Disclaimer: Ponies made by Lauren Faust, Owned by Hasbro

Celestia stole a glance at the night sky through the window to her chambers, the moon had already risen. The white alicorn was burning the midnight oil again, trying to make a dent in her ever self replenishing mountain of paperwork.

She stole another glance at the night sky. A small part of Celestia was jealous of her sister's work with the stars, though she'd never admit it. Still, Luna got to make a work of art each night while the day always painted the sky in the same blue hue.

Even Celestia's own student studied the stars of the night sky.

And maybe if Luna had known all this things would have been different. . .

It was a shame though that their subjects didn't appreciate it for the longest time. They were too young and too primitive to appreciate the things in front of them. Being busy with their own survival did that.  Unfortunately, Luna was too young herself to be patient and her heart became bitter. That bitterness culminated in Nightmare Moon.

Or so it seemed.

Something bothered the white alicorn about the whole ordeal, something she couldn't put a 'hoof' on. Whenever she recollected about the circumstances of Luna's banishment, she always recalled details that didn't add up. Small things  that didn't make sense. But in the end she resolved that they didn't matter, Luna was back with her now.

The clicking of four hooves landing on the stone broke Celestia from her thoughts. She had left her balcony door open, and anyone could have come in. But she didn't need to look up from her mounds of paperwork to know who it was. There was only one pony she knew of that would have the audacity to fly straight into her private chambers in the middle of the night, and stealthy enough to do so without  stirring up the guard.  Even Celestia didn't detect the approach until her guest was already in the room.

"Luna," Celestia  began. "Shouldn't you be holding night court?" When she didn't get a response she looked up from the scroll she was reading.  

Luna was standing silently in the middle of the room, looking at the floor. Her regalia was missing, her coat was disheveled. Her mane was also a mess, it had reverted from its normal ethereal state. But what Celestia had noticed the most were the streaks under her eyes, she had been crying.

"Luna!?" Celestia immediately abandoned her scrolls and came to her sisters side. Her normally warm voice overflowed with concern. "What's wrong?" She asked while pulling her younger sister into an embrace.

Luna didn't respond, her eyes began to water.  Normally Luna was stronger, more prone to hiding her emotions than crying. She was also one of the most powerful users of magic Celestia knew, maybe even more powerful than herself. Whatever was getting to her must be bad.

It took Luna a few moments, but she started to speak.

"S-Sister," Her voice was shaky, tears still flowing. "W-Whatever happens, know that I love you. . . and  that I don't want to h-hurt you a-again." She nearly choked on the last word.

"Luna?" Celestia began cautiously. "What's wrong? What are you talking about?"

"N-Nightmare Moon."

---

The last thing Trixie remembered was the dark Alicorn smiling down at her, just before her world went black. The lingering sensation of Nightmare Moon's ice-cold touch was the only thing Trixie could feel.  The rest of her body felt numb, unmoving and floating in total darkness. She tried to struggle or to move, but her body didn't respond. It felt as though she didn't have a body anymore.

Maybe the Nightmare had stolen her body and put her mind inside the helmet?

Now that was a truly horrifying thought, and it caused Trixie to panic. She struggled, trying to thrash her non-existent limbs or use her magic, doing whatever she could think of to kick her way of this limbo.    

But this state of limbo didn't last. Her senses were suddenly flooded as the dark void around her was replaced with a familiar room. She recognized it as one of the rooms she had searched in the everfree castle.  However it no longer appeared to be an ancient ruin, but rather in pristine condition.  

Something about her surroundings seemed off, other than the fact that the thousand  year old room looked like it was built yesterday. It felt as if she was in a dreaming, yet it was the most vivid dream Trixie had ever had. She tried to move, to get a better look around the room, but her hooves didn't respond. In fact, her body didn't respond to any command of any kind, though she could see, hear and feel everything.

She attempts to move were interrupted t when she heard the door of the room slam shut. A black unicorn in cobalt blue armor had entered the room and bowed before her, much to Trixie's surprise.

"Your Highness," he began. He appeared short to Trixie. In fact, everything in the room seemed smaller for some reason. "We've prepared the runes you requested from the vault." He levitated a set of blue discs toward her, setting them down at her hooves. They were metallic and each had a unique symbol carved into their sides.

"Thank you. You may go now," Trixie heard herself reply as she turned away. It wasn't her own voice Trixie heard when she felt herself speaking, nor was it her who commanded her hooves to move. Somepony was controlling her.  

