Violet Magica - The Arrow of Light

Chapters

Prologue: Gradus Prohibitus (Forbidden steps)
Chapter 1: Postmeridie (In the afternoon)
Chapter 2: Salve, terrae magicae (Welcome to the world of magic)
Chapter 3: Pugna cum maga (Duel with the witch)
Chapter 4: Magia
Chapter 5: Credens Justitiam (Believing in justice)
Chapter 6: Signum malum (Bad omen)
Chapter 7: Incertus (Uncertain)
Chapter 8: Conturbatio (Disorder)
Chapter 9: Serena Ira (Peaceful wrath)
Chapter 10: Decretum (Decree)
Chapter 11: Amicae carae meae (My beloved friend)
Chapter 12: Numquam vincar (Never defeated)
Chapter 13: Puella in somnio (The girl in the dream)
Chapter 14: Anima mala (Evil soul)
Chapter 15: And I'm Home
Chapter 16: Inevitabilis (Inevitable)
Chapter 17: Taenia memoriae (To the memory of the ribbon)
Epilogue: Cubilulum Album (The white bedroom)

Prologue: Gradus Prohibitus (Forbidden steps)

“I will tell you of a history only God and I know.”

In a rift between twilight and dawn, a young pony leaned over a looming abyss. On this grassy hill, one half of reality seemed to have been cut out, as if god had removed half of the hill on a whim.

The pony gripped her bow, which thrummed with a magical aura, as her gaze lost itself in the darkness below. It could not stare back, as it had long lost its bite.

With a blink of her eyes, the abyss had disappeared, and the missing half was restored in an instant.

“This is how it should be. This is how it always was.” Mumbling this, the pony sat on the grass and placed the bow next to her. “And yet I will now share with you the story of a different world. A world... devoid of hope, until one pony rejected the very laws it was built on.”

Without turning around, she could understand another being had approached her and also listened to her words.

“Despite—or maybe because of—your great knowledge you will probably flat out dismiss what I am about to tell you. Your lack of empathy will make it almost impossible to cause any sort of reaction within you, and yet I want you to listen to me. As for you over there... the knowledge I am about to impart will be vital for our future.”

***

“Hey Somnia, I forgot my homework, can I copy yours?”

“Oh, sorry Momo, but I don't actually have it myself.” Somnia turned sideways towards her viridian friend Momo, hoof in front of her glasses to cover her purple eyes in shame.

The clock on the classroom wall ticked ever closer to eight o' clock, which would signal the beginning of today's first lesson. Despite this, students copying their homework at this time was standard procedure.

“Well at least I'm not the only one who forgot their homework then...” She quickly placed her hoof on Somnia's shoulder. “Hey, how about we meet after school and then we can work on the next bit of homework together!”

A faint hint of a smile appeared on Somnia's face, but it quickly vanished as she spoke. “Thanks, but...” She twisted her head away from Momo and said, “I don't think I could actually help you in any way. Just go ahead and do it without me. I need to brush up on some earlier lessons, because I'm already falling behind.”

Momo retreated for a bit. She slowly tapped her lip with her hoof, until she eventually moved back in. “But doesn't that mean you will miss the next homework assignment as well?”

Somnia waved her hooves in front of her face while shrinking into her seat. “It's okay really, I'll just sit down at home and catch up with everyone else, maybe then we can do homework together after that?”

Momo put on a smirk and patted her on the back. “That sounds good. Tell me whenever you are ready. I'll be waiting.”

Somnia's face gave way to an honest laughter. “You know, Momo, this reminded me of something, I think it would be really great if... if...” A sudden shot of pain rippled through Somnia. She contorted her face, pressed her fore-hoof against her chest, and hit the floor with a dull thud.

“Somnia what's wrong? Somnia!”

Chapter 1: Postmeridie (In the afternoon)

A slight breeze of wind slid through the open window, gently brushing against the curtains.

Various pills and bottles of medicine that were scattered over a small table, a bed, and a calendar on the wall told the tale of a young pony who had been inhabiting this room for half a year now. The date for 'Release' was marked with an elaborate green outline on the present day and a tiny smiling face was drawn next to it. On the bed lay a young pony of lavender color, just about to awaken.

With a flick of her eyelids, Violet Somnia shifted her body into an upright position, put on her glasses, and started scanning the room. Before her eyes had traversed the entire room, she jumped out of the bed and moved towards the calendar. Below the date for 'Release' she spied—exactly one week after the aforementioned date—another one, highlighted with bright green marker. The words 'New school' stood next to it.

Releasing a small sigh, she turned around and headed towards a mirror, mounted on the opposite wall, to inspect herself.

Her appearance only matched her current state of mind. Six months in the hospital took a heavy toll on Somnia's bodily fitness, as she appeared more frail and weak than most other ponies. Her too-wide glasses could not be worn with confidence, along with the two long braids of black hair that fell off both sides of her face, each held together at the end by tiny purple ribbons. Her tail followed the same pattern: long strands of hair, braided together and finished with a ribbon.

As she turned her head sideways, she gazed at the table next to her hospital bed. Usually this would be the place where 'Get well!' cards, maybe some flowers or sweets, would be lying around, to document visits of family and friends. This one, however, only bore her medicine.

With yet another sigh, Somnia murmured to herself. “Everything is gonna be all right. I hope...”

***

As the day of the transfer had approached, Violet positioned herself right outside the door to her new classroom as per her teacher's instructions. At that moment, the teacher broke the news of a transfer student having come to their school, Kamino High.

While waiting, Violet nervously tapped her hoof on the floor and looked around the hallway. Inside she could hear loud chatter between the students, who sounded like they were in discord. Since Kamino laid only a short distance from Bluegrass, her hometown, she thought that maybe she might recognize a pony in her new class. At least that thought calmed her down.

After hearing a “you can come in now” from inside, Violet took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, and grabbed the door handle. The door slowly set itself into motion, until Violet could see the other ponies through the gap. As she crawled into the room, the squeaking of the door hinges easily drowned out the sound of her steps. The students mostly went silent, a few coughs could be heard here and there, some ponies started playing with their pencils. At least some of her new classmates looked at her with excitement in their eyes.

While walking towards the front of the class, Violet spied a terrarium sitting on a table on the other side of the room, next to various arts and crafts. It sat in front of the wall—which with its oversized windows consisted of more glass than concrete—and inside she noticed a lizard sitting on a little rock. Her first thought was that it might be dead, since it didn't move at all.

Finally, reaching the center portion of the room, she turned towards the piercing gazes of the class, while slowly scanning the room. None of the faces struck her as familiar.

Feeling the weight of the silence that had now embraced the classroom, Somnia finally gulped hard and spoke up. “Hello everypony. My name is Violet Somnia.” She slightly bowed her head, trying to hide her face as best as she could, despite her body shuddering.

The teacher didn't even give her any time to further introduce herself as she instead clapped her hooves in excitement and spoke up. “There is an empty spot over there where you can sit. I'm sure we will all have a great time!”

***

As soon as the bell fulfilled its usual job of signaling the end of this period, a circle of a few ponies gathered around Somnia's table. They quickly approached her, their eyes filled with sparkles.

Questions like “Do you like it here?” “What are your hobbies?” or “How was school where you were from?” rained upon Somnia. During class, she could relax and calm down, and she slowly managed to drift back into the routine of school, but now her shudders returned to her like a pendulum swinging backwards after its extreme. She tried to reset her emotions by taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes.

There was, however, something else in her body that began to thump against her chest with a burning heat. Without answering any of the questions, Somnia slammed her head onto the desk out of reflex and mumbled, “I'm sorry but... my medicine, I think I need a nurse,” with a strained voice. She hoped the head-slam wouldn't leave a mark—on either her head or the desk, but at least her glasses were safe.

Her surrounding classmates looked at each other in confusion, and then made way for the transfer student, so she could reach the door unhindered.

Just as Somnia got out of her chair, a soothing voice sounded behind her back, “Don't worry, I'll take you to the nurse's office.”

A salmon pony appeared next to Somnia as she walked towards the exit. With her eyelids growing heavy and her vision blurring, Somnia did not inspect her any further and instead followed her as she led the way outside.

“Hi I'm Rose Daybreak, nice to meet you!” the pony spoke to Somnia as she walked with her through the corridors of the school. “I'm sorry about my classmates back there, but you must understand we didn't even know we would get a transfer student until today!”

Somnia blinked a couple of times before reacting. Her voice still trembled slightly. “No it's okay, really.” The tail-end of her sickness must not have been what had caused her lightheadedness, as her condition cleared up with every step she took.

After a little more, she finally took her time to take a closer look at Rose. Her pink mane was made up into two bushes, one on each side, which were held together by flashy red ribbons to complement her salmon coat. A quick glance found earrings in both her ears. Her tail uneventfully fell off on the back, but she could not concentrate on it, since the bright beam on her face magnetized Somnia's attention.

“Is it okay if I call you Violet?” Rose said with a bright reassuring smile.

Violet hesitated for a second. “Well–sure, I don't mind.”

“It has a certain ring to it, don't you think?” Rose clapped her hooves in between her steps.

Violet hesitated again, this time lowering her head towards the floor. “I... haven't really thought about my first name before. Others usually just called me Somnia.”

Walking through the school, Somnia spotted many different scenes along their way: ponies streaming out of their classrooms, ponies chattering among each other, ponies running back and forth through the halls before being stopped and scolded by a teacher, as well as ponies just quietly sitting around the walls. It reminded her of her old school in Bluegrass. She was among the ones sitting next to the walls of course.

Finally they arrived at the nurse's office. “It's a shame others called you Somnia, I think your first name is really cool.”

Violet muttered under her breath as she stepped through the door, “Unlike me....”

***

After school had passed, Violet made her way towards the big gate at the front of the school to trot back home. The school grounds were mostly covered in concrete and gravel, and even though Violet did not take many walks around nature, she did miss strolling through the grass. Nature felt comfortable to her.

Just as she was about to leave the school grounds, a familiar pony approached her.

“Hey, Violet!” Rose shouted at her from behind.

After Violet had turned around to face her, she noticed another pony with a teal coat and short blue mane and tail, each with a spiky pattern at its tips, next to Rose. A single hair-clip in the shape of a musical note adorned her hair.

Instead of answering back, Violet stared at the two. She could not believe that any pony would make the effort to search for her after the school ended, instead of walking home.

“I know you are new here so I thought I should give you a hoof.” She quickly pointed towards the teal pony, from whom she now caught a light whiff of perfume. She also noticed that she oddly had dirty hooves and concluded she must have been running around the nearby hill. “This is Azure Marina, who you might have seen before in class.”

She had indeed, but only in the corner of her eyes. She didn't really take the time to inspect any of her classmates any closer than taking a quick glance at them at some point during the lesson. Their reactions to her first entrance had been mixed, so Violet did not assume she would end up with any friends. She was not the sort of pony that went around and talked to others, which is probably why she couldn't form any strong friendships back in Bluegrass.

Rose continued, “You see, we often go out and eat at the ice-cream parlor, if you want to you can join us there in the weekend! Also, we would really like to learn more about our new classmate!”

After all, Rose searched for her just to tell her something she could have easily told her the next day as well. It was still three more days until the weekend, so why hurry?

Violet finally took a breath, with which she tried to suppress a sudden thumping headache, and responded. “Sure, I'd love to join you.”

Rose's face lit up, and so did Azure's, who pointed her hoof at Violet. “I wouldn't have let you walk away without saying yes, you know? I think you'll have a great time here, especially when you got me around.” She pointed at herself.

Just as Azure was about to speak up again, another pony approached the group. “But don't get your hopes up about any of them Violet. These two are already together.”

Azure turned around and raised her hoof, shaking it while blowing steam through her nostrils. “Why would you say that, Leafy?” She crossed her hooves and pouted. “It's nothing like that.”

The pony turned towards Violet. “Hi, I'm Leafy Passion.” Another pony from her class. This one had a pale green coat with a seemingly messy, yet calculated brown mane that was formed into small puffs, and an equally puffy tail. Violet could not pinpoint any other remarkable features of Leafy, which gave her an awkward feeling.

With Violet still looking back at them in confusion, Rose laughed. “Leafy will also be joining us at the parlor. It would be quite boring if no pony got Azure started.”

Azure quickly turned away from Leafy and towards Rose. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Leafy chimed in with Rose's laughter. “She's just saying we make a great team.”

Seeing the three of them get along like this made Violet genuinely smile for the first time since being released from the hospital. Back at her old school there were probably plenty of small little groups of friends that understood each other perfectly as well, but she never involved herself with any of them. Maybe this could change now. This could be her great chance to finally form some friendships.

***

Visiting school the next day didn't even feel like a chore as it usually did. Instead, Violet formed new hope for how everything could turn out in this city with the ponies she wanted to call friends.

All eagerness didn't, however, prepare her for the classes themselves. Dire visions of her failing at school in Bluegrass rushed back to her, as today’s math lesson went underway. Lying in bed for half a year surely didn’t help. The figures and numbers on the blackboard might as well have been written in an alien language, describing complex procedures, and Violet wouldn't have been any wiser. With pencil strapped to her hoof, her best plan was to write everything down and hope it made sense at some point.

