One Way Ticket

Chapters

Dull Life
Welcome to the Moon!
The Creeping Terror
Ritual
Introductions
An Awkward Dreamscape
A Short Walk
An Awkward Dreamscape II
Star Catching

Dull Life

Luna sleepily lifted her head up before rolling onto her side. The cold, hard stone she used as a bed stopped bothering her centuries ago. With a snort, her eyes roamed over Equis, so far away from her and her moon.

No changes there...so what has awoken us?

If Luna had her way, she would still be asleep. If she had her way after this, she would stare at Equis for the next few hours, and then head over to the dark side of the moon to rest. Maybe for a decade, maybe two.

Luna had just been in the middle of one such long nap, but something had woken her.

It was rare for Luna not to get her way. At least, since she had been banished here.

She focused inward for a second, looking for that little black ball of hatred that rested within her. She quickly found it and confirmed the Nightmare was still listlessly sleeping, as it had been since her...their banishment.

It had probably taken Luna over a hundred years to go through all five stages of grief. Denial being the shortest. It was hard to deny what happened back then from her vantage point way up here.

Acceptance had been the longest so far. At least, she believed it to be. She could still be in depression. She had no way of knowing, much like the passage of time. Luna gave up counting the days and years she had been on the moon long ago. Trying to had been...maddening.

For probably the hundredth time she thanked the powers that be for blessing her with the ability to choose to sleep for such long periods at a time. It was not a gift she had when on Equis, despite what her sister may have said about her sleeping habits. Since learning how to put herself to sleep for so long, Luna would often choose to wake up in a decade, then stay up for a month. Over time, a month was about the limit she could stand to be awake now. She was happy to be free of the Nightmare's influence, to be herself again, but even her developed mind could only hold together for so long. The quiet and isolation would slowly drive anypony mad after all.

If Alicorn's could scar, she would be covered in them by now. The desire to feel anything, the desire to taste something beyond rocks and moon dust. Appealing tastes, scents, they were all just faded memories. Physical pain and pleasure was all she had up here. She had turned to some dark corners since her fall from grace...

With a brief glow of her horn, Luna's magic shot up into the sky again, dissipating a scant hundred yards up as always. Her magic kept her alive, kept her without the need for food, water, heat or air, but whatever held her here still refused to let her magic slip more than a short way from the moon's surface. Her wings were likewise useless. And despite the paltry gravity the moon had, Luna couldn't jump more than a few feet before being pulled right back to the surface again. Her eye slowly looked down to her tiny hoof. She had been bigger than this once, but could no longer remember what she looked like. With a silent sigh, Luna stopped delaying.

What woke us up? she wondered. With a flick of her dainty ear, Luna slowly surveyed the bleak land around her.

Nothing had changed. No meteors were shooting by, nothing had hit the moon to jar her awake. Just the same rocks, the usual hoof prints from one of her week long runs around the moon, the same bleeding blue mare, the-

Luna blinked. Cautiously, she started her search over again.

The rock. The hoof prints. The bleeding blue mare.

Yes her mind concluded. That last one is new.

Luna bit her lip, causing it to bleed. The metallic taste helped her focus. It had been, what? Eight, nine decades since her last hallucination? Was she due for another?

Sluggishly, her eyes registered movement. The blue mare had started squirming around, a look Luna had long since lost the ability to identify on her face. Her left arm struggled less thanks to the dagger in her shoulder while her star covered cape fluttered uselessly on the ground.

Probably horror- Luna's mind added helpfully. Or dying. We are sure there is a look attributed to that as well.

Could hallucinations die though? She'd have to ponder that later.

Luna stood up, shook off what dust she could, and curiously approached the struggling mare. Even if it was a illusion, it was something new.

Deep, teary eyes briefly met Luna's, causing her to stop for a second. They were strange, beautiful even. However, the mare was struggling so much that Luna had a hard time properly getting more than a brief flash of them. She grabbed the blue furred hallucination in her magic and lifted her up, bringing her face to eye level so Luna could see those strange, alluring orbs better.

Wait...hallucination's don't have any weight...

But...she was clearly holding something in her magic. With the struggling ceased, Luna looked back into the strange eyes and realized why they intrigued her so much.

She didn't remember this color. She could see all manner of colors when looking at Equis, but not this one. How could she have hallucinated-

The mare tried to strangle out something in the vacuum she found herself in but failed, and quickly went unconscious in Luna's magical grip while Luna herself came to an amazing epiphany.

S-she's real....she's real!

A brief touch to the blacked out mare's face confirmed a warmth and softness Luna had not felt in an eternity. Luna wanted to dance in happiness.

Huzzah! We are not alone anymore! We are not-

She gave the unconscious mare in her hold a brief shake. The lack of a response caused Luna's eyes to widen in horror. Her horn lit up as she began desperately trying to remember what spells she would need to weave together to keep her new friend alive.

Not that Luna was against befriending a corpse at this point if she had to.

Author's Note

This is going to be my first venture into short, bite sized chapters. Not to mention not planning everything out from beginning to end. :twilightblush:

I just really needed something simple to do to get back into writing so I can do more of all my major stories. Goal will be to update this weekly, and to keep it between 500 and 2,000 words each chapter.

Welcome to the Moon!

The first thing that registered to Trixie when she woke up was the smooth, warm feeling stroking along her neck. While it wasn't exactly an unpleasant sensation, it wasn't welcome either.

What else is Trixie going to be subjected to? At least she's still alive.

The last two times she had woken up had ended badly for her. Or perhaps the second time had just been a bad dream of her suffocating? A quick reminder came to her as Trixie's entire body began to register a dull painful ache, like she had run a marathon with her wagon attached. Even her insides were hurting.

That part was real then...

Surprisingly, her shoulder didn't feel like a dagger was attached to it anymore. Yet another small miracle. Had somepony healed her?

As much as Trixie would have liked to continue staying still, the complete silence was starting to creep her out, along with the rapid movements of that warm sensation running over her coat.

With a small whine, Trixie squirmed a few inches away from whatever was touching her, only to feel it shuffle closer and start grooming her shoulder.

Please, Trixie silently begged. Don't be something else trying to kill me. Let me just wake up from too many drinks and an awkward one night stand.

Crunch!

Trixie silently screamed and opened both eyes as she felt something bite into her shoulder. What she saw left her paralyzed in shock.

A mare, easily a head taller than her in size, was removing her mouth from Trixie's bitten shoulder. Her slate blue hair reached down to her navy blue shoulders. Turquoise eyes met Trixie's own lavender ones in curiosity while the unknown mare licked her lips over thoughtfully. A brief fluttering from the mare's sides confirmed her to be a pegasus, and the horn confirmed her to be a unicorn.

Trixie's brain took a few seconds to process that.

T-that's an alicorn...but it's not Nightmare Moon...where in the world did that stupid Thestral send me!?

The strange mare briefly returned Trixie's stare before slowly edging her head back towards Trixie's shoulder, tongue slipping out between her teeth as she got closer to it.

Trixie shuffled back a few inches, only to doggedly be chased by the strange mare shuffling closer again. This continued for a brief few seconds before Trixie 's mind started trying to take in more of her situation, causing her to go into yet another quiet moment of panic. To be exact, her eyes were just starting to take in the barren landscape and the near utter blackness past it.

Her breathing stopped as she took it in. Grey rocks, white dust, bleak hills and nothing else. Not a speck of life could be seen for miles.

I don't feel drugged...Oh Celestia let me just be drugged...

Her eyes looked further out, spotting the large green and blue planet she was sure she was supposed to be on right now.

No, no no no no no! Where am I!?

Trixie began to hyperventilate and clutched at her head, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, but she couldn't. She probably would have passed out, but the feeling of a tongue on her side broke her out of it and caused her to yelp.

"Stop that! What the hell is..."

Why can't I hear my own voice?

Trixie looked back at the strange pony and tried to speak again, but nothing was coming out. With a sheepish expression, the other pony's horn began emitting a soft blue light. Seconds later, Trixie could hear the stranger give out a few coughs while licking their lips.

"S-sorry about that." The strange mare croaked out. "We forgot, rare is it that we find the need to speak, or hear anything out here. We are Luna, by the way."

"O-out here?" Trixie questioned, eyes wide in denial. Luna continued to work some moisture into her throat before trying to speak again.

"O-oh, u-uhm...w-well..." Luna wracked her brain for a smart reply, but could find no gentle way of saying it. "We welcome thou to the moon?"

Trixie's eyes grew a bit wider as Luna gave her an awkward smile.

For the next few moments, Trixie tried to take in that statement. She didn't notice Luna curl up tightly against her, nor her humming almost contentedly.

"We are finally with somepony real again." Luna softly muttered out. "Tis strange for a unicorn to be banished to the moon though..."

Her question was met with silence. Luna lightly caressed Trixie's star covered cloak as she began growing nervous.

"W-why are thou here, anyways? As we think on this more, it doesn't make sense. It's... impossible."

Trixie barely registered Luna's words. After a few more moments of silence though, Trixie finally worked her way out of her paralysis.

"S-sorry, I-it's been a...bad day...you said your name was Luna?"

When no reply was forthcoming, she turned to cautiously gaze at her strange companion.

The mare's eyes were glazed over and had a far away look to them. Trixie waved a hoof in front of Luna's face only for it to suddenly be snatched by the other mare in a death grip and clutched to Luna's chest.

"Thou...are real, yes?" Luna asked in a almost detached voice.

Nervously, Trixie tugged at her hoof in vain. "U-umm...l-last Trixie checked...?"

The mare's glazed expression turned clear and angry. "Thee hesitated..."

The grip grew painful.

"Oww! Yes, Trixie is real! Now let her go!"

"We are not sure we believe thee. Thou talks as if thee is broken."

The grip grew unbearable.

"We are not sure of our own sanity, so to talk in such a-"

Unicorns were never known for their strength. But hauling a cart half across Equestria for years on end would toughen up any pony. And despite her alicornhood, Luna hadn't had much of a work out in the last few hundred years. Both factors came into play as Trixie gripped Luna's ear with her remaining hoof and pulled down as hard as she could on it.

Luna let out a ragged scream at the sudden pain, letting go of Trixie's hoof almost immediately as the other mare neatly pressed Luna's head into the ground with how hard she was pulling.

"Release us at once! How dare thou-ooowwwohstarsstop!!!"

"Am I real enough for you now!?" Trixie growled out, twisting Luna's ear slightly.

"Yes! Yes! We believe thou! Let go!" Luna cried out.

"hmph." Trixie snorted before letting Luna go and shaking the pain out of her own mishandled limb. She turned away from Luna and decided to walk a little bit to get feeling back into her leg. It was probably safer to put some distance between her and this crazy mare anyways.

Trixie's walk came to a quick end as she found herself picked up by Luna's aura and flung into yet another death grip as Luna gave her a full body hug. Trixie's own hooves pushed on the mares sides, trying to pull away to no avail.

"What do you think you are-"

"Thou art real." Luna loudly whispered, clinging Trixie tightly to herself as she began slowly rocking back and forth. "Thou is really real. We're not crazy."

Trixie groaned, squirming in Luna's grip. "Yes, Trixie has already been over this with you! She is real." Trixie decided to keep her thoughts on Luna's sanity to herself, lest she upset the mare any further.

