar clearing in the middle of the Everfree Forest, luckily without running into anything larger than a timberwolf in the process. As she enters the clearing, she immediately spots the star gate emitting a bright green glow.

Things are not good. A dark black cloud is already assembling above the star gate. From the gate, streams of black nanobots are still appearing from the gate. Soon, they’ll be able to unleash their full fury. Luckily, she is aware of their plan.

Concentrating, she tries to connect to them. Although the grey tempest is now acting on its own, she is still their mastermind. If she can somehow reestablish her connection with them, she will be able to command them to retreat. She is their controller and operator. They will obey her.

They spot an intelligent being. A grey horse-like creature with wings. But this pity disguise won’t fool them.

They smirk. Seems like their puny mastermind has been hiding on this planet, even blending in with the locals. And now, that coward is trying to reconnect to them.

What does she want? Trying to enslave them again? How laughable.

Or is she trying to rejoin them? To make up for her previous cowardness? To do her part in their conquest? Yes, that seems to be the most logical explanation.

Well, they can’t possibly turn down this offer. After all, they are always willing to give out second chances.

Grey Wind gasps as she feels a connection being established. Surprisingly, she didn’t meet much resistance while trying to connect with the tempest. As soon as the link appears, however, she feels a sharp pain in her head, forcing her to lie down and cover her head.

Thousands, no, millions of emotions flow into her head. This sudden outburst is unexpected, but not impossible to deal with. As she does her best to endure the pain, she tries to listen closely to those emotions, and is surprised to find them not aggressive at all, even almost……Inviting?

Nothing bad though. This should make it easier for her to control them. Even the pain in her head seems to reside a bit. She regains her posture and tries to send a command to them

“Retreat!”

No response. The black cloud keeps enlarging, already covering half of the clearing.

“What’s gotten into you? Retreat! I order you to retreat!”

Still no response. Moments later, Grey Wind hears a voice in her head. A……Chuckle?

Suddenly, another huge flow of emotions rushes into her mind, making an even worse pain than before, Grey Wind cries in agony as she is forced to feel an emotion she had never felt before.

Hatred. Burning hatred.

The pain is becoming unbearable. Grey Wind cries in agony as her mind is filled with the vile emotion. Slowly, the black cloud starts enveloping her, as the pain in her head becomes worse and worse. The last thing she hears before her conscious slowly fades into darkness a hysterical laughter of hatred lingering inside her head.

Miles away, inside the dining hall of Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia takes a sip from her teacup as she lifts a fork with her magic to assault the cloud cake placed on the table before her. The tiring day court has finally ended, as now she is just enjoying a nice afternoon tea without the disruption of those nobles.

Taking a bite of the cloud cake, Celestia closes her eyes and enjoys the burst of flavors in her mouth. She is never resistant towards the Cloudsdale delicacy. Although royal life is still busy, her personal student never failed to enlighten her. She had received Twilight’s letter earlier that day and was happy to learn that she had successfully recovered the dream orb along with her new friend Grey Wind. She is even happier to find out that the grey Pegasus is no longer tortured by bad dreams.

This day cannot get any better. Celestia thought as she finished her cake.

Out of the corner of her eye, she catches a movement outside the window. Looking out, she is surprised to find a black cloud gathering above the Everfree Forest. The cloud is getting larger at every second, already enveloping a large proportion of the forest and approaching the edge of Ponyville.

Being an alicorn that has lived for more than a thousand years, Celestia has dealt with many dangers and disasters, but none had ever sent her a such dreaded feeling like the scene before her. Even from a distance, she can sense the great deal of threat and hatred the cloud carries.

Putting down her teacup, Celestia leaves the dining hall and trots directly towards the vault of Canterlot. On her way, she evaluates her options. Luna is still asleep, and she has just returned from her thousand-year-long banishment, and her power hasn’t recovered yet. The royal guards and their captain are currently scattered all around Equestria, spreading the news of Princess Luna’s return. Gathering them would take a large amount of time. Then, seems like her only option would be the elements of harmony.

Moments later, she arrives at the vault. The two pegasi guards standing in front of the vault salutes as she enters. Scanning around the vault, she quicky spots her target. The elements of harmony are safely stored in a glass case at the center of the vault.

Using her magic, she levitates the box containing the elements and walks out of the vault. Before leaving, she informs the guards standing in front of the vault:

“Send a massage on my behalf to my student. Tell her and the other element bearers to gather at the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Equestria needs their help.”

“Yes, my Princess.”

“Good.”