In the middle of the lesson, the teacher suddenly stopped writing. “I think I'll let somepony solve this one... How about our newcomer, Violet?”

Some ponies, who were already done writing, turned to glance at Violet. The expecting looks on their faces did not inspire much confidence in Violet.

Violet hastily put down her pencil and looked at the board. The teacher pointed towards a line on the board, but Violet had to read it a few times to make sure it even formed a complete sentence and not a joke.

“Come on now, everypony wants to see the solution.” The teacher waved at Violet to come to the front. The trembles of her first day almost came back to her as she stood up, but glancing over towards Rose—who smiled back at her—her body calmed down. At least a little.

Finally, arriving in front of the board, she simply stared at the problem, hoping that maybe it resolved itself at some point.

“Oh I almost forgot, you can have this.” The teacher gave Violet a piece of chalk on a strap.

Violet thought “I'm not gonna write down anything anyway” but didn't dare to actually say these words to the teacher. Instead, her eyes swung back and forth between the chalk and board, acting like she had at least somewhat of a plan, just no idea what to write down.

Some coughs sounded from behind her. Without having to turn around, Violet could already guess. “They are probably leaning on their hooves right now, looking bored.” Violet searched for the right moment to give up while still making it look like she tried very hard.

Finally, she slowly leaned her head against the board in defeat. The teacher scratched her chin. “I don't know if this is an abstract way to communicate the answer, but I'm gonna say it's correct!”

***

In the afternoon: physical education. For this, the students met up on a little field on the backside of the school building. To Violet's dismay, the school flaunted its monetary wealth as the ground consisted of synthetic grass.

Today, a running exercise had been scheduled, but first the students would have to warm up of course. For this, all the ponies gathered in front of the teacher, forming multiple lines of about ten ponies with ample space in between each pony to allow free movement.

Violet stood on the side portion of one of the lines, with Rose, Azure or Leafy on the other side of the crowd. It was kinda awkward for her to search these three, especially Rose, so much on this day. There were plenty of other ponies around, but to her they were empty faces, golems without stories that exist for the mere purpose of forming a sea to drown in.

Putting her mind back on the warm-up, Violet tried to follow the instruction of the teacher as best as possible. First up: a bit of trotting on the spot with gradually increasing speed. After that a few jumps, seeing how far one could reach into the sky from a standstill. Most ponies only got about three hooves off the ground.

Meanwhile, Violet already felt the sweat rolling down her cheeks. Telling herself to slow down, she continued with the warm-up in a slower pace.

After a few more exercises followed another exercise of running on the spot. This one was more serious and evolved into a faster speed as it went on. Violet tried to match everypony's speed as best as possible, but caught herself moving way slower. Her hooves refused to follow her orders, while her heart pounded faster and faster.

“Kick it up one last notch everypony!” the teacher yelled at the students.

Violet willed her hooves to exceed their limit and give it all they have. They, however, reacted violently to her orders and acted on their own behalf. Struggling to keep her balance, Violet slowly drifted further towards the side and ultimately stumbled over her feet, landing square on her face.

Some nearby ponies giggled, but their delight quickly faded. They ran over towards her, as Violet gasped for air. They leaned her against the wall of the school-building and shouted at her, trying to get an answer. Violet swung her head around from left to right, her vision fading in and out, while she breathed heavily. She fought against her inner desire to let go of consciousness, not while everypony watched.

The teacher arrived with a towel and a bottle of water. “Hey you, are you all right?”

Violet stared back at him with one eye. “It's okay just... just let me rest for a bit.”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding and turning back towards the rest of the ponies.

Violet heard him shout a few instructions for the following running exercise, but she didn't care to listen, despite his loud tone. Instead, she focused on the mumbles of the ponies next to her.

“She really passed out from just the warm-up?”

“I guess that's what happens when you lie on your flank for that long.”

She wanted to bury her head in the ground and fall asleep. She cursed her own weakness, but did not get angry at herself for it in that moment. She had accepted this as a part of who she was now, and knew it was futile to fight it. Maybe over time her body would recover, but for now she would have rather curled up and fallen asleep if her pounding chest had allowed it.

She took one last glance towards the crowd. In the distance she saw the face of Rose, looking back with a worried expression. In her mind, she saw herself running over to her and telling her not to worry.

***

Arriving home after school proved to not provide the relief Violet hoped for. Dim chambers filled with emptiness awaited her at home.

While she was in hospital, her parents arranged for her to move to Kamino and rented her a small house on the edge of the city while they were off doing business around the world. The previous owner left barely any furniture and a sheet of dust had already settled in when Violet first entered her new home. After a week she was at least able to clean most of it off, but the lack of furniture remained.

What she had right now was only the basis of a home: a basic kitchen with a fridge and—most importantly—a microwave and an oven, a humble living room with a table and some chairs, a simple bathroom with a cracked mirror and a bedroom with enough space to do homework and store personal belongings.

Often Violet found herself at a loss at how she should pass the time. She had a lot of studying to catch up on, but she found focusing that much time on such an activity numbed her brain after a while. Something else, something to enjoy, would have been more to her liking to pass the time.

Instead, Violet would sometimes randomly stomp her hooves to blow off steam while walking through her house. Sometimes she would even smack her hoof or another part of her against the wall just to get some feeling back in her body. Her glasses were often discarded for a moment or longer as well, whenever she felt like freeing her eyes. All of that was necessary because whatever she did in her house did not make her feel alive.

She could have probably asked her parents to get her a TV, a new computer, or whatever else she wanted. As much as they were always traveling the world, going to business meetings or visiting relatives, they would never shut down any of their daughter's wishes, unless it involved actually meeting up with her.

'Whatever you need, we can send you the funds to buy it.' Awfully helpful sitting on a throne of gold when your kingdom is devoid of life. Trying to make friends out of Rose and the others was her only hope at this point.

Another void had grown inside her fridge. As she inspected its contents, she let out a sigh and put on her saddlebags.

***

As Violet made her way back home, her eyes kept rotating over towards the setting sun. As she crossed a bridge over the Kami river on the edge of city, the sun stood atop the hills in the distance, shining its orange light down upon it and towards the city.

Turning her head the other way, Violet gazed upon the glass facades of Kamino. At some point during the founding of Kamino, somepony decided that glass—instead of metal and stone—would be the material to build with, and so most of Kamino's structures featured giant panes and windows covering the sides. Even in her school most walls facing the outside were made up of mostly glass.

As she watched the light dance across the panes, Violet slowed down her speed. A sudden waterfall of memories and thoughts rushed into her mind. “No one is waiting for me at home. My grades might not get better any time soon and the end of the school year is drawing closer each day. On the athletic side I'm a complete pushover and the majority of ponies in school only look down on me.”

A veil of dust gathered in front of her vision as alien feelings rushed through her body. Her eyelids slowly dropped downwards. She mumbled to herself: “What if my meeting with Rose and the others goes wrong... What if I can't pass school this year... What if my body never gets better... Maybe I should...”

“Maybe you should just die?”

“Maybe I should just die...” Violet didn't stop for a single second to question the ghostly voice that had suddenly appeared. It was not that the voice spoke to her, but rather it communicated directly with her mind, like a part of her subconscious suddenly awaking and talking to her.

As her eyes were almost completely closed she crawled to a stop and slowly lifted her head towards the sky. She had felt something like this before, right when her sickness started. Not a pain, but rather the feeling that now everything was coming to an end, the curtains closing.

A split second before her mind entangled itself, her gaze caught a faint glimmer in the sky and with the most silent roar Violet shook herself awake and tensed every muscle in her body. Not yet!

As she hastily tossed her head from side to side she tried to find out where she landed, but what she found was not what any pony could have expected.

During her descent she had managed to stumble into something that Violet could only grasp as a different dimension the very second she laid eyes on her surroundings.

Nothing left of her reality, instead a wicked mind warped this new reality to its liking. The once blue and orange sky could not even be described as a sky anymore, as it rather mirrored a giant painting of blood red hue with milky white stripes that formed whirlwinds and roads. The ground she stood on had been morphed into a sort of tapestry, crafted by mashing together carcasses of dead ponies, screaming as if to escape their two-dimensional prison. Spindly black towers of impossible architecture, that resembled bare trees that had been robbed of most of their branches, were scattered throughout this dimension.

Sudden cold ripples forced themselves from her heart through her body, her mind turned into a haze of disconnected thoughts and emotions, and her chest stung with a sharp pain. At that moment, amid Violet's waterfall of thoughts, she convinced herself that she must have been having a nightmare, and therefore concentrated with all her power on waking up. With a now crushing headache, however, and an almost indescribable smell similar to smoke and soot reaching her nose, she realized she did not dream.

Searching for an exit, she kept spinning her body around, but the fiendish landscape continued to the horizon in every single direction.

Again the ghostly voice from earlier circled her head. This time it didn't speak actual words, it sounded more like garbled curses and scrambled screams. As Violet plugged her ears with her hooves, the voice moved away from her.

At some distance in front of her, the voice took form. Black swirls formed something that resembled the body of a pony, yet it lacked mane, tail, even skin as it was made out of ethereal shadows that danced around its body and constantly shifted in shape and color.

The figure slowly made its way towards her by propagating some of its body outwards and dragging the rest of it along with it, similar to a worm. Its nature kept twisting and erratic bursts of shadowy blobs formed on its shell and shot outwards, almost seeming like it would collapse in itself any moment now.

Violet's body felt suppressed. All her pains dulled for a moment. Her stare fixated on the figure, and yet the resignation in her head froze her in time.

As the figure had closed about half the distance, it contorted its shadows inwards, just to violently extend spiky tendrils from its body, launching them towards Violet.

Chapter 2: Salve, terrae magicae (Welcome to the world of magic)

The sounds of a dull blast and a sudden snap blared in Violet's ears, followed by a rupturing noise as the shadow in front of her was violently torn apart, only centimeters before the tendrils reached her body.

“That was a close one!” A voice she had never heard before spoke to her.

After a few seconds, reality rushed back to Violet, as she let out a sharp scream and fell over, her headache and heartache gradually returning. Still shaking, Violet stared at the remains of the figure in front of her, the afterimage of the tendril still burned into her eyes.

“I'm so glad I was able to save you.” Violet willed her head to look at the pony talking to her. She beheld the sight of a young mare, only slightly older than herself. Her dim yellow coat, along with her two sunny strands of mane that were curled into helices and connected to her head via brooch on each side, didn't seem out of the ordinary at first.

On her head, however, Violet spied what seemed like a horn attached to her, with a glowing amber-colored gem inset into it. Violet also caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a weapon for ranged combat floating next to her, right before it vanished into thin air.

After suppressing another scream—a scream not for help or out of terror, but one out of pure instinct—Violet tried to force her mouth to open and respond to this pony, but before she could formulate a 'thank you,' she discovered a second pony in the corner of her eye.

The name 'Rose' shot into her head, yet the gem-inset horn attached to her forehead spoke something else to her. None of this made sense to her, so emotions of joy mixed with uncertainty, and ultimately fear. After all, Rose had also found herself in a realm that just a few seconds ago almost ended Violet's life.

Violet began to stutter wildly, trying to find any words to even begin putting everything she had just seen into spoken language. Her mind still clouded by a dizzying haze, she almost collapsed to the floor multiple times as she tried to get back up, standing on hooves that had been reduced to pudding.

Rose took her time to walk over towards a heavily sweating Violet. “I guess my secret didn't last very long. Please don't tell any pony else in class.”

As soon as Rose finished speaking, both her and the other pony's horns disappeared. Directly afterwards, the twisted dimension they had found themselves in began to fall into itself. Ever growing holes appeared on the horizon and soon tore apart the sky and ground, returning the world back to its usual self and placing the three back on the bridge.

Finally, Violet resigned herself and passed out.

***

The worlds of Violet's mind unfolded their full glory not during natural sleep, but forceful loss of consciousness. In these worlds she saw herself walking across lush green fields, chasing after something, anything. As long as Violet felt like she had some goal to chase towards, she would move endlessly forward. Eventually the fields of grass turned into many incarnations of imagined hellscapes, be they filled with molten lava and spawns of flame that hunted Violet, be they an endless abyss filled with only darkness, or even just a room of pure white color that stretched infinitely in any direction. Yet still, within her dream she felt at ease. After having traversed countless landscapes, the first conscious thought since she began dreaming crept into her mind: “Where am I headed?” Upon this, she drifted into the waking world.

Violet came to again in an unfamiliar room. Her mind was still groggy, a feeling she remembered from waking up after being under anesthetic. Disconnected thoughts swirled in her mind, visions were made up and disappeared, as if she still slept.

The noise of two ponies talking reached her ears. As her gaze still pointed towards the ceiling, she turned it to the side, where she heard the noise. They were both sitting on the floor around a glass table, drinking tea. It was Rose and the pony that had saved her earlier.

“Oh, you are awake I see. Sorry for bringing you up here to my house, but you seemed to have passed out.” The yellow-coated pony got up and walked past Rose towards Violet. After suddenly putting on a smile, she replied, “No need to thank me.” Apparently Violet mumbled without noticing it first.