After another moment of this, a few wet drops hit Trixie's shoulder, causing her to stiffen and stop trying to wriggle free. From there, she noticed the shuddering from Luna, even as she continued to rock herself back and forth, desperately clinging to Trixie.

"We're not crazy."

Awkwardly, Trixie gave Luna a soft pat on the back. Staring out into the blackness, and thinking of what her own reality had become overnight, caused Trixie to begin shivering as well. "No, no you're not."

It was only a few minutes later before the first tear drops began to pelt Luna's own shoulder.

The Creeping Terror

"You're crazy!" Trixie shouted, gasping in air as she threatened the downed Alicorn with a raised hoof. Luna had one hoof to her red and quickly swelling cheek, ears folded against her skull like a filly being scolded. "That's the only thing Trixie can think of! We just went through this, what? Two hours ago!? Get it through your skull this time!"

"We're sorry! We're so, so sorry!" Luna cried out, having just finished restoring the spells keeping her apparently very real friend alive.

Trixie pressed her head roughly against the other mare's and glared into her eyes. "Trixie. Is. Real! The next time you want to test it, don't try suffocating her! Just. Ask! Trixie will HAPPILY give you a black eye to prove it!"

Trixie's berating would have continued for some time still, if not for Luna licking her muzzle and crushing her in another tight hug.

"We are truly sorry for hurting thee, again. We promise to come to thee first if we begin to doubt thine existence."

Trixie sighed. "Fine, just don- stop that!" She wrenched herself away from Luna's grasp, blushing and rubbing the spot on her neck Luna had started to lick. "What is with you and the licking? Trixie's dealing with enough as it is without some random Alicorn chomping on her every few minutes."

Luna didn't respond to the outburst, simply licking her lips and giving a slight smile. "Thou tastes wonderful." She continued speaking as Trixie's face took on a red tone. "Do you know how wonderful it tis to taste something new after all this time? To feel heat from another source? Look around thee." Luna gestured to the bleak, void landscape surrounding them as she approached Trixie again. "We are the only soft and warm things here. Everything else tastes of dust, dry and bitter."

Trixie backed up, only to feel Luna's magic at her back. It wasn't enveloping her, but Luna clearly wasn't letting Trixie go anywhere for the moment. Luna's voice began taking on a manic edge, causing Trixie to feel like her hair was standing on end.

"But thou,-" Luna ran her cheek along Trixie's shoulder, reveling in the soft touch. "We have not felt something like this in an eternity. We have not tasted-" Luna's tongue pressed just below her shoulder blade, eliciting a squeak from her new companion. "-anything new in so long. Be it perfume, or sweat of another, it is...exhilarating. Does thee really think we would just hold back when the opportunity finally comes once more? Does thee think we-"

Luna cut off at the shivering of the pony she was now almost wrapped around. Luna's magic and wings had shifted to practically engulf Trixie in an effort to feel as close to her as possible. It was a comfort Luna could scarcely remember. Yet, the shaking, and look in Trixie's face was bewildering.

"Is, is something the matter?" Luna asked in a worried tone, letting her magic ease up in case she was hurting Trixie.

A few seconds later, Trixie's hoof crashed into Luna's muzzle.

This can't be happening. NONE of this can be happening to me!

Trixie galloped like mad, refusing to look behind her. Refusing to focus on anything but the large blue and green world in front of her she HAD to still be on.

"Help!" She began calling out, feeling sick to her stomach while a headache started up. "Somepony help!"

A calm voice to her right called out. "What is wrong?"

A brief look revealed Luna a dozen hooves to her right, easily keeping pace. She wasn't running, Trixie quickly surmised. She was wrapped up in a magic aura, legs not moving at all as she floated an inch above the terrain. Trixie shook her head and refused to look over again.

"Did we offend thee in some way?"

"Leave me alone!" Trixie banked left and away from Luna. Luna easily kept up however.

"We can't. The magic we use to keep thee alive only has a few miles in range, and-"

"I don't care! I want to go home!"

"W-what!?" Trixie heard a crack in Luna's voice. "B-but thou just got here!"

Trixie's mood flipped from terror to angry within seconds of Luna saying those words. As fast as she could, Trixie stopped running and turned on Luna.

"Are you stupid or something? Trixie doesn't want any of this!"

Luna looked back at her in disbelief. "D-does thee think we want this either? We wouldn't be here if we could help it."

"Send me back!" Trixie shook her head in frustration, her headache getting worse as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

Luna sighed and shook her head. "We can't."

"Back off!" Trixie hissed out as Luna began inching closer to her again. "You're an Alicorn, aren't you? Trixie bets you could if you tried."

Unheeded by Trixie's angry grunts, Luna continued to slowly draw closer. "Maybe, but even if we could, we wouldn't. Sending away the only other probably real pony we've encountered in an eternity? Time has, perhaps, taking some toll on our senses, but we are not that crazy."

When Luna was almost up to her, Trixie shakily swung again, hoof connecting with Luna's face. Luna reeled back for a few seconds before turning to calmly look at Trixie again. Trixie backed up a few hooves, starting to shake like a leaf.

"T-this has to be a nightmare...I-I can't, I c-can't- leave me alone!"

Trixie swung again as Luna adamantly approached a second time, only to find her hoof refusing to move forward. In fact, her whole body now refused to move.

"A nightmare?" Luna whispered out. A blue glow faintly shined out from Luna's eyes. "Thou knows nothing about nightmares. The things we could show thee..."

Trixie made a biting motion at Luna, the rest of her body refusing to listen to her. "I don't want this! W-what the hell is wrong with you!? I've been drugged, stabbed, suffocated, and now I'm supposed to just, what? Live up here!? Trixie refuses!"

A rumbling sound, like a small chortle emitted from Luna's throat and she stepped closer, ignoring Trixie's bared teeth. "Thou has been through a lot, yes. But, ah!" Luna let out a croon as she felt Trixie make good on her threats. Luna felt the sharp pain of teeth roughly attaching to the side of her neck, doing their best to cause her to bleed.

Pain, and clearly not of our own making. Luna thought. Exquisite. Just more proof, more sensations confirming that we are among others again.

"Clearly thee is unaware, but-" Luna wrapped her wings around Trixie, hooves reaching up to embrace her as Luna leaned into Trixie's teeth. "one mare's nightmare can be another's dream."

Defiantly, Trixie held onto the bite, feeling the slight metallic taste of blood in her mouth. But, try as she might, the situation became more and more awkward for her. The heat from Luna, her own inability to move, she just couldn't maintain her anger while feeling so overwhelmed. Her adrenaline began wearing down as another minute went by of struggling to no avail. Despite her efforts, Trixie was right back to before her outburst; still wrapped in the other mare's wings, hooves, and, most worrying, incredibly powerful magic.

With her rage dissipating came a bleak emptiness inside. An all encompassing feeling of weakness. Helplessness. Her grip softened on Luna's neck as she began to shake. A quick once over clarified her burgeoning fears. Luna's right cheek was red and slightly swollen from Trixie's first hit. A dried trickle of blood was still trailed down her mouth from the second. Even as she released Luna's neck, she could clearly see the damage done and tried cringing away.

A quick tug revealed her entire body was still held in Luna's magic, causing her to gulp and lower her ears to her skull. What would Luna, a clearly unstable Alicorn, do to her after all of this? She couldn't escape this, this wasn't a nightmare. This was actually happening. She was stuck with an Alicorn on a desolate waste. An Alicorn she had attacked multiple times, no less.

"P-please..." She whimpered out, starting to tear up at how pathetic she sounded. "D-don't hurt me. T-Trixie wasn't thinking when she h-hit you. S-she-"

Luna softly shushed her, rubbing her cheek against Trixie's. "Please do not be afraid of us. We would never harm thee. We are more than happy to have thou here with us."

Trixie felt her body being forced down to the ground. Her head was carefully placed against one of Luna's forelegs and, within moments, Luna was practically spooning her.

"U-ummm.."

A nuzzle briefly graced the back of her neck. "We do not care if thee hit us, or bite, or worse. Just so long as thou stays with us, we'll be happy and accepting of the contact. Now, rest. We can see how exhausted thy body is. We will speak again once thou has recovered a little."

She wanted to resist, but Luna's magic was still gently pressing against her. After several minutes, Trixie began to feel just how correct Luna was. Trixie's body still ached after the ordeals it had gone through over the last few days. Her mind felt sluggish and jumbled, and she could feel her thoughts leaping from emotion to emotion in agitation. This had been too much and it was all catching up to her. Still...

"Do Alicorn's sleep?"

"Yes, though it is not often needed. It will be perhaps another week before we really need to."

"Oh. Umm, Y-you won't do anything to Trixie in her sleep, right?"

Trixie shivered a bit as the tip of her ear was licked. "We won't hurt thou, thee has our word on that."

That's probably the best Trixie can hope to get out of her. Is Celestia secretly this clingy? And what unlucky soul has to put up with that?

Her mind wandered different paths for awhile as her body settled, eventually settling on thinking through the madness that started all of this. Trixie couldn't help it, that was just the last line of thought she had as sleep enveloped her.

Why... her mind's voice slurred out. Why did I pick such a bad time to visit the orphanage? If I had only arrived a few days later this wouldn't have happened. If only-

Author's Note

Already getting near that 2k limit I set myself to for each chapter. But meh, it's very unique, like limiting yourself to one scene for a chapter. Working on my other stories as well now, finally feel my interest returning, so yay for that.

I...probably need to sit down and look over my old timey wording again. I doubt it's accurately used at the moment, but working on it. :twilightsheepish:

Ritual

Trixie's vision swam as she woke from a dreamless sleep with a very stiff back. Did she roll off her bed and spend the night on the floor again? She tried moving a hoof up to her aching head, but found it weighed down. A curious tug confirmed that something was binding all of her hooves.

"Hurry up!-" a sharp voice called out to her right. "They're almost here!"

Trixie opened her eyes to an almost black room. A candle or two stood atop a few wooden cabinets that had seen better days. The air smelled dusty and old, causing her to wrinkle her nose in displeasure.

"Hurry with those lights, we can't let them catch us!"

The headline Famous Magician Found in Deviant Act of Bondage During Drug Raid! flashed through Trixie's mind and she began to struggle in earnest. Her whole body felt strangely sluggish though, and try as she might, she just couldn't concentrate enough to use a spell to undo the ropes.

Trixie's headache only got worse as a loud crashing noise came from somewhere nearby. Looking to her right, Trixie flinched away at the sudden candlelight as somepony began lighting up a few candles near her.

"W-what's happening?" Trixie rasped out with a dry throat.

"Fuck, and now she's awake too. Clyde, hurry!"

A somber voice replied angrily. "Hush, Sweet Lilly, we still have a few moments before they make it here. Now give me the knife and we'll start."

As Trixie's eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could faintly make out the silhouette's of two ponies clad in black robes. One of them had a blue coat and raspberry colored mane along with a effeminate physique. While she didn't want to assume anything since her run in with a very touchy drag queen a few months ago, Trixie figured this one to be Sweet Lilly.