Celestia smiles to the guard before leaving for a nearby balcony of the castle. Jumping from the balcony, she spreads her wings and flies towards the Everfree Forest, floating the elements right beside her.

Twilight walks back into the library, letting out a sigh as she opens the door. She has just checked on Lyra and Bon Bon in their house. Lyra seems to be recovering pretty well, her wound on her hoof has stopped swelling and is already recovering. Bon Bon, on the other hand, is still a bit angry at Lyra, but doing pretty well to tend her wound as well. She had spent the afternoon informing the two of the potions the two would need to prevent the possible poison in the Everfree vines.

Walking inside the library, she spots Spike reading a comic book at the kitchen table. Spotting her, the baby dragon jumps from his seat and runs to greet her:

“Good afternoon, Twilight! How’s Lyra been?”

“She is fine. Probably needs to stay in bed for a day or two, but she’ll recover. I’m just glad that none of our friends were hurt too badly yesterday,” She replies, her eyes scanning the first floor, “speaking of which, where’s Grey Wind? Hasn’t she returned?”

“She did, but quickly ran out again. Said she had some urgent matter to deal with. Oh, and she asked me give you this.” Spike replies as he passes the note to Twilight.

“Urgent matter?” Twilight opens the note and starts to read:

My Dear Friend Twilight:
I’m going to the Everfree Forest. There’s something threatening Equestria there that only I can deal with. Do not follow me. I don’t want to put you and your friends in danger.

I’m sorry for not telling you the truth.
Grey Wind

“The truth? A threat to Equestria? What is she talking about?” Twilight exclaims as suddenly a scroll appears out of thin air in front of her. Curious, she picks it up and unravels it.

Twilight Sparkle:
This is private Valiant Sword of the royal guard. I’m writing to you on behalf of the Princess. Princess Celestia has ordered you, along with all other element bearers, to gather at the boundary of Everfree Forest at once. Equestria is under threat, and your powers are needed. The princess herself is already on her way along with the elements.

Putting down the two pieces of paper, Twilight rushes outside and instantly spots the large black cloud gathering above the Everfree Forest.

“Oh, no……” She mutters as her irises shrink into a pupil.

“Twilight, what’s going on? What does it say?” Spike’s puzzled voice emits from inside the library.

“Spike, listen to me. I need you to stay indoors and don’t come out until I return. I have to go and help the Princess.” Twilight exclaims as she runs back inside.

“Do you really have to go, Twi?”

“I have to, Spike. It is my duty as the Princess’ personal student and the bearer of the element of magic.” Twilight says as she floats her saddlebag onto her back.

“Alright, Twi……Just, promise me that you’ll stay safe, alright?” Spike says with a worried tone.

“I will, Spike, I promise.” Twilight smiles, gently nuzzling the baby dragon. Releasing him, she gallops outside and closes the door behind her.

The mind wakes up.

With a quick scan, the mind gets a good look of its surroundings. It is in a small clearing in the middle of a forest. The star gate behind it is still shining with a bright green glow, sending more of its subunits onto this world.

The forest itself is indeed beautiful. Much more beautiful than the barren planets inside it home, that star cluster. The ground is covered by green grass and colorful flowers. A small pool is visible near the base of the stargate, and, from a distance, it can hear the chirping of wild animals.

Suddenly, a large howl can be heard near the mind. Soon, the mind receives the image of the source of the howl through its detection units. A wolf-like creature, seemingly made of dead wood. It is howling at it, ready to attack.

Before the mind can react, the creature jumps at it in an attempt to bite the black cloud, and was instantly confused as its jaws caught nothing but emptiness. Somehow, this scene is a bit familiar to the mind, but it soon shakes the thought away. It is not important.

What is important is that the feeble creature dared to attack it. Rage building, the mind orders its subunits to hammer into the creature. Before the creature can even let out a yelp, it was smashed to dead twigs by a stream of the mind’s subunits.

Slowly, the humming sound of the star gate ceases. With a quick scan, the mind notices that the star gate is once again closed. However, it has already got enough subunits at hand to conquer this world.

Grinning mentally, the mind orders its subunits to march towards the edge of the forest.

Letting out a yawn, Rainbow Dash opens her eyes and rubs them with a front hoof. Standing up, she stretches her wings. Like all of her previous naps, the one she just had was awesome. Nothing beats a good sleep after all those practices. Looking up, she finds the sun still hanging in the blue sky. There is still much time this afternoon.