“No no, I want to thank you.” Violet's senses started returning to reality, and as she could now hear her own voice again, she noticed how disconnected and even drunk she sounded.

“By the way, my name is Amber Spirit, and apparently you already know Rose here.”

Violet listened with only one ear while she tried to regain a sense of bearing. She found herself in what seemed like a living room, lying on a sofa, with a bed sheet over her.

Amber's living room—which consisted of three walls and a giant window front—was filled with splashes of color, decorated with few abstract paintings and some carafes and vases. A few fluffy pillows and—strangely—some stuffed animals Amber seemed too old for were littered throughout the room, with the triangular glass table in the center of the room.

Without thinking about it, Violet forced her body into a sitting position on the sofa, removing the bed sheet.

“Hey, take it slow for now. Are you alright, Violet?” Rose took her hoof and placed it on Violet's forehead, while stabilizing her shoulder with the other. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“I'm fine... I think.” Violet took a moment. Most of her pain had subsided, and her mind seemed to have arrived back in Kamino. After staring at the floor for a few seconds, Violet finally spoke up again. “I'm fine.”

Amber leaned in close to Violet. “If you like and feel like it, you can come over to the table and drink some tea to get better.”

“Yes... thank you.” With this, Violet slowly got up and made her way towards the table. Even though her steps were unsure, she made it to her spot next to the table without any difficulties.

Violet plopped down on the floor, along with Rose. Amber raised her voice. “I'm sorry if my house seems a bit chaotic, I didn't get around to cleaning everything up yet. Hold on a second.” With this, she quickly dove into a room to the side. “I need to make some more tea.” Her voice sounded from the other room.

“It's okay...” Violet hesitated for a bit while her eyes bounced between Rose and the floor. “And to you too, thank you for saving me.”

“No need to thank us, we just did our job. We are Sorceresses after all!” Her magenta eyes visibly grew wider, along with her smile, as she mentioned the 'Sorceresses.'

Violet responded to Rose's enthusiasm with confusion. Meanwhile, Amber had already prepared some more tea. “Here, this is going to help.” Violet thanked Amber and took a quick sip—she identified it as ginger tea—before Amber continued. “As Rose already mentioned we are indeed Sorceresses. To put it simply, we have attained magical powers and use them to fight evil.”

“You always make it sounds so heroic,” Rose chimed in.

At multiple points Violet wanted to say something, but she instead kept silent. Amber continued. “Well, that's basically what we do. There are beings out there who hunt innocent ponies just to kill them. These beings are what we call 'witches', and we are the only ones who can hunt them down and destroy them.”

Rose lifted a hoof and waved it around in mid-air while looking over at Violet. “But that back there wasn't a witch you know? That was something like a baby witch, or a 'familiar' as we call it. They separate themselves from a witch and try to grow into witches on their own. They aren't a big deal for us of course.”

Violet held her head and gazed at the floor in disbelief. “What? You fight these things?” Her voice trembled more with every word. “Are you mad? There's no way–“

Rose put her hoof on Violet's shoulder. Violet hung on to the feeling of Rose's touch to calm herself down. “It's not that bad. It's a lot less dangerous than it might seem. After all, our enemies are no match for professional Sorceresses like us.”

Amber glared at Rose. “Don't get ahead of yourself, you're still in training.”

“Ha! With a teacher like you I will be one of the greatest Sorceresses to walk Komaria in no time!” Rose swung back to Violet. “Amber here is a veteran and I'm learning everything about Sorceresses from her.”

Despite the oddly enthusiastic chatter around her, Violet felt more and more distressed. She had trouble listening to everything they said, as the images of what happened earlier were still floating around her mind.

Amber waved her hoof in front of her face. “Let's get back to the important part, okay?” She focused on Violet again. “That world you were in back there is called a 'barrier.' Basically familiars and witches try to either invade a pony's mind and control them into committing suicide, or they drag them into their own dimension, a 'barrier,' and kill them there. Usually you can only enter those if you get dragged in, but Sorceresses can use a sort of backdoor.”

Violet stopped thinking for a few seconds and let her head sink towards the floor. “I really was about to die...” “And I was almost ready to take my own life, too.”

Rose patted Violet on the back. “I'm sorry you had to go through this. But now that you have been dragged into this, you might–”

“I don't know, Rose. She probably doesn't want to.” Amber glared at Rose once again.

Violet took another sip of tea, her shaking hoof almost spilling it. Rose reached for her. “Oh I forgot to mention, Violet. The process of becoming a Sorceress involves having one of your wishes fulfilled.”

A similar feeling to what Violet had felt when she had first been dragged into the 'barrier' shot through her. “You get a wish fulfilled? How impossible.” Right when she had said this, she realized that with everything she had seen today, that might not actually be impossible. Of course there remained the possibility she was still dreaming.

Rose swayed her head from side to side and released her grip on Violet's hoof. “Maybe not absolutely any wish, but you'd be amazed of all the things you could wish for! Obviously there's money, the love of your life, achieving something almost impossible, or a feast fit for a king.”

Amber raised her tone. “Why do you always want to have a bunch of food? You should have wished for that instead if you keep mentioning it.”

“Sorry, I just thought it worth mentioning. It is pretty tempting don't you think?”

Amber leaned her face on her hoof while Violet tried to formulate some ideas. “Just go along with it.” “There are some things you can't wish for? What for example?”

“I'd be happy to take it from here.” An unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke up. None of the others seemed to react to it, leaving Violet to search around the room for the source of the voice. Her eyes stopped on one of the stuffed animals. “Hi, I'm Kiubee!”

Violet jumped up scared and almost fell over as she stumbled backwards. As her body hit the wall behind her, the impact sent her glasses flying, which she quickly shuffled after, only to immediately return to the wall with erratic movements. A quick glance towards Amber and Rose revealed them both holding back a chuckle.

What had looked like a piece of decoration suddenly acted like a living being. His white body was about the third the size of a pony, featuring a bunny-like—or cat-like?—appearance with a long scarf-like tail, deep glassy eyes of red hue, and weird tassels that were attached to his ears and almost touched down to the floor. Even while he spoke, his mouth did not move. In fact, only his tail waggled from side to side, while his entire face remained completely stiff.

“So you can see him as well. I guess that also means you can see the forms of familiars and witches.” Amber pointed at him. “This is Kiubee, our guide in all things magical and the source of most of my knowledge. He was also the one who made us into Sorceresses and granted us our wish. Since you can see him it must mean that he chose you as a candidate for a Sorceress.”

Violet tried to answer but only produced stutters while she still pressed her body against the wall. Taking a deep breath she slowly sat her body down and relaxed her muscles. For just a moment she wanted to shut everything out, every single external influence should stop for at least a minute so she could finally calm down and relax. Instead, she flinched again as Kiubee continued speaking. “To come back to your question, let's make it simple: whenever you want to become a Sorceress tell me what you want to wish for and I will tell you if your wish is possible. I shall then fulfill your wish and grant you the power of magic in the form of a Soul Gem.”

Violet stared back at Kiubee. “Soul Gem? Can you give me a break for once?”

Amber turned towards the table and pointed at a small object. It was the gem she had seen earlier, attached to her horn. “This is what a Soul Gem looks like. It's the source of all our magic. It allows one to cast certain spells and use certain abilities, depending on who you are and what you wished. There is also a specific array of spells and abilities that any Sorceress can use, for example this, which allows us to stay undetected in public.” Without Amber touching the gem, a dim light engulfed it and with a sizzling noise it shrunk to about a tenth the size, while also slightly changing form. She then picked it up and attached it to one of the brooches on her mane.

Violet's jaw dropped to the floor. “Unbelievable...”

Rose waved at Amber. “I think we should give her some time to think about all of this.”

Amber sighed. “You are right. I don't think it would be wise to just drag her into this, but if she can see Kiubee and was therefore chosen by him as well, she must have the potential for it.” Amber looked into Violet's eyes. “Listen, I am certain you have what it takes to become a Sorceress as well, and as we already discussed, you do get a wish fulfilled if you choose to do it. You could help us in our fight and form a team with us. You'd be safe.”

Violet didn't react, she simply stared at the floor again, trying to rearrange her thoughts.

Rose continued in Amber's stead. “If you want to see more we can meet again tomorrow. We still have to hunt down the witch that birthed the familiar we fought earlier. If you join us we could show you even more stuff and explain it better.”

Violet took a deep breath of air. A loud voice in her head repeatedly yelled at her say no, yet that word just could not escape her lips in that moment. She struck the voice back for now.As her gaze shot past Rose and out the window front, towards the sky, a liberating feeling engulfed her mind. “The familiar was right about one thing though: there really is no pony waiting for me at home.”

After hesitating for quite a while, Violet finally opened her mouth. “I'll think about it, Daybreak.”

***

The sun neared the horizon as Rose and Amber stood on the familiar bridge over the Kami river they had found Violet at the day before. From a few steps behind, Violet approached them.

Amber turned her head around. “To be frank, I didn't think you'd actually join as after everything that had happened. If I may ask: why did you decide to join us?”

Violet stopped in her tracks and stared at Amber for a while. To Rose and Amber it must have looked like she was locked in time, not moving a single one of her muscles as both of them awaited an answer. To Violet, she knew exactly why she came here: she wanted to fight the feeling that she did not belong anywhere. Despite knowing this, she did not want to admit anything of the sort, not even to herself. Finally, her mouth moved as the only part of her body. “I don't quite know. But I can think of plenty of reasons why I shouldn't have come.” She scratched her forehoof. “I guess I just wanted to accompany you a bit.”

In one quick motion, Rose turned her entire body around and jumped towards Violet with a bright beam on her lips. “Oh who cares anyway. You're here. We're here. The witch isn't here, but we want to find her, right? Also, the familiar isn't here anymore, but that's exactly why we came here, isn't it?”

Amber took out her Soul Gem and placed it on her hoof as she mumbled to herself. “It is indeed.”

Rose grabbed Violet's hoof and yanked her forwards, towards Amber. “You see what Amber is doing?”

“She's... making sure her Soul Gem is alright?” Violet adjusted her glasses to make sure her vision wasn't clouded.

Rose leaned back for a second. “Actually you are kind of right. But more importantly, take a closer look at it.”

The Soul Gem looked just as it did the day before, with one added detail: it emitted a faint glow. Tiny rays of light danced around inside the gem, creating a shimmering aurora.

“We can use our Soul Gems to track the energy of the familiar. It should lead us to the witch that created it,” said Amber and pointed towards a small path along the side of the Kami river. “It seems to be coming from over there.”

Before Amber took her first step towards her new destination, Violet spoke up. “How did you find me here yesterday?”

Amber looked surprised for a second. “It was a coincidence really. We were searching for stray witches and noticed that a barrier had been formed in the vicinity. Obviously we rushed to inspect it.”

“Oh.” Violet lowered her head to look at the floor. Rose opened her mouth but Violet immediately interrupted her. “Why did I even ask? I'm sorry.” Violet shook her head.

Amber approached Violet. “Familiars single out ponies and try to feast on them. Even though our main targets are the witches we absolutely have to stop them, especially since they might grow into witches themselves. Also, there are plenty of Sorceresses out there who ignore familiars, so it is up to us to clean them up.”

“Others ignore them?” Violet bounced her eyes between Amber and Rose, while they stared at each other.

Amber finally turned her back and started walking. “That's a different story entirely, let's just go after the witch for now.” As the other two moved on as well, she turned her head around. “I'll tell you later, okay?”

An awkward silence lay over the three as they followed the path the Soul Gem had pointed towards. Too much to ask, but nowhere to start. Whenever Amber and Rose talked about being Sorceresses, they looked proud and enthusiastic. They were eager to explain as much as they could to Violet and they would keep on talking all the time. Frankly, Violet thought they were being both too pushy and a bit insane, but she did not mind either too much. She told herself that this is what it must have been like to be genuinely excited about one's work.

She took a deep breath and watched the sun rays bouncing off the river surface. The light already turned orange with the sun touching the horizon. Soon it would be night.

“Daybreak, aren't you scared?” Violet still stared at the water while speaking.

“Of what?”

Violet flicked her head around. “The witches of course. And those familiars too. You described them as something that attacked other ponies to kill and feast. How can you face them?”

Rose smiled again. “I'm not as brave as Amber here if that's what you're asking. Sure I feel uneasy, but whenever I get scared I just remember all the good I do by fighting them. There is no pony else besides us who could battle evil like this. Whenever I fight one of them I am reminded of my foalhood dreams of ancient magic and great heroism. I think that is what keeps me going when I'm in the thick of it.”

Amber took her yellow eyes off her Soul Gem for a moment to glance back at the two. “Don't actually start dreaming while you are fighting. You need to stay focused and make sure not to let your guard down, because then you will be at your weakest point.” Violet only then noticed that all this time Amber hadn't changed the expression on her face once. The stern look in her eyes dug deep into Violet whenever their gazes met. Her face didn't strike Violet as either happy or sad, yet there was something odd she couldn't quite put her hoof on. However, one thing Violet felt sure about: she was safe around Amber.

