Memories and Melodies

Bon Bon dashes through the stone hallway, a howl coming from not far behind her. She had been running from the nightmare beast for more than 10 minutes, and her body is already screaming at her for reaching its limit. But she cannot afford to slow down. Her life is at stake now, and an aching body won’t stop her from getting out of here alive.

Making a sharp turn along the hallway, Bon Bon abruptly ceases her running as her torch light casts onto a brick stone wall. In her flurry, she has run herself into a dead end.

Turning around, she quickly gallops backwards, hoping to catch another side path she had missed on her way. However, before she can run out 10 meters, a black swift creature crashes onto her and sends her flying back and crashing into the stone wall of the dead end. Her torch light flies from her mouth and lands on the ground beside her, casting light on the hungry nightmare beast towering in front of her.

Bon Bon almost wants to give up. Her body is aching from the intense gallop. Her spine is burning with pain, making it painful for her to even stand up. The nightmare beast has approached her, its jaws agape, ready to bite down at its prey.

This is it. This is how the life of Sweetie Drops ends. Being eaten by the very beast she failed to save a family from, away from Lyra, from Grey Wind, from all her friends.

Her friends…What will they think if she is gone? Lyra will be sad, right? She will cry for a whole night again, won’t she? Then who is going to comfort her when she is sad in the future? Who will switch the light on in her room when she is alone in the dark again?

No, Bon Bon won’t allow this to happen! She can’t die like this!

Letting out a howl, the nightmare beast jumps at the earth pony. With agility she didn’t know she even had, Bon Bon rows to her side while grabbing the small knife from her saddlebags with her left hoof. Regaining posture and holding the knife between her teeth, she jumps up and slashes at the beast, causing it to flinch back into the hallway.

“I may have made mistakes in the past, and those that happened can’t be changed anymore, but I still have my chance to make up for the future!” Backing up against the stone wall, Bon Bon mumbles through the knife in her mouth, “My friends are still waiting for me out there, and I won’t fall here!”

A strange feeling course through her body as the words leaves her mouth. Without warning, the stone wall beside her slides open, revealing a narrow passage behind it, a light blue glow emanating from inside. As the hidden door completely opens, Bon Bon hears a voice echoing in her mind:

The moonlight only answers the call of the brave…

Before the beast can launch another attack, Bon Bon turns around and runs into the newly opened path. Without her torch, she can only see a blue light shining down the corridor. Wasting no time, she gallops towards the blue light.

As she approaches the light, she finds the source of the blue light being a large sword hanging on one side of the hallway. The sword seems to be purely made of crystal, its whole blade embedded with various decorative patterns, emanating an assuring blue glow.

Without thinking, Bon Bon drops her knife onto the floor, leans forward and snatches the blade with her mouth. Regaining posture, she turns around just in time to catch the nightmare beast entering the hallway from the hidden door.

Rearing up and holding the sword using both of her front hooves, Bon Bon raises the sword towards the approaching beast. Remembering her agent weaponry training, she aims at the beast’s head and slashes down.

A crescent wave of pure energy pierces through the darkness of the corridor and directly hits the beast in the head. The beast didn’t even have time to grunt before being sent flying back into the hallway, crashing into one of the walls and ceasing its movement.

A bit startled by the display, Bon Bon takes a few minutes to switch the blade into her mouth and get back on all fours. Walking over to the nightmare beast and making sure it is not moving anymore, Bon Bon straps the sword onto the saddlebags on her back and gallops towards the other side of the hallway.

The fight is not going on well for Grey Wind.

Narrowly dodging a tendril lashed at her, she turns around mid-air and slashes her wing at the tendril, dissipating it into a small black cloud which soon rejoins the others. The fight has been going on like this for more than fifteen minutes. Just as how she explained to her friends at Sugarcube Corner a week ago, she isn’t dealing any real damage to the nanomachines making up the black cloud. Every time she destroys a tendril, it reforms seconds later. Throughout the fight, Grey Wind can sense her stamina slowly depleting. If this keeps up, it will only be a matter of time before she loses.

Just as she is about to land, another tendril lashes at her, forcing her to block it with one of her wings. The impact causes her to lose balance and fall back first onto the ground. The nanomachine-made black cloud catches this open window as a third tendril wraps itself around her neck, yanking her into the air and slowly increasing its force, strangling the grey Pegasus.

Grey Wind can barely think about anything as her lung is struggling to suck in more precious air. Her weapons disassemble and fall to the ground as her concentration breaks, her hind legs futilely kicking into the air, and her front hooves trying desperately to untangle the tendrils around her neck. At this rate, her neck will snap in a few seconds.

Memories start flashing inside her mind as her conscious slowly fades into nothingness. Images of her laughing friends slip into her brain: Twilight, Lyra, Bon Bon, Rainbow, Applejack, Scootaloo… She has sworn that she would protect them, yet she can’t even protect herself.

No, she will not fail her oath!

The thought injects a wave of energy into Grey Wind’s body as she finds her brain working properly again. Thinking fast, she ceases her struggle and hangs her limbs limply downwards, while lowering her head and closing her eyes.

Seeing that her opponent isn’t moving anymore, the black cloud releases the grey Pegasus. As soon as she hits the ground, Grey Wind jumps backwards and lands about 5 meters away from the black cloud as subunits gather to her neck, forming a golden collar embedded by a grey gem around it. Grey Wind lowers her body as she touches into the intense energy building inside her nanomachine-made element of harmony.

Before the black cloud can react, a jolt of pure white energy shoots from the grey gem and envelopes the black cloud, dissipating all the tiny nanomachines in it into molecular level dust. After the lights finally dies down, silence returns to the corridor as Grey Wind collapses onto the ground, panting.

Sweet Celestia, that was so tiring…

Resting for a few minutes, Grey Wind stands up and recalls her subunits back to her wings. Taking a deep breath, she picks up her torch and continues her journey through the passage.

Lyra opens her eyes.

Darkness feels her vision, forcing her to light up her horn. With the ember glow of her horn, she finds herself lying on the floor of a dark passage. The walls of the passage are made of stone bricks, and the passage seems to be extending endlessly into the darkness.

Searching her mind, Lyra scratches her head. She doesn’t know where she is. She doesn’t know how she got here. She doesn’t remember why she is here. All she knows is that there is something out there inside this dark path that she must find.

But what is that? She does not remember. Whatever it is, it is very important to her. Lyra has to find it, no matter what.

Standing up and moving her numb limbs, Lyra starts walking down the dark passage.

The crystal sword securely strapped on her back, Bon Bon continues her journey down the dark passage. Although she has lost her torch, the crystal sword she just found provides her with a faint blue glow, just enough to light up her way.

As she walks down the passage, she notices that the blue glow of the sword is getting stronger, almost like an indicator that she is getting closer and closer to her destination.

Grey Wind finds the readings of the energy sensors going haywires as the path she had been traveling on comes to an abrupt end, leading into a large room. Unlike the front room they had stumbled into together, this room is bathed in a mysterious dark blue light, lighting up the entire room.