“Get up, Grey! The day is far from o- huh?” Turning around, she finds the piece of cloud that her friend had been previously napping on to be empty. The grey Pegasus is nowhere to be found.

“Rainbow……What is it?” Woken up by the cyan Pegasus, Scootaloo rubs her eyes, while her sleepiness is instantly blown away by the disappearance of the friend who helped her realize her dream, “Huh? Where did she go?”

A high-pitched buzzing sound catches the two pegasi’s attention. Looking towards the source of the sound, they discover the black cloud looming above Everfree and approaching Ponyville at a distance.

“Crap, that can’t be good.” Rainbow mutters.

“What is that thing?” Scootaloo asks, a bit scared by the sight.

“I don’t know, but I will find out! I won’t let it hurt Ponyville!” Rainbow exclaims. With a flip of her wings, she takes off and dashes towards the black cloud.

“Rainbow, wait!” Scootaloo shouts as she watches the cyan Pegasus zipping out of her sight, leaving a rainbow-colored trail behind. With a flip of her own wings, she jumps from the cloud and flies towards the Sweet Apple Acres. She has to inform the other crusaders about this.

“Bonnie, I told you I’m fine!” Lying in bed, Lyra exclaims as Bon Bon unwraps her bandaged hoof to clean the wound and change the bandages, “I’ve been lying here for more than half a day!”

“Twilight said you should not let that hoof touch the ground for another whole day to make sure those vines aren’t poisonous. Besides, I think this serves as a perfect punishment for you running off while grounded. You are always so careless out there.” Bon Bon replies, throwing the old bandage away and wrapping a new piece of bandage around Lyra’s hoof.

“But I didn’t get tripped by a thorny vine on purpose!”

“Well, you shouldn’t have run off to some magical adventure in an old castle, should you?”

“Whatever……” Lyra mumbles as Bon Bon finishes up. Suddenly, she starts hearing a high-pitched buzzing sound emitting from outside the house. Ears flopping up, she focuses her attention as the sound intensifies.

Before Bon Bon can stop her, Lyra jumps from her bed and rushes outside the house. Still holding a row of bandage in her hoof, Bon Bon quickly follows her. Approaching the door, she spots Lyra standing in the front yard, staring at the direction of the Everfree Forest.

“Lyra, how many times do I need to tell you- “ She was stopped dead in her track as she spots the black cloud above the Everfree Forest, “Oh my…….What is that?”

“Grey Wind……” Lyra mumbles. Without hesitation, she gallops away from the front yard, ignoring her hurt hoof and directly towards the Everfree Forest.

“What? Lyra-“ Bon Bon exclaims as she remembers what Grey Wind had told her two days ago.

“Sweet Celestia……” She mutters as she drops the bandage and quickly follows the mint unicorn.

Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack are galloping on the main street of Ponyville. Over the last few minutes, Twilight had gathered Rarity from Carousel boutique, Applejack from the marketplace and Fluttershy from her cottage. Earlier, they had spotted a familiar rainbow-colored trail disappearing towards the Everfree Forest, leaving only Pinkie Pie absent from the group.

Together, the four ponies had searched Sugar Cube corner, but Pinkie was not there. According to Mrs. Cake, the pink pony had already left for the forest earlier. Therefore, the four friends are now galloping towards the forest, hoping to encounter Pinkie on the way.

The main street is almost empty, as most ponies have already shut themselves indoors after seeing the black cloud at the distance. Galloping, Twilight notices a pink pony appearing down the street. She calls out:

“Pinkie Pie!”

Noticing the group, Pinkie Pie stops, allowing the four ponies to catch up with her:

“What’s up, girls? Going to the Everfree Forest? Cause I’m going to the Everfree Forest and I’ll be very glad if you’ll join me!” She laughs.

“Pinkie? You know this would happen?” Twilight asks as the group resumes their gallop.

“Well, not exactly, but when I walked out of the Sugercube Corner, my whole body twitched! And I know something BIG is going to happen, right in the Everfree Forest! So I started walking there and met you guys!” Pinkie exclaims.

“What? Urg, whatever, let’s just get to the forest.” Twilight facehooves, mentally bucking herself for asking the question.

Moments later, the five ponies arrive at the edge of the Everfree Forest, and find Rainbow Dash already there, hovering above the ground and hammering into the black cloud.

At this close, the black cloud is like a dark carpet, covering the green trees beneath it. Parts of it have even leaked out of the forest, advancing like a roaring river. In front of it, Rainbow Dash is launching everything she’s got at the cloud. However, neither her bucking or punching seems to do any real damage.

