Nightmares

by unoservix

Chapter 14: Cohabitation

Chapter 14: Cohabitation

Twilight Sparkle did not sleep well. This seemed to be a recurring thing, ever since that kiss in the forest after Nightmare Inferno disappeared, and she idly wondered if insomnia was normal when you were in love. The books didn't say anything about it.
The books also didn't say anything about fighting with your friends or how terrible you were supposed to feel afterwards, so Twilight had settled for feeling as terrible as terrible could be. But what else were you supposed to do when you fell in love with someone your friends didn't like? Hadn't they promised to support her in all this—even when they hadn't really liked Trixie in the first place?
Fluttershy had come by a few hours after Rainbow Dash's dramatic exit to check up on Trixie, and although she'd said nothing to Twilight, the disappointment was clear in her eyes and made Twilight's stomach churn. Someone would be by eventually to yell at her for her part in that little mess. Spike had stomped off for the day and only came back in time for dinner. It was all just miserable.
And then there was what Rainbow Dash had actually said—the unspoken accusation that this whole thing was just a sham, that Trixie only pretended to have any affection for Twilight. And that was just heartbreaking to contemplate. But what if it was true? Twilight thought back grimly over the past couple weeks—the times when she'd rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth at one of Trixie's more obnoxious rants, but also the times when they'd just cuddled up together and enjoyed each other's company.
Or, well, Twilight had enjoyed Trixie's company, at least...
Twilight rolled over in bed and groaned. More than anything, she craved a way of knowing if Trixie was really sincere in saying that she'd have a chance to build a relationship. After all, that Nightmare was still in there somewhere in Trixie's mind, and if it wanted to hurt her, toying with her heart like this would achieve that end more than anything else.
Or maybe it already had. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed away the tears. Princess Celestia had called this "a whole new dimension of happiness"—so why did it hurt so much?

Morning came, coffee was brewed, and Twilight Sparkle papered over her lack of rest with copious amounts of caffeine. No one except her would ever know the difference.
She was greeted as she emerged from the kitchen by the ever-lovely spectacle of Spike coughing up a letter in a jet of green fire. Little wonder that he didn't enjoy this very much. As Spike cleared his throat, Twilight unrolled it and began to read.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle...message received...encouraging progress..." She sighed, and then arched an eyebrow. "'Come to Canterlot as soon as Trixie is well enough to travel. There is one spell we have yet to try that may be of help.'"
Spike blinked. "Why not just tell you how to do it and spare us the trip?"
Twilight rolled the scroll back up. "There's some magic that's impossible for ordinary unicorns to perform," she explained, "and there's some spells that are forbidden because they're too dangerous. I don't know anything about them, but she must mean one of those."
"Huh. And that would solve everything?"
Twilight glanced sadly up the stairs. "Not everything."
"Wait," Spike said, "I thought getting rid of the Nightmare was the whole point of all this."
"It is, but," Twilight shuffled awkwardly, "well...then what? What happens to Trixie and I?" She sighed heavily. "I mean, she keeps talking about how much she wants to travel and move around, and she'd never want to stay here even if my friends did like her—and especially if they don't." She slumped down on the floor and moaned sadly. "Does that mean we just...break up or something?"
Spike frowned. "You wouldn't want to go with her?"
"How could I do that, and leave behind my friends, and my books, and you?"
"Well, glad to see where I rate," Spike said with a smirk—
"Spike, this is serious!"
"I know, yeesh, calm down." He spared a glance upstairs himself. "Maybe the two of you will figure something out, y'know? It'd be like...I dunno, like when you drove yourself crazy trying to figure out Pinkie's whole Pinkie Sense thing?"
Twilight groaned. "That was different."
"Not that different."
"And what the hay are you doing on the floor, Twilight?"
Twilight and Spike both jumped in surprise as the Great and Powerful Trixie made her way down the stairs. "Oh, err, good morning Trixie," Twilight said. "I, um, I have some news."
Trixie arched an eyebrow. "Do tell."
"The princess wrote back. She wants us to go to Canterlot so she can try a spell, as soon as you're up for traveling." Twilight smiled nervously. "Um, sound good?"
"A spell," Trixie said, and looked skeptically back and forth between Twilight and Spike. "Will it get rid of this blasted Nightmare?"
