//------------------------------// // 2: Twilight's Darkness, Brightened // Story: Trixie's Horrible Error; Twilight's Fading Light // by Honey Heart the filly //------------------------------// Twilight was casting the spell, and was sudddenly thrown face first into the portal. She twisted and turned, suspended in the tunnel, as she watched a dark blue void begin to spread. She screamed again, uselessly, and, as the void reached her, she lost consciousness. When she woke up, after she had been split by the vortex, she saw that she was in the library, on the ground, and everything looked fine. She felt like something was wrong, but she couldn't see anything off. She looked around for Spike, but couldn't find him anywhere in the house. She decided he had gone out and went to find him, and walked outside. She nearly ran back inside after she actually looked around. Everything was either dark blue, black, or lavender in color, matching the colors of magic in Twilight, Luna, and the latent Nightmare Moon, who still resided within Luna, causing some of her discomfort at trying to fit in with the new time. The only thing that had retained its color was the library itself, and the area immediately around it. She walked up to the line and stared at the area beyond it. It looked, other than the colorswap, exactly like Ponyville... Except it was completely and utterly deserted. Twilight had never felt so alone. She stepped across the line, and nothing happened. It seemed like Ponyville, so she went to the market stalls. Everything was set out as normal for this time of day, or so it seemed to be day, as what appeared to be the sun was high in the sky. However, nopony was behind the stalls. She screamed in frustration, the feeling of loneliness almost overpowering her. At that moment, however, something changed. A new color was weaving itself through the tapestry of her surroundings. A lighter blue replaced the black, expunging Nightmare Moon from the landscape, as Twilight had once done in Luna's mind. She was incredulous, and stared as it also started flowing through the purple and darker blue lights, until the world was almost entirely blue. However, Twilight couldn't or wouldn't remember who the new color reminded her of, even as it filled her heart with an unparalleled joy. She looked around, hopeful, but the same empty stalls stared back at her. She looked down. Even with the change of colors, it was the same, lonely Ponyville. She hooved at the ground, unsure what to do next. It was excruciating, this intense loneliness, as nopony, even somepony as antisocial and awkward as Twilight, could survive without friends. She was on the verge of giving up, and turned to walk back to her library... She reached the library at the same time that, chronologically, Trixie entered Ponyville from Manehattan, galloping to the library as if possessed. As she entered the library, Trixie crossed that line of color in Twilight's dimension. To Twilight, there was a flash of blue light as Trixie suddenly appeared before her, her seeking mind crossing the void between the dimensions to Twilight. She gasped, but still, for all her thought, could not remember the pony before her. Trixie in the other dimension had no knowledge of this, but the Trixie that had crossed was a piece of her mind, from which her still-latent love for Twilight was coming forth like a flowing river. Even though Twilight, as lost as her soul was, couldn't remember Trixie, this part of Trixie instantly recognized Twilight, and galloped forward, closing the short distance between them. As she reached the door, Twilight stepped aside quickly so she could come inside. She shut the door and stared. "Who the bucking ap-" was as far as she got before Trixie, losing the battle of her impulse at the sight of Twilight, kissed her gently on the lips. Twilight blushed deeply, her mind being unable to come up with an explanation for why she was being kissed by this unknown filly or why she felt so right when she kissed back. Trixie broke the kiss to nuzzle Twilight gently, as Trixie in the other dimension went for her nap. Twilight stepped back after a few moments. "Who...Who are you? Where is everypony? Why is everything the wrong color? Why did it change to match your fur before you appeared?" Trixie giggled. "Why, Twilight, are you sure you don't know me? Me, the Great a-..." She paused, trying to fight her usual self out of the picture. "I-it's me, Trixie. We met about three weeks ago, right here in Ponyville. Please, don't tell me you forgot already..." Thus, the sleeping Trixie started crying, affected by her mind across the void, saddened at the state Twilight's mind had been reduced to. "No, I'm very sorry, I don't know anypony named Trixie. However, you seem to know me. Therefore, I shall assume we are friends, and go from there. So, hello, Trixie, and welcome to my home." The ever-present naivete of Twilight broke through, causing her to instantly attempt to befriend Trixie, even though they were sort of enemies in their true dimension. Trixie was glad for this, atleast. The chance to befriend Twilight all over again, it was more than she had expected to find. She extended a hoof to the soul-wandering mare, and was rewarded with a hoofshake in greeting. "So, Twilight...I have a confession to make. About my previous encounter with you." She hoofed the ground, debating whether to tell her about her love for the lavender pony, or about their enmity of three weeks ago first. She settled for the truth. "We weren't friends. We were more adversaries. I was a boastful showpony, and you instantly disliked me for it. I...That night, if not for the Ursa attack, I probably would've tried to approach you..." At this, the showpony blushed darkly and stared into Twilight's eyes, full of love and longing for her. Twilight simply shook her head. "I think you're a little bit narcissistic. I don't remember you ever coming to Ponyville. I don't remember any Ursas attacking Ponyville. All I know is, I was practicing a new spell and got attacked by somepony, and now I don't remember anything beyond this morning when I woke up, beyond how my life is supposed to be. Like, I know I have friends, and they should be with me, but I'm all alone. I'm scared, and I don't want to be this way anymore." Twilight stepped closer, and before she knew it, she was nuzzling this pony's neck as she had done to her a couple minutes ago. She felt Trixie stiffen, as if she hadn't been expecting it, and instantly thought it was a sign of rejection and lowered her head, passing the mare on the way deeper into the house. "Twilight...?" Trixie stared as the lavender pony walked into the back section of the library. She started to follow when she heard a slam, as if something hard had smacked into a wall, then