The other, whom Trixie guessed to be Clyde, stood a hoof taller than Sweet Lilly, and had a deep brown coloration with a short cobalt mane. Both sets of eyes however, held a grim determination in them as they looked her over that Trixie immediately feared. She knew that look, it never spelled anything good for her. She tugged at the ropes holding her to what she could now see to be a stone table as yet more candles were lit up in the room.

"H-hello, c-could you maybe release Trixie, or-"

"Open this door, in the name of the Imperial Guard!" called a muffled voice from nearby.

Sweet Lilly looked to Clyde again. "We can't stall anymore! Are we doing this, or has your 'faith' deserted you!?"

"D-doing what?" Trixie nervously asked, noticing a few other robe clad ponies bracing a large, barred door ten feet in front of her.

The door shook again as something rammed against it.

Clyde turned to Trixie, and closed his eyes. "As a mother loves her child, so too does the child love its mother. Tonight, we show this love by weakening the bonds that cruelly embrace her with this sacrifice."

The raspberry colored pony slowly began slipping off Clyde's Robe as he continued to speak.

"As the old prophecy spoke, the stars will aid in her escape. Thus, we present to you one with a star as their mark to guide you on your journey back to us."

The robe dropped, and Trixie's eyes widened in horror.

Brown bat-like wings spread out from Clyde's back, quickly standing to full mast from his sides. Ears, longer and more full of fur than a normal pony's stood at attention from the sides of his head. Trixie screamed as Clyde bared fangs no pony should have at her.

"THEY HAVE A HOSTAGE! GET THIS DOOR DOWN NOW!"

The booming from the door increased in volume as the bar holding it shut began to give in under the assault.

A strange humming noise begin and a new light drew Trixie's attention away from letting out a second scream at the monster in front of her. She turned her head to the right and quickly realized the slab she was on had runes engraved on it, runes that had begun to glow as two cloaked unicorns to the side fed power into it.

She could literally feel his presence as Clyde approached her. Trixie's head whipped around to him as she grunted and pulled at the ropes binding her, horn sputtering uselessly as something blocked off her magic. A dagger, glowing in tune with the table was clutched in Clyde's hoof.

"W-wait! D-don't do this! Trixie is too beloved to die here!"

A Thestral! her mind screamed. She was about to be killed by a legend. A myth that the nunnery told misbehaving foals before bedtime. Don't act out, or the night mother's servants would come for you, they had said. But surely she hadn't been that bad of a foal, right? And why come after her now?

"O-okay!" Trixie sobbed out. "M-maybe I wasn't t-the best growing up, but I don't deserve this! Trixie didn't know those leaves would make Mr. Frisbee's behind itch for a month! A-and Trixie's mark isn't-"

BOOM!

The room rocked a little as the door shattered in, unleashing frantic chaos as a half dozen guards stormed into the room.

"PUT THE KNIFE DOWN!"

Clyde continued, his voice empty of emotion. The runes around Trixie grew brighter, causing her fur to stand on end. "This hollow emptiness..."

Crash!

"Hold them back! We're almost there!"

"Trixie's mark! It isn't a star! Wait!"

"This blackened pit in your soul..."

"Hold her down and grab whatever the hell that is!"

"Let her fill you with righteousness..."

The knife raised. The guards shot crossbows and spells at the Thestral, only for Sweet Lilly to jump in the way and crumple to the floor under the barrage in his place. The table glowed brighter, almost blindingly so.

"Nightmare Moon, make us whole!"

"It's not a fucking star! It's a-"

An arrow hit the Thestral's shoulder, causing him to grunt and miss his mark.

The knife came down, stabbing through Trixie's shoulder instead of her heart. She cried out in pain, barely able to see the Thestral get tackled to the ground.

"It...it's a w-wand..." she whimpered out as the light consumed her.

Author's Note

Ironically, this is actually the first chapter of the story I did. But better ideas and other scenes popped up that made more sense to do first.

Introductions

Trixie woke up with a loud cry, one hoof immediately clutching the shoulder Clyde had stabbed. Her panic subsided a little as she confirmed the knife wasn't there anymore.

I'm going to have that nightmare a few more times.

After calming down a little, Trixie remembered the living nightmare she was already in. A quick look at Equuis orbiting some hundreds of thousands of miles away confirmed that she was still in a very precarious situation.

Still,- Trixie mused, looking her shoulder over, and not seeing a single scar or mark from the knife left. Trixie expected some kind of permanent memory from that, was it Luna that-

Trixie's thoughts froze as she looked around for her unstable new friend. She let out a sharp squeak when she turned her head to find Luna curled up against her, head resting on Trixie's chest. Well, resting may not have been the correct term. Her head was against Trixie's chest, one of her ears pressed against Trixie's stomach. Luna's eyes were wide open and staring back at Trixie, or more likely staring through her, with a glazed look.

Trixie laid perfectly still for a moment, watching and working to calm her own heart. Luna's head moved up and down with Trixie's breathing, her eyes never moving from Trixie's face. Never blinking. Another minute of this creepy behavior went by before Trixie had had enough.

With a sudden jerk, Trixie stood up, causing Luna to give out a startled squawk as her head hit the ground. Trixie hadn't made it even a dozen hoof falls away before she felt herself being wrapped in magic and dragged back to Luna's waiting, clingy hooves. After a minute in which Luna made herself comfortably curled around Trixie, Trixie felt the magic let her go again.

"Good wakings upon thou, Trixie. Was thou sleep a restful one?"

Trixie squirmed a little, but in all honesty she already knew it was useless. Despite being stronger than Luna, Trixie knew that any real attempt to get away right now would just involve being dragged back with magic again. "Considering the last few days, it was probably as good as Trixie could have hoped it could be."

Luna gave Trixie's body a squeeze. "Ah, thy movements seemed to indicate some sort of painful memory or dream occurring. We apologize, but we did not wish to intrude without thy permission. We were also...distracted."

Trixie raised an eyebrow and gave Luna a mild glare. She placed a hoof against Luna's neck and pushed. "Trixie noticed. That creepy, vacant look you were giving her didn't make waking up to this-" Trixie gestured around the bleak landscape "-any better you know."

Luna let go reluctantly, letting Trixie untangle from her and sit down nearby. After a few seconds however, Luna scooted over a bit, not quite touching Trixie, but close. "We apologize. But, thy movement while asleep were..." Luna paused for a second, giving an earnest smile. "-incredibly pleasant for us."

"Umm...why?"

Luna glanced down for a moment, apparently watching Trixie breathing again. "Let us just say that several times in the past our bed mates either disappeared, or, well, were less pony than we thought the minute we took our eyes off of them."

Trixie gave out a short huff. "Do you need Trixie to hit you again?"

"Perhaps. But thou could try something a bit less...jarring first, if thou wishes."

With a brief pause, Trixie put a hoof to Luna's cheek and gave it a lingering pinch. Trixie pulled Luna's muzzle around in a small circle, directing her with pressure and pain before finally letting go. Luna's little smile throughout the entire thing was disturbing. As well as the lick she gave Trixie's hoof right as she was pulling away.

She's a glutton for pain apparently. Better her than Trixie though.

"We thank thee. Is thou feeling well? We worked to heal the rest of thine injuries while thou slept."

A brief glance over herself and a few deep breaths confirmed Luna's words to be true. Trixie no longer felt any aches or soreness. Even a few scars from her childhood seemed to be gone.

"Y-yes, is that an Alicorn thing? Healing magic is supposed to be pretty taxing, isn't it?"

"W-well, yes." Luna answered, refusing to look Trixie in the face. "We suppose it tis. We are just...really happy thou isn't a rock. Or a corpse. Twas...worth the effort."

Trixie gave the first genuine grin she had had since this whole mess began at Luna's apparent embarrassment.

"Perhaps we should start again, with less...issues on both sides? I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, show mare extraordinaire, and you?" Trixie held out a hoof.

Luna looked at Trixie's hoof for a few seconds, thinking. Trixie did her best to be understanding of her companion's poor social skills. Finally, Luna held out her own hoof and placed it against Trixie's.

"We are Luna, princess of the night, and keeper of dreams."

"Charmed. So, should Trixie call you Princess Luna?"

Luna shook her head. "The title is ill fitting for the moment, we think. What of thy title of Great and Powerful?"

Trixie mulled that over for a moment. "Trixie supposes it wouldn't be fair, so no, though do remember to use it if we ever get back to Equestria. Trixie has a reputation."

"Agreed." Luna began running her hoof along Trixie's, causing Trixie to give a brief blush before pulling her hoof away.

"S-so, how did you get here?"

Luna felt it was best to keep her answers simple on this matter, for now.

"Exile, what of thou?"

"Sacrifice to Nightmare Moon."

"We are sorry to hear that."

Trixie shrugged, trying to be a lot more casual about it than she actually felt. "It's not your fault, I'm just glad it didn't work. Trixie didn't even know ponies still did that. Though...it is a little odd finding out she doesn't exist."

Luna gave Trixie a curious look. "Thou means Nightmare Moon? She exists."

Trixie sputtered for a minute and quickly looked around. "W-wait, she does? B-but she isn't here, r-right? Whatever they did was supposed to, I guess, bring Trixie to her."

Luna brought a hoof up and twisted it back in forth in the air. "She is here, yet she isn't. She is asleep, and has not woken up in, well, centuries, we imagine. She is sealed on the moon."

"Wait, she's sealed here, and you were exiled here?" Trixie eyed Luna warily. "What did you do to deserve that?"

With a wince, Luna shuffled a hoof through the dirt nervously. "We...believed her words, and were banished along with her. Though while she has rest, we are here, toiling upon the surface."

"O-oh." Trixie lightly rubbed Luna's arm. "Sorry, it sounds like you got the worse end of that deal. Trixie never heard anything of somepony being banished with Nightmare Moon when she was at the orphanage."

Luna gave out a slightly annoyed huff. "Has thou really never heard of Luna? Ruler of the night? The protector over sleeping ponies? Does no trace of us still exist?"

Trixie shook her head. "Sorry, Trixie knows of Nightmare Moon, ruler of the night. But, she's never heard of you."

"...O-oh..." Luna seemed to visibly wilt. Trixie gave her a pat on the head, which Luna quickly took advantage of to press against Trixie. Trixie would have pushed her off immediately, but Luna didn't press roughly, or desperately, it was soft, like a foal seeking comforting.

The two sat there for several minutes before Luna spoke up again.

"If, if it is okay with thou, would thou let us observe thee the next time thee sleeps?"

Trixie contemplated that. So, she's asking permission now to watch me sleep? How would Trixie stop her anyways? It's not like Trixie would be awake to see it.

Though, it was also nice to see Luna asking before doing something creepy again. At least it was a step in the right direction for them to get along. And it wasn't like the option of falling asleep against a bunch of hard, cold rocks was very appealing in comparison to Luna's soft, warm coat.

"Trixie doesn't see the harm in it."

Author's Note

[5/25/2017 11:05:58 PM] phaoray: The next chapter is mainly going to be talking and unwanted touching again, with Trixie accidentally giving Luna permission to go into her dreams.
[5/25/2017 11:06:36 PM] Crow: sounds good.
[5/25/2017 11:06:38 PM] phaoray: and somehow, I will make 1500 words out of it. ^^;;
[5/25/2017 11:07:02 PM] phaoray: A thing I just summarized in a sentence. Oh you silly imagination, you.