"Your Highness?" The unicorn guard continued. Trixie turned back to face him.   "Those runes can produce some very powerful seals, ones that wouldn't be broke for centuries. Are you sure there isn't anything else I can do to-"

"No," She cut him off, her voice was suddenly ice. She now recognized it as Nightmare Moon's "You and my sis. . . princess Celestia have all the information I am going to give you."

The guard appeared surprised, and fearful, at her reply.  He opened his mouth to protest. However, the world around Trixie was consumed by darkness again. It was only a moment before another scene appeared before her.  Now she was standing on what appeared to be a tower of the everfree castle. It was no longer night, the sun was rising on the horizon.

"Luna. . ." Trixie heard a chastising voice. She craned her neck and an irritated princess Celestia filled her vision.

"What?" She spat. It was Nightmare Moon's voice again.

With a sigh Celestia started over, this time in a softer, almost pleading, tone. "Sister, please. I’ve been trying to avoid having another confrontation with you, but we really need to discuss a few-" Trixie felt herself scoff in reply as she turned, walking away.  

"Lulu-"

"Don't call me that!" Nightmare hissed. She again turned to glare at Celestia, a flash of regret the was leaving the white alicorn's face. It was quickly replaced with a more stern demeanor.

"Luna," Celestia said. "I have no interest in repeating our prior. . . disagreements. But entire villages of my little ponies were burned to the ground, and we found no survivors.” She paused, expecting a response but continued when she didn’t.  “and I think you know something about it that  you're not telling me."

"I don't tell you everything Celestia," She answered. "And I don't need to."

"No. . . No I think you do," Celestia approached the younger alicorn. Using her slightly larger size to take up a more intimidating posture. "I got reports that you were in the north last week, around the same time as the fires.  I don't think that was a coincidence. In the very least you must have noticed something while you were there."

"So what then? You get my guards to spy on me?" Resentment was added to the ice in her voice.

Celestia didn't reply. She only answered the question with a slight look of surprise.

"Didn't think I'd find out about it? " Nightmare's voice continued.

"Not. . . so soon," Celestia admitted, her voice revealing her growing frustration. "I wouldn't have to force them into spying on you if you weren't keeping secrets from me."

"And I wouldn't have to keep secrets from you if you weren't so, so . . ." Her voice now oozed contempt.  She had turned to face Celestia now, barely contained rage in her eyes.

"What, exactly?" Celestia's tone lowered a threatening hiss.

"Weak." There was a moment of silence as the two alicorns glared at each other. "I will deal with my guards. You are not to twist their tails into spying on me again. " Nightmare's voice had taken a threatening tone. "Now I'm leaving."

"You still haven't answered my question, or told me anything I want to know." Celestia replied through gritted teeth.

"You're so duplicitous. You demand that I be open while keeping your own secrets." Nightmare deflected again.  

"I don’t trust you because you don’t give me a reason to. Now stop avoiding the question," Celestia demanded with a stomp of a forehoof. Normally a pony would only hurt their hoof with such a stomp, but for the alicorn it produce a healthy crack through the floor. "What happened to our subjects?"

"I don't have to put up with this." Nightmare again moved to leave, but she couldn't take a single step before she felt herself being paralyzed by an light gold aura surrounding her.

"I am tired of your deflecting, your manipulation and your stalling." It was now Celestia's turn to sound threatening. She took matters very seriously when the lives of her little ponies were on the line, and Nightmare had been giving her the round around for a few days. "Now I want answers."

Celestia's aggression didn't seem to faze Nightmare Moon. However, to Trixie, who happened to be watching the whole exchange as though she were Nightmare Moon herself, the sight of the angry sun alicorn glaring at her was terrifying.

"Really?" With a flash of blue magic the paralyzing aura disappeared. Nightmare turned toward Celestia, instinctively shifting into an aggressive stance. "Because, from the way your acting, it looks more like you want a fight."

"What happened in the north?" Celestia shouted the demand.

"Stop asking for answers you're too weak to stomach."  

There was another flash of limbo, and Trixie's surroundings had again changed. She was now standing in what appeared to be a small home. Strangely, all the doors and windows of the home seemed to be bored up and barricaded. There was only one other pony in the room, an elderly earth pony. He looked afraid, of what Trixie could only guess.

Hopefully it wasn't angry Celestia's death glare.

“The hay are you still doing here?” Trixie felt herself ask, again with Nightmare's voice.