Violet spoke up again. “Daybreak, you told me yesterday when you become a Sorceress you can wish for something.”

“Yup.”

“Then what did you wish for?”

Rose leaned her head sideways for a second. “Well, when Kiubee first approached me in my home I thought I was still dreaming. But the more he told me about it the more I got interested in this Sorceress business. So still all drowsy I just went ahead and wished to be able to fight for other ponies, since I always felt I couldn't really do anything to help other ponies. I didn't even think that everything he told me was the truth.”

“You wasted your wish?” Violet blurted out, but immediately covered her mouth with her hooves.

Rose scratched her head. “I don't quite think I wasted it, I did become a Sorceress after all. Surely I could have wished for something more useful, but I'm happy as is and I wouldn't wanna go back and change my wish. What counts is that I get to make this world a better place by fighting the witches, so I guess I got what I wanted.”

Violet suddenly stopped in her tracks and dug at the ground. The gears in her head turned. Wild rides within her mind happened frequently, sometimes spitting out important conclusions, sometimes painting painful imagery, and often putting her in a solemn state.

“I still don't understand how you can throw yourself into the face of danger like that. How can you grasp onto this one ideal while completely disregarding your own safety?” Her hoof froze as she raised her head to look into Rose's eyes. “And not just your own health, think about what your friends and family would do if something were to happen to you. What would your parents say if you came home wounded one day? Would you just try to hide it?”

Amber spoke up in Rose's stead. “Actually, our wounds heal a lot faster than those of normal ponies. I don't quite know yet what the limitations of that ability are, but I once knew a Sorceress that almost lost a hoof. It was only hanging on by–”

“I don't wanna hear it!” Violet shouted while she plugged her ears. “What is wrong with you? How can you talk so calmly about such matters?” She glanced at Rose again. “And what happens if you die on the spot? I don't even want to imagine what it would be like for your family if they found you dead one day.”

Rose finally broke her smile and covered her face while turning her body away.

Amber spoke up again. “Actually... They would never find her dead body.”

A sudden oppressing atmosphere pushed down on Violet. “What do you mean?”

“If you die inside a barrier, your body will get eaten by the witch's magic. You would simply disappear from this world. You would turn into an eternal missing case.”

All muscles in her body tense up before she broke out in a flash sweat and began to breathe heavily. A sudden shock electrocuted her body and left her numbed, and in that moment she could not keep calm anymore.“That's it. There's no way I'm ever gonna throw myself into this. I see you are really happy to be a Sorceress, but I simply can not understand why any pony would do this to themselves. You go fight that witch if you want to so badly, but don't you count on me joining you as a Sorceress. That's why you wanted to take me along isn't it? Hoping I would make a wish and join you? As a normal pony I would only be a hindrance to you anyway.”

When Violet looked up from the ground again, Rose stood in front of her. Before she could act, Rose embraced her. Violet tried to speak but all the air got stuck inside her, her heart racing. Rose pressed Violet's body tightly against her own, allowing Violet to feel her heart beat. Why was it so slow?

“I'm sorry, Violet. I hoped I could share some of my enthusiasm with you, but I guess I overdid it. And we would never force you to become a Sorceress if you don't want to, we just wanted to show you the door. It is up to you what you want to do and we won't force you. This might sound weird but...” Rose loosened her grip. “We would actually really like it if you came along just as you are.”

Violet let go of Rose and averted her face. “Thank you so much, Daybreak.” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself while she took off her glasses for a second to wipe her face clean of tears. “Actually, even though I am really scared of these things, I do trust you to protect me. I believe in you, Daybreak.” Words formed in Violet's mouth and sprang forth without any hesitation or consideration. Her thoughts did not matter anymore, they were discarded along the way. “It can't be wrong to be close to her.”

As Violet looked past Rose she noticed Amber had her body turned away. She shivered. Then, Amber slowly walked away, her hoofsteps slower than usual. Violet and Rose followed.

An ebb and flow of happiness and subtle terror overcame Violet in the next few minutes. In her mind she danced between repeating the horrors she had witnessed and Rose's embrace. Like a pendulum her thoughts swung from all the scenarios that could kill her to the company of new friends and new, furthered horizons with a look towards a future. Ultimately, every thought ended with the sight of Rose in front of her.

The awkward silence returned, but this time no pony felt like they had to break it. After a little while, Amber stopped in her tracks and raised her hoof. “We are here.” She pointed at an abandoned tower.

Chapter 3: Pugna cum maga (Duel with the witch)

On the outskirts of Kamino laid relics of ancient villages. The overgrown remnants of a great watchtower stood among those. Even though the tooth of time slowly gnawed away at its facade, it still rose to a considerable height.

As the trio approached the tower, it didn't take them long to notice that atop the tower stood a solitary pony, leaning over the edge. Her silken mane drifted in the winds above the abyss. Violet tried her hardest to confirm it, but from the base of the tower it almost seemed like the pony smiled. A smile that bore itself into her mind.

Violet panicked. She turned towards Rose and shook her, but noticed she only caused the troubled look on Rose's face to intensify. “Daybreak, we need to do something! She might–”

With one small hop the pony tossed her body off the edge and hurtled towards the ground. Violet and Rose let out a sharp shriek while covering their mouths with their hooves. Even before the pony landed, Violet had already concocted every possible image the dead pony would paint. She could not stop painting these, even if her mind screamed at her to do something, anything. She had resigned herself.

A few meters before the ground, the falling body somehow decelerated in its descend. Sparkling ribbons of extreme length materialized in mid-air, forming a haphazard safety net. With this, the pony slowed down just enough that when it reached the ground it had completely lost all its momentum and with the ribbons disappearing, landed smoothly.

Violet swung her head around and noticed Amber, once again sporting a horn, the gem attached to it radiating with a golden glimmer which engulfed the rest of the horn. The glow stopped momentarily as she galloped over to the pony lying on the ground. Violet and Rose followed her.

Amber took a closer look at what she found. “It's okay, she's just unconscious. She must have been controlled by the witch.”

Rose immediately jumped at Amber, wildly flailing her hooves around. “That was amazing, Amber!”

Amber finally cracked a smile. “Thank you, Rose. But next time, how about you lend me a hoof instead of just staring?” Rose quickly averted her face while biting her lip.

“Erm, Spirit?” Violet approached Amber. “That horn... Why do you need that?”

“Well, the horn is quite important actually. It allows us to amplify the magic of our Soul Gems and focus it on whatever spell we are trying to use. I shouldn't really call them 'spells' though, since we use magic in a flexible way. Unlike some fictional stories about wizards and sorcerers you might have read, we don't really use set-in-stone spells that you could read up in a book, we have certain abilities and ways to use magic, and apply them to our needs on the fly.”

Having made sure the civilian pony was okay for now, the three entered the tower. As expected, it only consisted of scattered pieces of stone that were once part of the building, overgrown by the rampant nature. The subtle smell of flowers mixed with the sound of birds chirping and the sight of a peaceful ruin had a strangely relaxing influence on Violet.

Amber's Soul Gem now glowed even brighter than before, giving off an audible humming noise. Lowering her head and pointing her horn forwards, she shot a small burst of energy that bounced against an invisible wall in the center of the room. Incomprehensible scribblings and foreign runes formed in mid-air, until they almost completely covered the invisible wall. Bolts of crackling red lightning shot across its surface and tore a hole into it, destroying some of the runes.

Instinctively, Violet had buried her head in the grass when the sound of rolling thunder boomed through the tower, but she at least managed to watch with one eye. The recent events did take a toll on Violet's fitness, which she noticed: she could feel a little sting in her heart, yet it was not enough to cause concern just yet.

Rose pointed towards the strange array of magic. “This gateway will lead us into the witch's lair. Even though we can make for the exit at any time I want to make sure: do you still want to come along? You can turn around at any point if you want to.”

Violet gulped while looking ahead. The runes floating in front of her whirred with a deep hum. Strangely, they also smelled faintly of rot. For a moment, while there was silence, Violet felt dwarfed by the display of magic in front of her. Any second, an unseen threat could attack her and she would be defenseless if she was by herself. “We are gonna make it aren't we? You do this all the time right?”

Rose raised her usual smile once again. “Usually Sorceresses hunt witches on their own, but we even have two of them, one of which is a seasoned veteran. And we also have you to cheer us on! With all of this, we have plenty of things to fall back on, should anything go wrong.” She grabbed Violet's hoof. “If everything goes as planned, the barrier will crumble around us and we will find ourselves back out here.”

Raising her hoof into the air Rose shouted: “Okay everypony here we go! Today we will make Komaria one witch safer for ponykind!” With one small leap Amber traversed the gateway, momentarily disappearing behind the runes. Violet tried to shout for her, but was instead dragged by Rose into the gateway.

The other side of the gateway provided a look of similar impossible nature to the barrier Violet had already found herself in before. Turning around, no immediate way back out could be seen anymore. Instead, the trio stood on a lengthy bridge towering over a great chasm that reached into an impenetrable darkness. The chasm and bridge seemed to be inside an enormous circular tower, as Violet spotted walls of constantly shifting cardboard paper—dyed in different hues—as far as the eye could reach in every direction. No base for these walls could be seen and no ceiling which they might have held up, almost like there was also a chasm above them.

Amber raised her voice. “Let's not wait around for too long. We should destroy the witch as soon as possible!” With this, Amber galloped forwards, followed by the other two ponies.

Violet started huffing rather soon but tried to get some words out in between her breaths. “Why do we need to hurry so much?” She suppressed the now spreading pain in her extremities as much as she could.

Amber turned her head around while still galloping at a high speed. “It is unwise to stay in a barrier longer than needed, since you will attract more minions each minute. This minimizes the danger for you.”

Before Violet could ask what minions are, traces of laughter sounded from the chasm. With each passing second the laughter grew louder, until it became almost unbearably loud.

“They found us!” Rose stopped in her tracks. Momentarily, a shining light engulfed her body and in the next moment, her horn appeared out of thin air with sparkles of pink light-beams.

Just as Rose had completed her transformation, an army of pony-sized cotton balls wearing—probably fake—mustaches shot up from below, now towering over the trio on all sides. They counted somewhere between seventy and a hundred.

Violet immediately threw herself on the ground and shielded her face, her body trembling. She tried to let out a scream but could not muster the air to produce one. She thought she had just stuck her face on the rather cold floor, yet she felt oddly warm. It was a pleasant, soothing warmth. Additionally, she noticed a light through her closed eyelids. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a sparkling ring of light engulfed her. Violet wanted to ask what that ring of light was, but instead had her attention was glued to what she beheld.

Amber jumped high into the air, her horn starting to glow. Reaching the apex of her jump she floated in mid-air, and with a screeching sound, a wall of silver guns materialized in front of Amber. She pointed one hoof at the minions while lifting her other skywards. She dropped her hoof downwards and slammed it onto her other hoof, and her weapons fired golden burst of energy, one from each weapon. These shots either pierced the cotton balls, causing them to poof, or embedded themselves inside them, only to then explode and tear them apart from the inside.

Meanwhile, Rose turned towards the other side and summoned a bow, fashioned out of twigs and branches, and levitated it in front of her in a vertical position. Atop the bow, a tiny rose stood up from a twig. Using her magic, she grasped the string. As she pulled it, a ray of light manifested as a sort of arrow, while a flame flickered atop the rose. The further she pulled the string, the greater and brighter the flame of pink hue grew, until it developed into a flare of considerable size. Releasing the shot, the magical arrow zoomed forwards and punctured one of the cotton balls as they came closer. Suddenly, the arrow exploded in a bright light which then engulfed a massive amount of cotton balls. As the light faded, none of the minions the light had touched could be seen anymore.

After both finished their attacks, only a few clouds of smoke remained around the bridge. Rose turned around, only to see Amber suddenly tossing one of her weapons towards her. Quickly ducking, she evaded the flying gun and watched as it hit a last cotton ball behind her.

Amber took a quick breather. “That should have been all of them. You can get up now Violet.” Violet had still been cowering on the floor, having a hard time to listen to Amber's words over the sound of her own heartbeat and the ringing in her head after the blaring gunshots.

As she finally willed herself onto her hooves again, the warm light around her disappeared. “You were never really in danger. I put a protection field around you to keep you safe. It takes up a fair bit of magic to conjure up and it only works in a very small radius, so it's not very useful for oneself.” She raised an eyebrow as Violet patted some dirt off herself. It probably was dirt, judging from where it came from, yet it flickered with a spectral glow. “It's perfect to protect other ponies though.”

Violet's jaw dropped to the floor as she looked around herself and saw none of the minions remaining. She witnessed flickering orange and pink flakes of magic falling down around her, illuminating the surrounding darkness. Such destructive power, combined with such beauty. This must be what true heroes are like. “Wow that was amazing. No wonder you were so confident in yourself!”

Rose jumped at Violet and hugged her while breaking into a laugh. “I told you we are the greatest Sorceress team ever to walk Komaria!” Violet squinted back at her, but couldn't help but laugh along with her. “I didn't? Well I did now!”

Amber coughed loudly to grab their attention and then pointed towards something peculiar on one end of the bridge, after which the trio started galloping ahead once more, this time in a more lighthearted manner.