"I don't know. Hopefully. Are you feeling up to a trip?"
"If it will get my magic back? Absolutely." And with that, Trixie brushed past Twilight and swept off into the kitchen after the coffee.
Twilight looked back down at Spike. "'Work something out,' you said?"
Spike only shrugged. "We can hope."

Twilight Sparkle spent the rest of the morning in a mild panic, which only abated that afternoon when she finally plucked up the courage to find Trixie and sit her down for a nice long chat, whether she liked it or not. Naturally, Trixie did not like it, but if she didn't get these things out in the open Twilight feared she would lose her mind.
"Well," Trixie said with a flourish at the kitchen table, "obviously the Great and Powerful Trixie cannot be kept for long from the show circuit, so as soon as I've got my magic back I'm hitting the road."
Twilight frowned. "So you wouldn't want to stay here?"
"Didn't we have this conversation already?"
"This is important, Trixie," Twilight insisted. "If the princess's spell works and we get rid of that Nightmare, you'll," she paused and swallowed the lump in her throat, "you'll have no reason to stick around here. So you could leave and...not come back. And I need to know if that's really what you'd do."
Trixie arched an eyebrow. "I don't see why you couldn't come with me for a while."
"I can't! I couldn't leave my friends, or Spike, or the library—"
"Your friends, like that rainbow pegasus yesterday? I think what you're really going to have to do is choose, between me or them."
Twilight shook her head as the tears welled up in her eyes. "You can't ask me to do that, Trixie. I won't."
"Then it looks like we have a problem, bookworm."
Twilight swallowed another lump in her throat. "So you really would just leave once your magic is back?" she asked quietly. "Just like that?" Trixie looked away awkwardly. "I'm just like Seesaw? Just something to occupy you for a while?"
That seemed to strike a chord. Trixie looked back at Twilight with a thoughtful expression. "Seesaw gave me the Nightmare," she said carefully, "and that's turned out to be a pretty bad deal for me. You've given me something else. No, you're not like him." She reached forward and pulled Twilight closer with an amused smirk. "For one, you worry a lot more."
"I-I'm new to this—"
"I can tell," laughed Trixie. "Listen, bookworm. Even if you like me, I think it's obvious that your friends don't, so you're going to have to square with that, and I can't really help you."
Twilight stared back skeptically. "You could not get into fights with them—"
"And how am I supposed to do that when they already don't like me? You saw how that rainbow one treated me. And you were right—if she won't be happy for you, she really isn't your friend."
Twilight pulled herself out of Trixie's grasp. "No, that's not true. Rainbow Dash is still my friend. And I'm not going to choose between you and my friends. You can't ask me to do that."
"But you'll have to, because I can't stay here—so who will it be?" Trixie leaned forward, her expression unreadable. "You asked me what you mean to me, so now it's my turn, Twilight Sparkle. What do I mean to you?"
Twilight felt knocked back on her feet, but she took a moment to compose herself. Trixie deserved an answer, at least. "Well," she started, "it, um, it might seem silly, but I thought after you'd gotten your magic back, you'd still be here, and we'd study magic together, and..." She looked away awkwardly and tried not to think about how red her face had just gotten. "Well, anyways, the point is, I wanted to save you because I felt like you'd be someone I'd like to know. And...well, I didn't expect I'd fall in love with you, but..."
Trixie was expressionless for a moment, and Twilight feared she'd said something wrong—before the blue unicorn's face lit up with that arrogant smile she remembered from the showmare on the stage all those months ago. "The Great and Powerful Trixie does tend to win hearts wherever she goes."
Twilight smiled back indulgently. "And how often does she reciprocate?"
"That, Miss Sparkle, is privileged information." Trixie smirked.
"Well," Twilight went on, her smile fading, "I still want to know what you'd do after you get your magic back. Because I was serious when I said I'm in love, and I don't want to think you'll just...you know, run away as soon as you don't need me anymore." She looked down and wiped away more tears. "Because I don't think it's the same for me."
Trixie reached over to give Twilight a reassuring kiss—but even as she momentarily lost herself in the bliss of closeness with the one she loved, Twilight felt the heaviness in her heart still there.

