"What's wrong, Big Sister?"
Celestia glanced down at her younger sister. "Nothing's wrong," she murmured.
"You've been extra weird ever since I left you alone with Mama." Luna pointed out. "What did you talk about?"
"I promised that I wouldn't tell."
"That's not fair," Luna pouted. "I wanna know."
Celestia frowned. "Sorry, but you're not old enough."
"You always say that."
"Yes, and it's usually true," Celestia retorted. "This is grownup type business."
Luna gave her older sister a scowl. "So? You're not a grownup either."
"I'm a lot closer to one than you are, Little Sister. You're still practically a foal."
"Am not!" Luna took to the air and zoomed off. "You're such a meanie!" she called back over her shoulder."
Celestia shook her head ruefully as she watched her sister disappear around the corner. Up until a couple of hours ago she had shared the younger filly's frustration at not knowing what was going on. Now she wasn't sure that knowing the truth was any better.
She continued on her way to the palace's impressive library while still pondering her mother's words. It seemed to be certain that the dreadful monster Tirek would appear any day now and resume his attacks on the helpless ponies of Equestria. And it was obvious that her mother was in no shape to face him again. It was all rather terrifying when she thought about it.
Upon reaching the library, Celestia walked past the expansive shelves of books and headed straight towards the collection of dusty old scrolls stored in the back of the room. While the history books did cover the Great Calamity in some detail, she could tell that they had all been written long after the fact. She had already discovered many discrepancies just by skimming through the scrolls that had actually been written at the time.
There were no fanciful claims in the scrolls that her mother had called upon the power of the sun to swiftly scour her enemies from the face of Equestria. In fact the scrolls seemed to paint a much different picture of the war than that of the history books. They revealed that the unicorn Galaxia had actually fought many difficult battles against the dark forces of the outer world, and that the outcome of the war had been uncertain up until the very end.
The one thing that was undeniable in both the scrolls and the books was that her mother's mastery of light magic had been the crucial turning point of the war. Before Galaxia had joined the fight, dreadful creatures of darkness had easily devastated Equestria's defenses. Galaxia had sought out the strongest of these monsters and defeated them one by one, allowing her fellow ponies to concentrate on defeating lesser foes. There was not a single mention of her mother ever having lost a battle.
The hours ticked on as Celestia diligently studied the old scrolls, looking desperately for any mention of something that might be of help in the current situation. Surely her mother's magic couldn't be the only thing strong enough to defeat monsters. What had Equestria depended on in earlier eras? The Great Calamity couldn't have been the first time their land had fallen under attack.
The problem was that there were frustratingly few scrolls from the days before the Great Calamity. Considering how widespread the destruction had apparently been, that was not surprising. Most of what Celestia was able to find consisted of unremarkable accounts of the nobility that had once ruled Equestria.
Celestia was on the verge of giving up when a tattered old scroll at the back of one of the shelves caught her eye. She slowly unrolled the stained parchment, taking care not to rip it any further. As she quickly read through the faded writing, she allowed herself a slight smile. Finally she had found something interesting.
"A very long time ago," she read out loud, "when the land of Equestria was still young, it is said that there lived a wizard named the Moochick. He was a good friend to the ponies who lived near him, and he often helped them in times of trouble. While the Moochick was not said to have been all that strong by himself, during his long life he both created and collected a wide assortment of magical items. The most powerful of these items was the Rainbow of Light."
"It is said that the Moochick gave the Rainbow to a unicorn named Twilight to help her protect the ancient pony settlement known as Dream Valley. Using the mystical powers of the Rainbow, the ponies were able to protect their home from a variety of enemies. However the eventual fate of this powerful artifact is unknown, as it has not been seen since ponykind abandoned Dream Valley."
"I've never heard of a Dream Valley before," Celestia muttered as she hurriedly retrieved a map of Equestria. As she had suspected, there was no mention of such a place. "Well, let's see," she mused as she studied the map. "Even if the valley was abandoned, that doesn't mean it didn't get resettled under a different name later on..."
Celestia turned her attention back to the old scroll in hopes that it could provide her with some more clues. "The Rainbow of Light was presumably lost when Dream Valley was completely engulfed by a deluge of the Smooze that flowed down from the Mountain of Gloom. The ponies that survived the disaster migrated away from the dangers of the Black Mountains, and there is no indication that they brought the Rainbow with them. Most likely the Rainbow remains entombed inside the remains of Dream Castle, buried under many feet of hardened Smooze. Several archeological expeditions were recently mounted to locate Dream Castle, however they were all unsuccessful."
"So the valley has to be somewhere near the Black Mountains in eastern Equestria," Celestia said as she studied the map again. "I wonder which one the Mountain of Gloom is..."
"Maybe it's that big volcano there?"
