It's been about 3 weeks since Trixie had come to Ponyville, and even after all that time, something is still wrong with Twilight, and nopony can figure out what. When Luna comes to Ponyville to visit, everything goes totally wrong...
It's been about 3 weeks since Trixie had come to Ponyville, and even after all that time, something is still wrong with Twilight, and nopony can figure out what. When Luna comes to Ponyville to visit, everything goes totally wrong...
On hiatus for inspiration. Check out my other story in the meantime, while I have brain farts. WARNING: If you do, minor clop ensues.
A spell countered, a story untold, Spirits are broken, sight unfolds. Darkest days, endless night, Only one can save the helpless knight.
Twilight Sparkle was asleep, as unlikely as it sounds, around noontime.
It had been a little over 3 weeks since the Great and Powerful Trixie had stopped in Ponyville, only to be run out that night after an attack from an Ursa Minor. However, the intense load of heavy magic it stole from her horn to deflect the Ursa from Ponyville was immense, and for the first week, she had barely moved or been conscious for more than an hour at a time. She had started to recover after that, though slowly. About 3 days after that, she had seemed okay, if a little fidgety. Her face hadn't been quite right, either. Now, she was bedridden again, moaning in her sleep as if in pain, and even in her waking hours her eyes were shaded with longing, as if she had lost something close to her. But, as far as anypony, including Twilight herself, knew, she had not lost anything. Then, she received a letter from her mentor and ruler, Princess Celestia. She got a little more energetic when Spike told her. She read the letter, detailing how to cast a new spell that she wanted her favorite faithful student to learn before they met later that week. Twilight groaned and laid back down. "I prevented the utter destruction of Ponyville at the hands of an Ursa Minor, and barely get time to recover? Ugh..." Nevertheless, she stood up, a little unsteady, and took the letter in her hoof, walking down to the door.
"Spike?" she called from the door. "Be careful while I'm out, I shouldn't be gone long, but you've heard the rumors..." Of course, Spike had kept her up to date on the happenings of Ponyville while she was out of it. Rumors had been spreading about the Great and Powerful Trixie's self-destructive path through half of Equestria since her midnight escape. It seemed she was in a crashing downward spiral. Last anypony had heard, she was in a very nearby city, and might try to come through again. "If she comes back to Ponyville, you should let me know. Stay away from her, too, she's pure trouble..." Then, her mind set, she left the treehouse library, heading for the park to practice the new spell.
She made it to the park, and re-read the letter one last time to make sure she knew what she was meant to do. At the same time, a deep blue alicorn pony alighted in a nearby field, having come to visit Ponyville and all her friends there. She at once felt a surge of magic, but it was as if the pony she was detecting was being distorted somehow, she couldn't quite feel exactly where he or she was. She decided to use her much more powerful magic to end whatever spell might be being cast on her. She concentrated on her horn at the same time Twilight actually began following the directions. What happened next was almost indescribably horrifying. Princess Luna's counterspell was being cast on the poor, purple-maned filly, who was completely unaware. Twilight erupted with what little magic she had, pouring most of it into the spell to see if she was able to cast it in her current state. Never mind the fact that it was dangerous to attempt a spell in her state...
She started breathing heavily with exhaustion, then suddenly, began to drift into the space-time continuum, for Celestia had sent her student an experimental teleportation spell. However, something didn't feel right to the lavender filly, and she began to sweat as she poured her last spark of magic into it, trying to complete the spell. However, at that moment, when the last bit of Twilight's magic entered the portal, completing it finally, Luna's counterspell slammed into Twilight, throwing her full force through the now-destabilized portal...
She screamed for an instant, just long enough that Luna knew what pony she had just assaulted, before the counterspell closed the portal, tearing apart the tunnel that Twilight had created. When the destructive force of the counterspell finally shattered the whole tunnel, she was forced back into the continuum. however, her body and mind split like magnets switched to repel each other. Her body successfully returned to her world...right on top of a frightened Luna's back. Her mind, however, was shoved brutally into another universe, yet it was the same place, the same Equestria, so for now, it went unbeknownst to anypony.
Twilight was knocked out by the strain of her magic being consumed entirely again, as well as being torn through space and time by Luna's counterspell. Her body now rested on the frantic princess' back, supported by magic as she flew as fast as she could back to Canterlot. Her visit with Fluttershy and Applejack, as sweet as that meeting would've been, would have to wait. The interminable distance was excruciating to Luna, as she thought that perhaps the pony would die on her back before they reached their destination. The landing hadn't been easy, even softened by Luna, whose legs had buckled under the slamming weight of the tiny filly at first. Finally, after a mere 15 minutes, which had felt like eternity for the princess, they alighted in the palace gardens.
No longer needing her wings for flight, she tucked the comatose filly under her right wing and dashed full-speed down the corridors. She reached the bedchambers of the royal princesses, flinging the doors open straight into the two guard pegasi in her hurry. She slammed the door behind her and screamed as loud as she possibly could. "SISTER! PLEASE, COME TO ME, THERE'S BEEN A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY!" Then, Luna collapsed onto her bed, worn out from her speedy flight to her current place. A whole ten minutes later, Celestia entered the room, having been out in the city on business. Upon her return, she'd been informed immediately of her sister's distress, and the sight of a small, lavender pony under her wing as she charged through the castle. She immediately ran to her sister's side, a look of intense concern on her face. "What is the matter, dear sister? Why have you suddenly taken to running wild through the castle and..." She spied Twilight, still insensible, underneath Luna's wing. "...and...a-and......" Celestia was speechless, taking the pony in her hooves. "T-T...Twilight?" was all she could manage before she nuzzled the lavender pony, hoping for any kind of response. When she received none, she stared helplessly at Luna. "What...What happened...?" And her sister looked down sadly.
"It's all my fault, dear sister..." With that, Luna launched into the story of how she accidentally attacked Twilight in the park, and then her flight here. She wrapped her wings over her head the entire time, and barely dared to peek at the princess now that she had finished.
"Oh, Luna...I know that it's been a thousand years, but peace reigns in Equestria. There are no hit-ponies anymore..." She stared with love and understanding at her dear little sister. She handed Twilight back to Luna and wandered to her own bed. "I had heard she was in bad shape, but this...There is more at work here than meets the eye. Even a small filly like Twilight should have recovered from her encounter with the Ursa by now, so it must be something else...Was there anything else out of the ordinary around at the time...?" The sun princess had devolved to speaking to herself, distracted as she was by the comatose Twilight in Luna's hooves. She thought long and hard about the predicament before finally arriving at a conclusion. "Hey, Luna. Wasn't that obnoxious Trixie in Ponyville at the time the Ursa attacked? I'm almost positive she had something to do with it, actually." The darker mare nodded solemnly, agreeing with her sister that the blue pony had indeed been present at the same time.
"But what does that have to do with little Twilight, here? She was only in town for the day before and night of the attack, and then she was chased out of town." Luna sighed, thinking all was for naught. But the thought didn't leave either princess, and so they decided to bring her in to see what happened.
The next day, Luna left as soon as the moon was set for the day, flying out the balcony and turning to fly towards Manehattan, the last known location of the filly she wanted. She thought during the journey of nothing but the beautiful lavender pony sleeping soundly in her bed still, the coma not letting off for a moment all night. At last, she had reached the city of Manehattan, and immediately started questioning residents as to the whereabouts of the Great and Powerful Trixie.
They acted strange, but eventually pieced together that she left town last night in a rushed flurry, leaving almost everything behind. This convinced Luna, more than anything else, that something about Trixie had affected Twilight that night, as it also seemed the reverse was true, for the direction she took left no doubt, her path would reach Ponyville by daybreak. Meaning that she was just now reaching the border of the small town...
Trixie was running. She didn't know why or how she had run so far so fast, but SOMETHING was drawing her to Ponyville. It had started as a nagging feeling the second she heard about Twilight's accident. By nightfall, she couldn't ignore it, even to pack, and just burst off down the road. The sun had just started to rise when she saw Ponyville's roofs in the distance. She smiled. If Twilight was still there, she knew she could somehow help the lavender pony with her problems. She entered the city after a couple more minutes of running, and navigated by the nagging in her head directly to Twilight's house/library. She knocked impatiently, then drug a hoof through the dirt as she stood there a few moments. When nothing happened inside, she tried the door, and it opened.
She stepped into the abandoned house, looking around. "I wonder where she is, now..." She decided to question some of the townspeople, despite the incident of three weeks ago. Nopony had any answers, as Luna took Twilight straight from the fields she was practicing in to Canterlot. She was getting very frustrated, as the nagging still told her to be in Twilight's house. So, she went back and decided to take a nap, since the feeling went away when she was actually inside the tree library.
Not an hour later, she woke to the sound of knocking. "Huh...What...?" She was groggy from the sleep deprivation combined with actually sleeping, and stumbled to the door. She opened it to see two white stallions of the Royal Guard, straight from Canterlot. "Greetings, madam." said the first guard. "Might you be the pony known as Trixie?" said the second guard. "Why, yes, it is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie. What could I possibly have done to attract the attention of the Royal Guard?" She was concerned, and worried that this might hold her up in her search for Twilight, so she wanted it over with as quickly as possible.
"We are here to take you to Canterlot, at our leader, Princess Luna's, order. Please, do not be afraid. You have done nothing wrong, that anypony knows of. In fact, you may yet be our greatest ally in this time of need." Trixie sighed. "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not have time to help you right now. She is too busy on her own mission. Perhaps another time." Obviously, Luna had put them under orders not to leave without Trixie, one way or another. "We implore you, see reason. You may be the only pony that can help." Trixie was flattered that they were saying this. "What could be so disastrous that only I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, can help? Tell me, and I might consider your request."
The first guard sighed. What could be more important...But maybe she hadn't heard. "Currently, there is a unicorn in very real danger at Canterlot. If she isn't woken up from her current state, and soon, she may never return. The princesses, in their infinite wisdom, have seen fit to contact you. Princess Luna herself tracked you all the way to Manehattan, only to hear that you had taken off, so thought it easier to send the two of us to collect you instead, as following you might lead to an interminable chase." The guards waited hopefully, knowing that any more delay might be disastrous to their own lives, the wrath of Princess Luna at tardy guards being legendary already.