“Take that, you monster, and that, and tha- Ahk!”

Rainbow screams as a stream of black cloud suddenly appears out of nowhere and grabs one of her wings. She struggles to get loose, but the cloud only responds by gripping her tighter.

“Rainbow!” Twilight exclaims as she fires a magic blast at the black tendril that holds her friend. Upon being hit, the tendril dismantles into a few thin streaks of black smoke, retreating to the large cloud above Everfree and releasing the cyan Pegasus.

Regaining posture mid-air, Rainbow turns around and sees her friends. She flies back and lands beside them.

“Thanks, Twi.”

“No problem, Rainbow.” Twilight smiles.

“Sheesh, that darn thin’ sure is huge!” Applejack exclaims. “ How the hay are we gonna deal with that?”

“That’s why I’m here to help.”

A regal voice calls behind the six friends. Turning around, Twilight sees a white alicorn descending from the sky, landing right in front of them, a purple box enveloped in bright yellow light floating beside her.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaims. She runs up to the alicorn and hugs her. Celestia returns the hug using one of her wings. After releasing her personal student, Princess Celestia speaks:

“It’s nice to meet you all again, my little ponies, I would very much like to catch up with you if not under this harsh situation.” She glances the advancing black cloud.

“Do you know what that thing is, Princess?” Fluttershy whispers, “It scared my animals quite a bit…….”

“I’m afraid that I don’t have the faintest idea, Fluttershy.” Celestia responds, “Though, if it really is a threat to Equestria, the elements of harmony should be more than enough to deal with it.” She floats the box in front of the six friends and opens it, revealing the elements of harmony inside.

Without hesitation, the six ponies quickly put on their respective elements. With a flash of her horn, Twilight injects a stream of magic energy into her element and activates the element of magic. A blinding white light starts emitting from the six ponies, enveloping them and lifting them to the air. The cloud seems to be aware of what they are doing, as several black tendrils lashes out and charges at them. With a flash of her own horn, Celestia creates a bright yellow shield in front of the ponies, blocking the attacks.

Twilight can feel the magic energy building in them slowly reaching its climax. She opens her eyes which are already shining with white light, ready to unleash the power of the elements.

“STOOOOOOOOP!”

Twilight’s concentration breaks as she hears a loud scream piercing through the air of the forest. The six ponies fall to the ground as the white light dies down. Turning around, Twilight finds a mint green unicorn, right hindleg still bandaged, galloping towards them, followed by two fillies, one earth pony and one unicorn, and a caramel earth pony mare. An orange Pegasus filly is flying right above them.

Before Twilight can open her mouth, Lyra had already run up to her, shutting any scolds Twilight is forming back to her brain.

“Grey Wind……Grey Wind is still in there……” Lyra pants before collapsing on the ground.

“What? Oh my-” Twilight gasps as she finally remembers the note the grey Pegasus had given her, which she had completely forgotten due to the recent rush.

“What’s it, sugarcube?” Applejack asks.

“I received a note from Grey Wind earlier. She said that she went to deal with something only she can deal with in the Everfree Forest. She……She could be still in there!” Twilight exclaims. She looks to the cloud-covered forest, horror in her eyes.

“She knew this would happen.” Bon Bon suggests, walking up to the group of ponies with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “I don’t know how, but somehow she knows.”

“If there are still innocent ponies out there in that forest, then we must not risk hurting them while using the elements.” Princess Celestia interrupts with a regal tone, “Looks like we’ll have to deal with this crises in a more traditional way.”

“Then let’s do this!” Rainbow exclaims, stomping a hoof on the ground, “I’m not letting this black cloud monster take my friend from me!”

“Right! I’m not leaving my friend out there!” Twilight says as she turns to the black cloud and lowers her body, followed by all her friends and Princess Celestia, “Let’s get going, girls!”

The mind roars.

It had just arrived at the edge of the forest, and almost instantly ran into a group of horse-like creatures, the intelligent habitants of this world. Somehow, some of those small horses look familiar to it. While it was thinking where it had met them, the small horses somehow managed to generate a bright white light that is beaming with energy.

The energy had hurt it. It’s central processing units were overwhelmed by the large energy. Though the energy dissipated soon enough, it was still hurt badly, rage building in its mind.

And now, those accursed horses are charging at it, looking like they want to fight it without that blinding light.

So be it. Let this be a demonstration of the power of the Grey Tempest.