a loud crashing sound, as if many things had fallen to the floor. She ran across the room into where Twilight was, and gasped. Inside was utter chaos. Magical lavender glows filled the room as anything not bolted down flew around in circles, including every book in the library. It had started with one book Twilight had tried to bring down off the shelf, but she lost control and slammed it into another bookshelf, causing one of the shelves to capsize. The crash had been the books on that shelf falling onto the floor. Then, that had added to her pent-up frustration and blew her seal. Now, the entire room was swirling with books, with Twilight at the center, head lowered in shame, as everything spiraled closer to her. Suddenly, the books started flying in random directions, and as Twilight began to cry, the first book flew straight into her face. Then another on the opposite side. She was...assaulting herself with the books. "Twilight?!" Trixie said, almost inaudibly, and unfortunately she wasn't heard over the swishing sound of the books in the air. A third book hit her, and she fell onto her stomach as the books threw themselves over and over onto her back. Trixie, horrified, started into the room, and a book hit her hat off her head, and it was added to the swirl of books around Twilight. She knew what she had to do. Without even bothering with her magic, Trixie walked through the storm of books, getting hit a few times herself, but most of them were focused on Twilight, leaving only a few at the right height to hit Trixie. Soon, she had reached Twilight's side, crouched low to avoid some of the books flying at her. She tried to nuzzle Twilight's ear, but she pulled away. She tried to take her hoof, and it was snatched away. Trixie gulped, running out of ideas. Then, in a flash, she knew what to do. She hesitated for just an instant, then, resolute, she stepped over Twilight, sheltering her with her own body from the brutal slamming of the books. Twilight, not knowing what just happened, looked up into the face of the blue mare, as she smiled with nothing but love, as she bore the entire assault of the books so Twilight wouldn't have to. "You...ah!...aren't alone...I'm here...to be with...you..." She screamed as her legs couldn't handle it and she collapsed on top of Twilight, her head landing on the mare's chest. She stared up at Twilight with a soft smile. "I-I...love you, Twilight. More than anything in the world. I'd give up my showponying, all of it. Everything, just to be with you. So, please, don't think you're alone. I am right here for you." Then, the books suddenly stopped as Trixie moved up to kiss the shocked Twilight. She broke the kiss after a couple seconds. "What's wrong, Twilight?" she asked, concerned about her. Twilight just stared. Then, all the books started to fall, with Twilight's magic leaving them. One hit Trixie in the head and knocked her out cold. Twilight instantly felt sorry and returned to her senses. "Trixie? Trixie! Please, wake up..." She didn't know what to do and dragged her out of the ruined library and up to her room. She gently put Trixie in the bed, covered her up, and then stared, not knowing what else to do. However, Twilight was mentally being torn apart by her predicament. She didn't know what to say. Trixie's declaration of love had left her stupefied. As far as she knew, she had no feelings for this mare, and she didn't know how to let Trixie down. She left Trixie in the bed and went back into the room she had torn apart, and set about cleaning it up, without magic. She would pick up a book, walk over to where it belonged, and put it in its proper place. She suddenly despised her magic, for no apparent reason. She desperately wanted to know why, but couldn't come up with any sufficient answers. Whenever she felt tired, she pushed herself further, not stopping. She couldn't rest, for that would allow her to realize and think about what she had done to the pony that loved her. She had pelted her with books until her legs broke under the pressure, and that left a sick feeling in her stomach when she thought of it. She shoved herself into the work until she was exhausted, and collapsed, blacking out from the strain, the last book in her hooves. Both Trixies woke up simultaneously, and they both stumbled downstairs, groggy for very different reasons. Trixie turned towards the room where the maelstrom had occured and was surprised to see no books on the floor. She walked in and looked around, impressed at how quickly Twilight had cleaned it up. She turned out to look for her, and that's when she saw it. Her hoof outstretched from where she had collapsed behind a box, which was why she hadn't seen her when she walked in. There was one final book in her hand, and one spot left on the highest shelf. Twilights hind hooves were curled up to her stomach, and her other forehoof wrapped around them as that one hoof remained outstretched with the book in it. Trixie immediately understood what had transpired once she had been knocked out. Twilight had tried to clean up, but was abstaining from magic for some reason. She looked down, figuring out one thing Twilight hadn't. It had something to do with Trixie. It was her fault. She walked over to the lavender pony, shaking her gently with a forehoof. "Come on, Twilight, please, wake up." The mare stirred, but didn't seem to wake up. Trixie sighed and lowered her head, starting to walk out. She suddenly walked into a purple forcefield and fell on her flank. "Ah! Huh...Twilight? What is this?" Trixie was confused. She thought that Twilight had been asleep, but apparently she had woken up. "Come here, Trixie. We need to talk." Trixie lowered her head again, already seeing where this was probably headed. Nevertheless, the blue filly turned and stood up, walking over to Twilight slowly. "Yes?" she asked hesitantly, lying down beside Twilight, looking into her eyes. What she saw was nothing but an ocean of love. However, what her ears heard was something completely different. "I'm sorry, Trixie. I..." Twilight seemed to be searching for words. "I don't...I don't think I can..." Trixie was confused and a little hurt that Twilight was acting this way. "I don't think..." Twilight, regardless of her thoughts, couldn't form the words. Something inside her didn't want to say those words. The repercussions would leave her alone. She couldn't bear it. "I need you to stay by me. Please, will you promise to stay here?" Twilight looked up, not even realizing all the love that filled her eyes. Trixie, however, could see everything. "Of course, I'll stay with you. Like I said before, I'd do anything to be near you." Then, without any kind of warning, Trixie touched her horn to Twilight's, a very gentle touch, and sat there. And then, it happened.