Glad I got this done before heading out to the beach for the weekend, amid starting college classes. Whee! :twilightblush:

An Awkward Dreamscape

The night air felt cool against Trixie's fur as her gaze floated over the sleepy little village she grew up in. The moon was bright, adding a shimmer to the stone pillars standing at the sides of the orphanage's old, wooden doors. Like every foal, Trixie had spent her fair share keeping them clean. An image of a mare's head had been sculpted into the front of each grey pillar. Though each head was lacking in detail due to age, the metal helmet and long horn was clear despite the lack of facial features.

Trixie turned back to the rest of the village as the memories flooded back. It had been a purely Earth pony town at one time, from what Trixie was told. But, unlike most small town orphanages, this one accepted all. Most of the foals wound up working and staying in the village as they grew up, creating a more mixed community than was normally found this distant from any major city.

Trixie's eyes briefly ran over a few small wooden carvings on the doors to some nearby houses, each one in the same shape as the face on the pillars. Another sight not found in any town Trixie had traveled to past this one.

Figures I'd dream about this place after what happened. I wonder if my cart is still okay?

"Tis...amazing..."

Trixie jumped at the familiar voice, turning towards it to see Luna looking around in wide-eyed wonder.

I'm dreaming of her too? Wonderful...

Trixie shrugged. "It's just a village, nothing grand."

"Mayhaps, but..." Luna's voice was hesitant, almost in awe as a tear ran down her cheek. "The colors...the buildings...we had almost forgotten them after all this time. Our own dreams have turned misshapen...grey..."

Trixie gently rubbed her companions back, wishing she had dreamed up a happier Luna. "It's fine, Trixie understands. But this should be a happy occasion, right? You don't seem happy to Trixie."

With a nod, Luna brought a hoof up and wiped her tears away. "Thou is correct. We are most thankful that thee were willing to share this with us. Where are we?"

Trixie pointed to the orphanage "This is where the Great and Powerful Trixie grew up, mastering the ways of life and preparing for her grand debut at the School for Gifted Unicorns! And this-" Trixie pointed to the village. "-is Tailscony, a small, uninteresting village in the Neigh Valley."

Luna gave a brief grin at her companions enthusiasm, though her expression turned bitter quickly at the sight of the images sculpted into the pillars. "We suppose there is no need to guess at who those represent?"

Trixie nodded as she looked over the images and slowly approached one. She bowed her head and closed her eyes before repeating the mantra drilled into her since foalhood. "May you guard our dreams, as we guard your memory."

With a roll of her eyes and a huff, Luna walked over to Trixie. Despite her annoyance, Luna continued to feel the same compulsion she had since she first set eyes on Trixie; the need to be close. It was no longer as desperate of a feeling, but she found it easier to think clearly with Trixie near. Gently, she put a wing over Trixie's back and gave her a squeeze with it. "This is ridiculous. How did it come to be that Nightmare Moon is still known, yet we are lost to time?"

Hmmm...even in a dream her wings are soft. Better enjoy this before getting back to reality and the mess of an Alicorn the real Luna is.

Trixie let her side press against Luna as she thought back to her past. "Actually, Nightmare Moon isn't well known at all. There is one holiday with her name on it, but she's thought of as more of a monster. Outside of Tailscony, Nightmare Moon is just a silly myth that a few older ponies use to scare foals with now."

Luna gave a small nod. "And what does this town think of Nightmare Moon? Does it actually worship that vile beast?"

Trixie raised an eyebrow and gave Luna a soft glare. "Look, I get that you two weren't the best of friends, but if she was really as bad as you say, Princess Celestia would have stopped ponies from worshiping her, right? The orphanage is old. Trixie never bothered herself with finding a silly detail like how old, but she'd guess a few hundred years, and no royal orders or official demands to stop has ever been made. Besides that, if what the nuns say is true, Nightmare Moon saved Equestria and suffered for it."

Luna looked at Trixie in utter confusion. "Saved Equestria? She almost destroyed it with her arrogance!"

Trixie stuck her nose up and shook her head vehemently, causing the dream town to blur to Luna with every movement of Trixie's head. "No, that was Celestia!"

With a slack jawed look, Luna sat down on the ground, staring at Trixie. "H-how dare you! That is...preposterous! Our sister would never act like that!"

Well, Trixie lamented, so much for dreaming up a less crazed Luna. Stupid, stupid brain.

"Fine," Trixie started, glaring at Luna, "I'm not going to go into detail because of how...ridiculous this is for me to be arguing about. Trixie, however, is gracious; even to a crazed dream alicorn claiming to have royal ties. So, she will go over the story quickly for your sake."

Luna wanted to protest, but decided against it. It had been a long, long time since Luna had been in any pony's dreams except her own, but she could recognize this feeling of tension. Trixie would wake soon if Luna kept agitating her, and she wanted to enjoy the sights in the dream as long as she could.

"Very well," Luna gave Trixie a squeeze with her wing and gently lowered herself to the ground, bringing Trixie with her. "We will remain quiet and listen to our gracious host's story."

As ridiculous as we assume it will be. Luna thought to herself.

Trixie wiggled around a little next to Luna, getting comfortable. The position they were in caused Trixie's cheeks to blush slightly. It wasn't due to the position exactly, Luna had done this over a dozen times to Trixie by now, but the location brought back awkward memories. With a brief shimmer of the air, Trixie and Luna found themselves laying against each other behind the orphanage. A tree was nearby, providing shade from the moonlight, just as Trixie remembered how her and her first crush had been, so long ago. Her mind drifted over to thoughts on Luna. Oh, she was beautiful, if it wasn't for her strange way of speaking, a way Trixie could never understand a pony choosing, and Luna's unique brand of madness, Trixie would probably swoon over Luna's intense desire to be so...intimate.

If only the real Luna wasn't so damn crazy. She thought.

With a sigh, Trixie let her eyes slowly look over the entirety of the orphanage. Memories of her past brought out wisps of ponies playing around the area, cleaning, and praying at the front doors with several of the nuns before she finally refocused her thoughts.

"No pony really knows where Nightmare Moon came from. Perhaps she was a princess of another country, a fey, or, some ponies claim, an old lover of Celestia's."

Luna made a quiet gagging sound.

"Anyways," Trixie gave Luna a brief glare before continuing. "Nightmare Moon, being the keeper and protector of dreams, would occasionally visit all lands, but her main duty was to Equestria. She was loved by the Equestrian's of the time, but thought to be lesser than Celestia, the alicorn of the sun who ruled over Equestria. As time went on though, more and more dreams began to show worry and concern over Celestia and her actions. Concerned, Nightmare Moon disguised herself, and went to the capital. She saw firsthoof how the Equestrian Princess of the sun had begun to disregard what it meant to rule fairly. Vanity and pride had started to seep into all of Celestia's actions. The days slowly started to last longer, robbing ponies of sleep and the world of its rest. Nightmare Moon, distraught over the creeping downfall of Celestia, worked to remedy it. Words, however, did not work, too strong and rigid was Celestia's belief in herself. All of Nightmare's attempts to help Celestia were rebuked. Growing desperate, Nightmare Moon rallied her minions and stood up to Celestia. She confronted the Alicorn of the sun and engaged her in battle, fighting the princess for the sake of the night and the Equestrian ponies. In the end, Nightmare Moon lost, just as she expected to all along. As the elements banished Nightmare Moon, they also banished the darkness that had been growing in the Sun princess herself. Her eyes were opened to what she was becoming, and Celestia realized the error of her ways. Nightmare's sacrifice was rewarded by the elements with eternal dreams and rest upon the moon. Now, all who look up can see her, resting peacefully."

A few moments passed as Luna thought through what she had just heard. It didn't make sense to her, except in a twisted fashion. Yes, Luna had watched over the dreams of the ponies of Equestria. But, she was never loved for it. She knew of few ponies that seemed to care for her over her sister at the time. And Celestia had never been corrupted. The corruption began and ended with herself. A part of Luna even now felt that her sister had ignored her and her night's, the art and other works she poured her heart and soul into. Few, if any ponies had come to her night court's, or asked for her over her sister those long years ago. How that...mess of a story ever became a belief was lost on Luna.

Luna's brooding would have continued, if it wasn't for the soft touch of a muzzle against her shoulder.

"Bit for your thoughts?" Trixie asked, giving Luna a concerned look.

"We are sorry," Luna said, shaking her head to try to banish her agitation. "That story is just...so wrong. We can't understand it, and it bothers us to no end how it came to pass. We just-"

She was cut off by a soft kiss on the cheek.

Well, Trixie guesses this is better. She thought as Luna's cheeks became a little red. The cute little Oh of surprise on Luna's face confirmed for Trixie how cute Luna could look when she wasn't acting crazed. Maybe Trixie shouldn't have done that, but so long as she doesn't act stupid and kiss the real Luna, it's probably fine.

Luna held back a gasp of delight as Trixie rested her head against her shoulder and gave her a brief nuzzle. She'd hoped for Trixie to be more...accepting of Luna's need for contact in a few weeks, but this was beyond her expectations!

Then again, we do remember that inhibitions in one's dreams are often lower, perhaps she is simply more content to explore here? We had best give this a few more dreams to see what comes.

Luna licked her lips and shivered briefly at several thoughts of where this might lead to in the future. Perhaps she was being presumptuous, but it was just the two of them now. It would probably remain that way for a very long time. How could she not hope for more, even if she had only met Trixie a few short days ago.

All of a sudden, wing hugs and nuzzles were no longer feeling like enough. Luna cursed her greed.

Even as the world began to haze, signalling that Trixie was waking up, Luna kept her gaze firmly attached to the pretty little mare next to her, eyes wide and wondering.

Author's Note

Final two weeks of summer college and then I will be back to updating a bit more frequently. Sorry for the delay. :pinkiehappy:

A Short Walk

Trixie grumbled to herself as she walked along the bleak moonscape. A quick glance to her left showed nothing but barren landscape and rocks; and to her right, more of the same. She had been up here for a few days now, but everything about her current situation still felt surreal. If Trixie had been the only one around, she suspected she would have spent the entire time curled up waiting for this nightmare to end. But thanks to a certain small Alicorn, she didn’t have that luxury.

Behind her, though only a scant inch or two away, was Luna, still doggedly being a bother.

She bit back the urge to yell as she felt Luna prod her for the hundredth time with the tip of one wing. Trixie was no longer sure if they were just for Luna to confirm that Trixie was real, for a sense of comfort, or in the hopes that Trixie would once again lose her temper and pounce on her.

I get it, she’s been alone for a long, long time, but this is really getting annoying.

Poke.

Trixie didn’t like to think of herself as a violent mare, and she didn’t take much pleasure in hurting other ponies. Humiliating? Yes. Taking down heckler’s in front of a crowd was one thing, but slamming her hoof into a mare desperate for any type of attention, good or bad, was another.

Poke.

And yet Trixie was very tempted to do just that. The only reason she was on this ‘nature walk’ was to keep Luna from smothering her. She could remember only a few minutes here and there so far where Luna had given Trixie some space. She understood why Luna was like this, but-

Not that Trixie isn’t affectionate, she thought, sighing at the feeling of Luna briefly touching her side again. This just isn’t her definition of the time or place for it.