As she walks into the room, the first thing she notices is another door just on her right, a blue glow emanating from it. Seconds later, Bon Bon emerges from the tunnel, carrying a large blue crystal sword on her back. Then, along with Bon Bon, she spots a dark grey bat pony on the wall across from the room, her limbs secured on the wall by four dark blue magical cuffs, her head lowered, and her eyes clenched shut.

“Echo!” The grey Pegasus and the milk white earth pony shouts out in unison as they dash towards their friend.

Flying up to the bat pony, Grey Wind clutches her and shakes her head, frantically trying to wake her up.

“Echo! Wake up!”

“Huh…?” Echo mumbles as her purple eyes slowly open.

“Echo? What happened, are you alright?” Bon Bon exclaims from below, a worried expression in her eyes.

“Miss… Grey…Wind?” Echo mutters, her vision focusing on the grey pegasus. As she recognizes her friend, her eyes shrink into pupils:

“Miss Grey Wind? Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here!”

“What?” Grey Wind winces back into the air at the sudden outburst.

“Turn back! It’s a trap!” Echo shouts on top of her lungs.

Before Grey Wind can react, a dark blue spark explodes right in front of her, pushing her and Bon Bon to the other side of the room. A dark object falls into the center of the room, generating a large dark blue explosion as it hits the floor, forcing Grey Wind to cover her eyes with her wings. As she reopens her eyes, a sharp gasp escapes her mouth, a similar one coming from Bon Bon not far from here.

A tall figure stands in the center of the room. Her hide is as black as a starless midnight sky, her mane floating from her head like a dark blue cloud. A pair of large wings is visible on her back, while her head bears a long, spiral horn. Her eyes bear a dark green color, bearing irises that look just like two thin lines. A figure all ponies in Equestria know and fear. Nightmare Moon spreads her wings and lets out a maniacal laughter.

“Nightmare Moon!” Bon Bon gasps.

“Oh, it’s a pleasure to find at least somepony still remembers my name.” Nightmare Moon laughs, walking towards the two ponies on the ground.

“This is not true! Twilight defeated you a month ago!” Grey Wind exclaims, lowering her body and spreading her won wings, “not to mention that Princess Luna is still in Canterlot now! There is no way Nightmare Moon can be standing here!”

“One does not get rid of all the jealousy and hatred that easily, my little pony,” Nightmare Moon stops right in front of Grey Wind, towering above her like a dark boulder, “Sure, my sister did sends me to the moon a thousand years ago, but that fool never found out part of my power has already escaped to the only town where I could be worshipped just like how ponies everywhere else worship her!”

“A thousand years I spent hiding in this temple, regaining my power and watching this world under my sister’s rule, watching her accepting the love of her subjects and commanding the night sky she took away from me!” Suddenly, Nightmare Moon lowers her body and comes face-to-face with the grey Pegasus, forcing her to look into her dark green orbs: “And that purple unicorn? I should thank her. When she freed that cowardly alicorn from my control, she stripped away all my power left on her and returned them to me! I have become stronger than ever before!”

“Now, I just need a body to contain all my powers, and I shall end Celestia’s rule and bring eternal night to all of Equestria!” Nightmare Moon throws back her head and laughs maniacally, before returning her sight to the two mares in front of her, “My original plan was to lure Luna here with that lost artifact of hers, so I can absorb her magic and build myself a body. But now, you will have to do. Surrender your magic, and I shall grant you a painless death.”

A crescent blue wave of energy soars through the room, aiming directly towards the flank of Nightmare Moon, forcing the dark alicorn to block it with her wings and staggering back a few steps. Bon Bon has reared up, holding the crystal blade in her front hooves and facing Nightmare Moon, determination burning in her eyes as she spits out the words:

“In. Your. Dreams!”

Another green beam of energy pierces through the air and flies toward Nightmare Moon’s chest, who quickly dissipates it with a dark blue magical shield. Subunits have formed sharp blades on Grey Wind’s wings, two small plasma cannons floating beside her, one of them still glowing a menacing green light. The grey Pegasus lowers her body, wings widely spread as she shouts out loud:

“You want our magic, you are going to have to take it from us!”

“Have some courage, I see?” Nightmare Moon laughs, “you don’t seriously think two ponies could beat the queen of the night, do you, my little ponies? And I see you have even recovered that coward’s old sword.”

“So be it.” Nightmare Moon’s horn lights up as a magical sword forms beside her, “I could use a quick warm up before taking over Equestria! Your corpses shall be the first two to be hung on my castle!” Letting out a maniacal laughter, the dark alicorn charges at the Grey Wind and Bon Bon, who quickly ready their weapons.

Lyra knows not how long she had been walking. Hours? Days? Her limbs never felt anything, and neither hunger nor fatigue occurred to her body. She is just trotting aimlessly through the long hallways, making occasional turns at some of the splitting paths.

What contains her seems to be a dark maze. She has encountered multiple splitting paths on her way, when all those times she just picks a random direction and keeps moving. She has to if she wants to find the thing she had been looking for in the maze.

During her long journey, her magical supply is slowly depleting. The glow on her horn dims down, threatening to go out any second.

Lyra cannot let this happen. Her horn is the only light source in this maze. If it goes out, she’ll be left alone in the darkness. She has always feared the dark.

Whatever she is looking for, she has to find it, fast.

Grey Wind flies to the side, narrowly avoiding a lightning launched at her, before turning around mid-air and firing her plasma cannon. Nightmare Moon’s only response is to dissipate the attack with a swish of her magical sword, leaving her just enough time to block an overhead slash from Bon Bon.

The two mares are barely gaining ground against the black alicorn. Compared to Luna, she is stronger, swifter and much more aggressive. Grey Wind and Bon Bon has to concentrate every last bit of their mind to prevent themselves from being hit, while Nightmare Moon attacks them at every opening they expose.

Seeing Nightmare Moon’s weapon caught up by Bon Bon’s sword, Grey Wind concentrates as two nanomachine spears form on the tip of her wings. Pointing the spears at Nightmare Moon, Grey Wind charges at her, aiming directly at her side.

Noticing her assault, Nightmare Moon roars as her body starts to shine with a menacing dark blue glow. Her blade still clashing with Bon Bon’s, Nightmare Moon rears up before stomping her front hooves onto the floor, generating a huge magic blast around her.

The intense momentum disassembles Grey Wind’s spears almost instantly and sends the grey Pegasus tumbling back into the air. Bon Bon is pushed back a few steps, while her blade endures most of the shock and is struck off her hooves by the shockwave and nailed into the wall.

Nightmare Moon wastes no time to catch her opponents’ openings. A lightning is lunched at Bon Bon, striking her directly in the belly and sending her flying back and crashing into the wall before she can even let out a grunt. A magical spear is sent flying towards Grey Wind’s direction, precisely hitting her leftwing and snapping her wing bone instantly.

“Miss Grey Wind! Miss Bon Bon! No!” Echo screams.

Letting out a painful scream, Grey Wind falls from the sky and drops to the floor. Struggling to get up with her left wing limply hung on her side, she desperately tries to fight back using her plasma cannons as four dark blue magical vines erupt from the ground below her and directly stab into her hooves. The intense pain immediately shatters the last bit of concentration of her mind. Grey Wind lets out a painful grunt as her subunits disassemble and fall to her sides.