The crackling sound of flames drowned out everything deep in the Everfree Forest, at the foot of the ruined ancient castle of Equestria's princesses. Lapis Lazuli eyed the dancing shadows nervously in the light of her master's fire. It wasn't the creatures that called this forsaken place home that worried her—but rather, what it was they were doing here.
Something came down in front of them with a thump and there stood Whiplash, panting hard. Nightmare Inferno raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Rather late for a workout, Whiplash," he said.
"S-Sorry boss, I had to...had to finish up my shift real quick and then had to fly away really far so Rainbow Dash wouldn't be suspicious—"
"Didn't we tell you not to take unnecessary risks?" Lazuli snapped. "You're spending too much time with this—"
"Whoa there Lazzie, calm down," chuckled Inferno, "I think we can let Whiplash have some leeway. Anyways," she turned back towards the pegasus, "I do recall we gave you a mission in Ponyville..."
Whiplash snapped to attention with a sharp salute. "All Twilight Sparkle and Trixie have been really doing is cuddling and arguing and stuff." Her military formality disappeared as she started giggling. "It's kinda cute!"
Inferno made a face. "Gross. Anything we need to know about?"
"Well, I did go to the library a couple times and I overheard something about them going to Canterlot soon."
Inferno's face lit up with a grin. "Canterlot. Excellent." He turned towards Lazuli. "You get back there as soon as you can, Lazzie. You know what to do. And you," he turned back towards Whiplash, "the instant they set out, you fly up to Canterlot and let us know. Got that?" Whiplash saluted again. "Excellent work, my friends. Everything's going the way it should be."

Spike had really come to hate the feeling of awkwardness. That weird, annoying feeling of not quite knowing what to do had hung over the library like a cloud for the past few weeks, and Spike really badly wanted it to go away. It was so bad he had to be the sensible, responsible, grown-up one who would engineer Rainbow Dash and Twilight making up by cleverly mentioning a new Daring Do book, which wasn't technically a lie so it didn't count. And when Spike had to be the sensible, responsible, grown-up one, then something was very deeply wrong with the universe.
And so, that was why he watched from the top of the stairs as Rainbow and Twilight sat together—awkwardly, even—at the table and apparently dared each other to be the first to speak.
"Um, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for saying you aren't my friend," Twilight said quietly. "Because it's not true. You are."
Rainbow shuffled her hooves. "Yeah, I know."
"It's just...this whole 'being in love' thing is so stressful and crazy, and I don't understand it, and..." She glanced awkwardly at the stairs, although Spike remained safely out of her line of sight. "I'm not sure it's going to work out."
"You're not?"
"Well..." Twilight blew out a tired sigh. "The princess sent me a letter asking us to come to Canterlot to try out a certain spell to get rid of the Nightmare. And if it works, Trixie won't have to stay here anymore. She could go back on the road. And," she closed her eyes, "and I'm not sure she'd want to stay here."
Rainbow frowned. "So...you'd break up?"
"I don't know. I hope not." Twilight shook her head. "So I've been dealing with that, and I got stressed out and snapped at you, and I'm sorry." She looked back up. "Forgive me?"
Rainbow gave her a hug. "'course I do, dummy."
Even Spike, at the top of the stairs, could practically feel the relief in Twilight's contented sigh. "I never thought being in love would be so stressful," she grumbled.
"Well, um, actually, about that," Rainbow said, "y'know, I've actually had my fair share of romances myself, and, uh—"
Twilight's ears went flat. "I know, I must look ridiculous."
Rainbow smiled sheepishly. "Well, yeah, yeah you do."
"Thanks, Rainbow."
"Don't mention it. Anyways, the point is that I know when you fall in love, you give someone else the power to hurt you really, really bad, and, well," she shrugged, "I don't want my friends to get hurt, y'know?" She waved a hoof off towards the stairs. "And if she's just going to up and leave..."
Twilight smiled grimly. "First you're mad 'cuz we brought her here, now you're mad that she'll leave?"
"I'm mad that she'll hurt you." Rainbow's ears flattened. "Although the magic show thing didn't help, to be honest."
"We'll know once we get to Canterlot, if the princess's spell works," Twilight said, "and...I guess then I'll know for sure if this was meant to be, huh?"
At the top of the stairs, Spike glanced over his shoulder, where Trixie stood silently, her expression unreadable. The blue unicorn caught his gaze, turned away, and slipped back into her room. Spike held back a sigh. At least Twilight was right about that.