“I’m too old to go running through the woods, your highness. I’d just slow the others down.” He replied. “Besides, I’ve always fought to defend my home, I'm not going to run now.” He picked up a spear that was propped against a wall.  

“Are you sure? It’s not too late . . .” Nightmare offered.

He didn’t have time to respond before a loud, bone chilling shriek pierced the walls of the house.

“Well, too late now,” She said with a twinge of regret in her voice.  Trixie felt herself turn to the front door.

There was another shriek from outside, followed by a torrent similar screeches in the distance. Trixie couldn’t imagine what was making the sounds, it was like nothing she had ever heard before. Each shriek sounded pained, but also frenzied; and they growing in volume.

“Get upstairs,” She ordered the elderly stallion. “They’ll break in through the second floor and flank us by coming down the stairs.”

“Yes Ma’am,” He replied before darting up the stairs with his spear.

It was only a few moments before the screeching reached and surround the house, and the walls of the house came under attack by what sounded like hooves, claws and teeth ripping through wood.

Now Trixie wasn't a coward, but she wasn't the bravest of mares either.  Though she didn't know what was trying to get inside, or if it was the same thing making those terrifying screeching sounds, but something told her she wouldn't want to stick around and find out. She could see the silhouette of ponies outside the windows, though it was too dark to see much of anything. They were all moving very quickly. Were they the ones making the shrieking sounds?  Something was definitely very wrong.

She wanted to bolt, teleport, run. Anything to get out of there.

But unfortunately she was not in control, so she stood unmoving in the center of the room.

Trixie’s focus was drawn to a crashing sound from the floor above, followed by another set of ear piercing shrieks. Her eyes and ears directed toward the ceiling.

“Get outta my house you monsters!” Came the elderly stallion voice, followed by another crash and more shrieking. “No! Help! No!” A combination of the stallions pained screams and muffled shrieks followed. It wasn't until his screams died away did she realize that everything else had fallen silent.  

The pony controlling her body responded by sending a powerful burst of magic upward, causing the ceiling to collapse.

What came tumbling down with the ceiling nearly  drove Trixie's mind to the edge. It was several bodies and a mountain of blood and guts, which seemed to explode on impact with the floor. Blood and gore spewed everywhere. Some blood was splattered across Trixie chest.

At the center of it all was the pony she had seen not moments ago, or at least what was left of him. His coat was completely covered in blood and bite marks. His rear half had be completely torn off, intestines and bile hanging out of his midsection. Something had gone to town ripping his guts out while something else had been busy chewing on his face.

Trixie wanted to scream.

"Well Old-Timer," Trixie heard the Nightmare say, regret filled her voice. "Sometimes I regret always being right. . ."

However, at the sound of her voice, one of the closest 'bodies' that had fallen with the ceiling snapped upwards and instantly locked it's gaze on her.

It looked like a pony, and it might've been one at one time; but definitely wasn't one anymore. It had an eerily yellow glow to its irises and a lower jaw that housed jagged teeth. It had a horn, though it was cracked.  His coat was pale and covered in gore, his neck was ripped open. Other wounds and bite marks littered the rest of what she could see.  

But despite the hideous condition of the pony before her, Trixie did notice one other odd thing about the creature:  it had a set of wings. They were twisted, misshapen, gored up, but they were there. So it had both wings and a horn. Was it once an alicorn?

It stared at her for a moment as if it recognized her.

"Rrrrrrrrrrhhhhighnesssssss," It rasped through the remains of its throat, before it's face contorted in a feral rage.

She responded by sending a bolt of electricity out from her horn. It struck the creature in the chest, which let out a shriek before falling back to the floor. However, At the sound of the spell discharging, the other bodies in the room snapped to their hooves, all of them fixing her in the same creepy stare. One of the particularly bloody ones had a spear sticking through his chest.

Even the half eaten remains of the elderly stallion decided to partake in the group glare.  

Now, at this point Trixie's mind was in a state of shock. If it wasn't for the fact she couldn't control her own actions she would have curled up into a ball and starting crying at the sight of the monstrosities before her.

And it didn't help that they were trying to kill her.

The group of them surged at her, and they were fast. Nightmare was hardly able to react before the first one was on top of her. Another pulse of magic from her horn and it was blasted back.  