Looking to her side, she finds Bon Bon cuffed onto the wall beside her, blood leaking out from the back of her head. Nightmare Moon walks up to the restrained Pegasus, splitting her magical sword into two smaller daggers.

“It’s a shame that you couldn’t last any longer. I was really enjoying that fight. Now, my little pony, any last words?”

“You won’t succeed!” Grey Wind mutters while fighting the intense pain in her hooves and staring at the dark alicorn, “Lyra will get out of here! She’ll tell Twilight and the Princesses to stop you!”

“Oh, you mean that stupid mint unicorn who doesn’t even know she had been possessed for fourteen years?” Nightmare Moon laughs, “I’m afraid she has already lost her body.”

“What do you mean? What have you done to her?” Bon Bon shouts, struggling in her restrain.

Nightmare Moon grins. With a swish of her wing, a dark green unicorn emerges from a tunnel across the room, two saddlebags still visible on her sides. Just like Nightmare Moon, her green mane is floating in the air and glittering like a midnight sky, her ember eyes contain irises as thin as lines. All the three ponies in the room gasp as they notice the golden lyre cutie mark on the mare’s flank.

“Ah, I see you are satisfied with your new body, aren’t you, my child?” Nightmare Moon turns to the unicorn and grins.

“Yes, mistress,” The unicorn lowers her head and mumbles.

“Ly…Lyra?” Grey Wind calls as her gaze fixes on the unicorn.

“Lyra Heartstrings is no more!” Nightmare Moon exclaims, “Her body has been taken over by my brethren, and her mind will be trapped in the maze of her own nightmares! Forever!” She throws back her head and lets out a maniacal laughter.

“Mistress? What do you need me to do?” Looking towards her mother, the dark green unicorn asks.

“Oh, it’s simple, my child,” Nightmare Moon turns towards the dark green unicorn and manages an evil smile, before turning around to face Grey Wind and Bon Bon, her horn lighting up as she rears up:

“Watch them die!”

The light from Lyra’s horn flickers for a few times, and finally dies down. Darkness descends onto the corridor, enveloping the mint green unicorn in her worst nightmares.

Lyra gasps as she desperately tries to reignite her horn, and is horrified to find out that she has used up the last bit of her magical reserve. She is now left in complete darkness, with no ponies at her side to comfort her.

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 curls into a protective ball on the cold stone ground. Covering her head, she starts to sob.

It is over. She’ll never find what she has been looking for. Very soon, she’ll be lost forever within this bottomless pit of nightmares.

Midnight watches as her mother gathers her magic into a large dark blue ball above her horn, while the grey Pegasus and the milk-colored earth pony can do nothing but to wait for their demise.

Her mother’s plan has been carried out down to every last detail, from when she was created as a part of Nightmare Moon’s magic to this scene before her. Very soon, her mother will kill the three ponies in this room and claim their magic. Using that magic, she’ll be able to forge herself a new body and claim Equestria as its new queen. Equestria will be bathed in the eternal night, just as her mother had hoped.

But these ponies are Lyra’s friends, aren’t them? What will Lyra think if they die? She will hate her, right? She’ll hate Midnight for taking her body from her and just sitting back and watching her friends die, won’t she? She’ll never want to be friends with her ever again, won’t she?

Memories flow into Midnight’s mind. The happy memories of the friendship between her and Lyra. She remembers defending Lyra from that nightmare beasts, she remembers Lyra giving her a new name. She remembers lying with Lyra beside the pond, admiring the tiny green galaxy above it and listening to that relaxing music.

Lyra was the first pony to show her the meaning of friendship, and those memories and their friendship are too precious for her to throw away.

Finishing her charge up, Nightmare Moon stomps the ground with her two front hooves. A giant dark blue magical burst is launched towards Grey Wind and Bon Bon, who reflectively close their eyes and wait for their deaths.

Grey Wind is expecting the greatest pain she would feel in her whole life, but that pain didn’t come. Opening her eyes, she is startled to find the dark green unicorn standing in front of her and Bon Bon, her horn glowing a dark green aura while a dark green magical barrier blocks the incoming blast.

“I…will…not…let…Lyra…down!” The unicorn mutters as she transmits every last bit of her magic into the magical barrier.

The barrier and the magical burst explode as their energy reach their limits, sending an earthshattering shockwave to the whole room, forcing both Nightmare Moon and the unicorn to stagger back a few steps. A small bronze object is blown out of one of the saddlebags of the dark green unicorn, as it flies into the back of the room and hits the ground. Inside clockworks set out by the impact, the box starts playing a familiar tune:

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

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

A familiar sound pulls Lyra out of her despair. Even still enveloped in darkness, she can feel her heart slowing down as she returns to her senses. The assuring melody has injected a new streak of energy into her, prompting her to continue her task.

Getting up, Lyra walks towards the source of the voice. Although she encounters various turns on her way, not to mention she can barely see anything in this darkness, she knows she’ll succeed if she follows the guidance of the music.

It didn’t take her long to locate the source of the music. A glowing small bronze music box placed on the ground of the maze. Galloping up to the small object, she extends a hoof and touches the music box.

The world around her blurs as a vision only she can see enters her mind.

A dark blue cloud silently rests in the center of a large stone room, casting an intimidating light throughout the room. It swirls and changes shape, glittering like a midnight sky.

Suddenly, a batch of dark blue cloud detaches from the larger blue cloud, and swirls outside the room. It passes through the dark passages of the temple, into the bottom of a lake of water.

The dark blue cloud streams directly upwards, until it finally flies out of the water. Changing its direction, it flies directly into the woods. After roaming around for a few minutes, it spots its target: a large tree house decent from the other parts of the town.

The front door is locked, but the cloud didn’t bother knocking it. With all is might, it bashes the door open, revealing a blue unicorn stallion and a green unicorn mare, both looking at it with a horrified look. Without warning, the two unicorns launch two streaks of energy at it, but did not give it any real damage.

The two ponies are dealt with in no time. After the cloud absorbs the last bit of magic from the ponies’ lifeless bodies, it crawls onto the second floor. There, it sees a mint green unicorn foal hiding under a sheet on her bed.

A small batch of cloud detaches from the large cloud, and shoots into the foal’s body, instantly putting her to sleep. With a quick dark blue spark, the cloud orders the brethren it just created to lurk within the foal’s body.

The cloud smirks mentally. With the help of this foal, its brethren will be able lurk in this world and observe the world for it, until it is the time for its return. By then, its brethren will be filled with this unicorn’s magic, and become its best aid in taking back what had been taken away from it. This part of it will always obey it.

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Whiteness.

A silent white land, a barren field, a serene land of silence.

This is the land Lyra stands on. Gentle wind blows onto her cheek, its gentle palms caressing her mane. A river rests at a distance, water still like a clear mirror. Above the river is a small wooden bridge. The scene gives Lyra a serene yet eerie feeling, for she somehow knows by her heart what this place is.

The finale of the song of life.

Two figures approach her from across the river, first just tiny dots horizon, their formation clearer and clearer as they come closer and pass the bridge. A light blue unicorn stallion and a green unicorn mare. Two ponies Lyra whose names Lyra would never forget.