Shaking her head, Trixie looked back at her aggravating companion. Luna’s eyes were stuck firmly to Trixie’s tail while she was, once again, lowering a wing to prod at it. “Ahem.”

Luna quickly looked up and gave a awkward smile before replying. “Yes, Trixie? Is thou tired, perhaps?”

“No,” she rolled her eyes at Luna’s obvious disappointment. “And I don’t suppose when I am that you would let me rest on my own for once?”

Luna shook her head. “No, we will not. But did thee really expect any other answer?”

“...I suppose not.” Trixie hummed to herself for a second, thinking. “So, what’s it like to be an Alicorn?”

“What’s it like to be a unicorn?” Luna countered.

“You know what Trixie means!” She grumbled out, slapping Luna’s wing away with her tail after feeling it brush along her flank. “The banquets, the subjects, the whole ‘Ruler of the night’ thing?”

Luna huffed and trotted a bit faster in agitation as fleeting memories burst in and out of her mind. “It was...fulfilling, but thankless work.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow as a moment went by and Luna said nothing else. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Hmph, I wonder if Princess Celestia feels the same.”

For a brief second, Luna’s scowled before returning to a neutral expression. “We highly doubt that. Now, is there not a better subject we could be speaking of?”

So much for that, I suppose asking her about Nightmare would just get her more upset as well. “Fine. In that case, would you mind explaining something to Trixie that has had her slightly concerned since she arrived here?”

“Of course.”

“How are we alive?”

“Magic.”

Trixie gave Luna a deadpan look. “Could you explain a bit more? There’s no food, no water, I should be desperate by now, but the worst Trixie has is a dry mouth. Why?”

Luna hummed to herself a little as she caught up a bit to Trixie and placed a wing around her while she thought.

“To make it simple, our magic is enough to sustain ourselves, and unless we became completely exhausted, it is more than enough to share with another. It keeps us alive without the need for outside assistance. At the same time, some functions are not...viable without sustenance beyond magic.”

Trixie nodded as she tried and failed to move out from under Luna’s wing. “I see. Would that explain why Trixie hasn’t, umm, needed the facilities for some time?”

“The what? Do thou mean a cafeteria? We just explained-”

“No, no” Trixie stopped walking and waved one hoof in the air in small circles. “You know, what did they call it from...whenever you were from? A mare’s business?”

Luna looked at her in confusion before nuzzling into Trixie’s hair. “Still nothing.”

Trixie gave out a low growl and used her magic and hooves to forcefully push Luna away. “The bathroom!”

Luna pushed back against Trixie’s hooves on her chest as she replied. “Oh! Yes, that is one thing thou does not have to worry about in this state of being. The same can be said of trying to throw up or trying to bear a child. Magic has some rather strange limits without anything physical to manipulate.”

Trixie gave one last push and quickly jumped backwards as Luna unceremoniously fell to the ground. With a snort, Trixie turned around and started walking again. “Well, Trixie supposes she can live without those for a time. So what role does Trixie’s magic play in this?”

After a few coughs to clear the dust from her throat, Luna calmly stood back up and went to a trot to catch up to her companion. “None, right now we are lightly connected through our own magic to sustain thee, but we do not recommend thou getting too far from us.”

Trixie gave a nervous laugh and brushed some dust off of her cloak to cover her agitation. “Wait, what do you mean nothing? And just how lightly connected?”

Luna clicked her tongue. “Well, while we mean no offense, thine magic is not...diverse enough, or available in a supply we would need to convert it to be able to sustain thine self. As for the connection, thou should be able to see for thine self.”

Trixie didn’t need Luna to elaborate anymore and paused mid step, her horn glowing a soft magenta as she felt over herself with her magic for anything different. A stronger unicorn would infuse their eyes with magic to see any patterns or runes near them, but Trixie had to settle with touch.

“You’re kidding me…” She growled out as her magic tendrils felt over the string-thin line of magic linking her to Luna. The knot of spells Luna had constructed around Trixie’s flanks were crude, hasty, and archaic if her few lessons in magic history had anything to say about it. It was akin to a pony communicating with a string and two cans, only these cans and string were all that was keeping her alive.

“What does thou think?” Luna said directly into one of Trixie’s ears before starting to gently chew on it.

Trixie gave a annoyed growl. “You are keeping Trixie, beloved by untold numbers in Equestria, safe with what is akin to a stick hut in the middle of a hurricane!! And stop that!” Trixie’s ears pressed against her skull to avoid Luna’s roaming mouth.

Unseen, Luna simply shrugged and nosed through Trixie’s mane. Part of her was concentrating on what Trixie said, while the other was thinking on how to preserve the smell of Trixie’s already fading perfume. "We admit to being a little panicked at the time. It tis not as if we have needed to practice spells like that in centuries. What more would thee have us do?”

Trixie sat down and gave out a grumbling protest. Her eyes caught onto a star brighter than the others, or at least to her own eyes. “Could you perhaps try a little harder? Trixie’s life is worth more than a spell matrix that could be destroyed by a light breeze.”

Luna took one more deep breath before taking her muzzle out of Trixie’s hair, replacing it with a hoof that gently rubbed Trixie’s shoulder. “Art thou sure? We would need to practice some and it would be more,” Luna looked away, Trixie could swear she blushed for a second, but it was gone almost as fast as Trixie saw it. “invasive than what we have already done.”

Trixie felt heat in her cheek as she wiped the first several thoughts of what Luna may have meant from her mind. “This...wouldn’t involve anything more physical, would it?”

Luna shook her head. “No, what I remember of this involves nothing more in a physical sense. Though I will point out one potential problem if we went down this road.”

Luna’s horn glowed brightly. A lance of light shot up into the dark void above them. However, much to Trixie’s surprise, the beam dispersed after a few short yards above Luna’s head.

“Until my imprisonment is removed, thou would not be able to use thine magic to lift thine self higher than this off of the moon. If we wrap thee in our magic in a stronger manner than we have already, and thou did such a thing, the magics entrapping us here will unravel it. Thou should also know that this would mean thou will likely fully share our banishment.”

Trixie huffed and stood up, knocking Luna’s hoof away and starting to walk in the direction of the odd looking star. “Is Trixie not already doing that?”

Luna moved next to Trixie again and shook her head. “Nay, thine travel here is likely more a unique ritual than an actual banishment. But, whatever holds us here may view thee as our self after this, and in turn keep thou here, regardless of any efforts your friends may be making to save thou at this moment.”

Trixie had a stricken look for a second, before lapsing into silence. She continued to walk on with Luna eventually going back to poking at Trixie’s tail. After an hour or so, Trixie spoke up again.

“Trixie would...rather not take the risk of you getting knocked out, or deciding she is not real again and being able to easily sever the link keeping her alive randomly. She would like you to work on that spell more. If it does make it harder for Trixie’s...friends to find her, it’s fine.”

Luna smiled happily at Trixie’s words, her mind going over spell structures half imagined and half taught from long, long ago. With the right adjustments, she wouldn’t have to be alone ever again.

A younger part of her would have reconsidered her current ideas, but that part of Luna, along with any potential guilt at these plans had died out long, long ago.

Author's Note

Okay, off to Bronycon for me! Hope to see some of you there, and feel free to poke at me for getting so little out over the last few months. I had hoped for more by this point. :twilightblush:

An Awkward Dreamscape II

Trixie hummed softly to herself as she luxuriated in the warm water. She had only been here once before, but the Las Pegasus strip had some of the best spas she had ever encountered. She was laying half out of the hot tub at this point while one of the spa ponies worked over her back.

Paradise, Trixie thought as her back continued to get kneaded over. The cool tiled floor on her stomach and the warmth running up her hips from the water was heavenly.

This is how I want to die. Another week of this and Trixie will be ready to amaze once more.

And that was what all of this was about, wasn’t it? The crowds, the foals looking up at her with bright eyes, curious and eager to learn more of the wonders the rest of Equestria had to offer them. Yes, her show was meant to entertain all ages, but inspiring ‘grown ups’ had always been a losing battle for her.

“Tis true, the older one is, the less magical the world can become. Experience and trauma can...deaden the wonder sadly. Oh, please allow us to take over.”

Trixie grumbled as the spa pony moved away. She could taste the mist in the room from the heat. Somewhere close by hooves shuffled and a door gently closed while the other spa pony gently began pawing at her shoulder.

Great, they left me with an amateur.

Blearily, Trixie opened one of her eyes and glanced to her right where she could see the dark blue hoof of her new masseuse. The new pony lightly rubbed at Trixie’s back, making circles instead of properly pressing and kneading the muscles.

“Sorry, we have never done this before. We are, as you say, a virgin in this matter.”

Why is that voice so familiar?

Trixie lifted her head up and turned, coming muzzle to muzzle with a familiar Alicorn whose smile was far too wide for Trixie’s liking.

“Greetings, fellow moon abductee! How is thou doing this fine evening?”

And just like that, the illusion broke. The pastel pink walls of the room faded away to blackness. The floor became craggy and greyish. All that was left of the spa was the hot tub Trixie was still partly in, now parked in one of the craters they had walked around the other day. Luna looked around in surprise.

“Hmm, and we were quite happy with how bright that room was.”

Trixie groaned and sunk into the hot tub, barely feeling the heat at this point. “Why are you here? Can’t you see Trixie is trying to enjoy herself before going back to,” she gestured around vaguely. “This?”

Luna said nothing as she dipped a hoof in and slowly waded into the tub. “Amazing.” Her body shivered as she sunk up to her shoulders in the water. “This is another feeling we have not enjoyed in an eternity.”

Luna sighed and leaned back. “We are very happy you are here with us.” Luna patted the water merrily, watching it splash. “This type of luxury has been lost to us for far too long.”

Trixie shook her head, slightly annoyed. Just what had possessed her to dream up Luna again in the first place?

“What are you talking about now? We’re just in a pool of warm water.” Trixie ran a hoof through the slightly sudsy liquid. “Don’t tell me you somehow forgot what water felt like?”

Luna grinned and dipped most of her head under for a second before addressing Trixie. “Tell us, if you had not seen water for a hundred years, how would you remember it? We remember what it is for, and we remember having used it. But, the feeling of it, how long could you hold onto such a thing?”

Too real, Trixie thought. This is too normal for a dream. I feel like I’m wasting time doing normal stuff when I could be flying like a Pegasus or something. Still, so long as she is busy with the water, she isn’t smothering Trixie, so this still counts as a break from her. I guess.

Trixie leaned her head back on the rim of the tub and looked up at Equis. Where she belonged.

“We-we’re going to get back there, right?”

Trixie heard the water swish a little as Luna moved through it. She could feel Luna’s presence next to her seconds later. A brief glance to her right proved Luna to be resting her head against the tub and looking up at Equis like Trixie, inches away.

“Eventually, yes. There is no point in believing otherwise. The elements that banished us here would not, should not, wish for undue suffering on those they target.”

“Elements? Trixie was shot up here by a bat pony.”