While on their way, Violet glanced at Amber. “Those weapons you used, what are they?”

“Oh these?” While still in motion, she conjured a gun and levitated it alongside her. “This is a musket. It is capable of propelling a single shot at a high speed. This might seem hard to believe, but these are made entirely out of magic. Same with the ammunition I use. That doesn't make them any less deadly, which you probably noticed.”

The muskets appeared and disappeared into thin air each time, accompanied only by orange-colored flashes of magic. Violet was not particularly fond of weapons, yet what she saw of Amber's magic subtly intrigued her. She thought about wanting to do something cool like that herself, but quickly buried that thought amid visions of hardships the sorceresses must face, like getting badly wounded, or even dying and losing one's corpse in a barrier.

After a fair bit of galloping, the trio finally reached what they had been aiming for: a door.

At first, Violet wanted to lean on the edge of the bridge to rest, but the sight of the abyss below made her instinctively recoil, throwing her sight upwards where she recoiled again at the same sight above.

Violet instead dropped to the ground, completely out of breath. Without even noticing how much her body revolted against her movements, she had made her way all the way to her destination, but now that moment of respite made her aware of that burning pain in her chest. She took off her glasses to wipe her face clean of sweat before she spoke. “Please tell me this is it. I didn't know I would have to gallop so much.” She took a deep breath every few syllables, her chest bulging each time. At least, despite everything, Violet felt like she was alive, since exhaustion and pain could not be felt by a corpse. She had not embraced life in the last few years.

Amber and Rose stared at each other. Both of them still seemed perfectly fine, and the distance they covered wasn't even that far to begin with. “You're in luck. This is the entrance to the core of the barrier.” Amber said as she leaned over Violet.

Violet glanced past the door for a second. It didn't actually lean against a wall and the bridge continued behind it. In fact, it seemed like the walls were as distant as ever. The rules of reality certainly did not apply here.

Suddenly Amber started to speak. “Don't try to question a barrier too much, it is magic after all. A witch's magic is quite different from ours if you look at it. While we control ours in well thought-out bursts, they let their magic flow freely around them, bending the space inside their barrier to whatever wicked mind they have. Every witch has their own special barrier which they project their magic into. At least they are all nice enough to have a core a Sorceress can aim for.”

Rose made a puzzled expression. “How do you know all this?” As soon as she had spoken, she immediately backed off. “I'm sorry I didn't mean to undermine your eh...” She scratched the back of her head while producing a comically bad smile. “I just eh... don't understand how you could know that much from just hunting witches.”

Amber locked eyes with Rose for a few seconds before tilting her head and breaking into a smile of her own. “It's simple. I don't.” Violet's and Rose's eyes shot far open, along with their mouths. “Would I be more of a help if I said I have no idea what we are running into? Would you still follow me as you did?” Her voice grew more solemn with every word. “I want to protect you as best I can and telling you all this calms you down, doesn't it?” The other two didn't respond. “Besides, it's not like I'm trying to lie to you on purpose. In fact, my 'information' is based on a year-long observation. I gather as many facts about the witches as I can while fighting them and traversing their barriers, to back up my ideas.”

She didn't wait for their response and instead reached for the door handle. As her hoof was still an inch away from touching it, the door suddenly opened on its own. The barrier around them contorted its shape as it shifted its nature. After only another second, the trio found themselves in a different room all together, the door in front of them gone.

Giant images of various tapestries hushed over the walls, folding around the walls as circular tapes. The floor mimicked an oddly misplaced field of grass, yet strands of black vines laced with thorns entangled and suffocated it. Scattered around the field laid common objects like ladders, scissors, and rulers, yet blown up to an enormous size—big enough to make ponies seem like ants next to them.

In the center of the room sat a being of repugnant form. Its form and texture resembled that of a heart or a liver, big enough that even a tower of ten ponies couldn't touch its top. Its head—at least it was in the position a head should be—resembled a melting clump of moss that leaked pieces of it down onto its body. Despite its horrid appearance, it remained seemingly peaceful in its position, as if sleeping.

“That's what we came for.” Amber lent a hoof to Violet to get her back on her hooves. “The witch of this lair.”

Rose stepped forwards and took a look at the witch from afar, before turning to Amber. “Amber if you'd let me, I would like to fight the witch alone this time.” Amber furrowed her brows as Rose continued. “I won't be defeated by a witch again. And if anything does go wrong you can jump in at any time.”

Amber appeared to be lost in thought for a second while Violet's eyes shot far open. “Surely Spirit won't–”

“All right, go ahead Rose.”

Violet wildly flailed her hooves around as she frantically bounced her gaze between the two. There was no space to test ideas or try new things, one wrong move could spell the end, one little mistake could kill Rose, and yet Amber sat back? No matter how Violet looked at it, if a witch was cut from the same cloth as the familiars, then fighting it at maximum capacity was the only logical strategy.

Rose did a little hop towards Violet. “Don't worry Violet. Ever since I became a Sorceress this is what I wanted to do. Having Amber here is almost unfair to the witches since we usually fight alone.”

Amber quickly averted her face. Violet couldn't make out why Amber turned away as she got distracted by Rose suddenly jumping towards the witch.

“Don't worry, you'll be safe here,” Amber said as she turned her face back around. Something in her eyes had changed, but the rest of her face went back to its usual stern and determined look. “If the witch comes over here I can conjure that shield around you again.”

Shouldn't she be caring about Daybreak instead of her?She couldn't work up the courage to talk back at Amber when her face looked as serious as this, yet she would never forgive Amber if she lost Rose today. Besides, her body and parts of her mind were already exhausted to the point that mostly ran on autopilot, unable to take any sort of control of the situation she found herself in.

The witch of diligence: it longed to construct an environment that was proper. In its desire to create, shape, and rearrange it ended up shaping a world that delighted none but the witch itself. Ultimately, it was blinded by its own vision and regarded even the existence of anything foreign as an attack on its ideals.

Rose slowly walked towards the witch, carefully stepping over the thorny vines as she got closer. After having traversed about half the distance, the witch's head sprouted rose flowers, two of which were larger than the rest. The flowers danced around the moss for a while before suddenly snapping into position at its front, all pointing at Rose. Directly afterwards, the witch shuffled towards Rose at an alarming speed.

As the witch rushed towards her, Rose still found the time to take a small bow before the witch, before conjuring her wooden bow. Right as the witch was about to hit her, Rose jumped high into the air, far higher than any pony should have been able to, and leaped above the witch. From there, Rose fired a series of quick shots which all missed their target as the witch had already jumped towards the wall with tremendous speed.

Landing back on the floor, Rose fired even more arrows at the witch, who now ran across the outer wall of the room, dodging every arrow effortlessly. Despite its enormous size, the witch actually managed to out-speed the much smaller Rose. Additionally, its movements appeared unreasonably erratic as its body shifted from one side to another in an instant, constantly changing shape in split-seconds. After having circled the entire room, the witch flung its body directly at Rose. She managed to only barely dodge by flinging herself to the side, tumbling away from the impact while she lost her magical grip on her bow.

Just as Rose tried to get back up on her feet, a small army of butterflies emerged from the floor below and surrounded her. Before she could react, the butterflies banded together to form a lengthy chain which wrapped itself around one of Rose's hindhooves. The chain pulled her up into the air while the witch jumped around the room like a madpony.

For only a hoofful of seconds, the chain seized its movement, during which Rose tried to reach out with her magic for the bow on the ground. She barely managed to get a grip on it again and levitated it up towards her. Right then the chain flung her around the room while Rose fired a handful of pink dart-like arrows towards the ground, creating tiny holes in the field of grass. Just then, the chain let go of Rose and tossed her headfirst into the wall.

Violet screamed and immediately covered her open mouth with both her hooves while Amber conjured up a few muskets and aimed them at the jumping witch.

“No, Amber! I'm okay!” Rose's voice sounded from the large imprint she had left in the wall as she leaped back into the air.

Suddenly, the witch stopped jumping and instead moved towards the holes Rose shot into the ground earlier. Just as it got close, long glowing vines erupted from the floor and shot high into the air. The roses on the witch's head shifted around once again, until the witch had conjured an army of flying scissors, which it tried to cut the vines with. While the witch was distracted, Rose conjured a giant arrow. As she drew the string back, the flame atop the rose reappeared and grew larger and brighter than ever. Finally, she let the shot go.

The arrow hit its mark as it tore deep into the witch's body. Just a split-second later, a bright light erupted from within its body, right before a loud bang ripped it apart from the inside, scattering bits of it all over the field of grass. Victory!

Violet rushed towards Rose as her horn disappeared with a bright smile on her face. Amber followed her, also transforming back.

Violet took a leap and divehugged Rose who fell onto the ground along with her. At that moment, the barrier crumbled and shifted out of existence as they found themselves in the old tower again.

“Daybreak! Are you all right?” Violet released her grip on Rose to take a look at her.

“I'm fine, really.” As she said that, Violet threw herself at Rose again.

“I was so worried...” Violet said while suppressing the urge the clench her chest, which still hurt as much as ever, though she could now additionally feel a certain warmth surrounding her heart. The sudden rush of emotions that overcame her in that moment felt like a liberating roar. She internally shouted and screamed that they were all alive and she knew she had made the right choice accompanying Rose.

Meanwhile, Amber moved towards the center of the room, where a small black object of round shape rested on the floor. She picked it up and carried it over to the other two ponies who interrupted their hug to face Amber.

She placed the object in Rose's hoof. “You did fantastic today. Why don't you show your reward to Violet?” Rose cracked a smile as she agreed. She placed her Soul Gem on the floor and gestured Violet to watch it. “Do you see what I'm gonna be addressing next?”

Violet didn't have to inspect the Soul Gem closely to notice the sparkling color of the Soul Gem was visibly darker than before and black clouds hushed over its surface. “What is happening to it?”

Rose took a quick glance at Amber who nodded back at her. She then turned back to Violet. “Basically, whenever we use magic, our Soul Gem turns darker. In order to always be able to cast our magic, we need to make sure it stays as pristine as ever. The only way to do this, is to use these here.” She took the black object—which looked like a small round metal cage trapping a black cloud—and held it in front of Violet's eyes. “This is a Grief Seed. It is dropped by witches and allows us to cleanse our Soul Gem of its blackness. Just look.” She placed the Grief Seed right next to Soul Gem. With a small sizzling sound, a black cloud of smoke left the Soul Gem and gravitated into the Grief Seed.

“Wow, it's all shiny again!” Violet said with a wide open mouth.

Rose took another look at the Grief Seed before tossing it over to Amber. “I think this one has another use left in it.”

Amber caught the Grief Seed and took a quick glance at it. “You're right.” She took out her Soul Gem and cleansed it just like Rose did. She turned towards the other two again. “You did really well today, Rose. And thank you for coming along today, Violet.”

Violet felt something rumble in her mind. Thanks for what?

Amber continued. “I think it's time we head back for now. You are all welcome to join me for a cup of tea.”

***

Something had happened to Violet that she hadn't experienced in a long time: she felt like the time she spent was worth spending. Even before her illness she had many days at the end of which she had felt like she had not experienced anything worthwhile and had wasted another 24 hours. As a side effect of this, the past few days felt a lot longer and so it came that by the time her meet-up with Azure, Rose, and Leafy in the ice-cream parlor came around, she already felt a lot better about the time she spent with her new friends.

Azure put down her ice-cream on the table and inspected Violet's mane. “You really want to keep braiding your hair? I'm sure if you were to remove those ribbons and liberate your hair you would look a lot cooler.” She tried to reach for the ribbons, but Violet swatted her hooves away.

“No Marina! I like them how they are.”

“Aw you're no fun! I was gonna get those glasses next you know?”

Sitting around a rectangular table, the four of them leaned back to unwind after a hard week of studying. They passed most of their time talking about random topics, alongside more serious matters.

Leafy glanced at Azure. “Have you visited Slate today? How is he doing?”

Azure let out a sigh. “Not a whole lot better. He's not making any progress.”

While Azure was busy talking to Leafy, Rose leaned over the table to whisper in Violet's ear. “Slate is an old friend of Azure's. Recently, he was in an accident and had trouble moving one of his fore-hooves.”

Violet looked over at Azure. The happiness visibly drained from her face the more she talked about Slate's state.

“Maybe the doctors can figure something out. There must be some way they can get his hoof working again.” She stared out the window. “But even if they can't, I hope they at least figure out a way he can play his violin again. When I came into his room today, he just stared out the window like this. He barely even noticed me until I sat down next to him. And even then he didn't even seem to realize I was there, he looked right through me. I don't want to see him like this...”

Leafy patted Azure on the shoulder. “Don't worry so much. I'm sure he'll get better.”

Violet could have sworn the color of Azure's fur had grown pale. She was slumped over in her seat and her body was noticeably shivering. Violet tried to catch her eyes, but there was no gaze to be met.

Azure took a deep breath. “You're probably right.” In one quick motion, she turned her head 90 degrees and looked at Violet, her eyes suddenly ignited with a new flame. “Enough about that, we got a new one here. So, Violet Somnia, what brings you to Kamino of all places?” Azure took another swing at her ice-cream while she waited for an answer.