“Mom, dad!”

An exclaim of a long-lost child, a call from a lost ship that has finally found the light of a harbor. Midnight and Melody Heartstrings open their embraces as their daughter runs up to them. A warm hug, a family reunion at the edge of the land of the dead.

Lyra buries her head inside her father’s chest, tears falling uncontrollably onto the white land below. An otherworldly spiritual voice enters her mind as her parents gently stroke her mane:

We are so, so proud of you, sweetheart…

“I miss you… I miss you so much…” Lyra sobs, clutching her parents tightly with her front hooves.

So are we, sweetheart. A spiritual voice, a bit more feminine than the prior, answers. Melody releases her daughter, a smile on her face.

I’s so sorry we had to leave so early. A sorrowful expression crawls onto Midnight Heartstrings’ face, If it wasn’t for Nightmare Moon, we could have created so many happy memories. Please forgive us for failing our duties as parents.

“Then don’t leave me again!” Lyra raises her head, looking directly into her father’s eyes, “Take me with you! We can still be a happy family!”

Smiling bitterly, Lyra’s parents shake their heads.

I’m afraid that would not be possible. Midnight Heartstrings gestures towards the bridge behind him, See that bridge over there? Once pass it, there will be no return. The land of the perished lies beyond. Tis where we belong, not where you belong.

Gently petting Lyra, he continues:

Our song has reached their finale, yet yours is still undetermined. Countless possibilities lie before you. Your friends need you. Equestria needs you. There are still countless things to experience, to wonder, to explore. It’s up to you to finish the song of your life.

“But…but you promised you’ll always be at my side…” Lyra grabs her father’s front hoof, a pleading look in her ember irises, “we only just reunited…You can’t just leave me again!”

Melody chuckles.

We have never left you since you returned to your home, sweetheart. A light appears beside Lyra, revealing a bronze music box as it dissipates. Remember what father told you 14 years ago? Mom and dad will always be with you, within the final gift of the Heartstrings family.

Lyra’s parents move forward and once again pulls their daughters into a tight hug.

Remember, my daughter, we’ll always be with you. Your friends will always be with you. Fear not the dark, for you’ll never be alone. Now, you must go. Nightmare moon threatens your friends. Their fate rests within your hooves.

“I…I…” Lyra whispers as she gently releases her parents, “…I will avenge you. I will defeat Nightmare Moon!”

Your courage is admirable, but do not let rage get ahead of you. Lyra’s parents stare into Lyra’s eyes, the purpose of true strength rests within protection, not revenge. Learn to move on, learn to cast away the scars of the past. Remember this, and remember well. This shall be your last lesson, our final legacy as your parents.

“Al-alright!” Lyra shouts, tears still visible in her eyes, “I will move on! I will stay strong! I will protect my friends!”

Now that’s our daughter. Her parents smile, Farewell, Lyra heartstrings, our sweet child, may the blessing of Luna’s night sky be with you.

“Alriight…Goodbye, mom…Goodbye, dad…” Lura mumbles.

With one last embrace, a green light envelopes the two older unicorns, engulfing them in bright spheres of light. Quietly, the two spheres ascend into the sky and flies across the river. A familiar melody appears within the silent land, a tune Lyra shall never forget:

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

As the spheres disappears into the air, a white light emits from the bronze music box, engulfing the whole landscape, and the mint green unicorn that sits upon it. Wiping away one last tear from her cheek, Lyra stands up and walks into the light, her eyes burning with flames of determination.

White light blinds her vision, until colors start to appear again around her. Finally, as the changes subside, Lyra finds herself standing in a stone room, facing a black alicorn whose emerald eyes are burning with hatred.

Seconds after Midnight’s barrier dissipates, a familiar voice appears in her head, causing her to emit a sharp gasp.

My god, is that Nightmare Moon? Come on, stupid body, move!

“Ly…Lyra?”

Midnight? What happened? Where are you?

A streak of Midnight’s flowing mane swoops in front of her eyes, forcing the dark green unicorn to swipe it away using a hoof. Lyra’s voice pauses for a moment, and continues.

…Oh…You took over my body, didn’t you, Midnight?

“Well, I…” Midnight flinches, “…Yes, I did…I’m sorry…”

Is that so? Then let me take over! I’ll show that moon-butted prick who’s the boss!

“You…are not mad at me?”

What? No! Oh well, maybe a little, but judging from the scene, you just saved my friends from her, so that kinda makes up for it. Now, that pony in front of you killed my parents, and I want my revenge! Give me control!

“Alright…” Midnight mumbles as she closes her eyes and hands the control of her body to Lyra.

The shockwave causes Grey Wind to close her eyes. As she reopens them, she finds the dark green unicorn standing in front of her and Bon Bon, examining her front hoof.

“Huh. This feels a bit weird.”

The voice is too familiar for Grey Wind.

“Lyra?”

“What’s up, Grey.” The dark unicorn turns to her and smiles. After that, she turns around and faces Nightmare Moon, who has just recovered from the shockwave.

“Nightmare Moon!” The unicorn shouts, “You’ll pay for all this! You’ll pay for my parents! My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and you shall face my fury!”

“What? This is not possible! How did you escape my mind maze?” Nightmare Moon exclaims.

“With a little help from my father,” Lyra smirks as she glances at the bronze music box lying on the floor not far from her, “your plan has failed, Nightmare Moon! Your brethren has accepted my friendship! She has lent her power to me! And now…” A dark green magical sword forms beside her as her horn lights up, “…I shall avenge my parents!”

With a flash of her horn, Lyra teleports behind Nightmare Moon and slashes at her side before she can even react. The magic blade leaves a sizzling wound on the alicorn’s flank, causing her to let out a painful yelp and stagger. Her concentration breaks down, causing the restrains around Grey Wind and Bon Bon to dissipate.

Regaining posture, Nightmare Moon turns around, her eyes burning with hatred:

“Traitor! I will kill you!” She roars as she lifts her magical sword and charges towards Lyra.

Grey Wind can only watch in awe as Lyra and Nightare Moon engage in an all-out one-to-one duel. With her newly gained power, Lyra is matching Nightmare Moon, even launching several surprise attacks that only miss by centimeters. The two wielders of the power of the night clash violently against each other, both unable to defeat their opponent.

Grey Wind grits her teeth. She wants to help her friend, but her snapped wing and injured hooves are preventing her from even getting up. A quick glance at Bon Bon reveals her to have the same feelings. Both the mares can only watch the fight from a distance, cheering for Lyra mentally.

Finally recovering from the turn of events and still restrained on the wall, Echo calls out:

“Miss Grey Wind! Use the power of the elements!”

“Huh?” Grey Wind lifts her head and faces the bat pony.

“The elements left part of their power in you, right? Use them!” Echo shouts on top of her lungs.

“Right!” Grey Wind exclaims as she mentally bucks herself for not thinking about that earlier. She had completely forgotten her best weapon for dealing with Nightmare Moon. Concentrating, Grey Wind’s subunits gather around her neck, once again forming the golden collar. Her eyes start glowing with a bright white light as her body ascends into the air.