She continued blasting them with ever stronger bolts of electricity as they came at her from all sides. But the electricity didn't seem to do much. Those she struck fell to the floor stunned, only to get back up. And by now the ones outside had succeeded in breeching the walls and windows in several places, and were pouring into the room at an alarming rate.

"That should be long enough. . .time to end this," Trixie heard Nightmare declare. Her magic lit up again, and the room exploded into an inferno of blue fire. The color bore a resemblance to Nightmare Moon's magic.

But despite the heat, the creatures shrieked in response and tried to fight through the fire toward her. The last thing Trixie saw were their golden eyes being swallowed by the blue flame.  

---

Trixie woke with a start, jolting upward onto her haunches. She was shaking, her coat was drenched in sweat. There was still a lingering sensation of fire over her coat. Flashes of the creature's contorted features bounced through her mind, conjuring more fear and revulsion.

Trixie knew it was only a nightmare, and she was happy it was over. She was especially happy now that she appeared to be in control of body again, a fact she noticed as she started to subconsciously rubbed her coat. She continued patting nervously until her hoof collided with something, producing a metallic clink.

She was still wearing that old war helm. . .

“Pleasant dreams?” It was that cool voice from before. Trixie’s eyes darted around the room, looking for the speaker. The room was dark, but Trixie’s gaze finally rested on a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

“From the way you were screaming and thrashing,” The voice continued. “It sounded like you were having a nightmare. I’d say you still have a nightmare by the looks of it,” She added nonchalantly.

“W-who are you?” Trixie asked, though she had a good idea what the answer was. She could see her because of the dark, but Trixie recognized that voice and those cold blue eyes.

It was Nightmare Moon.  

“Describe it.” The Nightmare replied, ignoring the unicorns question. Trixie was about to repeat her question before she was cut off. “Listen, my little pony, things will be a lot easier for you if you just do what I say. Now describe your dream.”

Nightmare emphasized her point by sending a jolt of pain through Trixie’s body, causing the unicorn to cringe.

Out of fear Trixie quickly complied, summarizing what she could remember. The entire time the other mare said nothing, casually observing objects around the room with an impassive gaze. When Trixie finally finished silence reigned for a few moments.

“Well, I guess I’m to blame for that.” The alicorn shifted in the darkness.

“W-what do you mean?” Trixie replied.

“That dream, it was actually a memory of mine.” She admitted. “I thought the barriers between our minds were strong enough to stop you from being sucked into them, but I’ll strengthen them so that it doesn't happen again.”

“A m-memory?” Trixie asked. “That - That actually happened?”

“Yes,” The alicorn replied bluntly, a little irritation in her tone. “Don’t dwell on it, unless you want to find yourself sucked into more of my memories. You might find some of them. . . unpleasant”

"A-and those th-things are real?"  

"Yes," Nightmare answered, Trixie could have swore she heard a little regret in the Nightmare voice. "They're unfortunate victims of a . . . curse."

"Curse?" She asked in disbelief. "What kind of curse could do that?"

"It's not important at this point, and we shouldn't be discussing it." She warned. "You don't want to stress that mental barrier between us by talking about my memories. If it fails, you die. And we wouldn't want that to happen now would we?"

The Nightmare was concerned with Trixie's well being? Yah right,  Trixie wasn't buying it.

“What are you doing putting mental barriers in Trixie's mind?” Trixie asked more assertively this time. “And why does Trixie have your memories?"

"That's complicated" The dark figure replied. "Suffice it to say, we'll be stuck with each other for a while." That was not the answer Trixie was hoping for.

"What have you done to the great and powerful Trixie?" Trixie was foolishly starting to get angry. "The great and powerful Trixie does not like being foalnapped, and she will see to it that you pay f-for f-ff . . .” Trixie trailed off as the alicorn walked out of the darkness and unfurled her wings, towering over the blue unicorn.

“Go on,” Nightmare moon replied, eliciting a gulp and a look of fear from the unicorn. “I want to know how the ‘great and powerful’ Trixie is going to make me feel so sorry about all the bad things I’ve done to her.”

“I-I. . .” Trixie trailed off, this was her first good look at the black alicorn. "P-princess?"

“I am Nightmare Moon.“ She replied.

“Nightmare Moon?" Trixie asked in confusion. She remembered the name 'Nightmare Moon' from the news papers she read the day that princess Luna ‘returned’ to rule alongside her sister.   “Aren't you p-princess Luna?”

“Sort of. . .” The dark alicorn replied. “I’m separate from princess Luna, but I am still a part of her. It would be better to describe me as her alter-ego. Almost like a second personality.”