Rainbow Dash never liked apologies. It always felt so weird, admitting that you were wrong about something. If you were as super-cool as someone like Rainbow Dash how could you ever be wrong about something? But there it was. This is why Rainbow Dash wouldn't outright apologize if she could help it; instead she'd bury it under some weird and confusing language, and the other pony, well, they would get it. Like Twilight! She got it.
And so did Rainbow. She understood, of course. Being in love made your brain all loopy and crazy, and that was no fun. It had been no fun for Rainbow Dash—even if the cuddling and smooching and stuff had been pretty fun—because that meant you weren't in control. And Rainbow Dash could totally understand why Twilight might find that all stressful.
But then, Rainbow Dash also understood that there was, really, pretty much nothing you could do about love. You felt it whether or not you wanted to, and even if you could make it go away—as you sometimes had to do, when it turned out you were into someone who wasn't into you—it wasn't fun to do. And it was never something you wanted to do, even if you could tell that you had to.
It still grated on her nerves to think that Twilight had apparently given her heart to someone like Trixie—someone she still doubted would treat her right. And it didn't help that the most important thing about Trixie these days was the fact that there was an evil monster something or other inside her that actually wanted to kill Twilight—an evil monster that would certainly not be above faking being in love with Twilight just to break her heart. And there was no way Rainbow Dash could ever let that happen.
Then again, she did have to remember that Trixie had fought against the Nightmare herself, and stopped it from coming back to hurt Twilight. Rainbow hated to admit, even to herself, that Trixie might not be all that bad—maybe—but still...
Even so, everything Rainbow knew about love reminded her that you didn't even necessarily need to mean to hurt somepony to wind up hurting them. If Twilight really had given her heart to Trixie, then Trixie needed to know just what a precious thing it was she had—and what would happen to her if she didn't treat it right. That was a gratifying thought. If Twilight was going to be in love with Trixie, well, then Trixie needed to make sure she knew the ground rules.
So to that end, after she left the library with a nice long chat with Twilight behind her, Rainbow immediately took to the air and ducked inside the second floor's open window, where Trixie's bed was—and where Trixie sat, combing her mane. She jumped in surprise as the blue pegasus landed in front of her.
"What are you—" she started.
Rainbow held up a hoof. "Don't start with me. I have something I need to say." She spread her wings. "If Twilight's gonna be in love with you, then that means you have the power to hurt her really bad. And as her friend, I don't think I'm gonna like it if you hurt her really bad." She took a threatening step forward. "So if you're gonna be Twilight's girlfriend, I think it's a good idea if we're absolutely one hundred percent crystal clear on something."
Trixie looked around nervously. "Err...okay?"
"See, if you ever do anything to hurt Twilight," Rainbow said, marching ever closer with ever greater menace in her eyes, "I swear in the name of Celestia I will personally break one bone in your body for every tear you make her shed."
"...excuse me?"
"Twilight can really turn on the waterworks sometimes. I might run out of bones. Get it?"
"Y-Yes—"
"Good!" Rainbow stepped back. "You just keep that in mind, Trixie. One tear, one bone." And with that she gave a sweeping bow and then hopped out the window and took to the sky.
So maybe there was one good thing about this whole Twilight-in-love-with-Trixie mess.
In the meantime, though, Rainbow thought back to what Twilight had said to set off her mopey mood. She and Trixie were going to Canterlot. Leaving tomorrow afternoon, in fact. Rainbow frowned thoughtfully, and then headed off for Sugarcube Corner.

Sleep was still difficult, but at least there was one less thing to keep Twilight Sparkle awake that night. On the other hoof, her growing dependence on caffeine to put up the pretense of continued functionality was beginning to get worrisome.
Times like these made Twilight wish that the princess would have just sent a chariot, but that was only for emergencies, and in the event of non-emergencies Twilight and Trixie would just have to take the train like everyone else. And that meant booking tickets, and the earliest train available left late in the afternoon, and that meant they'd have to spend the night in Canterlot, and it was all just a mess. But the excitement in Trixie's eyes at the thought of getting her magic back made it worth navigating confusing ticket policies—and the indescribable feeling of dread at the bottom of her heart would just have to wait.