Noticing the familiar energy, Nightmare Moon jumps back and turns around Grey Wind’s direction, before shouting out:

“No!”

Raising her sword, she charges towards the grey Pegasus. Before she can reach her target, Lyra jumps from the side and blocks Nightmare Moon’s blade, stopping her dead in her track.

“Don’t…you…ever…think…about…it!” She mutters beneath her teeth while pushing back her opponent’s blade.

Nightmare Moon roars as she pushes her blade further down. Before she can break Lyra’s guard, a milk-colored figure dashes towards her and joins Lyra’s repel, her crystal blade clashed against Nightmare Moon’s sword.

“Bo-Bonnie?” Lyra gasps.

“Somepony’s gotta make sure you don’t hurt yourself again!” Bon Bon exclaims as she smiles wearily at Lyra, small red drops of liquid dripping from her mane, yet a determined look on her face.

The nanomachine-made element of harmony has reached its power climax as Grey Wind reopens her eyes. A small streak of rainbow is shot at the black alicorn, enveloping her inside a blinding white light. Nightmare Moon screams in agony as her very existence is burnt away by the elements. Finally, with one last flash of light, a shockwave ravages the room as everything fall back into silence.

The magic restraining Echo finally dissipates as the bat pony lets out a yelp and falls back onto the ground. Standing up, a quick scan across the room reveals all her friends lying around the room, unconscious. The dark green unicorn they just encountered is standing right above Lyra’s unconscious body not far from her.

Instantly running up to her friend, Echo flinches upon seeing Lyra’s body. The original mint green hide of the unicorn is almost completely soaked with blood, with small cuts and bruises everywhere on her body. A gaping hole is visible below her chest, still dripping out drops of blood.

“Miss Lyra! No!” Echo screams as she turns to the dark green unicorn, “Is she, is she…”

“Dead? Not yet, but soon…” The dark green unicorn mutters, “The elements stripped me from her body just like how they stripped Nightmare Moon from Luna. My magic was the only thing that keeps her from bleeding out. Now, without them, she’ll…”

Taking a deep breath, she continues:

“Don’t worry…Go take care of the others…I’ll save her…Tell Lyra I’m sorry…”

Her horn starts glowing with a dark green aura as a dark green light envelopes the two ponies. As the light dies down, the dark green unicorn has disappeared, leaving only Lyra lying on the ground. The wounds on her hide have been healed, and Echo also noticed her horn becoming significantly longer than before. Her chest is steadily falling up and down, indicating that she is breathing.

Making sure Lyra is alright, Echo runs to her saddlebags and grabs a few bandages and batches of herbal plants she had brought along, and runs up to Bon Bon.

Lyra is woken up by the worried calls of Bon Bon. Opening her eyes, she finds Echo and Bon Bon standing over her, looking at her with worried looks on their faces.

“Echo…? Bonnie?” She mumbles.

Before she can react, Bon Bon pulls her into a tight hug, squeezing the unicorn between her arms:

“Oh, Lyra, thank Celestia you’re alright!”

“The same for you, Bonnie…” Lyra smiles weakly, “Where’s Grey?”

“Right here,” Grey Wind’s voice calls behind her. Sitting up and turning around, Lyra finds Grey Wind lying on the floor not far from her, with bandages wrapped around her hooves and left wing. Looking back at Bon Bon, she finally spots the bandages wrapped around the back of her head.

“Grey! Bonnie! You are hurt!” She exclaims.

“Nothing compared to yours!” Echo interrupts, “You were bleeding all over your body! If it wasn’t for that strange unicorn, you’d be, you’d be…”

“Midnight? Where is she?” Lyra hastily asks.

“She sort of injected every last bit of her magic into you and healed your wounds. She disappeared after that, Oh, and she also told me to say sorry for her.”

“…I see…” Lyra mumbles as she lowers her head. Midnight might have taken over her body, but that was because she was commanded by Nightmare Moon! Although being born from Nightmare Moon’s magic, she isn’t the same as Nightmare Moon. She has accepted her friendship, and helped her defeat Nightmare Moon in the last minute. She was a good fr-

Lyra? Where am I?

A familiar voice in Lyra’s head interrupts her train of thought. Lyra’s eyes widen as she stands up, frantically looking around the room:

“Midnight? Where are you?” Bon Bon and Echo exchange a worried glance.

I don’t know! I can’t control my body! It’s moving on its own!

“Moving on its own? Wait a sec,” Lyra says as she lifts a hoof in front of her eyes, “Can you see my hoof?”

I can! Oh…I see…I’m inside your mind…Just like how you were inside mine…

“Well, that explains it! You must’ve entered my body when you transmitted your magic into me! We are sharing my body now!” She exclaims. The three other ponies can only watch with clear confusion in their eyes.

“Lyra…? Who are you talking to?” Bon Bon asks.

“It’s Midnight! She’s inside my head now! Oh, you know what, Midnight! You take over! Say hello to my friends Bon Bon, Echo and Grey Wind!” She shouts as she closes her eyes.

When her eyes reopen, her expression has been replaced with one bearing both surprise and fear. The mint unicorn flinches a bit, before weakly raising her front hoof and waving it.

“Hello…”

The familiar voice invokes a series of gasps from the three ponies around the room, causing the mint unicorn to wince back.

“I’m Midnight Melody…Lyra gave me that name…” She mumbles as she tries to hide her eyes behind Lyra’s short mane.

“…Wow,” Grey Wind dumbfounds, “That’s definitely going to need some getting used to. Actually, wait a second.” Subunits float to the air as an energy sensor starts taking shape beside her.

Recovering from the shock, Bon Bon manages a weak smile.

“So, uh, Midnight, wasn’t it? Where’s Lyra now?”

“She’s in the back of my mind…Only I can hear her…” Midnight replies.

“Okay…So, care to explain a bit about what you really are?” Bon Bon asks.

Midnight flinches a bit, and mumbles:

“Should I tell them? Lyra?”

Go on, tell them everything! They have the right to know!

“Okay…then…” Midnight takes a deep breath, “so, from the beginning I guess…”

She explains to the other ponies about everything. Nightmare Moon’s plan, how she was created as a shard of Nightmare Moon’s magic, how she attached to Lyra, how she was able to leave Lyra’s body with the aid of Nightmare Moon’s magic in Hollowshade, and how Lyra and she became friends.

“-so I saved her by injecting all my magic into Lyra’s body…You know the rest…” Midnight finishes.

“Hmmm…That’s interesting…” Bon Bon rubs her chin, “actually, Midnight? Can you bring Lyra back? I need to talk to her.”

Midnight nods as she closes her eyes. As she reopens them, Lyra’s trademark jolly personality returns to the mint green unicorn.

“Bonnie? What’s up?”

“It’s just…” Bon Bon scratches her head, “I noticed you horn becoming longer, and Midnight talked about injecting her magic into you, so guess I’m just curious if your magic has become stronger.”

“Oh, really?” Lyra feels her horn, and instantly notices that it has become approximately 50% longer, “Let me see…”

Tapping into her inner magic, Lyra instantly realizes it has expanded dramatically. What’s more, a new area has appeared in her reserve that she has never felt before. Curious, she channels some of those magic energy into her horn, and releases it.