“Actually, it wasn't my idea really. My parents thought it would be a good idea if I were to get out of Bluegrass.” She wasn't quite sure of the exact reasoning behind her move, but she simply scratched it up to a whim of her parent's. Not that it would matter to her either way.

Azure tilted her head. “Had some trouble over there?”

“It wasn't that really. It doesn't matter.”

“So, what do you think of Kamino? Took a tour around the city yet?” Leafy said.

Violet scratched the back of her head. “Not quite but... I did see some interesting parts of the city.”

“That reminds me,” Azure said while tapping the table with her spoon, “whenever I glanced over at you in class you seemed to be looking over at Ging, our class pet newt. Are you interested in him? Want me to tell you some stories about him? I got some wild ones to tell ya if you want to. There was this one time he–“

“Well it's just that erm... I haven't seen many newts around so I was a bit curious what they were like.” Violet scratched her head while looking for more words. She had looked at him a few times in class, but that was mostly to make sure he wasn't dead. She could not admit that.

Rose took a quick glance at a clock that hung over the exit. “Oh I forgot. Me and Violet have some place to be. I'm sorry we have to cut it short this time.”

Azure shifted her body forwards while raising her voice. “What? But I haven't even asked her yet what her favorite song is! How am I gonna live with myself not knowing that? And besides, where–“ She paused momentarily as her eyes darted back and forth between Rose and Violet. Finally, her eyes met with Leafy's, who nodded back at her in approval. Then, she fell backwards and nodded to herself. “Oh I see what it's like. Not even a week and you are already going out together.”

“Shouldn't you be mad Violet is stealing your beloved away?” Leafy added.

“I told you it's not like that!” Azure raised her hoof in anger and waved it at Leafy.

Rose cracked a laugh before turning and heading for the exit with Violet.

“Where does that pony even got those ideas from?” Violet said, looking back at Azure. As ludicrous as Azure's joke was, if she lived in a different dimension where it was true, Violet probably would not have minded.

“That's just her. She's actually a really nice friend. Ever since we were foals she was always the one to make the day interesting and entertain us. And even if she might seem rude sometimes, I can guarantee you she doesn't mean it.”

Finally outside, Violet spoke to Rose in a slightly lower tone. “And you think you can keep your Sorceress business a secret from her and Leafy?”

Rose continued in her regular tone. “She hasn't behaved any differently ever since I became a Sorceress, so I don't think she suspects anything. I want to keep it a secret if I can, since I don't want to drag too many ponies into this.”

Violet slumped down and let out a sigh. Rose tapped her on the shoulder. “Don't be like this. We absolutely had to save you, and the witches and familiars attack ponies at random, so you shouldn't fault yourself for getting yourself caught up in all of this. Also, I'm quite happy that I can share my new world with at least one of my friends.” She pointed ahead. “Now let's get going, we promised to meet Amber in a few minutes. She said it was something important.”

Chapter 4: Magia

Rose and Violet took a seat at the triangular table. Three cups of tea were already placed on it at exactly the spots where everyone had been sitting last time, with what looked like the exact same amount of tea in both Rose's and Violet's cup, with only Amber's cup already being half-empty. On the other end of the table, Amber took a seat next to her cup and adjusted her position multiple times.

“So Amber, what did you want to talk about? Found any traces of another witch?” Rose said as she leaned more over the table with every word.

Before responding, Amber took a slow and lengthy gulp of her tea. Her hooves were slightly shivering, yet her face remained largely in its usual stern state. “Actually, I asked you here today because of something different.” She placed her now empty cup back on the table before getting up and walking towards the window. From there, she pointed towards the direction of Bluegrass. “As you might already know, I'm originally from Bluegrass. I moved to Kamino after I heard from other Sorceresses that there weren't enough Sorceresses to cover this city, a problem which Bluegrass didn't have.”

She lowered her hoof but continued to stare out the window. “I knew a few other Sorceresses over there, but most of them only hung around to get their share of Grief Seeds before leaving again to continue with their regular life before the next witch appeared. As such, I could never really call any of them my friends.” A hint of a smile appeared on her lips. “Not her though. One day I stumbled upon a Sorceress locked in a fight with a most wicked witch. I won't go into the details here, but in the end, it looked like she was losing to the witch. Of course I intervened and saved her, something which has become quite my signature afterwards.”

Finally, she moved away from the window and sat down at the table again. Both Rose and Violet each listened closely while taking sips of tea now and then. “I was surprised with how she reacted. Instead of just thanking me and tucking her tail between her legs in shame that she was almost witch-food, she approached me and asked me to take her under my wings. Obviously I agreed and we became great friends afterwards.” Amber pointed at Rose and Violet with one hoof each, and then made slight gestures towards herself. “Just between us: she was the only Sorceress I could call a friend up until the point I moved to Kamino. But of course things took a change for the worse at some point.”

Rose let out a gasp and covered her mouth. Amber tapped her on the hoof. “She's still alive, don't worry. However, the wish she made in order to help not her, but everypony around her, had set an unstoppable chain of events in motion. At the end of this chain awaited a tragedy that robbed her of her entire family. After this, she was never the same.”

Amber slowly dropped her head and adapted a look Violet had not yet seen on her face before: her eyes lost their fire, her face drained of any energy. “She used to fight for justice and for the good of ponykind. These were ideals that I had taught her. Ideals that I hold up to this day and try to teach to any Sorceress I know. But after she lost her family, she grew bitter. She told me that making a wish for another pony's sake only leads to inevitable tragedy, as they would never understand the wonderful truths of such a wish. Instead, one should make a wish for their own good and use their magic to benefit only themselves.”

Violet had stopped taking sips and instead stared at Amber, mouth agape. She couldn't move anymore. Amber continued. “I tried to reason with her, but to no avail. A short while later, we parted ways. Some time after that I moved to Kamino.”

Rose's voice trembled. “I'm so sorry Amber, I never knew,” she said while wiping her face clean of tears.

Violet moved closer to Rose and hesitantly moved her hooves around her. Was this how you comforted somepony? As she had hoped, Rose seemed to not mind Violet's embrace.

“Thank you, Violet,” Rose said with a voice calmer than before. Violet felt something odd well up inside her. She hadn't dealt with a friend like Rose before. In fact, she never felt as 'at home' around any pony as much as around Rose. After going through life without any specific goal in mind and shutting herself off in the process, Violet finally understood that being there for your friends is the least one can do.

After Rose had calmed down again, Amber continued while making a slight gesture towards both Rose and Violet. “That is exactly what I called you here for today. After seeing how well you two got along when we were hunting that witch, I was reminded of that Sorceress from Bluegrass and myself. I thought I could get over losing her as a friend, but I just can't get her out of my head. And that is why I have decided to go back to Bluegrass for a while and look for her.”

Rose immediately waved her hooves around in the air as her voice accelerated. “Hold on, if you go over there now then that means I am the only Sorceress left over here!”

Amber cracked a reassuring smile. “I wouldn't be so sure about that. New Sorceresses make contracts all the time and other Sorceresses will come to Kamino like I did. Also, I won't be gone for a long time. As soon as I find her and reassure her safety I will come back to Kamino. If I don't manage to find her within two weeks I will come back anyway.”

She got up and moved over towards Rose. She leaned over her and grabbed her shoulder. “Rose Daybreak, I have never seen a Sorceress with potential such as you. That witch you fought was one of the most powerful ones I have ever seen. If I had known that witch had possessed such speed I would have never let you fight it alone. And yet you still managed to beat it, even though you have only been a Sorceress for two weeks. Kamino is in the best hooves I could imagine.”

With each word Amber said, Rose's bitter smile grew until she tossed herself at Amber. “Thank you so much for believing in me, Amber! I promise I will protect this city until you are back!”

Amber glanced at Violet before speaking up again. “If you want to know more about our world, Violet, you can always ask Rose here. But in case even she can't help you, I suggest you take Kiubee along with you. He can grant you an insight even I can't give you.”

With this, she pointed at Kiubee who sat in a corner, lying in a pile of stuffed toys. As soon as Amber had finished her sentence, Kiubee jumped up and walked towards Violet. “Hi again. I will try my best to answer any question you might have. Think of me as something like a tour guide!”

Even though Rose seemed apprehensive of Amber leaving, Violet did not mind herself. Rose was an exceptional Sorceress, the veteran Amber declared it so. She might miss the casual get-togethers they had in Amber's house, but apart from that she was content with the prospect of going on hunts with Rose alone.

***

“Hey Daybreak, you think you will find another familiar today? Maybe even a witch?”

It had been a few days since Amber left the city, yet the mood turned calmer by the day. After Violet had first been saved, hardly any day had passed without her running around, watching Amber and Rose fight evil monsters, and getting lectured about the world of magic. Recently though, Violet finally managed to relax and wind down with her best friend. “This is what life must feel like.”

“I hoped to fight at least a familiar yesterday, but there's so few of them lately.” Rose walked alongside Violet, who both trotted home after a regular day of school. Kiubee followed them as well, balancing on a fence to the side. “Do you think another Sorceress is helping us? It's impossible to keep a tab on where in the city I picked up what kind of witch's trace. And they appear and disappear so quickly. Since Sorceresses hide their identities it's hard to tell how many Sorceresses really operate in this city, but there is probably at least another one.”

Violet increased her speed, pulling ahead and stopping in front of Rose, turning to face her. “We just have to find them you know.”

A subtle smile appeared on Rose's face. “Can't hurt to try. Where do we start?”

Violet contorted her face to comically exaggerate the fact she tried to come up with an idea. She more often adapted a comical style of gestures and facial expressions recently. She figured it would make companionship with her more fun for her company. Having arrived at a conclusion, she raised her hoof in the air. “It's simple!” She pulled the hoof downwards and pointed at Kiubee. “We ask him of course.”

Kiubee spoke without opening his mouth as usual while still balancing on the fence. “You are right, I have indeed contracted another Sorceress just four days ago.” Both Rose and Violet leaned over Kiubee, their faces sprawling with excitement and anticipation. “Their name... can not be disclosed in accordance to my rules.”

Rose sighed as she slumped down along with Violet. “Would have been too easy I guess.”

“I am, however, allowed to tell you if a pony is a Sorceress. If you want to, I can identify the Sorceress in question if you find them and ask me.”

Violet jumped upwards and raised her hooves high in the air. “It's settled then! We simply run around the city, go to a bunch of places where many ponies gather and we will find our mysterious helper in no time! I'm sure you don't mind identifying all the ponies that walk past us,” Violet said while inching closer to Kiubee and trying to put on a mischievous grimace.

Despite Violet's enthusiasm, Rose slumped down even further. “We should also look for Azure while we are on it.”

Violet tried to meet Rose's eyes but had trouble doing so, as her face moved further towards the ground. “Is it because of yesterday?”

“Yes, Violet. She ran away with a teary face, shouting something about Leafy. I tried to go after her but she outran me and headed off somewhere into the park. When I managed to get a hold of Leafy later, she told me she had sat down with Azure and told her that she would confess her love to Slate unless Azure stopped her. She wanted to give Azure a chance since she always visited Slate in the hospital. Leafy also told me that Azure seemed visibly shaken, but not to the point that she would run away. She rushed towards the park and no pony saw her since.”

If Violet had been holding anything, she would have surely dropped it out of shock as she heard the story in its entirety for the first time. “You don't think–”

“No, Violet. I can rule out that a witch of familiar attacked her. It was still too early in the day for them to attack any ponies. Even if they did, some pony would have surely noticed her going missing along the crowded park.”

Violet tapped her lip. “The only news along those lines I read in the paper today was about a case of two stallions being murdered in an alley. Apart from that there was nothing on any missing or dead ponies.”

Rose forced a halfhearted smile onto her face. “See? I'm sure after she talked to Leafy she couldn't contain her emotions anymore and simply ran away. She must be out there somewhere.”

“So in any case, the park should be the first place we go to?” Despite trying to remain calm and logical, Violet couldn't shake the unsettling feeling they did not know nearly enough about the story. Why would Rose only be told about this second-hoof from Leafy? Why would Azure not seek her friends if she was upset? No matter how hard she tried thinking about these questions, Violet did not know Azure that well after all, or Leafy for that matter, or anyone apart from Amber and Rose.

“You took the words out of my mouth! Let's go!”

***

It only took a few minutes to reach said park. Situated in the center of Kamino, one could reach many parts of the city with only a quick jaunt from here. The school laid behind them to the south, the western exit lead towards the train station from where one could board a train to other cities such as Bluegrass, to the north stretched a strip of great skyscrapers, and to the east laid the residential district, where the Kami river took its path.

With no particular plan in mind, the two wandered along several ways, crossing through multiple parts of the park. When they trotted past the central fountain, Rose stopped in her tracks. “Violet, do you see that over there?” She pointed towards what appeared to be an abandoned stand. “There used to be a mare selling apples over there. I wonder what happened?”

Violet walked towards the stand and inspected a sign that hung on its front. “It says the owner has to restock on apples because some ponies raided her supplies. Hm...” She tapped her lips with her hoof before turning to Rose. “Daybreak, do you notice something off?”