Luna nodded. “Quite. That should give thou hope. There is no evil thou did to deserve to come here, no betrayal or deceit to chain thou here in guilt.” Luna sighed. “Even after all this time we have been up here, it is thee who deserves to leave first.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “There is no point in being a martyr here, Luna. We’ll just, I don’t know, find a way back together and that’ll be that. Trixie knows you followed Nightmare, but isn’t this kind of a harsh sentence?”

“Thou does not understand.” Luna argued. “We helped make her, we welcomed her corruption in. She replaced our hate with coldness, our fears with conceit, our pain with determination.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem so ba-”

“-We tried to kill our sister.”

“Oh…”

An awkward silence followed, interrupted only by the sound of bubbles from the hot tub.

“Well….” Trixie started again, waving a hoof in the air. “Did she deserve it?”

Silence followed as Luna tried to absorb the ridiculous question she had just been asked.

“Trixie! She’s our sister.”

“That’s not a no.”

“But it is wrong to even consider a situation where-”

Trixie gave a short, sharp laugh at that. “Are you kidding me? Luna, Luna Luna-” Trixie chided. “I could tell you a dozen stories off the top of my glorious head involving siblings trying to kill eachother, star crossed lovers destined to be bitter enemies, and even royal family’s fallen to ruin because somepony felt they deserved the limelight over the others.”

Trixie huffed when Luna remained silent for a full minute.

“The point Trixie was trying to tell you is that ponies make mistakes. Some make them once and learn, while others make them over and over again. Ponies get...pushed too much; or ignored to the point of snapping. Trixie has felt the same about some ponies in the past you know.”

As Trixie continued to speak, near the hot tub appeared a much smaller Trixie, perhaps ten or twelve years old. The filly’s eyes were hard and glaring at another foal being praised by his parents who appeared a little further away. Luna noted it, but said nothing.

“You think things like ‘why them and not Trixie?' or darker thoughts like ‘I'm a better choice. Perhaps if I made that foal cry their parents would kick them to the curb and take me instead.’ Little, cruel things like that that make no sense when you are in a good mind set, but what pony thinking those thoughts ever is?”

The images disappeared. Gently, Luna put a hoof on the lounging Trixie’s shoulder.

“So, thou has made such mistakes? Hurt ponies who never deserved it?”

One of Trixie’s eyes opened to stare at Luna as her face curled into a haughty look.

“Grrreat and Powerful Trixie.” Trixie pointed a hoof to herself. “Trixie is just saying she understands how some ponies think that way and why they would. But for Trixie to lose herself in such thoughts? Never.”

Trixie closed her eyes again and gave out a small huff. Briefly, the image of the small, angry Trixie flickered in and out a few times.

“So, back to the question. Did your sister deserve it?”

“We...can’t fully remember everything about that time...but...no. However, she didn’t help her case either…”

Trixie gave what she felt to be a sagely nod.

“And do you regret what happened?”

“We do.”

Trixie slapped the water with a hoof and pointed it at Luna. “Well, there you go!”

Luna blinked confusedly for a few seconds before grasping Trixie’s hoof. “What does thou mean?”

Trixie wiggled her hoof back and forth a little, trying to get it back. When it became clear that Luna was not letting go, she sighed and gave up. “Lesson learned. You understand what you shouldn’t have done, and now there is no reason for those element-things to be keeping you here. If anything, they are in the wrong now, right? There is nothing else for you to figure out up here.”

“Hmmm…” Luna’s nose wrinkled up at that thought. “Mayhaps? It’s not like the Elements were fully understood.” She squeezed Trixie’s hoof to her chest like a foal would hold a doll. “So...why are we still here then?”

Trixie gave a weak shrug. “Despite how right she is in this case, Trixie doesn’t have all the answers. Shocking, I know. Maybe they are busy with something else?”

“Doubtful, but we suppose there is some sense in what thou is saying. The punishment continues despite the lesson being complete.”

Luna mused on this for a few seconds, unconsciously starting to chew at the tip of Trixie’s hoof until a sudden jerk from Trixie stole it away from her. Luna gave a disappointed grunt at this, and moved in front of Trixie, grinning.

“What?” Trixie asked, looking up at Luna curiously.

“We are just enjoying the moment. Forgive us if our thoughts are a bit scattered. There has not been a pony to help put them together again in some time.”

Luna nuzzled Trixie’s head and leaned closer. Trixie felt her face heat up as Luna took a long whiff of her hair.

“It’s odd how much more a dream feels tangible compared to the real world after so long. Thine hair smells divine, the salt on the air from this bath; we can hardly remember what this was like.”

Luna silently ran her tongue across Trixie’s cheek, causing her to squeak.

“We wonder,-” Luna whispered in Trixie’s ear, licking her own lips. “What other experiences such a wondrous mare may provide for us?”

Trixie’s breathing became more rapid as she felt Luna’s tongue tease along her ear. A pleasurable, electric sensation shot through her, one she desperately tried to ignore.

With a strangled cry, Trixie managed to get her back hooves under Luna’s barrel and push her away for a moment, while desperately trying to think of something else to distract the mare with.

“S-so, uhhm...what will you do when you get back? Apologize?”

Luna started to hum again while leaning heavily against Trixie’s hind hooves. A mischievous grin was all the warning Trixie had before she felt a hoof stealthily slide along her inner thighs, teasing the sensitive skin.

With a high pitched yelp, Trixie instinctively brought her hind hooves back down again, inadvertently allowing Luna to lean forward and wrap her hooves around the flustered magician’s back.

“At one point, we thought we would. But now? No..” Luna murmured to Trixie, giving a small coo into the mare’s ear as she got comfortable.

“Actually,” Luna continued, after a short moment of cuddling. “We feel stuck between simply crying or doing her bodily harm for what she has put us through.”

“W-well, you did try to kill her.” Trixie managed to squeak out. She felt Luna’s head nod, along while one of her forehooves rubbed dangerously close to Trixie’s cutie mark.

“Trust us when we say that death would have been preferable to this. Losing touch with the world you are from; even Discord was allowed to sleep in stone. May we be the first and last to go through this form of pain.”

Despite the situation Luna had her in, Trixie could hear the tinge of pain in Luna’s voice at those words.

Consoling a Alicorn who is nearly grinding against her. This will not be a story Trixie tells her audience.

“I-it’s not all bad, right? You got to meet the Great and Powerful Trixie. Most mares go their whole lives dreaming of such a thing.”

“True, thy arrival is a small candle after being in the dark for so long. Is thou saying we should, perhaps, simply live in this moment and forget what came before?”

A small nip at Trixie’s neck left her speechless. Reflexively, Trixie tilted her neck a bit, giving Luna more access.

“Mmmm..” Luna breathed out, starting to pepper Trixie’s neck with little kisses and gentle nips. She relished the feeling of the blue mare beneath her squirming and trying to keep silent. “We wonder, what do those mares who dream of thee imagine after the introductions are complete?”

The water seemed to boil and mist over the area as Luna slid her face up to stare Trixie in the eyes.

“Is it, perhaps, something akin to this?”

Luna brought her lips to Trixie’s, sealing them together. Trixie squirmed as Luna's hoof slithered up her chest teasingly, eventually running up and holding Trixie's cheek.

The moment felt exquisite for Luna. The wetness of the air, the mist, the salt and sweat that danced along Trixie’s lips; Luna could taste it all, and quickly felt it overwhelming her. Past the heat of the water surrounding her, Luna’s nethers began to make themselves known, along with their rising desires. Her other hoof began running along Trixie’s chest in small, needy motions. The small shivers and gasps Trixie was making in Luna’s mouth only added to one of the most intoxicating moments Luna could remember. With a soft hum, Luna tilted her head slightly to deepen the kiss.

The landscape frantically changed as Trixie’s emotions warred with themselves. From inside Trixie’s wagon, to an inn Trixie remembered sharing with another mare once. Luna was gorgeous, but completely batshit crazy as far as Trixie was concerned. That thought was quickly being pushed out though as Luna’s lips worked her own over. Despite everything Trixie could feel her lips kissing back.

She gave a throaty cry as Luna nipped her lip lightly, still warring with herself despite the hazy mist starting to cover her mind. She could feel Luna's tongue teasing her lips, demanding access. Would Luna just get worse if Trixie gave in now? Would rejecting the lonely mare be right? Who was taking advantage of who in this?

The decision dropped from Trixie’s hooves when she felt Luna using her knee to press against her hind legs and start to pry them apart.

With an angry cry into Luna’s mouth, Trixie parted her legs only to bring them right back together again and thrust them into Luna’s chest.

Luna doubled over the two backhooves now firmly entrenched in her stomach, silently gasping. She immediately began to cough as the legs retracted and allowed her to slide into the water up to her neck in front of the rigid blue mare.

After a short coughing fit, Luna let out a pleasant gasp, causing the hairs on Trixie's back to prick up. The pain brought out a strange sense of euphoria in Luna as it ebbed, mixing with the intense heat she was already feeling and spreading out to the rest of her body. One hoof clenched at her stomach beneath the water as the other slipped in between her own hind legs quietly. Her stomach twisted up at the pain, but as she flicked her hoof lightly against her own clit, Luna’s stomach started to settle. The waves of pain began mixing in with the gentle spikes of pleasure her hoof delivered.

“W-were we, mayhaps, a touch too much like the fox going after the hare?”

Trixie looked down at Luna, whose head was the only thing visible above the water at the moment. The look of pain and pleasure on Luna’s face caused Trixie to grimace despite the flushed feeling of her cheeks. Pervert.

"Touch too much!? Yes! Trixie's been telling you to stop touching her since she got here! Not that you seem to take much notice!"

"Thou mistakes our meaning, yet, it is close enough. Our apologies. Hast the equestrian lexicon changed so much?"

Frustrated, Trixie gave a low groan and nodded. "When we finally get back to Equestria, Trixie thinks you really, really need to learn how to speak again."

“Hmm, would thou be willing to?” Luna asked, bringing her head closer to Trixie and dipping her muzzle slightly under the water to nuzzle at her legs. The pain from before was all but gone now as little jolts shot up Luna’s body from the delicious friction her hoof was providing her clit.

Trixie squirmed a little at the nuzzling, but resisted the urge to hurt Luna again. “You. Would you be willing to help. And Trixie supposes she wouldn’t mind teaching a little..?”

“O-oh!” Luna gasped out, rubbing herself a little harder as she carefully brought her head up to Trixie’s, making sure her face was in the way of Trixie looking down and seeing just what Luna was doing.

“S-so th-you would...mhm...be willing to show us how to use our mouth properly then?” Luna breathed out a touch raggedly.

“T-that’s NOT what she meant and you know it!” Trixie sputtered out.

Luna's gaze slowly roamed over Trixie. Trixie’s flushed face and the way her legs were squeezing and lightly rubbing against one another was a dead giveaway. And yet, Trixie was clearly unwilling to go further than they already had for reasons Luna would give the moon to know.

Luna’s eyes met Trixie’s again; one's gaze in building pleasure and the other clearly torn between anger and desire. The steely look Trixie gave Luna sent a delicious shiver down her spine.