Celestia jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Luna!" she scolded. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"It's not my fault you didn't' see me," her younger sister replied. "I've been here for a while."
"You should have said something then," Celestia retorted. "What are you doing in here, anyways?"
Luna's ears folded down as she looked at the floor. "You promised that you would read me a story tonight."
"Oh..." Celestia smiled as she knelt down next to her sister. "Sorry about that. I guess time got away from me."
"That's ok. What you were reading just now was pretty neat."
"Oh, that? It's just an old story I found," Celestia replied, trying to sound casual. She glanced back at the map. "What were you saying about that big volcano?"
"A volcano would be really gloomy, wouldn't it?"
"I guess it would be," Celestia agreed as she located the lone volcano in the Black Mountains. "And there is a narrow valley right beside it." She took a closer look. "It doesn't look like there are any towns in this area."
"What's the Smooze?" Luna asked, starting to look a bit drowsy.
"I have no idea."
"Is there really a lost castle there?"
"Well, it's just a story," Celestia replied. "I doubt any of it is true."
"Oh," Luna seemed disappointed. "Still, it was a good story."
"Do you want me to read you another one?" Celestia offered guiltily.
"That's ok," Luna replied. She gave a tiny yawn. "I'm kind of sleepy."
"It is getting late. Come on, let's get you tucked in."
"Thanks, Big Sister."
"Mother, may I come in?" Celestia asked after she had finished putting Luna to sleep.
"Celestia?" Galaxia asked as she sat up. "You're still up?"
"Yeah. How are you feeling?"
"I'm still feeling kind of dizzy," her mother admitted. "I'm ok though."
"Where's Papa?"
"I'm not sure. He said he was going to go get some fresh air." Galaxia suddenly looked concerned. "You don't think he's really off flirting with some other mare, do you?"
"What? No! Why would you even think that?"
"I... I don't know," her mother admitted, confusion starting to creep into her voice. "Cloud Bolt wouldn't do something like that, would he? No, of course he wouldn't."
"Mama, are you sure you're ok?" Celestia asked.
"Yes. At least I think so. It's just kind of hard to think sometimes," Galaxia moaned. "I've been having so many negative thoughts pop into my head ever since I woke up. It's really not like me at all."
Celestia frowned. "Maybe you just need some more rest," she suggested.
"Perhaps you're right. But I've already slept so much that I don't even feel tired now."
"Well, you should still try." Celestia insisted.
"Come to think of it, shouldn't you be in bed yourself?" her mother scolded.
"I will soon," Celestia promised. "But first I wanted to ask you something. Have you ever heard of Dream Valley and the Rainbow of Light?"
Galaxia thought hard for a moment. "I don't think I've heard those names since I was a little filly," she replied. "My grandfather was a bit of a collector of old legends like that. Why? Did you find one of his scrolls in the library?"
"I guess so," Celestia admitted. "So is it all true?"
"I doubt it," her mother responded. "Grandfather collected all sorts of wild tales."
"Wouldn't it be worth checking out? If the Rainbow is really there, maybe it could help against Tirek."
Galaxia smiled and patted her daughter gently on the head. "I told you earlier, you don't need to be worried about that. Once I'm feeling a bit better, I'll face him again." She sighed. "They're still gathering volunteers from across Equestria. I wanted to fight him alone like last time, but they insisted that I should go with as many ponies as possible."
"But still," Celestia insisted. "Couldn't you send someone to take a look? I think I figured out roughly where Dream Valley should be. There's this area just south of the Black Mountains..."
"That region of Equestria is extremely dangerous," her mother interrupted. "There have been reports of everything from rouge dragons to ursa majors prowling around there. That's why we've never had any settlements in that area." She shook her head. "Sending ponies to a place like that on a wild goose chase is completely out of the question. Don't worry, I'll be strong enough to beat him this time."
"You don't know that," Celestia retorted. "Look what happened last time. I really think you should look into this."
"Enough," Galaxia announced, her tone growing agitated. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything to you earlier. You're just as bad of a worrier as your father." She gave her daughter a stern look. "I don't want to hear anything more about this rainbow nonsense. Just go on to bed."
"Mother..."
"Bed. Now." Galaxia ordered.
"Yes, Mother," Celestia begrudgingly replied as she headed for the door. "Good night."
"Good night, Celestia." Galaxia's tone softened as she called out after her daughter. "Please try not to worry so much. Everything will be fine."
Instead of returning to the bedroom she had been given, Celestia first headed back to the library. "I don't care what Mama says," she muttered to herself, "it's too dangerous for her to fight that monster again without some kind of edge."
"Now let's see," she mused as she browsed the shelves. "First I'll need a better map, and then I'll have to find some provisions... maybe some rope too..."