And so, with Spike along for the ride this time and the library locked up good and tight, Twilight and Trixie made their way down to Ponyville's train station—and stopped short in surprise at the sight of five other familiar ponies waiting on the platform.
"There you are!" exclaimed Rarity. "We thought you were going to miss the train!"
Twilight looked around in confusion—and a touch of fear, in case another fight started, as Trixie tried to look inconspicuous. "What are you guys doing here?" Twilight asked carefully. "Are you here to see us off?"
"See ya off?" Applejack laughed, and galloped over to give Twilight a hearty whack to the back that sent her stumbling forward. "Heck, we're comin' with ya!"
"W-With us?" squeaked Twilight.
"Yeah!" chirped Pinkie Pie. "'cuz if you're gonna go get rid of the Nightmare then we have to be there to throw a party the very instant it goes away!"
"A-And you only just healed," Fluttershy said, fidgeting awkwardly, "so someone needs to make sure you'll be okay..."
"And we all know something will go wrong anyways," drawled Rainbow Dash, "like, the Changelings will attack or aliens will invade or Pinkie will be right and the kumquats really are trying to take over Equestria—"
"You laugh now, but when those perfidious imitators of oranges attack us all, you'll be sorry!" cried Pinkie.
"—so we'll probably have to do somethin' about it," Rainbow finished with a shrug.
"And besides, another trip to Canterlot certainly wouldn't hurt my business," Rarity said with a flutter of her mane.
Trixie cringed. "Your friends are here to kill me, aren't they?" she whispered.
"They're not gonna kill you, Trixie," Twilight whispered back.
"Says you," chuckled Spike, and Twilight bucked him off her back with an outraged huff.
"Well, the more the merrier," she said with a bright smile. Bright, perhaps, but she still couldn't shake that feeling of muted dread.

The train showed up, it picked up its passengers, and it chugged its way along the tracks up towards Canterlot. On time for once, too. Applejack could appreciate that, really; nothing was worse than the feeling of just sitting there wasting time as you waited for a late train to show up.
Now they were heading for the mountain, and that meant there was pretty much nothing to do but wait until they got there. Usually she passed these train rides by staring out the windows or just going to sleep, but not today. Today she had a mission. Far be it from her to cooperate with Rarity on anything, but she couldn't bear to miss this.
It didn't take long for the two of them to track down Trixie, after Twilight ambled off to find the snack car. Applejack came to a stop behind her with a loud stomp of her hooves, and she and Rarity both quietly relished the way she jumped in surprise and whirled around to face them.
"So," Applejack greeted her with an even heartier slap on the back that nearly put Trixie on the floor, "how've you and Twi been?"
"Fine," croaked Trixie.
"Lovely, simply lovely," gushed Rarity, "I'm so glad our dear Twilight is finally getting to experience the joys of romance! In fact, speaking of which, you do know that the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up soon?"
"Great," groaned Applejack, "another chance to get all dressed up an' be ignored by the rich an' powerful."
"Now Applejack, I'm sure that boor Prince Blueblood will keep his distance from yours truly," laughed Rarity, and she turned back to a somewhat mortified Trixie, "but anyway, being our dear friend's new amante chérie, I must humbly beg of you to allow me to design you only the finest evening wear for such an illustrious event! Because, of course, I'm sure you would go if Twilight would only say the word, would you not?"
"Um—" started Trixie.
"'cuz the Gala's kinda a big deal to Twi," Applejack said, and threw her arm around Trixie, "an' if ya say no, she'd be pretty upset, an' if ya make her upset, well, shoot, ah reckon ah'd have to twist yer head off yer neck like a bottle cap or somethin'."
"Applejack, how crude," scoffed Rarity. "But the point still remains, darling! We want Twilight to be happy, and she's happy with you, so that makes you our friend, and as our friend I will always be ready to offer my characteristic eye for style at no expense for your benefit!" She paused for a dramatic bow. "All for my friends' happiness, of course."
"Naturally," drawled Applejack.
"You're not feeling intimidated, are you?" Rarity said with an eager grin.
Trixie looked back and forth between the two ponies. "N-No—"
"Good! Well, I'll see you later, Trixie," Rarity said, and skipped off with a delighted grin. Trixie looked back at Applejack—and the earth pony's own sadistically amused expression had faded.