“P-please-” Luna gasped out, flushed and quivering a little as she could feel her own fluids mixing with the water. The sound of Luna touching herself was luckily lost amid the bubbling bath, but she knew she couldn’t hold back much longer in this state. “D-don’t keep denying us. We know thou-” her whole body briefly shuttered as she pressed her head and upper body against Trixie, pinning Trixie’s head with her own to keep the mare from seeing Luna’s lewd little display. “-thou is holding back. W-why?”

Trixie gave out a small groan at how this was all turning out. On one hoof, a beautiful blue Alicorn was practically begging Trixie to touch her. Rejecting Luna wasn’t something Trixie wanted to do, but on the other hoof...

“Look, Luna, I-Trixie gets it. On the moon forever, no contact, blah blah blah. But, Trixie is a star, and is...used to her personal space. A space you invade every single second of her day. If she went along with this, she doesn’t expect that would get any better. So-”

“Please! T-Trixie!-” Somehow, Luna found the strength to slow the rapturous movements of her hoof to a crawl to help clear her mind, though it did little with the state she was in. “-if thou, we mean, if you would be more...open to such as this in thine dreams, we would accept less contact when thou is awake. W-would-" Luna let out an erotic gasp. "-would that not be acceptable?”

At those words, Trixie facehoofed. Or, at least would have, if not for the squirming, clearly aroused mare halfway in her lap. She briefly looked around to the bathhouse they were in…on the moon. By Celestia, she was so stupid.

Right. This is all a dream. How in the world did I forget that? This isn’t Luna, this isn’t real, what’s the point of Trixie holding back here?

Trixie bit her lip as she felt Luna squirming on top of her. The needy little moans and building need between her own legs was already stretching her willpower. Trixie kissed Luna on the head and carefully let her hooves wrap around her shoulders. A frustrated sigh came from her lips as she trailed light kisses down the side of Luna’s head.

“You know what? Fine.” Without warning, Trixie grabbed Luna’s head and shoved her tongue past Luna’s lips and deep into her mouth.

Luna squealed in joy as she felt Trixie’s legs wrapping around her sides. Trixie’s tongue wrestled with hers, the two members rubbing and massaging against one another hungrily. Luna had to lean down to continue the kiss as Trixie lowered herself up to her shoulders into the water. Trixie's lower half sunk down, legs reaching around Luna to pull her closer. Luna’s breath hitched as she felt something slick bump up against the hoof she was using to pleasure herself and then start to lightly grind against it.

Enraptured by this turn of events, Luna gyrated her entire foreleg with gusto, draining her own remaining endurance just for the feel of Trixie’s slick pussy against her. Luna’s thoughts scattered to the winds as within seconds of this intense joy she felt herself slipping over the edge.

A sharp cry was pulled out of Luna as Trixie gave the briefest of pulls to her mane. Trixie nipped Luna’s lip, not quite causing her to bleed, but close enough to drive Luna wild.

Ooooh, Luna thought with what little sense was left in her. She moaned out an expletive as Trixie roughly bit her on the neck. Trixie had clearly remembered the looks and quiet mewls Luna had given out whenever Trixie was rough with her on the moon.

Luna’s whole body shuddered again as her hoof began rubbing across the entirety of her own throbbing pussy, coming up to briefly press against her own clit before dropping down and doing it all over again. The sensation of doing something this intense with another mare after so long; of being held, kissed and stimulated, caused Luna’s body to reach a crescendo no matter how much she wanted to hold on.

Luna lost herself as she came, crying out as juices dribbled down her forehoof while she rode out her orgasm. She didn’t want to, not so soon after they had just started, but she couldn’t hold on any longer. For one long moment, Luna was in explicit bliss, crying out without a care for how she sounded. Her lust riddled mind refused to come down from this intense pleasure and she continued to rub herself, pushing through how sensitive she now was by focusing on how utterly erotic Trixie looked at the moment.

Trixie’s own breathing had become ragged as she relentlessly ground her pussy against Luna. She hadn’t even noticed Luna orgasm and was simply arching her back against the side of the hot tub and using her hips to continue thrusting against Luna’s forehoof. Her eyes closed and her mind drifted away as she concentrated on nothing but the intense sensation encompassing her.

Suddenly, there was a change in the atmosphere. Just as Luna felt herself building to a second orgasm, she felt the dream fade away.

One second, Luna was halfway on top of Trixie, pleasuring both of them with one hoof, and the next, she found herself in a comfortable empty space of changing colors and lights.

For a moment, Luna hung there amid Trixie’s scattered mind, the euphoric feelings slowly sliding away. Her hoof lightly ground against her pussy, but with Trixie gone it didn’t have the same friction, the same intensity.

It was the same feeling she had gotten used to several hundred years ago.

“Curse it all” Luna growled out, still breathing heavily. She gently flicked her hoof over her nethers one more time before finally giving up.

It wasn’t enough, yet it was more than we could ever have hoped for. And she was alright with it happening again, was she not?

She had felt another’s lust after so long; another’s touch. It had been so intense that her body had succumbed to it faster than she had ever managed on her own since being exiled.

Luna promised herself that it would happen again. For now, that would have to be enough.

With a small sigh and a little flick of her hoof over her nethers one more time, Luna winked out of Trixie’s mind.

Luna woke, stretching out luxuriously next to Trixie, despite the hard surface underneath her. For a few moments, she basked in the memories of what just happened that were still sending shivers down her spine.

If only it had lasted longer, she lamented with a brief blush. A quick look confirmed that Trixie was still sleeping, and likely would be for some time. Luna made a note to be more careful in the future, now that she had a taste of dreams again.

Old memories were slipping back into her mind as she spent time with Trixie, like tiny pieces of a shattered mirror being glued back together. Currently they had reminded her of how poor a ponies rest would be if their dreams were constantly being manipulated. Oh, Luna could have forced Trixie back to the lucid dream and continued where they stopped. By the moon, she had wanted to. But, it would have wrecked any point in Trixie sleeping in the first place. Once a pony entered that deeper state of sleep, forcing them back to lucid dreaming would all but guarantee them waking up exhausted. It was one of the reasons she had patrolled dreams, eliminating nightmares so her beloved ponies could get that deeper rest their mind needed.

After a few more shivers and some light caressing to Trixie’s sides, Luna calmed herself and checked on her work so far, looking over the runes now covering Trixie’s body in magesight like a second skin. It was coming along well.

With a small grin, Luna pressed up against Trixie, spooning her for a few moments before gently lifting Trixie to lay against herself instead of the hard ground.

A few more days of effort and cautious experimenting, and everything would be alright. Luna wouldn’t have to worry about being alone again for...however long this exile would last. Nopony on Equestria would be able to call Trixie back.

Nothing would take her from Luna.

Star Catching

There you are.

Trixie eyed the star with curiosity. Maybe she was insane after only a few weeks out here, but she swore something was definitely off about this one. It wasn’t the distance. The sun definitely appeared closer, and round. This star just looked like four points in the sky. Trixie sighed and gazed around, trying to figure out why the star bothered her enough that they had spent the last few days trying to get closer to it.

The gentle feeling of feathers wrapped around her shoulders and gave her a weak squeeze.

She is getting a lot better at that, Trixie noted, not feeling the desperate energy Luna normally put into her hugs. About time she stopped freaking out about Trixie not being real.

Trixie thought hard on her current predicament with the star. What was so off about it? Her gaze wandered to the other little balls of light that covered the sky. Was this a sky? She was on the moon, which was part of the sky, right? So-

Trixie shook her head roughly and mentally berated herself. She felt Luna’s wing lightly rub along her shoulders.

“Tis something wrong?” Luna questioned.

“No, Trixie is just finding herself a bit easier to distract than usual.”

“We see.” Luna softly nuzzled against Trixie’s ear and gave it a brief kiss. “Is there some way in which we could be of assistance?” She enquired.

Trixie inwardly groaned and ignored the brief spark that went off between her hind legs.

“Not unless you can figure out why that star is so strange to Trixie?” She pointed up to it. “Trixie has travelled the world, and has seen many things, but Astrology never really entered her life until she was literally shot into it.”

Luna put her head against Trixie’s and looked upwards. Trixie could feel her face heating up and mentally worked to control her breathing.

No wonder I’m so distracted, Trixie thought, something is off about that star and Luna. I wonder if there is a connection?

“Hmm, well, there are in fact, two unique traits to that star.” Luna stated casually a moment later, breaking Trixie out of her thoughts.

“Ha! Trixie knew something was wrong with it! What are they?”

“Pfft,” Luna muttered, playfully sticking her tongue out at Trixie briefly. “Now why should we just give that away for free? What might thou offer for our insights?”

Luna was getting way too cheeky lately for Trixie’s liking.

“Are you serious?”

“We are.”

“But, why?” Trixie asked, a bewildered look on her face.

“Because it’s funner this way,” Luna said, gently rubbing Trixie’s shoulder again.

What is going on?

To Trixie’s growing worry, Luna began to pout as Trixie continued to look confused.

“Oh come now, Trixie.” Luna stated, nuzzling her cheek. “Just play along with us. Thee is the only one we are comfortable doing this with.”

Trixie glowered at that.

“Trixie is the only one here to do any of this with.”

“Well…tis true, but there were others before thou.”

“...What?”

“Hmm…” Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. “There was Rocky McRock face, we think he was turned to pebbles after a particularly heated argument. Craggy Crater, whom we lost track of, and Madame Le Flour. We are...not sure where she went, actually.”

“Your fake friends seem to have a way of disappearing, don’t they?” Trixie pointed out nervously.

“Hmm..” Luna nodded, looking at, yet past Trixie. “Yes. Our friends do.”

Trixie grabbed Luna’s mane. “If Trixie starts pulling on this, will you remember that she is real and not do anything stupid to her again?”

Luna’s throaty purr unnerved Trixie. Seeing Trixie frozen in place, Luna pulled her own head back and playfully caused Trixie to tug on her hair a few times.

“Thou has become quite an expert on how to pull our hair, hasn’t thee?” Luna nuzzled along Trixie’s muzzle in a manner that caused Trixie to quickly let go and step back.

Chuckling, Luna gave Trixie a brief pat on the head. “Thou is right, thee...you? You are easily befuddled today. Pray tell us what might be the cause of this?”

Trixie wanted to wipe that grin off of Luna’s face very badly, but didn’t know how. Luna knew she was messing with Trixie, but to what end? She was so casual now, her nuzzling against Trixie had lost that desperate tension, yet was replaced with a tenderness Trixie found very disturbing in its own way.

Trixie’s dreams as of late were not doing her any favors either. Trixie remembered the way she had played with Luna’s body just the night before. Mane pulling was just the start of the foreplay that night, and Luna was acting far too similar to those dreams today for Trixie’s liking.

Never stick your horn in crazy, seemed like advice her Father would have told her if she had one. And Luna was definitely crazy.

Not that that stopped Trixie’s eyes from hungrily looking over Luna’s toned form and even enjoying the arrogant little smirk Luna had on her face after realizing that Trixie was staring.

Luna stared right back, a look on her face that Trixie could only define as hungry, like a wolf sizing up a rabbit. Trixie’s tail instinctively tucked in as she took another step back.

Luna’s head cocked slightly to the left and her eyes widened for a brief second before she closed them. She let out a deep breath and seemed to relax before opening her eyes again and giving Trixie a sheepish smile.