After a short delay as she thought it over, she spoke once more. "What unicorn could possibly be so important to the princesses, that they look anywhere and everywhere for help?" The guard instantly looked at her as if she were mental. "Why, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student of magic, of course. Didn't you hear about this already?" Trixie stood, as if frozen in ice, staring but not seeing. Could it be true, she wondered. Could these guards take her to the mare she had been seeking? It took her a full minute to regain composure enough to reply. "Of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie would indeed come to the aid of such a...famous unicorn." She almost said lovely, and quickly changed it to famous on the fly. She smiled at the guards. "Lead the Great and Powerful Trixie, then." She almost started galloping as she carefully trotted over to the golden chariot that the princess had sent with them. She climbed in, and the guards got into position and took off. They flew as fast as they could without tiring out early, and made it to Canterlot with good speed.
She jumped out of the carriage as soon as it landed, galloping through the halls as she could no longer contain herself. She stopped and turned the final corner, the image of self control now, and walked up to the bedchamber guards. "I was supposed to meet Princess Luna here, is she inside?" The guards immediately stepped aside and opened the door, recognizing the sky blue filly they were to look out for. She walked in and looked around for her objective. She soon spied Luna on her bed, still half-heartedly attempting to rouse Twilight.
Trixie froze in place for the second time that day, her body locked from moving, her mind screaming at her to run full speed over to her. She didn't know what to do, so she did nothing. Meanwhile, Luna was still hopelessly poking and prodding at the filly's stomach, not knowing what else to do. The door thudded softly behind Trixie, and Luna snapped her head over to look. "Thank goodness, you're here, my little pony. Quick, come close, and let's see if you can help us." At the princess' command, she was suddenly able to move, and she galloped over. "What happened to her, princess?" She had begun to shake, seeing the filly that had forever altered her lying, as if dead, in the night princess' hooves. The only give that she was alive was her breathing, which was normal.
Trixie sighed, hoofing the ground in thought. Then, without any kind of prompting from Luna, she took Twilight into her own hooves, and started to channel magic through her horn. When she thought it was sufficient, she closed her eyes and touched her horn to Twilights, very gently, and waited. As the seconds ticked by, she was about to give up, and, as a single tear ran down her face at the thought of never being able to talk to Twilight about her feelings, or if they were mutual, it happened.
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.
3: By Celestia, a Miracle...Wait, Who's Celestia, Again?
Twilight's mane, having been completely flat while she was out, stood on end, from top to bottom, and her tail flared straight out. They couldn't see it yet, but the magic had triggered her eyes to glow white with intensity. They could, however, see her mane begin to singe. Luna and Trixie, having never seen this from her before, started to get scared, but Trixie just pulled Twilight closer, disregarding the small burns on her hooves. Then, her fur changed from lavender to white as her mane combusted into raging fire, instantly scorching Trixie's hooves badly. Trixie still refused to break the contact of their horns, believing beyond any doubt that she was fueling her love's return.
Twilight's mind was in chaos. One second it was sure she was in her library, the next, she wasn't even in Equestria. The only comfort her mind could embrace was that the piece of Trixie's mind that had travelled to be with her was staying with her to return. Their minds met as one, and this Twilight finally realized something very important. "Trixie...?!" She looked up to the azure pony before her. Their eyes met with understanding, but Trixie still asked. "Yes, my little Sparkle?" Twilight blushed at this, and as they neared their destination, leaned close to whisper those words with the power to change worlds.
"I love you, Trixie."
At that moment, their minds crashed back into their bodies, Twilight's eyes still glowing as they flashed open. She looked up at Trixie, holding her with their horns touching, Trixie still channeling magic, eyes closed to bear what the embrace was costing her. She cried silently as the pain became greater and greater still, blistering her. However, that continued channel of magic made all the difference.
The moment her mind had separated from her body in the tunnel, all her memories were thrown to the galaxies. She would never again regain all of them. If she were lucky, some would bounce into her as time went on, but as of now, nothing existed in her head. Except for one thing. Her love for Trixie shined, acknowledged, all through her. All she knew was her time in that distant land of Ponyville, and that she loved Trixie, the mare holding her tightly to her chest, horns touching, even though she was on fire...on fire...
She screamed, as her memory loss meant she had no idea what was going on with her being on fire. She rolled out of Trixie's arms and tried to put the fire out by rolling on the ground. But instead of being put out, it grew stronger as she became more emotional. Trixie opened her eyes and immediately tried to go over to Twilight, but was stopped by Luna as Celestia walked over to her student, the only one that knew what was going on.
"Calm down, Twilight. You can put that out anytime you like, just calm down." She had leaned over the combusted filly and was whispering in her ear. However, this had an unintended effect. "Who the buck are you?!" Twilight screamed again and climbed out from under Celestia, running flat out of the room. Little wet droplets hit the floor as she broke into silent tears. Trixie pushed Luna's hoof down and dashed after her, worried, and Celestia, by her own name, was shocked to silence by what she had just witnessed. She found her voice after a minnute, but only to repeat what the terrified lavender pony had said. "Who...am I?"
Twilight ran all the way out the front doors of the castle, terrified of the terribly large, white pony that had stood over her. She finally came to a stop after having ran to the edge of Canterlot. The only reason she stopped was she had no other option. She was scared, no, terrified, of everypony and everything. Including her surroundings. She had no idea where she was. Luckily for the residents of Canterlot, she had, despite the shock of the strange pony, begun to calm down, so her mane was no longer on fire, and her fur had turned to normal. Her eyes, were they normal, would've been light brown, flecked with purple specks due to the lack of magic, but they were so bugged out, all you could see was the pupil. She heard a voice in the crowd. The one voice she knew, besides her own. And, for this, she was more happy than she could express.
"Twilight?! Where did you go??" Trixie had chased her all the way across Canterlot, and almost ran straight off the edge of Canterlot if she hadn't seen the lavender pony, thank Celestia for lavender, sitting at the edge. She skidded to a stop at the shockingly quick change of appearance. Her mane, despite the intense conflagration it had been mere minutes before, was unharmed, a full, black streak down her back, dotted with lighter purple. She stared over the landscape, the picture of far-away thinking. Trixie calmly pulled Twilight away from the edge and sat, pulling her close to her as she stroked her mane. "What happened back there, Twilight? I was so shocked..."
It was a very close thing. The intense feeling of fright she had felt when Twilight bolted out of the room had almost undone all her progress in releasing herself from the Great and Powerful mentality. Twilight shuddered, nuzzling Trixie's chest as they sat there. "I-I don't know...I don't know anything." The realization dawned on Twilight. "I don't know anything. I-I..." She looked up at this point, her fully blacked-out eyes staring into Trixie's. "I don't have any memories at all from before today. All I know is you." Strangely enough, Twilight, now that she knew about it, was strangely content with this. All she knew was love. Trixie realized this as well, and sighed. "Well, that could be a good thing. I promise...from this day forth, I, Trixie, will try to be there for you always, and be all you ever need. That way, you don't need anything else." She stroked Twilight's mane for a while, enjoying this embrace.
Twilight smiled, relieved now. "Everything is okay, then. Come on, Trixie, take me home...wherever that may be, please." She roughly knew her house due to that being where most of her time was spent in the other world, but she had not a clue how to get there. Trixie, however, was happy to do anything to please her marefriend. At least, she hoped their relationship had evolved to that stage. "Right this way, my little Sparkle..." She had put the little unicorn on her feet and was leading her through the crowd to the train station. She opted to pay for the train tickets, happily doing so for her Twilight.
Through the entire train ride, she thought of nothing but the beautiful pony in the seat next to her. She was absent-mindedly stroking her mane as she slept, worn out from the intense magic use over the last couple days. Between the Ursa Minor, which Twilight had forgotten, then the experimental spell that she had also forgotten, and the intense burst of magic that she emitted while she was transformed, Twilight was running on no magic, just like after the Ursa. From the reports that Trixie had received, it had been a very slow recovery. Well, she decided, until she was recovered, she wouldn't leave her side. Maybe she could even help, though she didn't see how.
She blushed happily like a filly having their first crush talking to them, thinking of all the happiness she would provide to Twilight, or atleast she hoped. The one thing she neglected to think about, besides everything else that wasn't important, were Twilight's friends. However, luckily for all involved, Twilight was still asleep when the train pulled into Ponyville Station. The loving mare declined to wake her up, and instead simply levitated her with magic as she walked off the train, hat, cape, and all.
She was immediately surrounded by five ponies. Two pegasi, one blue, one yellow, hovered over her. Two earth ponies, one pink, one orange, stared her down on each side. Directly in front stood a unicorn, pearlescent white. The blue pegasus spoke first, always headstrong. "What have you done to Twilight?!" she asked, pointing an accusing hoof at Trixie. She simply shook her head. "I saved her life. Or, rather, as much of it as I could." The orange one spoke up next. "What the hay is that sappos'ta mean? As much of it as you could?" Trixie was very calm about it as she lowered Twilight to the ground beside her. "I brought her back from whatever dimension her mind had been thrown to. It was mostly intact, except for one thing. Her memory was totally destroyed or lost in the cosmos as she was flung to her destination."
All five ponies gasped. "A-are you sure of this?" the yellow pegasus asked. "Yes, I'm positive. If she didn't recognize such a pony as Princess Celestia herself, and she didn't, then she doesn't know anypony." Trixie said solemnly, realizing this would be hard for any true friend anywhere to accept. All five ponies looked at Twilight for the briefest of instants, and Trixie moved ever so slightly, causing them to turn away sadly. Everypony realized how much effort Trixie was making to be a normal pony and not act all high and mighty, so they all presumed to believe her. "So...Twilight...doesn't remember...any of us?" the pink earth pony sobbed.