"Seriously, Trixie," she said quietly, "don't go hurtin' my friend, ya hear?"
Trixie nodded silently and Applejack stalked off after Rarity. All things considered, that had gone pretty well.

"I think your friends are trying to kill me."
Twilight nearly dropped her glass of lemonade and whirled around in surprise at Trixie, staring out the window in their cabin as the train approached the tunnels up to Canterlot. "U-Um, what makes you say that?"
"Well, the rainbow one showed up the yesterday threatening to 'break one bone in my body for every tear I made you shed,' as she put it, and the fashionista and the farmer threatened to remove my head from my neck in a relatively violent manner, if I ever did anything to upset you."
Twilight blushed. "Aw, they threatened to kill you if you broke my heart? That's so sweet."
"To you, maybe."
"Wait, Fluttershy and Pinkie haven't done that, have they? 'cuz if Fluttershy actually threatens to hurt you for upsetting me, you're going to have to tell me all about it."
"Oh, you will be the first to know," grumbled Trixie. Twilight trotted over to give her a reassuring nuzzle.
"Don't worry. They'll warm up to you."
"I don't want them to warm up to me."
"Of course you do! They're really great ponies! They're just giving you a hard time because of that whole magic show, and because it's not every day I have a marefriend to give them an excuse to play overprotective friends."
"Glad I provide so much amusement, then," Trixie sneered.
Twilight frowned. "You're not mad at them, are you?" Trixie said nothing, glowering out the window. "Well, if Rainbow came by and gave you the don't-hurt-her-or-I'll-kill-you speech, then that means at least she's accepted you, sort of. And so are the rest of my friends. You just have to give them time," she frowned, "and, um, be nicer to them, I guess."
Trixie scowled back as a tree flew past outside. "Why would it matter?"
Twilight felt her stomach turn. "So you wouldn't stay in Ponyville after all?"
Silence passed between them for a moment before Trixie closed her eyes. "Twilight, we're just going to have to meet each other halfway on this. I can't stay in one place forever. And you," she shook her head, "you're right, you really can't be separated from your friends for a long time." She looked back up at Twilight. "But I can't just stay cooped up in one place forever. That's not me." Trixie turned her eyes back out the window, and beyond the fear of this relationship ending, Twilight felt her heart go cold at the sadness in her eyes. "I haven't been me since I laid eyes on that bloody Ursa."
They were silent again as Twilight pawed the floor. "Well," she said quietly, "I don't know if the princess's spell is going to help, but in the meantime, there is something I can do." Trixie looked back at her with an arched eyebrow. "I've been studying a spell that some unicorns use for healing in magical ailments. If one unicorn's magic isn't working, another one can do a conduit spell."
"A conduit spell?"
"It lets a unicorn without magic use it anyways, through another unicorn. They use it for diagnostics and stuff." She smiled hesitantly. "You wouldn't be able to do a whole lot and I can't make it last for very long, but for a little while, I can let you, well, use my magic."
Trixie seemed thunderstruck—but the look of delight in her eyes made Twilight's heart nearly stop. "Okay, so, what do we do?"
A few moments later, they sat together on the bed side by side, their horns touching at the tips. Twilight blushed at the feeling. "You won't be able to do anything really complicated, but you'll be able to do some basic levitations and lights."
"So I'm...doing magic, through your horn?"
"Sort of. Ready?"
Trixie nodded, Twilight screwed her eyes shut, and she lit up her horn.
It was just as the spell book had said. All this would have to come from inside her—and it did. Twilight reached back into the darkness and pulled up as much light into her horn as she could take. Her horn tingled at the feeling, and then at the end the feeling of another horn in contact disappeared and the light began to flow through into a dark void. Twilight clenched her teeth as she managed the spell; the energy building up through her spine had to be directed so carefully. Every sliver of light that branched off had to be directed back into the stream. The light pulsed and grew brighter and brighter—until finally it found its mark and her muscles tensed up.
Twilight opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was her empty cup floating by, surrounded in a glimmering sheen of magic. She glanced to her right and saw Trixie's delighted face—and her heart melted at the sight so much that she nearly lost control of the spell.