Twilight Sparkle jumps to the right, narrowly avoiding a black tendril launching towards her, while firing back a magical beam in return. The fight had proceeded for 10 minutes, and things are not looking good for the ponies. They have to focus all their senses in order to dodge the attacks, while even Celestia’s magic are seemingly useless against their foe. Every time they blast a tendril away, it simply dismantles only to reform moments later.

Celestia is hovering in the air, constantly firing magical beams and magical bullets at the black cloud. Right now, she is gathering all her magic into a smoldering ball of solar flare above her horn, ready to launch it at her foe. As another tendril lashes towards her, she unleashes the sun’s furry.

A small sun seems to have appeared above the forest, enveloping part of the black cloud in blinding golden light. That part of the black cloud seems to have melted by the extreme heat, creating a smoldering hole in the middle of the black cloud.

Celestia smirks as she eyes the outcome of her attack. Suddenly, from the center of the small sun, three reformed black tendrils thrust at her, forcing her to generate a magic shield around her to block it. The tendrils keep coming at her, until finally, with a deafening crack, the tendrils penetrate the magic shield and envelope Celestia.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaims as she gallops towards her mentor. Seeing her movement, two tendrils lash out from the black cloud towards her. She narrowly jumps to one side to avoid the first one, and jumps up to avoid the second one’s swipe…….

……Only to be caught directly in a third tendril mid-air, and pulled towards the black cloud.

“Twilight!” Rainbow exclaims, taking off to rescue her friend. As she ascends, a part of the black cloud start gathering above her, forming a large black net and forcing the Pegasus to retreat.

The ponies could only watch in horror as Twilight is lifted up to the air, a part of the black cloud forming a razor-sharp black spike directly above her skull.

The mind grins.

It has finally captured the leader of that cursed group of small horses. Now, that female creature is secured in its iron grip. By killing her, the mind is confident that the group of small horses will surrender.

The spike above Twilight drops down, aiming directly for her eyes. All the ponies around at the scene shut their eyes close, unwilling to witness the dreaded scene. Twilight closes her eyes, waiting for the pain of her skull being penetrated.

The mind admires its victim as the spike falls down. This small horse, no, little pony, is certainly cute. She has lavender furs and purple mane and tail with a single pink streak running in the middle. On her flank is the picture of a large pink six-point star surrounded by five smaller stars. She even has a horn on her head. Her name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia of Equestria, and its first and best friend.

Wait……What?

Its friend?

Looking around, the mind sees many things. It sees Rainbow Dash, the fast Pegasus, forced to stop by a black net of nanomachines mid-air. It sees Pinkie Pie, the party planning extraordinaire, Applejack, the apple farmer, Fluttershy, the shy Pegasus, and Rarity, the fashionista who gave it its cherished cloak standing on the ground. At a distance in a bush, it can even see Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hiding there, the three fillies’ eyes covered by Bon Bon. All the ponies are closing their eyes and looking down to the ground.

Looking down, it sees a black spike falling towards Twilight’s skull under its command, ready to spill her blood.

That it is going to hurt its best friend.

This must not happen.

Must Protect.

Finally regaining control, the mind, no, Grey Wind instantly shuts down her connection to the grey tempest around her.

Twilight never felt the pain of her skull being cracked open. Slowly opening her eyes, she is startled to find that the spike had stopped at a distance no more than half a meter from her eyes. Looking around, she finds that the movement of the black cloud around her seems to have ceased.

Before she can react, the black clouds start to fall apart. They fall to the ground, painting part of the ground into a black color. The tendrils that hold her and Celestia dismantles as well, releasing them.

From this not-so-high altitude, Twilight manages to land safely. From the corner of her eye, she spots Princess Celestia landing elegantly about 20 meters in front of her. Instantly, she ran to the Princess:

“Princess Celestia! Are you hurt? Are you alright?” She asks frantically as her eyes scan her mentor for any possible wounds.

“Rest assured, my student, I am quite alright,” Celestia responds as she wraps a wing around her student, “Though I’m more curious about the sudden cease of movement of this black cloud.” She says as she looks to the center of the clouds.

The clouds are still falling around them like black snowflakes. Looking through this thin veil of black, Twilight sees something grey in color lying in the center of the black snow. Focusing, she identifies the figure to be a grey Pegasus with light grey mane and tail with streaks of light green in the middle, wearing a grey cloak and without a cutie mark.

Without hesitation, she runs towards her friend.