With no immediate answer at hoof, Rose shook her head. “I don't understand what should be off about this. Are you trying to be a detective?”

Violet made an exaggerated 'aha' sound before continuing. “You see, Miss Daybreak, you take what you see and immediately add them to your repertoire of assumptions, without asking questions about them. If you read a story about a gun going off and then some pony falling over, your first questions should be 'Was it really a bullet that made the pony fall over? Maybe he just tripped and the bullet missed?'”

Rose contorted her face. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Keeping up an odd act such as this would surely have taxed Violet mentally if it was two weeks ago, but not anymore. “Ask yourself this: how do they know it was multiple ponies that stole the apples?”

Rose's eyes widened as she began fumbling for the right words. Finally, her mouth spat out a coherent sentence. “What if they saw them?”

Mimicking a teacher, Violet extended her hoof to point at Rose, acting like she stood in a pool of other students and Rose had raised her hoof. “That is a possibility, but rather unlikely as the thieves probably stole them at night when nopony was watching them. I think the most likely theory is also the one closest to the truth. They probably think them to be multiple ponies, because they stole a whole ton of apples. A singular pony couldn't have transported a larger amount of apples at once.”

Rose clapped her hooves and bounced a couple of times on her hooves. “Brilliant thinking Violet!” She broke into a laugh. “I'm not sure how this helped us, but–”

“Because I like talking to you, even if it's about stuff like this.” She turned on her hooves and took a couple of steps past Rose, staring at the sunny sky. “You know Daybreak, that reminded me of something. I think it would be really great if one could have a friend to just be there. A friend you can just sit next to and talk to about anything, some pony who you enjoy spending time with, no matter what it is you are passing the time with. There is something wonderful about that and I think that was what I had always been missing.” She turned towards Rose again and grabbed her hooves. “Thank you so much, Daybreak.”

Rose's salmon-colored face filled with a bright shade of red. Unsure what to say, both of them simply stared at each other with the noise of the splashing water provided by the fountain surrounding them. Similar to Rose, Violet's entire body tensed up more with each passing second, her mind racing as it tumbled over itself. “What did I just say? Am I out of my mind? Having friends is one of the most normal things in the world, but yet...”

Eventually, Violet let go of Rose's hooves. “I think we should keep on going now.” Every word had to be forced out of her, her body still refusing to calm down. Yet, her steps seemed not as heavy as she thought they would be. In fact, it almost felt like an invisible force drove her hooves onward. As she moved forwards, that very force swept away Rose along with her, both continuing their way through the park.

“You think Amber has found her friend yet?”

“Probably not yet, but I hope she will soon. I wonder what would have changed if we were there for her even more.”

Rose's voice immediately went higher than she probably wanted to sound. “What are you saying? We were there for her all the time.”

“Then why couldn't she stop thinking about her old friend? Surely I miss some ponies I knew back in my school in Bluegrass, but I don't have the immediate urge to go look for them to see if they are okay.” Besides, she wouldn't even know where to look for them. “Did she feel left out when the two of us grew closer as friends while seeing Amber only as a mentor?”

Rose shook her head. “I don't want to think about any of that. I'm sure she followed her heart. Besides, I'm really happy that we became friends. We shouldn't try to ruin that.”

“Any idea what's in her heart?”

“Justice,” Rose responded instantaneously, not having to think about the answer, “her own justice, as well as the universal justice that every pony in Komaria deserves.”

Violet adapted a slight smile as she tried to meet Rose's eyes. “And that's what's in your heart too?”

Rose mimicked Violet's smile. “I guess she inspired me. I don't exactly know what to call my version of justice though. I just want all ponies in Komaria to be safe and all Sorceresses to fight on with a smile on their face. Even when things get tough, if all of us stick together and look out for each other, I think we can really make a difference in Komaria.”

Rose's determination flickered in her eyes as Violet watched them. The sheer power of it forced a sigh out of Violet. “Maybe one day I can find my way as you have.”

“Don't worry, I will help you find it and make sure you don't lose it once you have.” With every word, a small amount of Rose's determination connected with Violet and lit up a part of her subconsciousness, slowly reinforcing her confidence from deep inside. “We make a greater team than you think. All the other Sorceresses out there should take us as an example for how to fight the just fight with your friends!”

There had been something Violet thought about before and as the conversation went the way it did, the thought crept into her mind again. She took a quick moment to fit together assorted pieces of memories before lowering her head slightly and muttering in a solemn voice: “When you defeated that familiar recently, it didn't drop a Grief Seed. And when you saved me from that familiar three weeks ago you did not ever mention something like that after I woke up. Is that what Amber talked about when she said other Sorceresses ignore familiars? They don't drop Grief Seeds at all, do they?”

Rose nodded. “We need Grief Seeds if we want to refill our magic power, so focusing on them should be a priority.” She stomped her hooves. “But we can't let the familiars have their way! We are the only ones who can stop them so it is our duty to hunt them down!” She clenched her hoof. “Amber is one of the few beacons that shine a light throughout the night, standing out of the sea of Sorceresses, while they only care to protect their own life and not the lives of those that need protecting. My goal is to one day become a Sorceress as great as her.”

Violet threw her hoof around Rose. “And I will help you with that.”

***

Days went by with little fighting. Only one other witch had been defeated until the two weeks Amber gave herself had almost passed. Rose and Violet continued their search for other Sorceresses and Azure each day, yet they found barely any trace of any helping Sorceress, while Azure remained missing.

“Tomorrow Amber will finally come back,” Rose said, trotting next to Violet down a path close to the train station.

“We can tell her about Azure and the other Sorceresses. I'm sure she knows something we can do to find them.” She turned her head towards Kiubee, who casually sat on the back of Rose. “I hoped he'd be more useful instead of just sitting and walking around without helping us in any way.”

Kiubee answered without turning his head, his eyes still looking at an invisible object in front of Rose. “You haven't encountered anything new or special, so obviously I couldn't have helped you if there never was anything to help you with. Additionally, none of the ponies you encountered since you asked me about identifying Sorceresses were indeed the Sorceress I contracted.”

Violet let out a sigh. “Well you did confirm there is at least one other Sorceress, so we know that part of the search won't be in vain.” She moved her hooves to give Rose a quick hug, knowing that she would think about Azure again. “It's okay Daybreak, we're sure to find her at some point.” Finishing her embrace, Violet took a quick glance at the sky. “Odd. I thought I just felt a raindrop hit my head, but the sky is as clear as ever.”

Rose followed Violet's eyes and gazed skywards. “It's not just you, I also noticed a raindrop.”

Kiubee jumped off Rose's back and stared off further into the distance. Within the next split-second, an enormous gush of wind swept through the city, almost knocking both the ponies off their hooves while various bushels and trees around them had leaves and twigs blown off them. Kiubee remained unfazed.

“Daybreak, are you all right? What was that?” Violet didn't even react in time to hold on to her glasses and so she had to scamper around to pick them up again while waiting for an answer from Rose.

Rose meanwhile sputtered some leaves out of her mouth. “I'm fine... Where did that come from and why is it over already? Was that magic?”

As Violet looked around herself to see a hoofful of random ponies run around the streets, thick clouds gathered in the once clear sky almost instantaneously and broke open to create a massive downpour of rain onto the city, with repeated gushes of winds blasting through the city, knocking over various objects in their path, transforming regular decorations and items like umbrellas into potent ammunition. “What kind of magic does that?” Throwing herself on the floor while crawling to grab a hold of Rose was the only thing Violet could do in this situation. As a regular pony, she trusted Rose to explain what was going on. If she did not know, Kiubee would.

All around them, ponies shouted unorganized screams of panic while they rushed to what they perceived safe places: restaurants, shops, or the emergency shelter, which quite a few adult ponies were shouting about.

Rose trembled on her hooves, her legs shaking more every second. “Kiubee, you tell me what this is right now!” She didn't even turn her eyes towards Kiubee. Violet moved herself closer to Rose to let her lean their bodies against each other and create a combined pillar.

Kiubee slowly turned his small face towards a specific spot in the sky, between a newly-formed sea of clouds that now poured rivers of water onto them. “It's coming. Ten... nine... eight...” Kiubee's countdown sounded almost surgically calm as both Violet and Rose jumped into each others hooves and trembled in unison, their hearts almost beating their way out of their chests. “Three... two... one...”

“What's happening Kiubee? What's coming?” Violet shouted at the top of her lungs, way louder than necessary to drown out the noise the rain made. All the dangers, all the unknown, everything was kept under control by Amber and Rose, yet now Rose trembled and her face screamed uncertainty.

Their bodies were shaking, their heads aching, their hearts pounding, but Kiubee turned around like he was never on a timer to begin with and delivered a word that bore itself into their skulls: “Walpurgisnacht.”

From beyond the clouds, massive chains came into view and pulled down something from another realm. The shadowy being that descended upon them possessed a size too great to be possibly existing. Even the greatest skyscrapers of Kamino couldn't match this being's height, and its width was about half its height. On its top, an enormous gear of about a hundred meters in diameters was placed. Since it positioned this gear between itself and the leftover fragments of sunshine, the majority of its body laid in a dark shadow. Still, one could make out that below the gear a skyscraper-sized upper pony's body was attached, hoofless, and a malformed face pointing forwards.

“Is that... a witch?” Violet's voice quivered between her lips.

“One of the greatest.” Kiubee managed to still radiate absolute calmness, despite his fur getting soaked through and through with water. “A Walpurgisnacht is a gargantuan witch that only rarely appears. It doesn't hide itself in a barrier and is driven by a pure lust for destruction. Whenever it appears, it can kill multiple thousands of ponies and take apart entire cities before vanishing again. Since normal ponies can't see it, they will just think they fell victim to a terrible natural disaster. Good luck.” With this, Kiubee hopped off into the distance. They didn't try to go after him.

Rose took a step forwards and clenched her hoof. “Then we absolutely have to stop it!”

“But what if somepony sees you fighting that thing,” while grasping for Rose's hoof, Violet tossed her head from side to side to look for a path away from the Walpurgisnacht, “we should get away from here right now!” Of course Rose being spotted wasn't the issue, but that thing defied even the newfound expectations of evil monsters that Violet had learned in the past weeks. Nothing this enormous, this powerful, capable of distorting reality not just in its own personal world but in our world, should ever be.

“Haven't you heard what Kiubee said? There is no way I'd let that thing go on a rampage! And even if some ponies were to see me, do you think it matters? Compare the story of some floating pony having appeared amid the hurricane of the century to the story of how Kamino was completely wiped out in a day. This is not a decision I have to make, it's already clear what has to be done.” Having said this, Rose transformed and looked towards the floating witch atop the Kamino skyline. “This might get messy. You should make sure you find a safe place for now.”

Violet nodded hastily and sprinted towards a nearby bakery, but as she got closer, a flurry of sparkling bursts of magic shot through the sky. As they came in contact with some of the buildings, the bursts erupted into colorful explosions, causing the walls to crumble and take down the bakery with them. Throwing herself onto the floor to avoid flying debris and bits of glass, Violet managed to only sustain a few bruises and a dust-covered coat, which the rain quickly cleaned off.

Rose, having levitated herself into the air to avoid harm, looked back down towards Violet, who now sat in front of ruins, looking dumbfounded. “On second thought, just stay away from anything that can collapse, I will see if I can lure it towards the park,” she shouted back.

Through the pieces of debris, one could have tried to search for signs of any ponies who were still inside, but Violet tried to avoid every single glance towards the surrounding ruins. Even a single patch of blood red spotted between the piles of broken walls and ceilings would have been enough to break her right on the spot, for it would have implanted visions of overflowing graveyards and grieving families in her mind. Her fantasies liked to torture her like that. She wasn't even sure anymore if she heard screams from inside the buildings as they came down, or if she had already forgotten them. For now, not knowing anything about the fate of any pony besides Rose was the easiest way to guarantee a mind clear enough to set one hoof in front of the other.

Getting the witch to redirect its attention to the unpopulated park wasn't very difficult, as it laid right behind them. Rose took a few leaps across the rooftops of buildings still standing, propelling her jumps using magic. This way conserved more magical energy than only levitating oneself. She also made sure to put a safe distance between her and the Walpurgisnacht as she circled around them, since she did not yet know what other tricks the witch had in store for her, so she didn't want to provoke it.

Finally, arriving at the park, Rose summoned her bow and shot a quick salve towards the witch as she tumbled downwards from the last rooftop and onto the grass. The sparkling aura around the magical arrows illuminated a tiny area on the witch's head, just before they smashed into its ethereal tissue—or whatever it was made of. Even though her attacks only did minimal damage to it, the Walpurgisnacht still took notice of Rose and turned around to face her. It must have felt like pride to Rose that this gargantuan witch the size of skyscrapers deemed the ant-sized pony on the ground important enough to divert its attention to her.

“I will not let you fly around here like that you er... big monster! Today I, Rose Daybreak, will make sure to take you down from there!” She shouted at the top of her lungs to hopefully reach the Walpurgisnacht, even though it would never be able to understand her. Still, some fighting words would surely get her more pumped up. At the same time, Rose's voice still vibrated with a hint of anxiety. Fighting an enemy as massive as this required a certain amount of planning and carefulness.