Everypony there was crying, except Trixie and Twilight, who was asleep. Trixie didn't cry because only she could see the bright side of things. That Twilight, even without her memories, was hers to love and cherish, was more than she could contain, were it not for the severity of the situation. Five somber ponies being brought to tears by her happiness was not what she had wanted. However, Trixie thought, they would've only gotten in the way of her time with Twilight, and thus, it was better they were removed in this manner.
She didn't understand how she could be so callous in reference to Twilight's best and most true friends, but her only thoughts were of the lavender filly herself, and she didn't want her to have to be away from her more than necessary. She sighed, staring each pony surrounding her dead-on, her eyes speaking more to them than she could express with words. They saw everything, her love, her protectiveness, her...humility? They blinked a few times and looked again, but there it was. She had left her haughtiness behind entirely, only wishing for one pony's happiness. She would do anything to keep Twilight happy.
Trixie grew weary of everything, and only wished to fulfill her promise to her beloved mare. "If you'd excuse me, please, Twilight's one request was to go home, with me at her side." With that, she walked past the five distraught ponies, lifting Twilight with magic again, and trotted with purpose through Ponyville all the way to the library Twilight called home. Trixie walked in, still towing Twilight, and went straight up to her room. Spike had gone to stay with Rarity while Twilight was gone, so there was nopony to bother them as Trixie, humbled by her love, laid on the floor beside Twilight's bed and fell asleep as well.
Her dreams were of the two of them, engaged to be married, sitting together in the park. She stroked Twilight's beautiful mane, causing her to shiver, as she read. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Read it aloud to me, my little Sparkle?" Of course, Twilight would comply with Trixie's wishes, and started reading the section aloud. She didn't care much for the particular reading material, simply wishing to hear her voice.
As the voice washed over her, she laid her head against Twilight's side, snuggling close with glee. She mumbled softly, almost inaudibly, "I love you, Twilight." And then she blushed as her own mane was stroked gently, then she was pulled closer as Twilight continued to read, the one thing from her old life she still knew. It brought both of them joy, Twilight because it was enjoyable, and Trixie...well, because Twilight was happy.
A/n: I really hope you like this twist of the story, it took me FOREVER to think of it, compared to everything else. The first couple chapters had almost been prewritten in my head, and Chapter three was there to open up interesting plots, and explain a little about plot direction. The Chapter title has nothing to do with the content, and is instead just a reference to their cutie marks.
Trixie woke, nearly insensible, the feeling of laying on something soft, yet firm, the only thing she noticed. She thought nothing of it for the moment, instead wanting nothing more than embracing the sweet warmth beneath her. Wait a moment... Trixie's brain started to actually function, remembering she was supposed to be on the cold, unforgiving wooden floor. She cracked her left eye open, and stared directly into the open, light brown eye of Twilight Sparkle. She would've screamed, not expecting that, but at that moment a lavender hoof found its way to her mouth, silencing her. She brought another hoof to her own lips, shushing her gently. Then, she pointed to the door, behind which the stairs would be. Trixie noticed, at that point, that Spike's bed was not in the room.
She groaned, stretching, as she stood up and walked to the door. She opened it to see Spike, asleep, in his bed, right at the door of the room. She shut the door again, looking to Twi in confusion. "I didn't want anything waking you up, so after I pulled you into bed, I noticed the basket. Knowing I was about to lock the door, anyway, I set the bed out so the owner had no reason to come in." She giggled. "You looked really cute asleep. Almost like you were finally at peace in your dreams. I hope I can help you feel at peace in your waking hours as well."
Trixie blushed, taken aback at this. "But, Twilight, I am already happy that you've given me any chance at all. It's more than I deserve, and everypony knows it. When they see us together, what are they going to say? About you? Us? Everything?" She was becoming clouded with fear and doubt, but Twilight had no such reservations, and trotted over so as to comfort the blue mare. She pulled her into a loving embrace. Trixie froze for a moment, before returning the embrace to Twilight. At that, there was the sound of a claw tapping the door. "Twilight...?" They heard an exhausted voice through the door. "Who...are you talking to...at this time of morning?" Twilight blushed, thinking whoever it was had heard them talking. She brushed past Trixie, after breaking their hug, and pulled the door open, staring blankly at the tiny dragon.
"Can I help you...uh..." Twilight had no idea what to say. "Sir Dragon?" She smiled, hoping it helped to tack on something to call him. It didn't really do anything. "What do you mean, Sir Dragon?! It's me, Spike! Your number one assistant?" By then, Twilight's blank stare became one of confusion, and Trixie pushed her aside. "I'm sorry you haven't heard yet, I figured those friends of hers would tell everypony about this. Twilight's...not at all well, and needs her rest. Did you need something specific?" Trixie smiled at him, watching as the dragon's expression changed from confusion to horror.
"Twilight...sick? Let me see her, come on, Trixie!" Spike instantly began pleading. Trixie cut him off ruthlessly. "It's obvious she doesn't want you around, if she forgot your name. Why don't you go see that Rarity you're always going on about? I'm sure she'd enjoy your company alot more than Twilight." With that, she shut the door, a little forcefully, in the dragon's face and happily trotted back to Twilight's side. "So, Twilight, now that you've had a night to sleep on it, do you want me to stay with you, and help you rebuild your life here? I can understand if you don't..." Trixie had fought with that thought the entire time she was talking to Spike, and it broke through as shades of doubt crept into her usually forthright, boastful tone. Twilight was taken aback by the unusual statement, and stepped towards Trixie, taking her hooves in her own. "There is nothing in the world I would like more than having you stay with me. I...I need time. To cope with everything." Spike, who had been listening through the door, let his head fall, defeated, and left the house, grumbling. "Why not go see that Rarity..."
Twilight, however, was unaware of the dragon at all, much less that he needed her right now. She patted a spot beside her, wanting to be close to her lover. She giggled when Trixie accepted the invitation, and they nestled close as Twilight pulled a book from the shelves above her bed at random. Trixie smiled, the similarities to her dream not lost on her mind. She giggled and snuggled into Twilight's side. Ever the bookworm, Twilight opened the book and began to read. It was a book on basic magic, one of the first she had read in Canterlot, but she avidly read it with interest, having no recollection of the first ten readings. However, after the first paragraph, she was a little...distracted...by the feel of a gentle hoof through her mane, and she giggled softly, snuggling back into Trixie just as much as she had snuggled into her.
They were awoken to a trumpet in their ear. Twilight screamed and tried to hide under Trixie, while Trixie herself stood on her hooves, looking around angrily for whoever would disturb them. She didn't have far to look. A familiar pink earth pony stood before them, carrying all manner of instruments. "Well, took you two sleepyheads long enough!" she practically screamed at them. "I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to wake you up f-" Her explanation was cut short as a lavender glow sealed her mouth. "You break into MY house, sneak into MY room, and thoughtlessly attempt to wake ME and my lover from our rest?! WHO TAUGHT YOU YOUR BUCKING MANNERS??" She grabbed the mare with her magic, opened the window, and very unceremoniously dropped her out of it. She stared menacingly as the pink pony slunk away sadly. "Well, hopefully, we won't have to deal with that again, my dear Trixie."
She turned to smile at her loving marefriend, and was greeted with a gleeful look on her face. "Erm, Trixie? Are you...happy that I flipped out on somepony?" Trixie just shook her head. "Okay, then. Well, I'd like to get back to what we were doing, but now, thanks to that ingrate of a pony, I'm wide awake. How about we practice some magic? Doing that reminded me that I have almost no control of it..." She looked down, starting to lose herself to the void where her memories should've been. Trixie saw the bleak look in her marefriend's eyes and quickly went to her side, pulling her to her chest as she stroked her mane with the most gentle of hooves. "It'll be okay, my little Sparkle. Have faith in me, and all will be well." she murmured into the lavender unicorn's ear as the first sobs wracked her body.
They sat like that for what felt like days to the heart-wrenched Trixie, knowing that, despite everything she had tried to do, she couldn't comfort her beloved Twilight. She knew, however, how much she must be hurting, and therefore sat there, attempting as best she could to console her. Suddenly, without any warning, Twilight pushed her on her back and pounced, landing heavily on the mare, before kissing her passionately. Trixie, wide-eyed from surprise, melted into the surprise kiss. Twilight giggled softly as the kiss broke, her magic having made a few books fly off the shelves and crash into the walls. It made no difference to them, because they knew it meant she was happy. "I'm glad you're here, Trixie. I love you." she said as she smiled, snuggling down on the nearly-insensible mare. Trixie just laid there for a while, repeating the words over and over in her mind as she made her honest and heartfelt reply. "I love you, too, my little Sparkle."
At that, Twilight blushed cutely, and the effect wasn't lost on Trixie. She hugged her tighter to her, ending up in a position where their forelegs were entwined and their chests were pressed together. They didn't mind the closeness, in fact, it made them all the more happy to be closer to each other. Neither needed that token of consumation that was common amongst other dating couples, when their love was evident every time their eyes met, or their lips met. Nothing would come out of it, anyway, so there wasn't much point. All it would've been good for would've been a way for Trixie to slip back into the "Great and Powerful" Trixie for awhile, without scaring Twilight too much. They smiled, their eyes locked to the others'. Nothing, they silently agreed, was better than just enjoying each other's company.
Trixie mumbled in Twilight's ear softly. "You still feel like practicing magic? I'd love to teach you some spells." She followed it with an affectionate nuzzle, eliciting a squeak and a giggle from the mare above her. However, she got off the blue mare and stretched. "Sure, Trixie. I have faith in your teaching methods. I'm sure I'll be a great magician in no time." This brought a blush of embarrassment and love to her azure face. "Alright, then. Let's go." They walked out of the house and down the path to a secluded area full of things that would help with practice. "Alright, Twilight, let's start with something simple. Try to channel the magic within you to your horn. If you don't know how to do that, you won't be able to cast anything." The lavender mare had seated herself on the grass in front of Trixie, acting every bit the studious schoolfilly. She had even brought a book with her, a basic book on magic for fillies a quarter her age. She sighed, knowing it was appropriate. She still didn't like the unusual brown eyes, but didn't know what to make of it, so she left it and focused on what she could tell Twilight about magic.