A dark green light envelopes Lyra’s body, causing Echo and Bon Bon to flinch back a few steps. As the light dies down, standing in front of the three ponies is a dark green unicorn with glittering long mane and line-like irises, invoking another round of gasps across the room.

“Guys? What’s wrong?” Lyra says as she lifts a hoof to her eyes, and instantly flinches back a few steps, “…Oh.”

“Um…Lyra? Is that still you?” Grey Wind asks, a frown appearing on her face.

“It is me! It’s just like I have turned into Nightmare Moon, but hasn’t gone mad!” Lyra exclaims.

That’s my power…You can wield it now…

“Huh? Oh, that explains it,” Looking around the room, Lyra explains, “Midnight injected her magic into mine, and her magic is from Nightmare Moon. So basically, I have part of Nightmare Moon’s power now!”

“Really, that’s super cool!” Echo exclaims as she runs up to Lyra and admires her new form, while instantly gasping as she looks onto her flank.

“Miss Lyra! Your cutie mark!”

“Huh?” Looking to her flank, Lyra’s eyes widened. Her golden lyre cutie mark is now embedded by a dark blue crescent moon, small glitters of stars visible on it.

“Wow…” Lyra mumbles, “guess that’s what happens if you absorb the power of Nightmare Moon,” she chimes, “Actually… Midnight! I think that might be your cutie mark!”

Huh…? What?

“Well, you didn’t have one when I first met you, so it’s reasonable for you to get one now!” She scratches her head, “too bad you can’t detach from me like before. We could check it out if you can still do that.”

I guess…

“So, what are we going to do now?” Echo asks, “should we get out of here?”

“We haven’t completed our task,” Grey Wind calls from across the room, “we haven’t found the star lyre yet.”

“Oh, come on, Grey! Those hooves aren’t getting you anywhere,” Bon Bon facehooves, “Judging from what happened minutes ago, I’m sure Princess Luna won’t mind if we fail to bring her the lyre. Plus, we did recover the blade of Moonlight.” She points a hoof at the blue crystal sword on her back.

Lyra? Can you let me take over for a minute? I might be able to find that lyre…

“Oh, of course! Guys, Midnight will take over for now!” Lyra exclaims as she closes her eyes. Seconds later, the mint green unicorn’s eyes reopen as Midnight takes over the control of the body.

“Girls…I may have a plan…”

“Really, what is it? Grey Wind lights up, turning around to face the dark green unicorn, “um, I’m talking to Midnight now, right?” She smiles sheepishly.

“Yes…Well…” Midnight nods, “If the star lyre really is infused with Princess Luna’s magic, I may be able to sense it. Nightmare Moon was born from Luna’s negative emotions in the first place after all…Just give me a minute…”

Midnight concentrates her magic as she searches through the whole room. Focusing on the flows of magic, she immediately locates a magic source buried underground emitting a similar magic as hers. The source’s magic energy seems to have extended towards the floor of the room, ending in the center of the room.

“Well?” Grey Wind asks eagerly as the dark green unicorn opens her eyes.

“I found it…Right here…” Midnight trots to the center of the room. With a flash of a horn, she injects a small magic impulse into the floor.

As soon as the magic is injected, the ground of the room starts to shake. With a large Crack! The center of the floor slowly opens, revealing a round stone platform inside. A dark blue lyre lies on it, emanating a dark blue glow.

Encasing the lyre in her telekinesis, Midnight floats the lyre out of the hole and gently places it into Grey Wind’s saddlebags.

“Got it…”

“That was amazing, Midnight!” Echo exclaims, “Mission accomplished!”

“Thank you…” Midnight blushes, “It’s the least I can do… Lyra? You can take over now…”

As Lyra returns to control, she looks around her friends and exclaims:

“So, everything is over, right? Time to get out of here!”

A dark green aura appears around her horn as a dark green light envelopes the four ponies in the room, making them disappearing into thin air. Seconds later, the four ponies reappear precisely inside the living room of their tree house, falling onto the floor. Grey Wind lets out a yelp as her injured hooves touch the ground.

“It worked,” looking around, Lyra smirks.

“Lyra? Did you just teleport us all the way back to Hollowshade? And is it 7 p.m. already?!” Bon Bon hastily asks, still recovering from the sudden teleportation.

“Why, yes! It’s a piece of cake with my magic and Midnight’s combined!” Lyra smiles.

The rest of the evening goes on uneventfully. The four friends enjoy a quick dinner, before Lyra turns back to her usual form and carries Grey Wind onto her bed. Bon Bon returns to her room with the blade of Moonlight, and proceeds to bed as well.

Finishing up, Lyra walks back to her room, lays the bronze music box beside the dream orb, and crawls onto her bed. However, a thought remains in her head, forbidding her from falling asleep.

“Midnight?” she calls out.

What’s the matter, Lyra?

“I’m just wondering…Since we have part of Nightmare Moon’s power, and Nightmare Moon was born from the negative emotions of Princess Luna…Then, we essentially have a part of the power of Princess Luna, right? Can we travel into other ponies’ dreams just like her?”

I’m not sure…But we can try…

“Right.” Jumping from her bed, Lyra taps into Midnight’s power as she turns into Midnight’s form. Trotting up the stairs, she arrives at Grey Wind’s room and sneaks in as quietly as she could.

Reaching towards the sleeping Pegasus, Lyra concentrates her magic on her horn as thin white light appears on her horn, connecting to the grey Pegasus. Lyra grins mentally as she feels a connection being established between herself and Grey Wind, as she enters Grey Wind’s mind.

Grey Wind finds herself standing on bare ground. Looking down her hooves, she finds them not bandaged anymore, not to mention his left wing has come back to normal as she easily spreads it.

Is this a dream…?

Grey Wind scratches her head. This is not normal. She has never had a dream ever since she recovered the dream orb. Something is not right.

“It worked!” A happy exclaim comes behind her. Turning around, she finds a dark green unicorn running towards her, her eyes filled with happiness.

“…Lyra? Did you…” Grey Wind looks around, remembering how it felt when Princess Luna entered her dream several days ago, “did you enter my dream?!”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it!” Lyra exclaims, “receiving Nightmare Moon’s power granted me access to the dream realm! Just like Princess Luna!”

“That’s great!” Grey Wind responds, “can you enter the dream of the others?”

“Actually, I have a better idea than that.” Lyra grins. With a flash of her horn, she disappears from Grey Wind’s dream, and seconds later reappear, bringing together Bon Bon and Echo.

“Grey?” Bon Bon exclaims upon seeing her friend, “we are really in…your dream?” She casts a confused glance at Lyra.

“Precisely!” Lyra exclaims, “I brought every one of you here! This is so exciting! Dreamscape is a land of countless possibilities. We can do so many things here! What do you girls have in mind?”

“Well…” Grey Wind raises a hoof, “I might have an idea…”

Luna was just travelling through the dream realm, experiencing another typical night of helping ponies deal with their nightmares when she sensed a disturbance in the dream realm. Another entity apart from her has entered the dream realm.

Luna frowns as she flies towards the disturbance’s source. No other entity in Equestria should be able to enter the dream realm. Who could have disturbed the realm of the night?