"So you're not princess Luna?" Trixie asked.

"Not in the conventional sense, No." Nightmare Moon replied.

"But you are the evil form of princess Luna, Nightmare Moon?" Trixie continued.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call myself evil. . ." Nightmare began before offering a toothy smile. "but, yes."

---

"Trixie sees. . ." Trixie nodded faintly, remembering what she had read the day Equestria returned to being a diachry. The stories about Nightmare Moon, the 'dark side' of princess Luna were not very flattering. In fact,The Nightmare was regarded as the most reviled and terrifying pony in Equestria's known history.  

‘And I'm alone, with this demon, inside the basement of an abandoned castle; in the middle of a vast and forsaken forest. ’

This was the last straw, Trixie was going to lose it.

"Calm yourself Trixie, You have no reason to be afraid." Nightmare ordered.  She could recognize the early signs of a panic attack. Needless to say, her command didn't have the intended effect.  

"Calm down?" Trixie asked hysterically.

“And I’m not a demon,” Because passively letting Trixie know that the Nightmare could read her mind would have a soothing effect.

"What the BUCK do you mean 'calm down'?" Trixie exploded, her voice growing quickly and her face contorted in panic. "I just lived through the worst nightmare in my life, only to wake up and be told that it was real, by FREAKING NIGHTMARE MOON of all ponies.  All while being stuck in the basement of an abandoned castle in the middle of a forsaken forest, nopony knows I'm here to look for me! did I mention I was with the most notorious villain in the history of OUR FREAKING PLANET? CALM DOWN? I'M ROYALLY SCREWED. I'M-"

"Royally screwed?" Nightmare deadpanned. "Don't flatter yourself."

Trixie's shouting, which used some colorful language to describe how 'screwed' she was, lasted long enough for her to spot the door.

"Freedom!" She bolted toward the exit. Unfortunately for her, just as she reached the exit a blue magical aurora slammed the door shut in her face.

So, instead of stopping, she crashed through it.  

"Be careful you foal!" Nightmare reprimanded as she appeared next to a now prone Trixie, who only replied with a dazed groan. She had managed to crash through the door and into the wall of the hallway beyond. It would have probably knocked her out if she wasn't wearing the protective helmet.

"There's two of us in here now! And I am not accustomed to the fragility of a mortal body." Nightmare continued before motioning at the destroyed door. "And you broke my door!" A quick flash of magic and the door was mended. Another flash and the stunned unicorn felt herself being dragged back inside, the door slamming shut behind her.

After the room stopped spinning, Trixie sat up and pressed a hoof to her still pounding head. "W-What do you mean 'there's two of us in here now?'" Trixie thought Nightmare was talking about the room.  

"Isn't it obvious foal?" Nightmare began. "Remember that helmet you picked up? The blue one?" Trixie nodded, albeit nervously. "It housed my consciousness, or rather my personality. And when you put it on . . ."

"Wait? What!?" Trixie felt around her head and realized she still had it on. Immediately she started to yank and pull at it. Nightmare merely rolled her eyes before sitting on her haunches, watching Trixie's futile struggling to remove the helm. She didn't say anything until Trixie's panic started escalating.  

"You can't get it off while it's magically fitted to your head, foal." Nightmare remarked. "Not unless you want to saw off your horn."

This didn't stop Trixie. Nightmare shook her head, and with a flash of magic the helmet suddenly returned to its original, much larger, size.  Trixie immediately threw the helm off; it hit a wall and fell to the stone floor with a clang.

Panting, She looked around the room and found it empty of the nightmare. "She’s gone?" Trixie breathed in relief. "She's gone!  The Nightmare Moon is gone!" A sense of giddy relief started to build up in Trixie's chest, and she giggled a little. That's when a muzzle pressed up against Trixie's ear.

"Boo."

Trixie yelped. Well, it was sort of a cross between a yelp and a frightened squeal. Nightmare might have been amused if it wasn't accompanied with Trixie bolting again.  This time she managed to crash through a table, destroying it. It didn't help that a rather important looking gem on the table fell and shattered.

"You foal!" Nightmare shouted, almost as if it wasn't at all Nightmare's fault for scaring her. "Now we'll have to get a replacement!"

Still panicking, Trixie got up to for round two with whatever else stood between her and the door. But just as she was about to bolt again, she found herself immobilized by an aura of blue magic. The aura then slammed her into the stone wall, pining her back to the wall.  

