Author's Note

Never expected me to do a seqeul for a story that got less than 300 reads, did you?

Well, it's more like a personal project for me, so it's no big deal. I still decided to write this down. (Though I would appreciate it if more people get to like my story)

Anyways, this story would be not so much a crossover, as this idea just popped into my mind, and I can't help but to write it. Regardless of how many people read my previous story, Grey Wind was created by me, and I will help her carry on her adventures with her friends.

I’d like to thank everyone who positively commented my first story. You guys gave me the courage to finish this.

So, please enjoy. And I would appreciate any comments and criticizes, as always

(Check out the prequel if you are interested! I did put a lot of effort into my first two fics, and I'm sure it's not going to let you down I will keep improving with every one of your comments on both stories!)

Prologue: Darkness

Darkness.

A scheduled thunderstorm arrived at Ponyville precisely after noon on Monday. It was indeed the end of the harvesting season, and the weather management pegasi of Ponyville had decided that it would be best to use a rainstorm to clear the fields for the farm ponies, so that they can spare the trouble of cleaning their fields before the first snowflake of winter. The sky is completely covered by black clouds, without a single bit of sunlight penetrating it.

Darkness.

Even though it’s just 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Ponyville is already encased in darkness, only lit up when a streak of lightning pierces through the veil of rain. Wind howls like a thousand lost souls, bashing the window and doors of the houses in the town. In such dire weather, most ponies would rather stay in the coziness of their own homes, either spending time with their family or in solitude, with a cup of coffee, a good book and a warm sofa by the fireplace. All over the town, lights are switched on in nearly all of the houses, casting the shadow of happy ponies inside on the windows of the houses.

Darkness.

There is one particular house, however, where there wasn’t a single light on inside. A two-story building near the town center of the Ponyville. The house itself was not empty. On the bed of one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house lay a mint green unicorn mare. Her mane and tail consisted of alternating streaks of white and light cyan, her eyes bore the color of burning ember. Lyra Heartstrings was lying on her bed, her right hind hoof bandaged and her horn glowing a faint, yellow light.

Darkness. Lyra hated darkness.

Ever since she was a little filly, being alone in the darkness had always been what Lyra feared most. Jolly as she was in everypony else’s eyes, she could never sleep with the lights switched off or without her aunt by her side. Whenever she is left alone without a light source, everything around her seems to become alive. In the unicorn’s wild imagination, unknown beasts lurk within the darkness, ready to gobble her up any minute.

Crack!

A lightning pierced through the sky, the loud noise made Lyra wince on her bed. Even knowing that a storm is inbound in the afternoon, Bon Bon had insisted on going to her candy store for any customers in the morning, considering that she had already lost enough business for taking care of Lyra at home yesterday. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting the storm to be that bad. It was almost for certain that she was trapped in her store by the storm.

Darkness.

Unfortunately for her, Bon Bon did not leave the lights on when she left in the morning, and Lyra couldn’t open them herself. Galloping at a speed almost as fast as Rainbow Dash didn’t actually help with healing her wound she brought upon herself when she tripped over a thorny Everfree vine in her adventure three days ago. Even letting her throbbing hoof touch the ground would send a sharp pain to the mint unicorn, prohibiting her from getting anywhere off her bed. Right now, the only light source in the room was the faint ember glow from her horn, and even that glow was threatening to disappear as her magic reserve slowly depleted.

Darkness.

It has been so long since she last experienced such intense fear. For Lyra, whenever she feels afraid, she had friends that could pull her out of it. Her old friends at Canterlot, Twinkleshine, Minuette and Lemon Heart still visit her on a regular basis, not to mention her roommate and best friend in Ponyville, Bon Bon. She has even recently made friends with a nanomachine aggregation that was not even from this world. They were like bright stars illuminating her night sky even in the darkest of the night.

But one of the stars has fallen.