Approaching the source, Luna’s eyes widen as she spots a dark green unicorn and three other ponies, one of them being Grey Wind, fighting each other in a dream and instantly recognizes the unicorn’s line-like irises.

Just as Lyra is in the middle of a heated duel with Grey Wind, a dark blue alicorn pierces the barrier of Grey Wind’s dream and charges towards Lyra.

“Foul presence! How dare you disturb our realm of the night!”

Startled by the sudden movement, Lyra jumps to the side, narrowly avoiding the alicorn’s assault. Princess Luna lands on the ground and turns towards Lyra, her eyes burning with rage:

“Thou shall not plague the dream realm again, Nightmare Moon!” She shouts as her horn lights up again.

“Princess Luna! Stop! It’s me, Lyra Heartstrings!” Lyra calls out as she recalls her power and returns to her usual form.

“Thou art…Lyra?” Luna stops dead in her track. Eyeing the mint green unicorn suspiciously, she asks: “but how did thou perform…that?”

“Yes, and Princess, I can explain!” Lyra exclaims

“…Please, enlighten us.” Luna’ eyes twitch slightly as she stares at Lyra.

“Well…”

Luna listens as Lyra explains the whole story, her expression slowly turning from surprised to suspicion.

“So, thou art suggesting that thou own part of our power now,” Luna concludes, a glimpse of nervousness behind her eyes.

“You could say that, your highness,” Lyra responds.

“Then hath thou retrieved my artifact?”

“Yes, my Princess,” Grey Wind interjects, “we found the star lyre, along with your old sword. Though one thing has been bothering me,” she scratches her head, “if I may, your highness, why did you tell me to not tell Princess Celestia or Twilight about this?”

“We had no idea that temple was plagued by Nightmare Moon as well, and moreover…” Luna responds as she flinches a bit backwards, “we were driven by jealousy when we left those artifacts in Hollowshade. We wanted to be worshipped, to be loved just like my sister a thousand years ago,” Luna steps back, a bit of uneasiness in her voice, “so we sent those artifacts to the towners. My sister must not know about this.”

“Aw, come on, Princess Luna!” Lyra exclaims, “you are alright now, aren’t you? Ponies love you for helping them out in their nightmares!”

“We suppose you are right, Lyra,” Luna smiles, “It is good to see our power falling into the right hands. We shall take my leave now. There are more ponies awaiting our help. Stay safe, my little ponies, and be aware, Lyra Heartstrings, treat thy power carefully. Come to Canterlot afterwards, and we shall enlighten thou on how to control the power of the dream realms.”

With those words, Luna turns around and spreads her wings, a dark blue spark glowing on her horn. Watching the scene, an eerie feeling crawls onto Lyra’s spine. Now that she is able to use dream magic, she knows that the only color of the aura of dream magic should be pure white, not dark blue. It is a small detail, yet a detail worth investigation. In fact, she has only seen dream magic of that color in one other place…

There was also Luna’s smile. Although it seems like a happy one, Lyra senses a strand of other emotions behind that smile. A fake smile, a deep feeling, a dreaded emotion, almost like…rage?

Realization hits Lyra as an enormous tsunami. Previous unaccountable behaviors of the Princess of the Night are starting to piece together. Princess Luna’s secret request to retrieve the star lyre, the fact that she doesn’t want the two most powerful wielders of magic to aid her, and her reaction when she heard about Lyra’s new power, and most importantly…

Closing her eyes, Lyra concentrates as she starts examining the magic sources around her, just like how she located Midnight days ago. Reaching into her new magic, she instantly finds a familiar streak of dark magic emitting from Luna, just the same as what she encountered in the temple earlier.

Lyra, that magic…! It is… Midnight calls out from the back of her mind.

“Wait a second, Princess Luna!” Lyra shouts out. The spark on the dark blue alicorn’s horn dissipates as she turns around to face Lyra:

“Any more questions, Lyra Heartstrings?”

“Yes, your highness,” Lyra stares Luna in the eyes, “Nightmare Moon confessed during our fight earlier that she used her magic to generate the magical impulse of the star lyre to lure you here. You felt that impulse, and that’s why you sent Grey here, right?”

“Precisely,” Luna raises an eyebrow, “Is there anything wrong?”

“Mind my rudeness, your highness, but one thing has been bothering me,” Lyra rubs her chin, “if that magic was really Nightmare Moon’s, then surely you should have felt it. How come you didn’t know the whole thing was a trap in the first place?”

“We-well, we…” Luna staggers back, her gesture in a flurry and her wings fluttering hastily.

“You should have been the one closest to Nightmare Moon, and should be the pony most familiar with her magic on Equestria, since you used to share a body. I’m sharing my body now, so I know how that feels,” Lyra steps forward, further pressing the dark blue alicorn, “Furthermore, if you really wanted to be worshipped by the people of Hollowshade, why didn’t you go on this quest by yourself? Surely you remember how they worshipped you before. They’ll be gladly helping you to retrieve that artifact, much faster than Bonnie, Grey and me.”

Lyra is now standing right in front of Princess Luna, her eyes narrowing as she lowers her body:

“All things considered, the only logical explanation would be that you knew from the beginning what awaits us in Hollowshade, You knew Nightmare Moon would be waiting there in the first place, and yet you still send us, so that she can consume our magic, retrieve the shard she planted within me, and join you to overthrow Princess Celestia and rule Equestria!”

“Lyra!” Grey Wind’s eyes widen. Her mind has finally finished processing the turn of events and come down to a conclusion, “are you saying-“

Lyra’s horn glows as a dark green as a magical sword forms beside her:

“Am I right, Nightmare Moon?”

Sharp gasps can be heard from her friends’ direction, but Lyra didn’t bother looking back. Raising her sword, she points it towards the alicorn in front of her:

“I don’t know how you managed to take control of Princess Luna’s body even after the elements hit you, but there is no point in refuting my points. We all saw you use the nightmare magic seconds ago. Besides, the real Luna will never let her friends address her as ‘your highness’. And moreover,” Lyra smirks, “you did a pretty bad job imitating the royal Canterlot tone.”

“Princess Luna” growls as she turns around, her horn glowing as a dark blue blade is formed on her horn. Dashing towards the barrier of the dream, she desperately tries to cut it open and flee from this dream. Her blade, however, bounces harmlessly from the barrier. A horrid look on her face, Nightmare Moon turns around and instantly notices the dark green spark on Lyra’s horn.

“Don’t you even think about it!” Lyra exclaims, “most of your magic is already destroyed. You are no match against us now, and you are not going anywhere! The dream realm answers my command now!!!”

Lyra stomps a hoof onto the ground. Several magical vines erupt from the ground and restrains Nightmare Moon, securing her limbs in place: “your song of life ends here, Nightmare Moon!”

“She’s right!” Grey Wind exclaims, her subunits already forming the golden collar around her neck, “you won’t hurt anypony now, Nightmare Moon!”

The nanomachine-made element of harmony begins to glow with a blinding white light as Grey Wind slowly ascends into the air. As the power inside the element reaches its climax, a colorful rainbow is once again shot towards the alicorn, enveloping her. A dark blue cloud is stripped away from her body, flying towards the barrier of the dream.