However, it quickly became evident that she couldn't channel the required magic through her horn to do much more than roll a pebble along the ground. She watched in horror as Twilight's face fell, realizing that for all her efforts, she had failed in one of the most basic spells ever cast. Trixie quickly trotted to her side. "What's wrong, Twilight? You're making good progress. Most ponies took days to move magic to their horn at all, then days more before they could even push the rock like you did." Of course, it hadn't been that hard for Trixie to learn such trivial spells, but that wasn't a message Twilight needed to hear, and besides, that was something the "Great and Powerful Trixie" would say, not somepony to their marefriend at all.
Suddenly, there was a sound of hooves on the road as a white unicorn walked into view, levitating a small scroll before her. She walked over to the gtwo of them just in time to hear the last thing Trixie said. Her eyes widened as she continued walking up to them. Coughing gently, she spoke. "A letter for Twilight Sparkle." She knew better than to try to be her normal self, after what Pinkie had been through, so she acted like any other pony to Twilight, and thrust the missive into her hooves. She then walked away, an air of indifference around her, which she could easily pull off from her time in Canterlot. That lasted for just as long as it took to get out of their sight, then she took off full gallop back to town.
Twilight looked at the scroll in her hooves. "Who would possibly write to me...? I'm nopony special..." Trixie, however, shocked as she was, knew who it probably was. Princess Celestia herself. She glared at the back of the letter as Twilight read it aloud.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Hello, my dear Twilight. I heard about your predicament with your memory loss. I am Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, and I would like to extend to you an invitation to stay. You may, of course, bring any guests you see fit. I'd love to meet your new marefriend....
Twilight froze, the letter falling from her hoof. She had no idea of her status or relationship to Princess Cadence, so the amicable tone of the letter left her confused. Trixie picked it up, soothing Twilight with a kiss before reading the rest of it to her.
your new marefriend...Trixie, was it?
I look forward to your visit, and hope for it with all my heart. I just hope this letter finds you well.
Signed,
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Crystal Empire Shining Armor, Knight-Captain of the Royal Guard, Crystal Empire
P.S., Shining Armor says to tell you how happy he is that you've returned and have settled down with your special somepony.
Trixie turned to Twilight, wondering how she would react to the letter. She was still frozen in the same expression, despite the gentle hoof on her back. Trixie growled tenderly, kissing her on the cheek. That seemed to do the trick as she blinked and turned to look at Trixie, a small blush rising to her cheek. A lavender hoof found it's way around Trixie's neck as they entwined in yet another embrace...
Twilight shivered, in the thrall of another magic-induced nightmare. In her dream, she was being chased by a Nightmare, however, she didn't know who it had overtaken, only that they looked eerily familiar under the night-black cover. She turned and faced it, tired of running, and attempted to channel magic. However, her horn quickly died out, the lack of magic seeping all throughout her. There was nothing more to do, as the Nightmare stood before her. "Twilight Sparkle. At last, you have come to your senses." The being in her dream whispered, attempting to sound gentle. Then, a beam of light fell from above, and the Nightmare entered it. A feeling of coldness reached into Twilight's soul as she realized who exactly was underneath.
"Surprised? After everything YOU'VE been through, anypony else would've been expecting this." Thus spoke the Nightmare. It turned, and a flash of blackened stars on it's flank, surrounded by blackish-purple fur, confirmed her absolute worst imaginings.
The Nightmare was her own.
She screamed in her sleep as the gentle touch of a magically-charged horn touched her own. This pulled her from her dreams as her eyes snapped open to stare into the face of Trixie. She stared, almost angrily, into Twilight's own eyes. Slowly, she could feel the magic seeping into her through Trixie's horn. "This, my little Sparkle, is the third time this week you've had bad dreams. What was it about this time?" She seemed slightly exasperated. "The unidentifiable Nightmare, again, I take it?" Aside from one isolated dream, all her bad dreams since she came back to Ponyville had been that same Nightmare chasing her. However, she now had a name to put to it. "Trixie...I-I think...I know who's Nightmare that is supposed to be." She shivered, remembering, and nuzzled Trixie's mane for comfort. "I see..." Trixie was gently stroking her foreleg, trying to calm her a bit. "Well, who was it? Dreams have a strange way of turning out to be true, in one way or another. Especially a recurring one such as this one." She sighed, then pulled back to stare at Trixie in the eyes.
"It was mine, Trixie. My own Nightmare. I saw it's cutie mark and everything!" She was oblivious, not knowing what to think, so she threw herself into a thoughtless spiral as she tried to find comfort in Trixie's embrace. She didn't see Trixie's eyes widen in fear, but instead only felt the continuing gentle stroking. It'll be okay, Twilight. I'm pretty sure you don't have a Nightmare. Nightmares are caused by bad feelings, and only happen over time. You couldn't have one." She knew that, despite the logic, her words were hollow.
Despite not knowing it, they had bonded in a bond stronger than friendship, in only one day, and then left each other for weeks, during which Twilight had been inconsolate and losing the will to keep fighting. Now that they were together, it was fine, but maybe...maybe some hidden resentment had been hidden, only coming out now.
Twilight was now unable to sleep, so she pulled Trixie out of bed and walked downstairs. However, when they got to the bottom of the stairs, Trixie murmured in her ear. "Twilight, I wanted to talk to you about something." She turned, smiling, and faced Trixie. "Of course, we can talk." Trixie stared into her eyes. "I know you already said no, but I think you need to go." Twilight was confused, her mind not yet ready for her maturity, and as such couldn't process as well as it should. "What do you mean, go? We have a happy life here, and despite everything someponies want to blame you for, you've started to make friends." Those someponies, in particular, were those five ponies that Trixie told her had accosted her at the train station to point hooves. They had since had multiple run-ins with each of them, and Twilight, for one, had had enough of those particular miscreants.
"To the Crystal Empire. Remember the invitation?" Trixie had brought the small scroll down with her, and now poked it into Twilight's field of vision. She re-read the letter, then sighed in resignation. "No. I'm sorry, Trixie, I just don't feel up to traveling all the way there." It was the same excuse, but it was still true. Magic deprivation caused many ponies, herself included, to lose a lot of physical energy, as well, further pushing the importance of unicorn magic.
"I don't care if I have to drag you there by your tail, kicking and screaming like a spoiled foal! You are going, that's final!" She looked up, shocked. Trixie had not once, ever, raised her voice to her like this. Twilight's mind couldn't cope with the idea that Trixie was angry with her, since Trixie had now taken every mental attachment Twilight could make. All at once, Trixie was, to Twilight, her mother, teacher, and marefriend. Perhaps it was mostly due to her somewhat drastic attempts to make Twilight happy, but Twilight was happy with the arrangement. However, Trixie was unaware of this, and so was unprepared for the force of Twilight's sobs.
She trotted over and stroked the deep purple mane. "I'm sorry, my little Sparkle, I didn't mean to yell. I just really think it could help you to go. Besides, I forgot to mention, Shining Armor is your brother. He'll definately want to see you, know you are okay. So, even if not for me, do it for your brother. Please?"
Twilight looked up at her between sobs. "I-I...I guess, if it means so much to you, I'll go. If it makes you happy." They smiled at each other as lavender hooves encircled Trixie's neck. She leaned into Trixie, nuzzling her chest. "I love you, and I'm sorry for acting so foalish." Trixie giggled, taking Twilight in her arms. "It's okay, I know you like it here." They sat like that for several minutes, Trixie slowly stroking Twilight's mane. Eventually, Twilight broke the silence with a question. "When do we leave, then?" The mare hiccupped with the aftermath of her intense crying. "We could leave today, if you like." came the response from the blue pony. She giggled gently. "I know you're very powerful, Trixie, but even you probably can't teleport the two of us all the way to the Crystal Empire." Trixie sighed. "I meant that the princess sent some train tickets with her letter. They should still be okay to use." Twilight blushed, realizing her error. "Oh."
Finally, Trixie stood up, and placed a happy Twilight on the floor. "Come on, let's go to the train station, if you're ready. You can bring a book to read, if you like." Twilight almost let off a girly squeal as she looked through the library, trying to find a book she had wanted to read earlier, but hadn't got around to yet. She finally found it. It was the first novel of the Daring-Do series. She trotted happily out the door, Trixie following behind with a smile, watching Twilight with love as they made their way through Ponyville. There was only one thing that Trixie thought would mess up this day.
Twilight broke into a run while Trixie was still deep in thought, and soon was far ahead of her, so Trixie didn't know what happened here until later. A rope lashed out from an alleyway, wrapping around Twilight's hoof. She tripped, surprised, and made no sound as she hit the ground and slid towards the alleyway. She was quickly grabbed by a pair of orange-furred hooves and dragged into darkness.
She was roughly picked up and slammed into the wall, a menacing look on the pony opposite her. "What've ya done ta 'er, Trixie?!" Seeing the blank, terrified look on her face, the orange pony lost it, slamming her hoof into the wall beside Twilight's head repeatedly. Another voice sounded from a little ways to Twilight's right side. "Umm, A-Applejack...What a-are you doing?" A yellow-furred pegasus crept into view, her face covered almost entirely by her pink mane.
"Ah want some answers, and Ah'll bucking get them!" The orange one was almost screaming, causing the pegasus to cringe. "O-Oh, okay...well, if it's alright with you, I'd like it if you let her go. She hasn't done anything wrong." The yellow one was nearly squeaking in fear by the end, the look the orange one was giving her wasn't helping anything. Twilight raised the bound hoof, leveling a deadpan stare at them. "Was this really necessary?" She tried to use her magic to loosen it, if not get it off, and surprised herself by being able to do so, rather easily. Applejack stared, helpless, as her old friend slapped her in the face with a hoof. "Now that that's taken care of, maybe I can get some answers? Such as why you plotted on foalnapping me?" Her voice was raised in incredulous fury, she didn't notice Trixie had found them until the other ponies started backing away.
All Twilight heard was a squeak as the yellow pegasus flew as fast as she could away. The earth pony, however, had no such luck, and was rendered completely helpless by Trixie as she levitated her off the ground. "What is going on, Twilight? I heard shouting."