Thinking about that grey Pegasus alone caused a tear to roll down Lyra’s cheek, the glow on her horn dwindled and dimmed as her concentration broke. The moment she walked out of her house and saw the black cloud gathering above Everfree Forest yesterday, she instantly realized what it was. She also knew that there was no chance that her new friend would let her old subunits devour Equestria. There she was, hiding in the bush, watching her friend disappearing in a blinding rainbow-colored light.

Darkness.

She didn’t know how she got home yesterday. Possibly dragged back by Twilight and the others. For a whole night she just sat there with the light in her room on, eyes blankly staring the ceiling. Losing Grey Wind was the greatest pain she’d ever known, a gaping hole in her heart that could never be filled. She could barely work up the courage to cry last night. Thinking about her lost friend caused her to start to sob in bed, which soon turned into an uncontrollable cry.

Darkness.

It was even like the darkness in the room had sensed her despair. The darkness gathered around her, enveloping her like a black ball. The glow on her horn dimmed as her cry continued, until finally, her magic reserve depleted.

Her horn made one last ember-colored flash, and died down, leaving Lyra in complete darkness. She gasped as her crying ceased, her irises shrank into pupils. Tears still in her eyes, she desperately tried to reignite her horn, and was horrified to find that she had used up every last drop of her magic. Her whole body tensed up as she looked frantically around the room.

Looking around, all she can saw was nothing but blackness. This was even worse than being alone in the night. At night, at least there was the moon, shedding a little bit of light into her room. This time, however, despite the curtains being open, not a single streak of light had leaked into the room. She could not see anything, even her front hoof before her face. She was left in complete darkness, all alone.

The darkness was encasing her, stripping away her feelings and drinking her despair. Unsightly beasts smirk amidst the darkness, ready to gobble up the defenseless unicorn. Letting out a whimper, Lyra curled into a protective ball on her bed. With her sight completely stripped away, she failed to notice a streak of dark magic emanating from her cutie mark, painting the fur around it into dark green. The dark green color spread from her cutie mark, all the way to her head.

But Lyra could not resist or feel. She just lay there, whimpering, as her imaginary beast in the darkness slowly extended its claw towards her throat. She didn’t even hear the hush hoofsteps hastily approaching her room.

“Lyra!”

Just before the dark blue color reached Lyra’s eyes, the door to her room swung open as the lights were switched on. Bon Bon was standing at the door, her mane and coat completely soaked, still dripping drops of water onto the carpet. Seeing Lyra, she instantly hurried to her bed and pulled her into a warm hug.

“My god, Lyra, I’m so sorry! I should have left the lights on! Are you alright?”

But Lyra didn’t respond. She was still curled up, her muscle tensed up, and her eyes tightly shut.

Seeing that her comforting had little effect, Bon Bon started humming a familiar song:

so mi so do~~ so la do so, so do re mi, re do re……

The familiar tune pulled Lyra out of her despair. The song had been her favorite one ever since her childhood. No matter how sad or down she was, listening to this song would always be able to light her up. It was also the first song she learned after she got her cutie mark as a lyre player. Looking up, she gazed Bon Bon with her teary eyes:

“Bon…Bonnie? How…How did you……”

“I hurried back as soon as the sky turned black. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be back earlier. Those fillies were really on my tails when they asked me about Grey Wind. Lyra? Have you been crying? What’s wrong?”

Hearing her lost friend’s name made Lyra’s eyes water once more. Raising her hoof, she wiped a tear away and answered:

“I…I just can’t stop thinking about her…She was gone protecting us…Just like that…”

“I can’t blame you for that, Lyres,” Bon Bon responded by hugging her roommate tighter, “It’s been hard for me as well. Though, you have to move on. We have to move on. Grey won’t be happy if she sees you like this.”

Being in her best friend’s embrace relaxed Lyra’s tensed up body. Returning Bon Bon’s hug, she smiled weakly:

“I guess you are right, Bonnie. Thank you. I needed that.”

Bon Bon smiled.

During the two mares’ embrace, they both failed to notice the faint dark green spark glowing on Lyra’s flanks.