“This is for my friends! And my parents!” Lyra exclaims. Clinging to her sword, she leaps towards the cloud and slashes at it, splitting the cloud in half. Her horn lights up, generating a massive dark green aura that engulfs the dark cloud, wiping out its very existence.

Serenity once again descends upon the dream realm as the light dies down. Lyra elegantly descends to the ground, turns around to face her friends, and manages a big smile.

“That. Was. So. Cool!” Echo exclaims, having recovered from the shock, “you totally destroyed her! Nightmare Moon didn’t even stand a chance!”

That was awesome, Lyra…

“Well, we defeated most parts of her earlier, so that was just a tiny bit of her magic. Even a regular unicorn could have defeated her. It was really no big deal,” Lyra blushes, her power fading as she returns to her normal form, “and thanks, Midnight.”

“A tiny bit of dark magic born from negative emotions, yet still strong enough to take over Princess Luna’s mind,” Grey Wind recalls her subunits to the back of her wings and sighs, “makes me wonder, how strong actually is Nightmare Moon’s dark magic? It was, how long, one month? All those time Nightmare Moon was taking control of Princess Luna’s body, and nopony, including Twilight and Celestia, noticed!”

“Hold on, I’m a bit confused,” Bon Bon steps forward, a confused look on her face, “So it was Nightmare Moon in Princess Luna’s place all along?”

“Should have noticed earlier,” Grey Wind scratches her head, “Princess Luna would never challenge a normal Pegasus the first time we met, and would never entrust a quest to me without even informing Princess Celestia and Twilight! I had a feeling that something was wrong, but I just thought it was because that she was still adjusting to normal life!” An uneasy expression crawls onto her face, “I’m so, so sorry, girls. If I had known earlier, I would never drag you into such danger.”

“Aw, it’s alright, Grey,” Lyra smirks, “we went through all that, didn’t we?”

“Yeah! And I made so many new friends!” Echo exclaims, “I also got to go on an adventure that I’ll never forget in my life! Those last few days were awesome!”

“Indeed. What you have accomplished is more than enough to be added to Equestria’s history book, Grey Wind, Lyra, Echo and Bon Bon.”

A serene voice calls behind the four friends. A dark blue alicorn is standing behind the group, a genuine, grateful smile on her face.

Princess Luna…I sense no dark magic lingering in her…It is really her this time…Midnight whispers to Lyra in her mind.

“Princess…Luna?” Lyra calls out, a bit of uncertain in her voice, “it is…really you this time, right?”

“It is us, Lyra Heartstrings,” Luna nods, “With thine help, we have finally escaped the vile control of Nightmare Moon.”

“Princess Luna, you are alright!” Echo exclaims.

“Only thanks to you and your friends, Echo,” Luna walks up to the bat pony and softly hugs her with one of her wings. Echo happily returns the hug with her own wings.

“Echo? You knew Princess Luna already?” Bon Bon asks.

“Princess Luna has been helping me with my nightmares ever since I was a little foal,” Echo turns to her friends and smiles, “we have been friends for a long time!”

“Indeed. We and Echo have been close several years ago,” Luna smiles towards the bat pony. Releasing her, she turns to the other ponies: “We thank you. It is only with thine help that Nightmare Moon is no more. You have done a great service to my sister and us. We own you one debt that we can hardly repay.” Stepping back, Princess Luna gently bows towards the four ponies.

The action startles the four friends. None of them was expecting to receive a deep bow from one of the royal sisters. As the four ponies are frantically searching for an appropriate response, Luna continues:

“We are so very sorry, Grey Wind,” Luna turns to the grey Pegasus and lowers her head, “nothing could have expressed our regret. Our weak mind has put thou and thine friends in great dangers.”

“It’s okay, your highness,” Grey Wind responds, “at least none of us was hurt too badly.”

“Yeah!” Lyra exclaims, “besides, we also gained something from that journey, right girls?” She turns to her friends.

Seeing the nodded agreements from the four ponies, Luna smiles weakly.

“It is a relief to see thou aren’t too bothered. Besides, it would be much better if thou would address us with ‘Luna’. So, I believe Nightmare Moon leaves part of her power within you, right, Lyra?”

Lyra nods.

“That is true, your high-“

“You may call us Luna.”

“Alright, Princess Lu-“

“Just Luna, please.” Luna stares into Lyra’s ember eyes. The two mares lock eyes for a moment and both let out a small chuckle.

“Okay then, Luna,” Lyra smiles sheepishly, “and yes, a shard of Nightmare Moon’s magic rests within my mind. She’s called Midnight. We are sharing a body now. And don’t worry, I can assure that her intention is just. She saved my friends’ lives after all.”

“We can sense her presence in thine body, Lyra, and I doubt not that she’ll be a great aid to all your future adventures. Please, send Midnight my regard,” Luna smiles, “We also see that you have possessed the power to command the dream realm.”

“That is true, Luna. I can enter other ponies’ dreams now. Though if my presence disrupts the dream realm, I won’t enter again.”

“It’s quite alright, Lyra. Thou deserve all those power for thine achievements. The dream realm shall be forever open to thou and thine friends. You shall guard the dream lands along with us.” Luna announces, “What Nightmare Moon said to you holds true. Come to Canterlot in the future, and we shall teach you the way of mastering the dream lands.”

A beam appears on Lyra’s face, nearly reaching her ears. The mint unicorn runs up to Luna, grabs her front hoof and hastily shakes it.

“Thank you, my Princess! Thank you so much!”

“It’s the least we can do, and it would be great to have another guardian of the dream realm. Guarding the dreams solely by ourselves is becoming tiring” Princess Luna smiles. Spreading her wings, she takes up to the air, “we shall take our leave and resume our duty now. I shall inform my sister of your heroic deeds, my faithful friends. Farewell.”

“Wait a second, Princess Luna!” Grey Wind calls out, “what are we going to do with the artifacts we retrieved? Do we need to bring them to Canterlot?”

“No, there is no need. Thou shall keep the lyre and the sword. They should be fitting awards for all thine efforts. And besides,” Luna smiles bitterly, “those objects are remnants of our old self, just like the dream orb. Ditching them would be the only way for us to move on.”

With these last words, Luna’s horn glows a gentle white light as she disappears from Grey Wind’s dream. For several minutes, the four friends just stare into the blank barrier of the dream, processing what they had just witnessed.

“So…” Echo raises a hoof, “it’s all over now, right? No more world-ending conspiracies?”

“I…suppose so.” Grey Wind scratches her head, “what do we do now?”

“Come on, Grey!” Lyra exclaims, “I control this dream, remember? It’s up to me about what happens here, and I can tell that this night is far from over!”

Lyra lights up her horn as the scenery around the four friends change. The four ponies are now standing in a large, round arena. A dark green light engulfs her as she unleashes Midnight’s strength.

“Let’s do this, Grey! Our fight is not over!”

“Alright, Lyra!” Nanomachine edges form around Grey Wind’s wings, the plasma cannons assemble besides her while Bon Bon and Echo quietly retreat to a safe distance, “bring it on!”