The orange pony snorted with rage as she stared at Trixie, despite her helpless position. "Let Twilight go, you good-for-nothi- MMMPHF!" The rest of that sentence was cut off by a magical tendril wrapping around her snout, preventing her from speaking. Twilight cringed, hiding behind Trixie. "Please, just let us go, and we'll leave you alone." All Twilight wanted was to leave, the scene horrifying her. Trixie noticed this and suddenly dropped the pony in her magical grasp. She turned and walked off, Twilight very close behind.
"Twilight..." Trixie rounded on the lavender pony once they were a distance away. "Why did you take off by yourself? You know you have almost no magic. What if they'd...tried to..." It was too horrible for her to voice, and she seemed to struggle against tears at the thought. "Please, just stay by me..." She smiled faintly, watching Twilight take in everything that had just happened. "I promise, Trixie. I'll never leave your side again." With that, they turned and walked the rest of the way to the station without incident.
Once aboard the train to the Crystal Empire, Twilight immediately headed for a car that was empty. Once inside, she seemed to visibly calm down, as her mane had been standing on end the whole time, and just now it fell to its usual style. She sat on one of the seats, almost begging with her eyes for Trixie to sit next to her. It was unnecessary cuteness, and Trixie acted like she was considering it. Just when her face started to fall, she saw Trixie trot over and hop up right next to her. This caused her to gasp happily and snuggle up to her side. "Thanks for convincing me to come out here. Despite what happened, I'm already starting to feel good about this trip." Trixie giggled, holding her close. "My dear little Sparkle, I wish for nothing but your happiness, so trust me when I say that I believe something to be in your best interests." She giggled gleefully, nuzzling Trixie's chest as the train began to move.
Trixie allowed her body to sway with the movements of the train, which also made Twilight rock back and forth against her. "I love you, Trixie." These were her last words before the slow, steady movement did its work and Twilight fell into dreams once more. It was a nice dream, because Trixie was in it, and she was happy. "Oh, Twilight..." was all she said as they cuddled in the grass. In the dream, the sun was warm and lovely in the sky, and she felt the warmth grow even more lovely as she slept.
She woke up, feeling her love's embrace leaving her slowly. She shot straight up, refreshed from such a short, yet sweet and unbroken, sleep. She looked around for the blue mare, seeing her still beside her. "We are almost there, my little Sparkle. It's time to wake up." Trixie smiled gently at her, rubbing her mane. "You looked so peaceful, I hated waking you up, but this trip is all for you, so I figured you should be awake when we get off the train." She giggled, blushing as she knew just how much she probably did hate waking her up, knowing the usual nightmares that tore sleep from them both.
She stared out the window, eager for a first look at the beautiful Crystal Empire she had read about. Trixie giggled behind her, trotting up behind her as she nuzzled her mane. "I'm glad you decided to come. I could tell that, even if this doesn't help, you needed a break from the constant attacks in Ponyville." They were both the target of constant anger, ponies lashing out randomly at them anytime they were in town, spearheaded by the efforts of five rather annoying specimens of pony-kind.
"Enough about that, Trixie. Your heart's in the right place, and I thank you for everything you've done or put up with." She giggled with glee as the nuzzling continued. Suddenly, she gasped. "Ohhh...It's so...pretty! Much prettier in person!" Of course, Twilight's book had held pictures of the city, but nopony could tell you to your face it even got into the same measure. The twinkling of the sunlight off the crystals, the ponies trotting through the streets...It was all so breathtaking. She turned away rather quickly, however, to stare into Trixie's eyes.
An ear-splitting smashing noise seemed to echo in Twilight's head as she screamed, cowering with her forehooves on her ears. "Aieeee!" Then, it was replaced with a vision. Her eyes crossed as she looked far away, into the past. As the train pulled into the station, Trixie pulled the fallen unicorn off the train by her hooves, being very gentle with her. Unbeknownst to her, Twilight was having a flashback to the first time they had met. She saw the "Great and Powerful Trixie" for the first time.
She giggled every time one of those dreadful ponies got punished for insolently challenging Trixie. She could see why she didn't like them, and thus decided, with no further ado, to hate them with all her heart. She woke up after a while in the hospital, lying in bed, with Trixie lying next to her, touching horns. She nuzzled her face softly, rousing the blue mare. She woke up with a dull expression, and Twilight hadn't been expecting it. "Um, Trixie? You're scaring me..." At that, Trixie squealed in delight and hugged Twilight so very tightly. "Oh, my dear Sparkle, I was so worried!" She seemed very exuberant about this. Too exuberant, in her opinion. "What's up?" She smiled encouragingly at the mare. Trixie looked away. "You've...You've been out for about ten days, Twilight. I-I didn't know what to think of it..."
At that moment, two ponies entered the room. A light pink alicorn and a white unicorn that reminded Twilight so much of that stuck-up alabaster pony from Ponyville she couldn't help the reflexive snarl of pure rage. The unicorn stepped back a few paces, uncertain, and probably would've fled the room if not for the gentle hoof on his back from the pink one. The look of intense hatred on Twilight's face was soon replaced with confusion, as she realised she actually did not know this pony. "Oh, sorry, you just bear a striking resemblance to someone I'd rather not think of...Who are you, though? Really?" Twilight couldn't remember either of these ponies, and so thought it polite to ask their names.
From the looks on their faces though, it wasn't very well done. "T-Twilight?" The pink one was absolutely distraught. "I had heard of your condition, but thought they were exaggerating...I'm sorry. My name is Cadance. I am the princess of the Crystal Empire. I sense your confusion, but also that you love someone in this room very much." She giggled, as the love spiked through Twilight, being reminded of it. "So, who's the lucky mare?" Cadance was totally oblivious to Trixie sitting there, apparently. Interjecting before Trixie could get angry, Twilight spoke first. "Right here, princess. This is Trixie." A sharp gasp from the unicorn earned him another hostile look, not quite as strong as the first. "Care to join the conversation over there, or you just want to laugh at us?!"
The unicorn looked shocked at the way he was being treated. "Twiley..." He didn't get any farther, as Twilight immediately used a little of her magic to shut his mouth. "Nopony has ever called me that. What makes you think you're so special?! Trixie doesn't even call me that." At that, she curled up into Trixie's side. The unicorn, finally realising that he had only been momentarily hushed by the lavender glow, tried a new tact. "Twilight. My name is Shining Armor. I am your brother."Twilight gasped, looking up at him suddenly. "My...brother..." Shining Armor nodded slowly, swallowing. A burst of blue magic filled the room as the unicorn was blasted out of the room. Cadance, shocked, followed him.
Twilight looked up at Trixie, attempting to see why she had done that. She saw a fading grimace of pure anger on her features. When Trixie looked down at Twilight, she had a smile on her face. "It was obvious that they were bothering you, so I...showed him the door. For you, my little Sparkle." Trixie seemed genuinely concerned, so Twilight accepted it as truth. She pulled the blue mare down to kiss her, all her fears melting into love.
In the depths of her mind, however, her fears lay unanswered. What happened in that room, and why had Trixie been so angry? Those questions spun around in her subconscious, layering on top of all the hurts inflicted to her during her two weeks in Ponyville with Trixie. Her "new" mind needed care and love, unobstructed. However, the few times she'd been out of the library had obstructed Trixie's love with anger and mistrust. It had scared and angered her as well. She was now dripping with resentment for anyone she saw, other than Trixie.
__________________________________
Trixie blinked, staring deep into her eyes as they were curled into each other. For just a second, she thought the purple-flecked brown of her magic-starved eyes had started to get swallowed by her pupils, but when she looked again, it was normal. She sighed, stroking Twilight's beautiful purple mane. She hoped that it was just a trick of the light, what she had seen, and decided to file it as such. She giggled playfully and touched horns with her, drawing up a little magic to put into her, trying to help any way she could. She gently pulled Twilight to her feet, guiding her to the floor. "Easy, now, my little Sparkle. You've been out for over a week, don't push yourself. Here, lean on me." She blushed, noticing that even with her guiding hoof, Twilight could barely stand, and so supported her as best she could, her head resting in her white-blue mane. They slowly trotted out of the hospital and into the wide streets of the Crystal Empire.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Trixie was concerned for her, watching as she cut her mane's length in half, despite the fact that it was its usual length. "I'm fine, never better. Just felt like a change of style, is that too much to ask for?" Twilight was being unusually snappy today, which further unnerved Trixie. She laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder, only to have it shrugged off. She had watched helplessly as, over the last day, Twilight's spirit deteriorated. This had no direct connection to her magic, as trying to give her more didn't help. In fact, it seemed to have made it worse. She didn't know what to make of it. It was as if Twilight was a totally different pony now. So, she trotted off to write a letter to the princesses, the only ponies that might be able to help her out of this predicament.
Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,
Hello, this is Trixie writing from the Crystal Empire, and I'm worried about Twilight. At first, I thought it would go away on its own, but her demeanor is getting worse. I don't know what to do. As such, I'm cutting our visit short, and we will be arriving in Canterlot as soon as I can convince her.
~Trixie
With that, she rolled up the scroll and put Twilight's old seal on the scroll. That would get their attention, atleast. She trotted out the door, floating the scroll behind her. "I'm going out for a minute, my little Sparkle." she called out behind her before trotting to the post office. After she mailed the letter, she smiled, hoping everything would be fine now. Next, she went to the train station and bought two tickets to Canterlot on the next train. She sighed, returning to their room in the castle that Cadance had still been willing to supply when Twilight was discharged. She entered the room...
And stared in confusion. Twilight's mane looked off. She couldn't place it, but she knew it wasn't good, whatever it was. It wasn't the fact that it was cut, that she had already seen. "Twilight, did something happen while I was out?" She shook her head slowly, refusing to speak for some reason. "It's alright, you can talk to me." Twilight turned to face Trixie.