“Forgive us, that was, perhaps, more than agreed upon, was it not?”

Did we agree to something? I’ve asked her repeatedly to be less smothering, but she never agreed to stop.

And there was that damn chastised look on Luna’s face Trixie dreaded seeing. It always meant she was going to give ground, or say something to just make this hole Trixie was in deeper still.

“It’s...okay. I think? You’re fine, Luna. Trixie is, um, flattered, really. She just doesn’t want to end up like your previous...friends.”

“Oh, Trixie.” Luna shook her head. “ We are past that now, we think. We have had all the proof we need to know that you exist. When we spoke before of those past mishaps, of those false shadows made to keep ourselves together, we meant it when we said we did not act with those as we do with you.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Of course you didn’t. How does somepony even befriend a crater?”

Luna shrugged. “We don’t remember the details, and it is perhaps better we never do. But, with them, a part of us always knew they were fake, but did not care. Unlike thou, however, we did not have the issue of them dying from being on the moon, nor were we inclined to connect our magics to them to ensure their continued survival.”

Luna’s eyes unfocused for a second, and began to glow a soft blue along with her horn. A smile came to her lips as her gaze slowly looked Trixie over.

“You have no idea how beautiful you are to us, Trixie. The glowing symbols, the myriad of colors coming from them as they cling to thine fur. Nothing on the moon or Equiss itself could convince us that thee is just a product of our imagination now.”

With a blush Trixie looked away, shuffling her hooves awkwardly.

Luna eyed over Trixie for a moment before giving a high pitched giggle. “Oh? What is this? Has our words touched the moon’s greatest and only showmare so thoroughly?”

“W-what?” Trixie muttered out, still looking away and barely listening to Luna for the moment. “T-that’s great. Uh, Trixie has heard that before, often, yes...S-so!”

Trixie finally looked over to Luna for a brief second before pointing back to the star. “You said there were two strange things you noticed about it?”

Luna hummed to herself for a brief moment before giving a nod and whispering something to herself Trixie could not hear.

“Very well, we would not want to embarrass thee further.” Luna smirked, noticing Trixie visibly relaxing. “For now.”

With a hoof, Luna gestured up to the star. “First, despite a lack of any entity we can tell directing it, the star is in fact closer to us as we approach it. This is a touch odd, as our dear sister is likely moving the moon every night, meaning the star is somehow tied to, or perhaps following, the moon.”

“And...that is bad?”

“Not necessarily, it’s just strange. Who is directing it to follow the moon?”

Trixie shrugged. “Maybe it just does? The moon follows Equis, right?”

Luna looked at her askance. “What? No! What are they teaching down there now? The moon is moved around Equis by the will of one strong enough to command it to do so, much like the sun. It must be spell related, more so considering the second unique trait this star has; it has thus far kept perfectly still. In fact-”

Luna tilted her head up, following the star as she took a few more steps forward before abruptly stopping.

“-we are quite sure that this is the closest we will ever be to that strange star. It is...hovering, just above us now. Strange.”

Luna’s horn glowed palely before a small blue beam shot out and into the air, dissipating a few feet above her head.

“Hmph. Not like it matters much. We have no way of reaching out to it.”

“Trixie is not you, remember?”

Trixie lit up her own horn and shot a beam up into the sky.

Wait, what?

Trixie’s eyes widened in shock. Not only was the beam she shot out a different color, but far more energy had blasted out of her horn than she intended. To make matters even more concerning, the blue beam immediately impacted something a few feet above her head and dissipated.

“Wait, WHAT!?”

A soft chuckle from Luna brought Trixie’s attention away from the sky. Luna approached Trixie and gave her head a brief caress.

“Our dear magician, we told thee what would happen, did we not? Our magic clings to your body now like a very intimate hug. The curse placed upon us now engulfs you as well. Let us show you.”

Luna’s hoof came up and lingered on Trixie’s cheek, then, her eyes took on a dark glow. Trixie gasped in fear as she felt her magic leaking out of her horn of its own volition.

“Ssshhh…” Luna gently said. “It’s okay. Just relax and do not fight against it.”

“What in Tartarus do you THINK your-MMMPH!”

Why can’t I talk?

Trixie looked down her muzzle, barely able to register what she was seeing. What she was feeling.

“Mmmmhh…” Luna grumbled throatily against Trixie’s lips, pressing firmly against her as she continued to gently pull at Trixie’s magic, forcing it to slowly make a long tendril.

Before Trixie could wrap her head around what to do, Luna’s lips left hers with a wet smack.

“There. “Luna grinned, fluttering her eyes as she slowly licked her lips. “Now, can you see what we are doing?”

Driving me Crazy!?

A flicker of blue light caught Trixie’s attention. Reluctantly, she looked away from the captivating look Luna was giving her, and to whatever it was Luna was trying to show her. A thin tendril-like beam of blue energy lazily flicked back and forth in front of her.

“T-that is coming out of Trixie’s horn…?”

Luna nodded. Trixie gave an audible gulp.

“Why is that coming from Trixie’s horn?”

With another flick of Luna’s horn, Trixie felt a shift in her magic, and the tendril split open, revealing a magenta glow emitting from deeper in the tendril.

“We were not lying when we said our magic would wrap around you. Thou’s magic is still there and quite safe, we swear. But our own magic is engulfing it. Hence why the barrier believes you to be us.”

“This is...the second creepiest thing to happen to Trixie in her entire life…”

With a snort, Luna’s horn stopped glowing. Instinctively, Trixie reabsorbed the tendril of magic and gave a brief shudder.

“Do NOT ever do that again.”

“We apologize, but we needed to show thou-”

“EVER!”

“Hmph.” Luna looked to the side.

“And don’t roll your eyes at Trixie!”

“We didn’t know you were so easily panicked.”

“Being a little disturbed that somepony is literally able to reach inside and control your magic like some kind of...of ghost is not considered ‘easily panicked!’”

Luna made a point to stare directly at Trixie as she slowly rolled her eyes. Trixie gave out a low growl before having a sudden thought.

“Wait. So Trixie can only not get through this...exile magic-thing because your magic is all over her own?”

“Quite.”

Trixie paused for a moment. “Do the thing again.”

“...What?”

“Do the magic tendril-thing again. But just hold it there. And keep it visible for Trixie.”

“But you just said-”

Don’t think about it.

With a quick step, Trixie got right in front of Luna and grabbed her hair with a hoof. A quick yank brought Luna’s head down enough for Trixie to whisper harshly into her ear.

“Trixie knows what she said, now do what she says!”

By Celestia, she just raised her tail. No, no, ignore it, ignore her heavy breathing. Just focus on what you need to do!

With a rough shove, Luna stumbled backwards a few steps. Slowly, much too slow for Trixie, Luna’s head raised.

“Mhmmm…” Luna bit at her lip, chewing a bit. Her tail flipped back and forth as if it had a mind of its own for a moment before finally settling down.

“No fair.” Luna whined. “And here we thought thou didn’t want anymore teasing for the time being.”

The look Luna was giving Trixie was becoming a little too smoldering, especially thanks to the little twitches Trixie was trying to hold back of her own.

Stupid, sexy dreams.

“S-shut up” Trixie managed to stutter out, feeling a drop of sweat making its way down her face. “J-just help Trixie and do that thing again.”

With a gentle hum that shot electric down Trixie’s spine, Luna slowly approached Trixie and gave her a brief nuzzle. “Fine.”

“Finally! Now-eep!”

Trixie gave a sharp squeak as she felt a wet appendage drag itself up the side of her face.

“Sorry, you were dripping.” Luna whispered in her ear, a playful lilt in her voice.

“T-thank you?” Trixie strangled out.

“Thou is very welcome. Now, shall we?” Luna said, smirking as her horn lit up again.

Once Trixie managed to calm down a little, she could feel the strange pull of Luna’s dragging her magic out of her horn again. With a brief shake of her head, Trixie started to concentrate on the feeling, on the magic now coating her own glorious magenta glow.

After a moment of this, Trixie could once again see the tendril of blue magic in front of her. It was creepy, realizing somepony else was now in some way able to control her. She shook the thought away quickly.

“Good, now, just hold it there while Trixie tries something.”

Luna nodded, giving Trixie a curious look.

Okay, so the magic barrier won’t let Trixie’s magic through thanks to Luna, but what if-

Trixie stared at the tendril of magic, and concentrated. She could feel it swirling around, mixing and coating her own power, overwhelming it and keeping her own below the surface.

Yet she could feel her own magic still. Could use it to control the entire tendril from within, and luna’s magic was part of her now, right?

Slowly, Trixie worked her magic, forcing it out. She refused to admit openly that her magic was weaker than Luna’s, but had no problem understanding it in her own head. Accepting it would come later. Maybe. For now she slowly pushed the new magic to the center of the tendril while thinning out her own magic to cover it. After almost ten minutes of effort, she heard a gasp from Luna.

“What in the world are you doing?”

Trixie relished the surprise in Luna’s voice as she looked at the gently glowing magenta tendril.

“Phew.” Trixie wiped sweat from her brow. “O-okay. Now, if I just.” Slowly, the tendril grew and reached upwards.

Heh, Trixie never did live up to that whole ‘don’t stick your horn in crazy’ thing, but there was one other saying she has always strived to live by. Reach for the stars. She never thought to take it literally though...

Inch by inch, the tendril reached upwards, passed the barrier and continued almost a dozen hooves into the air. Luna’s magic was a strong base for the tendril, but Trixie’s own magic was beginning to feel thin. The whole experience felt like she was casting two spells at once on top of feeling two different pulls on her horn thanks to the separate energies intertwined together.

With a gasp, Trixie felt the tendril touch something. She gently wrapped her magic around it.

Still very far from the star...not that Trixie ever expected to reach it. But what is this? A rope?

“There is something up there.” She gave it a hard yank with her magic, feeling something give a little. “Maybe a rope, or a chain?”

“Hmm, perhaps it is one of the chains keeping the Nightmare sealed and asleep then?”

Trixie froze up at Luna’s words. Slowly, she unfurled the tendril from the invisible rope-thing, and brought it down to her level before dissipating the whole thing.

“Trixie...probably shouldn’t be touching that then.”

Luna cocked her head to the side curiously. “So, did anything happen?”

“Trixie greatly hopes not. At least, if it involves waking up Nightmare Moon.”

“Oh? We thought you liked her? Considering you were raised in an orphanage that apparently worshipped her.”

“Well,” Trixie rubbed one of her hooves into the dust awkwardly. “She’s the reason you were trapped here, right?”

Luna slowly smiled, realizing what Trixie was getting at. “Aww, you’re adorable.”

Trixie’s legs stiffened at that. “Hey! Whatever you think, it’s wrong!”

A chuckle was all she was met with. Trixie huffed.

“Anyways, all this talk of Nightmare Moon has Trixie on edge. You’ve been up here for...awhile. Aside from walking around and staring at stuff, is there something else to do? To play?”

“Oh! Yes!” Trixie heard Luna clap her hooves together somewhere behind her. “We have just the game! Catch!”

KLONK!

Trixie’s world quickly went dark as she felt something hard and heavy hit her square in the back of the head.