It had no streaks in it. That was what she was missing. Trixie galloped full speed down the corridors, a look of absolute horror on her face. She skidded to a stop in front of the princesses' rooms, staring at the door. She looked around, but there weren't any guards. Which was very unusual. She flung the door open with her magic and stepped inside.
"H-hello? Is anyone here," she squeaked, suddenly not very brave at all.
A clopping of hooves on tile alerted her to something off to her left, and she spun to look that way, to look directly into the eyes of Princess Celestia. She stumbled back, almost falling on her plot, and sighed with relief.
"Thank goodness you've come, I saw something new today. It's a-about Twilight..." she spoke in a rush, bowing before her. The princess seemed shocked.
"Trixie, rise. Now, what is it that has you so worked up? About Twilight, you said," she asked solemnly. Trixie rose and walked to her side.
"I noticed her mane today. It's usually a dark purple, but streaked. It was all black today. No streaks what-so-ever. Her tail as well. It's odd, don't you think?" Princess Celestia reacted a lot worse than Trixie expected. She grabbed Trixie by her mane and teleported them all the way to Twilight's room in the blink of an eye.
She dropped Trixie and knocked on the door, seeming to be not so worried. "Twilight, would you come here, please?" Trixie rubbed her neck and adjusted her mane, putting it back into place where it usually was. The door opened, and there stood Twilight Sparkle.
Or atleast, what used to be Twilight Sparkle.
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The Nightmare stared out of Twilight's eyes, seeing the alicorn. She immediately charged up her horn, having full control of her magic, when a blue blur pushed her to the ground, standing over her. She stared deep into her eyes, and the Nightmare hated the look it was receiving. So, you wish to be first. She charged her horn again, blasting the blue pony off her and out of sight. She stood, growling, and faced the alicorn once more.
"Now, you," it said, before lunging, magic flaring from her horn. Her magic coursed through its being, making her feel invincible. It was unprepared, however, for the ferocity of the counter-attack. It was thrown to the side effortlessly, hitting the ground with a thump. It surged to its hooves, growling with primal intent, and threw a lance of magic at the alicorn. It detected something burning her back, and turned to look.
It's mane was on fire. It tried to douse it with magic, but nothing happened. It shrugged, leaving it for now, as there was no pain yet, and it didn't seem to be getting consumed. It redoubled its attack, thrusting three more spears of magic at her, before teleporting above and slamming its hooves into her back. Not ready for that, the alicorn fell to the ground, but again, returned the favor with a magical thrust of her own, blasting it out the window. In a flash of blackish-purple light, it reappeared in front of her, showing superior reflexes that even Twilight herself had not possessed. With a sigh, the alicorn seemed to be preparing a really large spell. But her horn's glow was different. It was red, with growing specks of purple, and it felt itself growing weak. NO. It wouldn't relinquish its hold so easily. Without a thought, it began to shield itself from the spell. However, it was suddenly bucked into a wall. It tried to stand, but its foreleg wouldn't support it, and it collapsed. It stared at the blue pony, which had stumbled all the way back just to do that. It tried to replace the shield, but realized that distraction had cost it. Too much magic had been lost. That dumb bitch was regaining control, and it was slipping back into its sealed cage...
~
Twilight opened her eyes, the familiar brown returning to it as her mane and tail color returned to normal. She tried to stand and squealed in pain as her leg collapsed under the weight.
"W-What...? How did this..." Twilight seemed incapable of finishing a sentence, but atleast she was back to semi-normalcy. She crawled out of the corner and over to Trixie, then tried to stand again, favoring her foreleg on the right.
"Trixie..." she murmured, hugging her close as she leaned against her for support. She nuzzled her marefriend's neck, and that was when she heard the sobs. She pulled back to stare her in the face, and the tears were unmistakable.
"What's wrong with me, Trixie," she asked, dumbfounded. Trixie looked away, only pulling Twilight closer to her. It was odd, Trixie had never been this clingy, and Twilight took notice. She turned her head to face her.
"I-It's...not you. It was a...Nightmare," Trixie gasped between sobs. Twilight recoiled, as if Trixie had bucked her in the face. A Nightmare...? Yes, Twilight. I am a part of you, now. Wha- Shut up. You are weak and I am strong. Twilight struggled with the presence in her mind, eyes widening. If Trixie hadn't been there, she probably would've collapsed. She pulled Trixie with her, heading towards the bed.
"Twilight, what-..." Trixie seemed to get the idea somehow when Twilight looked at her. She shook her head. No, you aren't going to harm her. I won't allow it! I already have. I threw her halfway across the room without a thought, and she's the one that broke your leg. She's got some legpower, that one. She tried to ignore its fantasies of what else that legpower would be good for. Twilight hid her face behind Trixie's mane, so that she wouldn't have to see her. Trixie stroked her mane, trying to calm her down.
"My little Sparkle..." she cooed in her ear, nuzzling her. Call me Dusk, it seems fitting, since your name is Twilight, and I'm just a part of you that you can't face. Twilight mentally tried to escape Dusk, but it did her no good. She was stuck with it, atleast for now. She shook her head and returned to reality, lying next to Trixie, enjoying her company.
"I love you, Trixie. You still believe me, right...?" Her words sounded a little weird to herself, but she knew she meant every word. It was as if she didn't know truth and lies anymore, or atleast, her ears didn't.
"Of course I do, Twilight. I love you, too," she said, without hesitation. Her love was something she needed, with an utter lack of friends, she was all Twilight had. Trixie continued to stroke her mane, calming herself as much as Twilight with the action, but Twilight never minded. It actually felt better short, actually, which surprised her. Exhausted from their ordeal, they quickly fell asleep in each others' hooves.