"Now listen to me, my little pony. If I wanted to hurt you, you'd be dead." Nightmare spat, her eyes burning holes into Trixie's. "But I am not going to, so whether you like it or not I am inside your head and we're stuck  with each other. Your foalish panicking is not going to change that. So. Calm. Down."

Trixie nodded, though she had no other intent except to try and escape again.

"Don't lie to me Trixie." Nightmare said in a threatening tone, approaching Trixie until their faces were merely inches apart. "I'm in your head, I have your memories and I know what you're thinking. I can tell when you're lying." Nightmare released the aura around Trixie, causing her to fall to the floor. "Now are you going to stop acting like a foal or I going to have make these matters more painful for you?"

"Y-Yes" Trixie nodded vigorously, still a hostage of fear. "W-What do y-you want with Tr-Trixie?"

"What?" Nightmare Moon tilted her head in slight confusion. Trixie repeated her question, still using the third person.

"You're going to stop that third person 'great and powerful' Trixie crap, right now." Nightmare Moon ordered, displaying a high level of irritation. "I'm not going to deal with your annoying stupid choice of speech, got it?"

Trixie nodded.

"Now repeat your question." Nightmare said.

"W-Why T-Tri-" She was cut off by a huff of irritation by the nightmare. Taking a breath, she began again. "Why me?"

"Because you were the foal who put on my helm. The moment you did I was shunted into your head." She replied non-chalantly as she began to wonder the room. "Not my number one choice, I would have preffered Twilight Sparkle, but you'll do.  Fortunately you're compatible, so my entry didn’t kill you. I suspect your recent use of the alicorn amulet may have had something to do with that. Your use of it also showed me you have the capacity to channel alicorn level magic without dying, something I’ll definitely need.“

She looked back at Trixie. “I can use you. In fact, I am going to need you. So from now on, you’ll do what I say.” Simply like that, Trixie had a new master.

“B-But what if Tri- I don’t want t-“ Trixie was cut off by a deep laugh from Nightmare Moon.

“So what then? You want to continue scrounging around Equestria looking for trinkets or other garbage you hope will allow you to beat Twilight in a childish one ups game?” Nightmare replied. “Please. . . you can’t even get revenge right. The last time you tried you ended up deluding yourself into thinking you had come to friendly terms with her. But now you've relapsed after what? a few weeks? Because you realized that your life was still in shambles and you were forced to either face your shortcomings or blame Twilight again?”

Trixie sat silently, contemplating what the Nightmare had said. It was true, she had relapsed into hating Twilight again.  Old habits die hard, and the fact of the matter was that it was easier for her to hate others and blame them for them for her failing career.  

“But ultimately what you want doesn't matter,” Nightmare continued. “You. Belong. To. Me. Now.”

“What gives you the right to-“ Trixie tried again to protest.

“I'm the most reviled villainness in history remember? I wouldn’t thinking twice about using you as a marionette.” Nightmare Moon responded coldly.

Trixie shrank under the Nightmare’s glare.

“But fortunately for you, I can’t just kill you or destroy your mind. It would make the situation untenable for me.” Nightmare stated matter-of-factly.  “ And I have a mission, a job to do. You're going to help me.”

However, this time Trixie felt something odd about what Nightmare Moon said. She could sense that the alicorn was lying. She knew that the Nightmare Moon could destroy her mind and have an easy time at doing it, but for some reason she didn’t want to.

Nightmare Moon took a long steady breath, an attempt to calm herself down. She walked around behind Trixie and, and much to Trixie's surprise, pulled her up into an embrace. “Besides, isn’t this what you wanted?” She whispered into Trixie’s ear, almost seductively. “Power? Strength? I did say I would tell you what ‘great and powerful’ really means. And I intend too.”

Now that did sound good to Trixie. But something also told her that Nightmare knew it would. It was rather strange for Trixie to her head with someone else.  She would of questioned what she was sensing further if it weren't for her shock at the Nightmare's sudden change from threatening to affectionate. That, and the soothing sensation her touch brought.  

“But you have to use what I give you for what needs to be done." She nuzzled Trixie.

“But to make sure that I am not subtle about it at all,” The Nightmare’s words suddenly became harsh again.  The pleasant touch from her nuzzling suddenly became bone chilling cold, followed by pain at every place their bodies touched. “If you betray me, I will make you pay."