She looked completely normal. Trixie sighed in relief. "Come on, Twilight, vacation's over, we are going home." Twilight smiled, following Trixie as they left the room, carrying her book in one hoof. They made it to the train station without incident, boarded the train, and left. She gently put Twilight to sleep with a spell, not wanting her to notice when they passed Ponyville and kept going. Then, sighing, she went to sleep beside her, their horns touching.
"Trixie..." A soft growl woke her from her dreamless sleep wrought by weeks of disturbed sleep. "Where the buck have you taken me?" Without her being awake to sustain the spell, it had simply lasted until Twilight was well-rested. Trixie sighed, gently staring into Twilight's eyes. "I know you deny it, but you need help, Twilight. I brought you to the one pony I think could help you. Please, just...Don't be mad." Trixie looked down as she noticed Twilight had moved, and she was now nuzzling her ear softly. "Oh, Trixie, I could never be angry with you." She giggled, then walked off the train. Trixie followed. unease filling her mind as she noted the mood change in Twilight, yet again. Trixie took the lead after a while, leading Twilight to the palace. "Trixie...Why are we going to the palace? We aren't that important." Trixie shook her head. "Sadly, you are. I'm hoping that this encounter doesn't change us." Trixie plowed forward, opening the castle doors before she could hesitate.
And walked headfirst into Princess Celestia's chest. Trixie stumbled back in surprise, immediately bowing before the Goddess of the Sun. "Welcome, Trixie. I see you brought Twilight with you. Good." Twilight, however, didn't look so good. "Trixie, is this some sort of joke?" Trixie flinched at the pure venom in her voice. "No, my little Sparkle, I said you needed help. I brought you to a pony that I thought could help. Just like I said." Twilight grudgingly gave up that point to Trixie and followed. Trixie approached the princess with trepidation. "See what I mean? She isn't herself..." she murmured when she got close, out of hearing of Twilight. "On the train, she seemed angry, but by the time I had finished explaining myself, she was back to normal, like nothing had happened."
The princess nodded. "I see. Well, then. I'll be keeping my eye on her. Until I know more, though, you are both welcome to stay in Twilight's old rooms. It's plenty big enough for two ponies. Please, follow me." With that, Princess Celestia turned and trotted regally into the castle. Trixie followed, with Twilight behind her like a scared foal. "Um...Who's that? Is that...the..." she gulped in fear. "Princess?" If she could cower in fear while moving, she probably would have. "Twilight, I told you, you have nothing to fear from the princess. You'll be fine." Twilight giggled as Trixie continued trying to comfort her. She sighed, happy, and concentrated on following the princess. It took them what seemed like eternity to Trixie but was more like ten minutes to get to Twilight's old room. Though room felt like the wrong term.
There were books everywhere. It was, at Celestia's order, in the same state Twilight had left it when she went to live in Ponyville. A few books laid on every table, a testament to her studying habits, and there were plenty more on every bookcase in the room. Celestia smiled as Twilight bounced with pure joy, rushing past them to look at the books. Her gaze saddened by the time Trixie caught up. "Your brief descriptions remind me more and more of the kind of breakdown Luna endured before turning into Nightmare Moon. I'll be watching this very closely, you have my word on that. But, also, you have nothing to fear from Twilight Sparkle unless she somehow breaches the self-inflicted magic seal, which would lead to a catastrophe. As you know, alicorns are unmatched in flight or magic by any other race of pony. However, Twilight Sparkle embodies magic. Her soul is pure mana, an inexhaustible resource for her. If she were to access it, and what I fear came to pass, I don't know if I could even stop her. She is more powerful than any unicorn in all history. Even Star Swirl the Bearded would pale in comparison. But, anyway, I'm sure you would like to spend time with Twilight, so I'll leave you two alone." With that, Celestia walked away, and Trixie entered the room, closing the door behind her.
She was immediately attacked by a purple blur, swift kisses flying all over the shocked pony's body. "Urgh..." While in that state, she was kissed all over, from the tips of her ears to the tips of her hooves, as Twilight ran wild with happiness and love. Some areas were avoided out of courtesy. That done, she jumped and crashed on top of the mare, bringing her back to her senses. She giggled, still feeling Twilight's lips on her entire body, a fuzzy feeling of warmth and love. She nuzzled Twilight's ears gently as they laid there.
After an hour or so, which involved a lot of mane-stroking and giggling kisses, there was a knock at the door. Twilight looked up at the door as Princess Celestia walked back in, chuckling at the scene once her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. "Alright, now, I thought I would remind you two that dinner is serving soon. There are a few maps of the castle somewhere in here, I know, so I'm sure you can find your way. Each one has my personal chamber marked in red, and this room in purple, for reference points." With that, she walked out, presumably heading to the dining room. Trixie lightly stroked Twilight's mane again, then dragged herself to her hooves, sensation not quite returned, and pulled Twilight up behind her before retrieving a map from one of the desks. She blushed when she realized that a few of the tables had moved and a book or two had flown haphazardly around the room while they had enjoyed each other's company.
At dinner, everything seemed normal, exceptions being the princesses' presence, the fact that the table was way too long to be practical, and the fact that Twilight seemed to be eating everything her hooves could reach. Trixie thought it was cute and giggled, only then catching the solemn eye of Princess Celestia. She immediately got a little more serious, but couldn't help a little happy grin from staying on her face. She had nearly forgotten why they were there. Almost as if...But nopony would dare...She shook her head roughly to get ahold of herself, admonishing herself for even thinking it. Twilight had almost no magic to draw upon, other than what Trixie had given on her own, and besides, her horn hadn't lit up once during the whole time they had been in the castle, other than simple levitation spells, that seemed to come increasingly easy to her.
The piece finally clicked for Trixie, a shocked expression sliding over her face. Twilight, however little, was regaining magical talent. How much longer could it be before the seal broke and all of Twilight's mana returned, full strength? Her happiness was gone as quickly as it had come, replaced with dread. It was inconceivable that this could happen so quickly. Nopony could break a seal like the one on Twilight without outside help, or a force of will that seemed impossible from the way Twilight was acting like a filly all the time.
Another realization hit Trixie, almost worse than the first one. Twilight was acting like a filly. All. The. Time. Meaning either she was acting for some reason, and doing a really good job, or the way her memories had left had completely broken her mind, leaving only whatever this was. Trixie almost threw up, and quickly excused herself from the table. If what she thought was true, then Twilight needed attention, and now.
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.
Twilight wandered the hallways aimlessly, beginning to wonder why she had woken up in the first place. She turned a corner, and in her drowsiness nearly ran into somepony before realizing they were even there. She quickly looked up into the eyes of Princess Luna. She sighed.
"Good evening, princess," she spoke softly, the events of the last couple days cowing her usual exuberance.
Even with the magic seal, Dusk pushed against the edges of her consciousness, waiting for an opportunity to take over. The effort it took to keep it out took vast amounts of her energy. However, without magic to practice with, there was not much else she needed to do, anyway. Eat, read, be with Trixie, and sleep was 90% of her day, the other 10% being talking with Luna about how she might expel the Nightmare for good. So far, not much had come up.
"Twilight, I keep telling you, I'm fine with you calling me Luna. Anyways, I was actually coming to find you. I think I may have found something that, while rather extreme, might help you with getting rid of Dusk." Twilight immediately threw off her sleepiness, staring wide-eyed at Luna.
"R-really? That...That's fantastic!" She seemed a bit more energetic now. Princess Luna nodded, then turned back the way she had come, obviously meaning for Twilight to follow. She did, of course, curious and eager to be rid of Dusk once and for all. They wandered the halls, seemingly at random for a while, before stopping before the door to the artifact room, where anything either dangerous or worth studying was stored. Twilight became nervous, and tapped Luna's shoulder.
"Umm, Luna. If you don't mind me asking, what have you found, exactly?" Luna said nothing, and Twilight grew even more nervous.
Without any further pause, she stepped forward, sliding her horn into the door to unlock it. It shimmered, then disintegrated, allowing access. Luna stepped inside without any hesitation, motioning for Twilight to do the same. Twilight, still nervous as hell, stepped forward slowly. There wasn't much light in here, so Luna lit her horn with magic, casting a deep blue illumination on the entire room. Satisfied, she stepped towards one particular item. It was simply labeled, "The Harmony Key."
"I've never heard of this 'Harmony Key' before. What's it going to do to the Nightmare?" Twilight's ever-present inquisitiveness took hold. However, again, Luna was silent, and simply lifted the item from it's case. She levitated it over to Twilight, who took it in her hooves as it reached her. Immediately, pain seared through her, flowing from her hooves to her shoulders, her chest, then up to her brain. She screamed, and in a flash of black-purple light, disappeared to Celestia-knows-where. Of course, Celestia herself knew not where she went. Luna had an idea, however. She grasped the floating threads of the teleportation glyph that had been weaved over Twilight when the spell took hold, and used them to follow, weaving it back together with her magic.
_____________________
Trixie woke up and looked around, slowly and groggily, for Twilight. Not seeing her, she assumed that she had just left her to sleep and went for breakfast. She walked out of their room, walking facefirst into Celestia for the second time since arriving there. She scrambled into a bow when she realized her mistake.
"I'm sorry, princess, I was just looking for Twilight, she isn't in here." Celestia, however, levitated Trixie off the ground to look her in the eye. She looked furious, but also worried.
"I had just come to see if you'd know anything about Twilight and Luna meeting last night. A guard saw them go into the artifact room, but nopony came out. Eventually, he came and got me." She dropped the scared filly suddenly, backing up a couple steps. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Trixie, I am just worried for them both. I went in to look for them, but neither of them were inside. The Harmony Key is also missing," she said, the last almost an after-thought. Trixie ignored that, focusing on the fact that Twilight and Luna were both missing.
"You don't think that Dusk broke out of the seal already, do you? It could've taken Luna captive." It seemed a quite logical explanation, however, Celestia simply shook her head.
"I can feel the seal, so if it broke, I wouldn't be...able to...track it." She thought for a moment. If she could feel the seal, she could teleport to the origin of the signal, A.K.A. Twilight. There was no guarantee Luna would be there with her, but she'd take one over zero any day. She pulled Trixie close, weaving a teleportation glyph of her own. With no clear destination in mind, she had to reinforce it with a seal to make sure they didn't teleport into a wall or something equally dangerous. However, in a few moments, the spell was ready, and she immediately poured in the magic to start it, and they were off in a flash of white light.