It felt so strange, letting someone else manipulate her magic, something so intimately her own she could hardly imagine being without it. Every motion of her mind that set the streams of light in motion before her eyes seemed foreign to her, even when her manipulation of magic was so familiar it was nearly instinctive. Watching her own magic functioning through her own horn at someone else's command...
Trixie carried the cup across the room, then whirled it around and set it down on the floor with a flourish. She grinned and Twilight felt the light build up—and then the cup started to glow, brighter and brighter, until bands of magic snaked out around it and whirled around through the air, weaving intricate patterns of sparkling light across the ceiling.
The base of Twilight's horn began to burn, like the feeling of stretching and exerting muscles too hard. Twilight screwed her eyes shut and poured a little more strength into the spell. Trixie deserved a few more moments with her magic. She cracked an eye open and saw the patterns in the air above them get ever more intricate, ever brighter, ever more beautiful.
"I haven't done this in so long," Trixie whispered.
"I-I know," Twilight grunted. Trixie looked over in concern.
"Does it hurt?"
"Starting to—"
"Then I guess we'd better get to the grand finale," Trixie said with a grin, and pushed on. Twilight winced as her horn began to twitch painfully, and the light poured through—but above them both flashed a panorama of whirling, flashing, kaleidoscopic light that bathed them both in every color of the rainbow.
And then the light disappeared, the patterns above faded, and the spell ran out. Twilight slumped forward, drained to the core. The book had warned that this particular spell would be taxing, but this...
She looked back up at Trixie and the look of joy in her eyes made it all feel worth it. "I've missed my magic so much," she whispered. "You have no idea." She looked down and blinked in surprise at Twilight's exhausted state. "It was that tough?"
"I guess so," Twilight said. "I had to build the connection between us, and," she paused for a moment and tried to blink away the exhaustion, "and then supply you with the magic to do all those lights...a lot of work." Trixie looked back up towards the ceiling, where the last wisps of light had long since faded into nothingness. "I didn't know the spell would be that hard, so I couldn't keep it going very long." Twilight hung her head. "I'm sorry. I know you've been without it for a long time and—"
Trixie quickly shut her up with a kiss and Twilight felt her burnt-out brain go haywire for a moment. "Nonsense," the blue unicorn whispered as their lips parted, "you gave me back my magic, even if it was only for a few moments. And no matter how the princess's spell works out, I will never, ever forget that."
Twilight smiled back, her mind too stirred up to let her do anything else—but the rest of her was exhausted, and she put her head against Trixie's neck, closed her eyes, and immediately fell asleep.

It took another two hours of winding through tunnels and mountainside tracks to reach the Canterlot station, and by the time the train ground to a halt the sun was sinking below the horizon and the moon was on the rise. Twilight yawned and groaned as Trixie prodded her out of the train car and onto the platform—and no sooner had she set foot on the platform than she was swept up in a crushing hug.
"Twiley!"
Twilight blinked in surprise and realized that it was her brother that was squeezing the life out of her with a bone-crushing hug against solid plate armor. "Sh-Shining! What are—ow—can't breathe—let go—"
"Sorry," he said, and promptly dropped her on her feet—and then frowned when she wobbled for a moment. "Uh, wow. Rough train ride?"
"S-Something like that," Twilight stammered. "What are you doing here?" She looked around—and cringed a bit at the sight of the Royal Guard, out in force patrolling the streets, standing guard at the corners. Her mind took her back to her brother's wedding—and that wasn't a reassuring feeling. "And why are there so many guards out and about?"
"Princess Celestia's ordered extra security," Shining Armor explained, as Twilight's friends stepped off the train and looked around nervously at the preponderance of soldiers. "All I can say about it is that it's got something to do with the Nightmare we've been chasing."
"Inferno," Twilight grumbled.
Shining arched an eyebrow. "You know?"
"We've, uh, met."
"I am not liking the sound of that. But then, that leads me to another question: what are you doing here?"
At that moment, Trixie stepped off the train and immediately came to a stop next to Twilight. "Um, that is a lot of soldiers they've got out here..." She blinked in surprise at the one in the purple and gold armor right in front of her.
"Trixie, this is my brother, Shining Armor," Twilight said with a grin, "and Shining, this is Trixie, my marefriend."
Every gear in Shining Armor's mind appeared to come to a stop at that moment. "Excuse me?"