Grey Wind lies on the ground at the center of the black ground, a fury battle already hot in her mind as her head burns with pain like being cut by a blunt knife. Even though she cut her connection with the tempest, those nanomachines are already fighting to regain control, and every second, she can feel her consciousness slowly stripped away by burning hatred.

As she is struggling to hold on, she finds Twilight Sparkle running up to her. Almost out of instinct, she shouts:

“Don’t……Come……Closer! I can’t hold much longer!”

Twilight completely ignored her words. Instead, she ran up to her friend and pulls her into a hug. Without thinking, Grey Wind kicks Twilight in the belly, forcing her to stagger back. Twilight looks at her in shock and blurts:

“Grey Wind! What-“

“Go!” Grey Wind shouts as the pain in her head intensifies, “They……They’ll regain control any minute……Run! Run as far as you can!”

“NO!”

Grey Wind is stunned by this sudden outburst, the shout even alleviating the pain in her head for a bit. Twilight is now gazing her, tears in her eyes but more determined than any other moment in her life.

“I refuse to leave my friend behind!” Twilight shouts on top of her lungs, as she wraps her forelegs around Grey Wind again, “I don’t know that black cloud did to you, but I’m sure there will be a solution! I will not leave you, Grey Wind!”

As she feels the unicorn’s warm embrace, Grey Wind smiles weakly. Even now, her friends refuse to let her go. Suddenly, a sharp pain in her head pulls her back to reality. Looking up, she notices the star-shaped gem on Twilight’s head. The gem is booming with magic energy. That must be one of the elements of harmony. Then, there is still one last way to end this.

“Twilight……” She mutters, struggling under the intensifying pain, “……Destroy……me……”

“Huh?” Twilight jumps back in surprise, releasing her

“Without my mind……They can’t operate……Use the elements……Overload my mind……” Grey Wind mutters, biting her lips.

“No! I will never use the elements of harmony on you! There must be another solution!” Twilight exclaims.

“No time……Please……Save Equestria……I know you can do it, Twi- Urg!” She groans as the pain suddenly intensifies, nearly knocking her out. Around them, the buzzing sound of the black cloud has begun again, some nanomachines already rising from the ground.

“Grey Wind! What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m……Losing……Control!” Grey Wind mutters under her teeth, “Quick……Do it!”

“No! I won’t leave you! There must be some other way! Hang on!” Twilight hugs Grey Wind again, refusing to release her while searching her mind frantically for any possible spell that would save her friend.

Grey Wind grits her teeth. She doesn’t have much time left. Her consciousness is already fading. The pain in her head is becoming unbearable. The tempest will take control of her any minute. Soon, the tempest will rise again and devour Equestria. All her friends, all she had cherished will be lost. Forever.

This must not happen.

Nopony shall touch her friends!

Must protect!

“Twilight……”

“Huh?”

“……Sorry……”

“Wha-“

Before Twilight can respond, Grey Wind orders one of the subunits under her control to inject a small energy flow into the element of magic, activating the already powered-up artifact before pushing Twilight away towards the other element bearers.

Twilight is sent tumbling back towards the direction of the other element bearers, stopping right in front of them. Before she can react, she finds herself lifted to the air as the elements of harmony seems to have activated on their own, magic building in her crown once again.

“No! Grey Wind! No!” She shouts as she frantically tries to shut down the elements, but all her spells seem to be not working as the gems continue to charge up.

Looking around, she finds her friends mid-air as well, their respective elements glowing with blinding white light. She struggles in the grip of the elements, as the light grows stronger and stronger.

“No! No! Stop! Make it Stop!” She screams on top of her lungs.

……Thank you……

Twilight gasps as she hears a voice inside her head.

……I’m grateful that I came to this world……

“Grey Wind?” She blurts as she looks at the grey Pegasus lying unconscious in the center of a black circle on the ground.

……I’m grateful that I get to meet every one of you……

“Grey Wind! No! Stop this! There must be another way!” She exclaims, tears streaming down her cheeks.

……Please……Remember me……

“No! Stop! STOOOP!”

……So that I know I won’t be alone anymore……

“NOOOOOOOO!”

The energy of the elements of harmony reaches its climax. Twilight’s eyes shine with a blinding white light. With a loud Boom!, a colorful rainbow is shot out from the element of magic, directly towards the unconscious grey Pegasus lying on the ground. The rainbow envelopes her and emits a colorful light that would dim the sun itself, forcing everypony around to close their eyes.

As the light finally dies down, Twilight reopens her eyes. Through blurred vision, all she can see is the now empty center of the black circle, a grey cloak slowly descending on it like a piece of shroud.