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Twilight hit the ground, hard. With a grunt, she rolled onto her hooves and stood up, then blinked as a flash of dark blue signalled Luna's arrival. The Princess, however, had landed on her hooves. She picked up the Harmony Key with her magic, tucking it into a pouch on her hip. With that, she turned and walked in the only direction available. Twilight groaned, following without much of a choice in the matter. She stumbled multiple times, still getting used to the flares of pain in her foreleg, as it still hadn't fully healed. Unicorns, without magic, had very slow physical processes. Twilight finally, after about a half an hour, collapsed, almost brought to tears by the pain she was bringing by abusing her leg in this manner. Luna sighed, pulling Twilight onto her back. Then, she galloped, going much faster without being slowed down by the injured filly. She wrapped her forehooves around Luna's neck for balance, barely able to hold on.
Finally, after an interminable time spent going down one hallway after another, they arrived at Luna's destination. Twilight slid off her back, trotting forward into the room they had reached. In the center, trapped in a beam of light, was a black pendant with a small ruby in the middle. Twilight looked over at Luna, who nodded, smiling for encouragement. Twilight, shrugged, turning back to the artifact before her. It seemed to radiate power beyond comprehension, which made Twilight wary. Still, Luna thought it could help, so she took it in her hooves, then clasped it around her neck. Then, she sat there, waiting for something to happen.
After about ten minutes, Twilight stood up. At the same moment, a flash of white light blinded both her and Luna, causing Twilight to stumble back into a wall. Slowly, her vision returned, revealing Celestia and Trixie on the far side of the room. They looked around, trying to ascertain where they had been teleported to. The amulet flashed at her neck, and Twilight's vision flickered with red for an instant, but went back to normal. She thought nothing of it for the moment, and turned to Luna.
"Nothing happened. How is this going to help me, anyway?" She was slightly suspicious now, but Luna merely chuckled. She turned to face Twilight, and the look on her face confused Twilight.
"Help you? Dear, sweet Twilight, do be patient. All will be clear, and quite soon." With that, Luna slowly trotted over to her, while she tried to back further into the corner. She didn't know why, but she really didn't like the look on her face. She was going to scream. She opened her mouth to do just that.
Before she could, though, a flash of light blue put Trixie in front of her, facing Luna. "Get away from her, can't you see she's scared," she screamed in Luna's face. Luna was taken aback from the outburst, and looked at Twilight.
"Are you really scared, Twilight Sparkle? Are you truly?" Luna spoke as if knowing Twilight's true emotions, though that should be impossible. However, she knew what was going on, more than anypony else in the room. Twilight stood up suddenly, a red glare masking the purple they should've seen as the seal shattered, filling her with pent-up magic and, unfortunately, Nightmare Dusk. The red was replaced with black, then they flickered between the two as Dusk fought the amulet for dominance of Twilight's body. However, Twilight herself couldn't remain in control, either, and had already been locked into a small corner of her own mind.
~
Dusk dug it's hooves into the dirt, having finally fought the Amulet down successfully. It's horn flared with magic, tossing Trixie aside easily, pinning her to the wall. The black-purple glow of magic was unmistakable, and Celestia was taken aback, finally feeling her connection to Twilight's body shatter. She ducked as a blast of blacklight hit the rock behind her, melting it instantly. Damn it! Dusk thought, blasting again and again, trying to get one good hit on the white alicorn. If it could hit her once, she would never trouble it again. Let me help you, the Amulet whispered. They have no chance if we unite our power. Together, we could easily win this battle. Dusk sighed. This better not be a trick, it said, stepping aside a little so the Amulet could help.
That done, they turned back to Celestia, blasting blacklight at a renewed pace, leaving Celestia barely able to dodge most of them. She erected a small shield as one hit her square in the side, melting away at the barrier. She pumped more magic into it, sealing it back up, before springing out of the way of three more. She was tiring quickly, much quicker than she had originally anticipated.
"Luna, dear sister...Help me." Celestia called out to her, and she readily agreed, beginning to try and tap Celestia's connection to Twilight's mind. Maybe she could do something from there. She slipped in the back door of her mind.
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Almost immediately, she came across Twilight, battered and weak, in her mental cage. She hastily freed the unicorn's mind, giving it some of her strength, before they went to confront the two invaders. This had been Luna's plan all along. If they could defeat the Nightmare here, then Twilight could take the amulet off, freeing herself from it's influence. Luna blasted at the Nightmare with her magic, catching it square in the back. The Amulet turned to fight them, leaving the Nightmare in control of Twilight's body, and immediately caught twin bolts of magenta and blue as Twilight, having her magic returned to her, and Luna cast at the same time. The Amulet shrieked with fury, causing itself, the Nightmare, and Twilight herself to cringe in agony, rendering the body uncontrolled for the moment.
Twilight, however, was the first to recover. She dropped Trixie off the wall, then reached behind her and undid the Amulet. It shrieked again as it flashed out of existence in her mind. She threw it away before returning to the battle with the Nightmare. However, in those few seconds, the Nightmare's power had nearly thrown Luna out of her mind. No, she screamed, causing herself and the Nightmare to cringe yet again. Luna, however, seized the opportunity, flinging herself back into the fight. She blasted the Nightmare twice more in the back, causing it to catch fire. Twilight, however, was nearly out of strength once more. She was gasping for breath, weakly attempting to blast the Nightmare herself, but it did no good. Luna quickly told her to leave the fight and instead focus on maintaining control of herself. She nodded, flickering out of existence in her own mind as she returned to reality.
~
Luna returned her attention to the weakened Nightmare. It would do no good to seal it up again, it had to be expunged completely from Twilight's mind, or all this would be for naught, and it would simply return again. She channeled a very complex spell, weaving the glyph above her head as she advanced. She touched the Nightmare with her hoof, ignoring the searing pain from it being on fire, and completed the spell. It threw her and the Nightmare out of her mind, and without a host, this Nightmare disintegrated. Luna returned to herself.
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Twilight and Luna staggered to their hooves, and Celestia, weak from exertion, was about to fall down. They looked to Trixie. She sighed, already weaving the glyph to take them home. It would take most of her magic, but she guessed it could be done. It took a minute for her to correctly calculate how much magic it would take. Then, she poured in the magic, and in four flashes of light blue light, they appeared in Twilight's room, which was the only target Trixie could make reliably in the castle. They sighed with relief, Twilight crawling into the bed, while Celestia and Luna walked out without a word. Trixie walked over to the bed, prodding Twilight with a hoof.
"So, is it...over," she asked hesitantly. Twilight nodded and pulled Trixie to her tightly. She sighed, nuzzling Trixie's mane as she went to sleep. Trixie giggled, stroking Twilight's mane as she fell asleep as well.
Twilight awoke in a room that was blindingly white. She moaned as the light hurt her eyes, causing her to squint. She flailed around, looking for Trixie.
"I'm right here, my little Sparkle, calm down love," a voice said a short distance behind her. She turned to look and sighed, spotting Trixie and instantly calming down. She reached out and grasped Trixie's hoof, weakly pulling her to her side. She looked around again, this time realizing where she was, and whimpered, curling into her lover in fear.
"I-Is something wrong with me?" The only reason Twilight would be in the hospital would be if she were hurt, but Trixie just shook her head.
"You were brought in for observation after the Nightmare left you. You seem fine, so they'll discharge you in a few minutes, when they realize you're awake. In the meantime..." Trixie leaned in to kiss Twilight, and she kissed back eagerly, happy they were together. They were still kissing when the doctor pony walked in. He coughed, and the two broke the kiss, abashed.
"Right, sorry for the wait, madams, but everything checked out. The Nightmare left no residual damage to her mind, her memories will return when they find her. You're free to go, Miss Sparkle." Twilight smiled and nodded her thanks to the doctor, following an insistent Trixie out into the street.
They were still in Canterlot, she saw with a sigh. She still didn't quite know what to make of Princess Celestia or Luna. All she knew was that it was a little better than Ponyville, where she could be attacked in an alley by that ruffian earth pony...Applejack, was it? She gasped, her mind white with pain, yet it was soothed by the memories returning. Everything she had ever known about Applejack clicked into her mind like it had never left. She came to lying on her back, Trixie shaking her violently, causing her head to roll back and forth on the pavement, which wasn't helping things.
"TWILIGHT?! TWILIGHT!!" Trixie almost seemed panicked. She was screaming her name over and over, until she blinked and batted her hooves away. She looked confused.
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"I'm fine, Trixie, I just got some of my memories back. Pertaining to a certain earth pony named Applejack. She and I are...friends? But it's that same pony that kidnapped me in Ponyville. Odd." She dashed to the train station, Trixie following as fast as she could. They got there just as the Ponyville train pulled into the station, which was a stroke of luck for them. She paid for the tickets and they hopped on board the train. Trixie sat in one of the seats, and Twilight curled up beside her, her head in her lap. Trixie stroked her mane as they traveled, gently kissing her forehead.
"We'll be there soon, Twilight." With those soothing words, Twilight promptly fell asleep under Trixie's soft hoof. Trixie held her the entire time, happy that they were still together after the whole Nightmare incident. She couldn't wait for them to get home. As they pulled into the station, Trixie bent over and whispered into her ear.
"Alright, wakey wakey, love." Twilight yawned cutely as she woke up, staring happily up at Trixie. They both giggled before getting up and off the train. They trotted happily down the street, until a familiar orange earth pony stepped into the road. She lowered her head, dragging her hoof menacingly against the ground, snorting angrily. Twilight stepped forward, staring her down.
"Hello, Applejack. Long time, no see." The change was instant, as Applejack realized what had to have happened. She stared, falling back on her flank. She was wide-eyed.
"T-Twilight? Is it really you?" Applejack reached out a hoof, which Twilight took with a smile. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start. She knew Applejack, at least, and that was worth mentioning.