"Yes well I've had quite enough of being threatened with bodily harm today so I'll just see you later," Trixie said, planted a kiss on Twilight's cheek, and took off like a shot after the others.
Shining looked back at Twilight. "So you've got a marefriend."
Twilight shuffled her hooves. "Um, well, yes—"
"And you didn't tell me? Or Mom and Dad?"
"I-I was going to, but, I was busy, and—"
"Twilight, do you have any idea serious this is?" He tilted her chin up to look her in the eye. "Do you have any idea what this means?"
Twilight's ears went flat. "Don't tell me you're mad too—"
"Do you have any idea how much I'm going to have to tease you now?"
Silence hung over them like fog for a moment before Shining's composure broke and he burst out laughing—and Twilight nearly sighed in relief.
"Oh, jeez, Twiley," Shining laughed, "did you catch the love bug at my wedding or something? Way to go." He glanced over his shoulder at the departing blue unicorn. "Heckuva catch, too! I'm impressed. How'd my dorky little sister pull that one off?"
"It's a long story," started Twilight.
"Good thing I've got some time," Shining said, and he guided her off the platform, into the city.
As it turned out, Shining Armor did not have some time, as one of his subordinates quickly pulled him away over assignments. Twilight was somewhat pleased at that—not that she didn't enjoy her BBBFF's company, but she hadn't even thought about how she would explain this whole thing to her parents, let alone her brawny big brother who just so happened to be Captain of the Royal Guard and personally responsible for security for both of Equestria's princesses.
Certainly no pressure for Trixie.
Instead, Twilight found her way to her old room in Canterlot's castle, where she and Trixie fell straight asleep—and for the first time in weeks, Twilight finally got a decent night's sleep. It helped that her nap on the train had done her little good and she was too exhausted to toss and turn all night playing through agonizing possible future scenarios in her mind's eye. But the last thought in her mind as she drifted off to a dreamless sleep was that at least her friends were finally starting to come around.

Finally refreshed after a good night's sleep, Twilight Sparkle stretched gratefully as she headed for her old balcony. Trixie was already there, staring down below into Canterlot, still coming to life under the dawn skies.
"Pretty nice, huh?" she asked with a grin. Trixie smiled back halfheartedly, and Twilight's ears drooped. "What's wrong?"
"Besides the horrible, gnawing fear that you're about to introduce me to not only your parents, but also the two princesses, and I'll have to go through the you-break-her-heart-I'll-break-your-spine speech not only that many more times, but also from the two undisputed immortal rulers of Equestria?"
"Oh, right, that." Twilight cringed. "I haven't even thought of how I'm going to explain this all to my parents." She shrugged. "Well, I'm sure my friends would be happy to come along too."
"Lovely."
"Trixie, come on, give them time, they'll come around."
"It's not that," Trixie shook her head, "it's...oh, never mind."
Twilight frowned and that leaden feeling began to return to her heart. "What? You can tell me."
"It's...complicated."
"I'm no stranger to that." She gave Trixie a reassuring nuzzle. "Don't worry. I'll help you."
Trixie was silent for a moment and then shook her head again. "It's...no. I don't want to talk about it." And with that she crossed her arms and leaned on the railing with a pout on her face.
Twilight sighed and looked down towards the city distractedly—and then she blinked in surprise as her eyes caught sight of something else down there. A blue pony, with a red mane—and a long horn on its head. She pursed her lips as she scanned the figure below and found a familiar-looking cutie mark: a red, swirling star.
"Wait a minute," she said, and pointed down below, "look, down there. Isn't that one of the ponies who was with Inferno?"
Trixie followed her gaze and grimaced. "So it is."
"We've got to do something!"
"Lovely, go call your brother—"
"No, remember, Inferno said if you wanted your magic back, we'd have to find him in Canterlot!"
Trixie stared in disbelief. "And you believed him?"
"Of course not," Twilight said, "but if one of his minions is here, then maybe we'll find him too!" She stood back, horn sparking to life. "Come on! We'll catch her!"
"This sounds like the beginning of a very bad idea," groaned Trixie.
And then in a flash of pink light, they both vanished. The balcony became the streets—and at the sight of the two unicorns winking into existence in the street, Lapis Lazuli disappeared into the shadows, with Twilight and Trixie in hot pursuit.