"Yes, I remember you, Applejack. Only you, though...So don't go running around spouting nonsense about my memory returning, because it isn't complete. I need more time." Twilight looked down at that, wondering how many other friends she would have to remember, and if they would all make her feel so horrible for forgetting. She leaned into Trixie a bit as they walked away, into the library they called home. Applejack went on her way, a spring in her hooves.
Inside, Twilight broke down, crying into Trixie's mane.
"That was the worst experience I could ever imagine. I feel so terrible for forgetting all my friends." She was inconsolable, and Trixie tried so hard to be considerate and calm her down a bit. Eventually, she settled for stroking the lavender mare's mane as she continued crying.
"There, there, Twilight, everything will be just fine..." Eventually, Twilight cried herself out and fell asleep. Trixie sighed, holding her as she went upstairs, tucking her into bed. She went to whip up some oatmeal, cause she was hungry, and Twilight probably was as well.
In her dream, Twilight was running. Before her were the shadows of four ponies and Applejack, as well as Trixie, and behind her was a black fog that consumed everything. However, as often happens in dreams, after a while, she realized she was getting no closer to them, and the fog was gaining on her. Suddenly, she could see...color in the shadows. One pony was pink, one was a rainbow, one was a deep cherry red, and one was purple. She blinked, and it changed, showing one yellow, one blue, one pink and one white, instead. She didn't know what to think of it, but as she tried to think, the black fog swept over her.
She sat up in bed as she woke up, screaming, and she fell out onto the floor facefirst.
"Ow...." she moaned, getting up carefully. She had shooting pains in her leg, the one that had been broken. It pained her to walk, but she managed to stagger downstairs as Trixie finished making the oatmeal. She looked up in surprise, seeing Twilight up and about so soon.
"Twilight, you really shouldn't be up and about. I was going to bring dinner up to you, so you could eat when you woke up." Twilight looked up, and the pained look on her face was enough to shut Trixie's trap, at least for a few moments. She could never understand, because she had never had friends.
"I need to find my other friends, all I got for hints are some colors." As she described the dream to Trixie, her eyes got wider and wider, but she looked confused. She held up her hoof as she got to the colors.
"You say you remember nothing of your other friends, except Applejack. So, you think your starting to subconsciously remember things, and the dream showed you what you knew. The fact that there's four plus Applejack, and some colors. You have no idea what those colors could be. It could be eight colors of manes or furs, or four furs and manes. In any order. So, you're going to look for ponies with any of those colors. Do you know how many ponies in Equestria have atleast one of those colors in their body? Though the rainbow one could only be one person, that I know of." Trixie gasped for breath, having not stopped talking to breathe the entire time. Twilight, however, seemed determined. It wouldn't do to try and dissuade her.
"At least eat before you go, then. Here." Trixie handed her a bowl of oatmeal, which Twilight grudgingly sat down to eat. Trixie smiled, sitting down to enjoy her own bowl of oatmeal. It was a happy meal, and Trixie finished first. She sat back and waited for Twilight to finish, then took their bowls and put them in the sink. She then went back to Twilight and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Okay, Trixie, now that I've eaten, can we go?" Trixie didn't know or understand why Twilight was in such a hurry, but nevertheless, they walked out into the street. Immediately, they saw a pegasus with yellow fur and a pink mane. Twilight gasped.
"That matches my dream! It can not be a mere coincidence..." Trixie sighed, calling out to her, and she squeaked, hiding behind a house. Twilight ran after her, and Trixie had no choice but to follow, or risk losing Twilight in the twists and turns of Ponyville. When she rounded the corner, she could only stare at Twilight and the yellow pegasus. Twilight was staring her down, but she seemed to be holding her own against it, completely disregarding how shy she had just acted. Then, suddenly, Twilight collapsed again. The same look crossed her face as last time. When she woke up, she got to her hooves instantly.
"Fl...Flutter...Fluttershy?" It took her a moment to get the whole name out, and Twilight was shaking like a leaf in the wind. It seemed that whatever was happening was affecting her physically. Twilight reached out a tentative hoof towards Fluttershy, who proceeded to hug her tightly. Okay, then... was all Trixie could think. When they separated, Twilight seemed to feel a little better, and they parted after a few minutes. They cantered down the street, as it seemed to be getting dark, but Twilight wasn't about to give up. They looked up as an explosion rocked the entire town. They had looked up just in time to see the shockwave of rainbow tear through the sky, with the contrail extending forward out of it. A cyan dot contrasted against the night sky at the very tip of said contrail. Twilight gasped in wonder.
"I wonder who could've done that? Let's go meet them!" With that, Twilight takes off, galloping down the street in the same direction as the rainboom contrail.
Twilight broke into a sweat, unused to running so far. Occasionally, she tapped her magic to throw herself into a teleportation glyph, flashing herself a couple miles down the road. There was a farm in the distance, and the contrail seemed to be headed that way. She gasped for breath, almost at the end of her physical stamina. She concentrated, pouring her magic into one last glyph. In an instant, she was before the farm, which she now recognized as Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack's farm. She gasped, collapsing in front of the barn as the cyan pegasus landed next to her. She turned to face Twilight, already in a battle stance. She snorted, stomping her hooves and flaring her wings.
"Wait a moment...I think..." She slumped onto the ground, hoof outstretched. As Trixie finally galloped upon the scene, she struggled to her hooves, gasping for breath still. She brought her head up to gaze levelly at the pegasus before her.
"Rain...bow...Dash..." was all she could say coherently, before gasping for breath again. As before, with the other two ponies, Rainbow Dash relaxed immediately, walking over to Twilight. She smiled.
"You're back! You remember! This is fantastic!" Of course, Dashie couldn't contain her excitement, shouting aloud. A few minutes later, after Twilight had recovered her breath, there was the sound of a door opening, and Applejack walked out of the house, looking around blearily. Of course, it was late at night now, and everypony was asleep. Twilight grinned sheepishly at Applejack when she walked up to them.
"What th' hay is goin' on wit' all th' shoutin' an' stuff?" Applejack demanded. Rainbow collapsed, laughing her head off. Applejack understood. She had just found Twilight as well.
"Jus' keep it down, ya'll. Someponies are trying to sleep around here." With that, she turned and went back into her house, slamming the door behind her. Twilight rounded on Rainbow eagerly.
"Can you...Can you take me to our other friends?" Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, confused. She debated internally for a while before nodding.
"Sure. You've met Applejack and I, so the next one should be Rarity." As she spoke, she picked up Twilight in her hooves and Trixie jumped onto Twilight, not wanting to be left behind again. With that, Rainbow Dash lifted a few feet off the ground, high enough to fly back to Ponyville without much issue. The flight went without much issue, and they soon landed in front of Carousel Boutique. The landing left a little to be desired, mostly from Trixie, but it was a three-pony ride on one pair of wings. As Twilight stood up, recovering from the tumble she had taken after dismounting Dashie, Rainbow trotted to the door and knocked.
"Rarity?" she called, anxious. "Rarity, it's me, Rainbow Dash!" She knocked again. A light came on inside, and the door cracked. "Rainbow...? What brings you here at this time of night?" Rarity rubbed her eyes with her forehooves before walking out. She saw Twilight and screamed, dashing back inside and slamming the door, pulling Rainbow with her. Dashie looked a little confused.
"Umm, Rarity? Why did you just slam the door in Twilight's face? She's still your friend." Rainbow, once recovering from being suddenly inside, started lecturing Rarity until she agreed to open the door for Twilight. As the door opened, Twilight looked Rarity in the face for a minute before collapsing, just like every other time. Rarity huffed.
"Well, I never. I try to be polite, and she goes to sleep right here in front of-..." Her tirade was cut short as Trixie shoved a hoof in her mouth.
"Shut up, you. Just. Shut. Up." Trixie looked furious as she removed the hoof, obviously still super protective of Twilight. Rarity nodded quickly, then stared as Trixie pulled Twilight to her feet. After a few moments, her eyes flickered open, and she stared at Rarity with new eyes.
"Rarity!" Twilight gasped. "I remember you now! Apparently, after everything I've been through, seeing my friends is returning my memories. Little by little. I have all my memories of you, Dashie, Fluttershy and Applejack. That should leave one more..." Twilight looked down, once again feeling bad for forgetting everypony. Trixie held her in her hooves, nuzzling her mane to try and comfort her.
"It's okay, Twilight, I'm sure they forgive you. It wasn't your fault." Twilight smiled at Trixie in thanks before looking over to Rainbow Dash. "Who's next?"
"Uhmm...If you've already visited Fluttershy, there's only Pinkie Pie left. She'll probably throw you a spontaneous party when you remember her." Rainbow picked up the two unicorns, leaving Rarity to go back to bed, and took off in the direction of downtown Ponyville. They arrived quickly in front of Sugarcube Corner. Twilight took the initiative to knock on the door herself this time. The top door opened and a pink mare with a cherry red mane peeked out. She gasped, attempting to close the door, but Rainbow tackled her away from the door, allowing Twilight and Trixie to enter undeterred.
"Pinkie, listen to me. Twilight is not here to hurt you. You're gonna be fine. Trust me." With that, Dashie helped Pinkie to her feet and then Twilight stared at her for a few minutes. When nothing happened, Trixie approached Twilight, concerned.
"Are you okay, my little Sparkle?" Trixie stroked her mane, already feeling that Twilight was about to have a reason to cry. As the two mares stood there, staring at each other, Twilight lowered her head in shame, shaking her head.
"Nothing. I don't know this pony, Rainbow." Dashie looked mortified. Twilight turned and walked out of Sugarcube Corner, Trixie following closely. Pinkie looked up at Rainbow Dash in confusion,
"Uhh, what just happened?" Rainbow facehoofed. She stared at Pinkie.
"Why you, of all ponies? You're the one that Twilight can't remember. She knows the four of us, but she can't remember you still. We don't know how, but every time she saw one of us, she remembered all of the things she was supposed to know about that pony. Nothing happened when she looked at you, which broke the trend." Rainbow flew out sullenly, deep in thought. Pinkie sniffled, going back upstairs without another word.