In the meantime, Violet managed to enter the park as well. Luckily, the Walpurgisnacht didn't fire any more attacks after her initial ones, allowing for a rather safe gallop through a city falling to pieces. Much to her surprise, she encountered a rather minimal amount of other ponies on her way, as most of them were probably seeking refuge inside buildings under objects they deemed safe. Even after they saw the destructive power the witch could muster up, they still thought walls and ceilings would protect them. They might have if it actually was a hurricane.

Spying Rose in the distance, Violet tried to run over towards her, but had to take another dive onto the puddle-filled ground as a new salve of magical bursts raced towards the earth. “Daybreak! I'm over here!”

“Violet! Stay right where you are, I'm gonna make sure to protect you from its attacks!” Amber's protection field was a rather advanced type of magic, but after Rose met Violet, she learned to do something similar within a couple of days. As the field went up around Violet, it didn't quite resemble Amber's field—its hue was more pink and resembled a bubble instead of a glowing aura, but it didn't matter as long as it did its job.

With this, Rose leaped into the air again and readied her bow. This time, she fired more powerful arrows, aimed directly at what she perceived to be the witch's head. Right as she let her shots go, she had to immediately dodge another incoming burst of magic. She could not see where exactly the attacks where coming from, as they seemed to originate from a vague area around the Walpurgisnacht. Rose dreaded that maybe it could even project its magic from a larger distance, away from his body.

“Daybreak behind you!”

Rose managed to turn around just in time to notice a tree that had been flung at her. By increasing her altitude slightly she was able to grab on to the top of the tree and ride along with it towards the Walpurgisnacht. While she raced across the sky, she readied an enormous shot, igniting a firestorm of pink hue atop her bow. As she closed in on her destination, she leaped away from the tree, taking its momentum along with her, and fired her shot mere meters before coming in contact with the witch's face. The resulting explosion of magic blew Rose back from her target, sending her soaring back the way she came from in a wide arc. Unable to dodge, Violet had to witness how Rose came closer and closer to her protective field, just before she crashed into it and landed right on top of Violet.

“Daybreak are you all right?” Violet held Rose in her hooves, both of them lying in a puddle next to the now shattered protective field.

Rose shook her head, before quickly getting back up again, along with Violet. “It's okay really. Thanks for the catch.”

“I had to catch you anyway.” Taking a glance towards the Walpurgisnacht, it seemed like Rose's attack managed to leave a sizable crater in the witch's face. Even now, Violet could not bring herself to become a Sorceress, though she could feel her heart being torn apart. “This would be easier with two Sorceresses... I'm sorry that I'm so useless.”

Rose instantly raised her hoof and pointed at Violet. “Don't you ever tell yourself that you are useless! You are the power that keeps me going, fighting with you watching me is the greatest I have ever felt. Back when I was still a normal pony I told myself I was weak, like I had no redeeming qualities and that I couldn't help anyone, but now I feel like I finally have a reason to fight on, a reason to fight monsters like these and I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't here to support me.”

Despite the pouring rain, Violet's face turned even wetter than before. Unable to suppress her sobs, Violet tried to hug Rose, but she flew up into the air right in front of her.

“The Walpurgisnacht is drifting away, towards the city. I'm gonna go after her! Stay safe!” With this, Rose propelled herself forwards in pursuit of the witch. Back on the ground, Violet hurried after Rose in turn, tears dripping off her face along with the rainwater.

As Rose was about to disappear behind the first few buildings on the side of the park, another salve of bursts laid siege to the park. Unable to spot all of them before they got close to her, Violet threw herself on the ground but an explosion near her tossed her aside. Her consciousness squeezed out of her as her body hit an uprooted tree.

***

Regaining the light in her eyes, Violet came to with a few heavy coughs. Every single inch of her body hurt like someone hit her with a hammer, yet the pain oddly comforted her: she still lived.

A layer of water, about one hoof high, covered the ground she lay on, as well as all the ground she saw around her. It wasn't going to get any higher, since the rain had stopped. She looked up at the sky: the majority of clouds still remained, yet they seemed more peaceful than before. The few glimmers of light, emanating from the twilight of sundown, reflected in the water and caused it to glitter with a blood orange hue. If the end of the world was a location, she thought this might be it.

She commanded her body to get up on her four hooves, trying to fight the pain to be able to move again. Staying put and waiting for help seemed futile, since at this point the ponies of Kamino would either be in a panicked disarray, or not alive anymore. Also, she still had a friend waiting for her.

Violet looked over to the part of Kamino Rose flew off to. Barely anything in that direction still resembled the city she once knew. Instead, it resembled a post-apocalyptic ruin of a civilization wiped out by weapons of mass destruction. The skyline of glass she had just gotten used to was reduced to a graveyard of concrete. Despite all this, the Walpurgisnacht was nowhere to be seen. And since the rain stopped, there was a good chance Rose either managed to chase it out of the city, or better yet: destroy it. Either way, Violet had to find her and make sure she was okay.

She had passed out very close to the edge of the park, so after only a few steps, she found herself surrounded by mountains of rubble, mixed with broken glass and the dreaded pools of red she had tried to look past. In that moment, she was not overpowered. She had to press on, find Rose. To do that, her mind had turned to steel. With every bit of sanity left in her, she clung on to her heart and pushed onward.

After only a few minutes of trudging through the waterlogged waste, Violet finally reached Rose. She lay, without her horn and unconscious, in the ruins of what was once a house, her Soul Gem next to her—shattered. Violet almost buckled under the immense weight that had suddenly dropped onto her. She mobilized her strength and rushed over. Could not call for help, had to get her to wake up, had to not fall apart until Rose is safe, had to save her.

“Daybreak! Say something!” A million voices screamed at her in her head, but the more she inspected Rose the more they became silent. “Come on Daybreak... wake up...” Open wounds and bruises littered her body, as well as a burn mark that went from her neck to her stomach. She placed her hoof on Rose's neck.

No pulse. No breathing.

Screams echoed through her head, her dreams escaped her and burned away in the shadows, her means and reason to live: lost and discarded. A needle pushed through her insides and bored itself out from her chest. Every other hurt before this became meaningless, for this was the greatest pain.

A primal cry filled the ruin and smashed open her valves.

“She knew she was going to die fighting that thing, but she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye!” Her body broke down over Rose's body as she cursed the world. There was nothing left, only the mad growls of a dead pony.

Her muttering turned into mad rambles as she raised her hooves and clenched her teeth so hard they almost cracked under the sheer power of Violet's regret in that moment. “I should have been the one to fight that thing! Instead of watching, I should have been the one that rains down hell onto the witches and squeezes out every bit of rotten life left in them!” She felt as if her heart had ruptured with these words, but no physical pain mattered anymore. Finally, she let out a blood-curdling scream that broke her voice multiple times over. “I wish I could do it all again... I wish I could meet her again, but this time, I would be the one to protect her and look out for her!” Violet smashed her hooves down onto the rubble so hard her hooves started bleeding.

“Is that truly what you desire?” The familiar voice of Kiubee reached her ears. She threw her glance to the side where she spotted him sitting relaxed on the remains of a wall. “If this is what you wish for, then I can make it so.”

Once again Violet clenched her teeth, but this time she was sure they actually cracked. “Alright.” She muttered with a mad voice. She took a moment to close her eyes and let the pain wash over her once more while waiting for Kiubee to react. After only a few seconds she could not wait any longer. “I want her back! Get it over with!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Just as she had spoken these words, a flame within her chest began to burn with an immense heat, threatening to melt her insides. A bright purple glow began to radiate from her chest and moved upwards past her neck and into her head, along with the burning pain, right before it faded. “It is done. Your wish has surpassed entropy! Now, embrace your new power!”

With this, she reached forwards with her hooves and embraced the purple glow now hovering in front of her. Just within the very moment her hoof touched it, her mind and body were twisted and contorted. Her very existence swirled around its own axis and was sucked down a spiral into another dimension. Time was an odd friend.

***

A slight breeze of wind slid through the open window, gently brushing against the curtains.

Various pills and bottles of medicine that were scattered over a small table along a peculiar-looking purple gem, a bed, and a calendar on the wall, told the tale of a young pony who had been inhabiting this room for half a year now. The date for 'Release' was marked with an elaborate green outline on the present day, with a tiny smiling face drawn next to it. On the bed lay a young pony of lavender color, just about to awaken.

“What is it that you seek, now that you are done hesitating?”

Chapter 5: Credens Justitiam (Believing in justice)

Violet understood. She understood how her magic worked, what had happened to her, what newfound powers she now held. With her advent into the world of magic and the creation of her Soul Gem foreign knowledge poured into her. Amber and Rose were right: similar to how one would move muscles she had a subconscious feeling about everything she was now capable of.

When Violet awoke in her hospital bed once more, she did not have to check the calendar to confirm that she had traveled exactly one month backwards in time. She could also feel how her body had subtly changed when she became a wielder of magic: the healing magic that the other two had spoken off worked almost automatically and cleansed her body of any harm and she even noticed her heart now being free of any pain.

Since all of this was now a subconscious truth to Violet, she did not have to think about it. Instead, her mind was still in those ruins, still leaning over Rose's corpse. She went over those images over and over again, tensing her body up and causing her to buckle over. Eventually, she made her way back to her current location. Her body slumped and sank into the sheets, her breath suddenly catching. It had finally dawned on her that her wish came true.

Many ponies—Violet one of them—had dreamed of being able to walk through time like an open path, but what would one actually do once they had the ability to do so? As Violet was released from hospital once more, her thoughts were already on her next steps.

Despite her trying to stay calm and plan her steps, when she walked into the classroom for the first time again, she failed to suppress a rushing wave of excitement as her gaze on to Rose. A few stuttered words under her breath later, Violet was already sitting on her spot again, smile still shining bright. She did not have to think about those dreaded images anymore. Rose was alive, and she was once again sitting right next to her.

After a private introduction to Rose as a fledgling Sorceress with no training, Violet quickly found herself in the woods with her and Amber for special training. After all, she made sure to stress her inexperience, while also making sure not to reveal her information. This was partially because Violet had this subtle feeling that nothing that had happened in the other time-line was of any consequence, now that she was here, and partially because revealing herself to be a time-traveler would only create unnecessary confusion and mistrust. The only thing that mattered to Violet was the now.

“Well, show us what you got then.” Violet felt at home hearing Amber's voice. She used to appear as an expert of a foreign field, sharing information to an outsider. But actually being a fully valid part of the team with her as the captain ignited a flame of passion within Violet.

“Okay, here we go!” As instructed, Violet readied herself and transformed. Atop her head now sat a horn, inset with her purple-shining Soul Gem. Additionally, however, something else appeared, attached to the back of her left forehoof: a peculiar circular device. This device of about twenty centimeters in diameter and about one centimeter thickness had a silver and purple case of metal. On the outer side, something that appeared like an hourglass with violet sand inside was worked into the case. A spot on the case was opened and various gears could be seen spinning slowly on the inside.

She could feel the magic around and inside her. It felt so natural and simple, yet she couldn't describe how she did it. Violet stared at the uprooted tree in front of her and concentrated on her magic. She didn't have to try out any special moves or ideas, she already knew what to do.

The device on Violet's hoof glowed in a purple hue. Then, the top of the disk-like device rotated ninety degrees with a few clicking sounds, causing the sand-flow from the hourglass to seize. As soon as the last drop of sand stopped moving, time itself seized movement.

This was now part of who she was.She took a quick glance around herself. Both Amber and Rose were completely frozen, the leaves on the trees stopped swaying in the wind and the random noises of the surrounding animals went silent. Only a subtle ticking of gears turning was heard.

Looking back at the uprooted tree, Violet found herself immediately stumped. She had no weapon. She tried to will something sharp or otherwise dangerous into being but felt it was futile before she even tried. These weren't part of who she was.Unable to find any quick solution, she simply grabbed a twig from the ground and started whacking the tree as hard as she could. She managed to cause some of the bark to splinter off, but before long she had to sit down on the floor again and take a breather. Right then, her device, which she had dubbed “Time Control Device”, or TCD for short, snapped back into its original position and her two friends started moving again.

Both of them immediately swung their heads to where Violet was now sitting, their jaws dropping.

“What did you just do? Did you teleport?” Rose raised her hoof and pointed at Violet while shouting in disbelief.

In the meantime, Amber moved over to the tree and inspected the damage Violet had done. “Whatever you just did, it did absolutely no serious damage. Are you planning on hunting defenseless squirrels with that? I can assure you the witches won't be impressed by this, they'll be laughing at you if they weren't already.”

In between her heavy breaths, Violet quickly uttered the words “time lock” causing an even more surprised face from the other two.

“Unbelievable...” Amber stared at Violet's TCD. “But without a weapon such a power cannot be used offensively.” She quickly rubbed her forehead before transforming and conjuring a few muskets to place in front of Violet. “Here, try these.”

Having finally caught her breath, Violet lifted herself up and magically grabbed her TCD again. Time Lock! With time stopped again, she grabbed the first musket via magic and aimed it at the tree. Since she didn't have to act quickly, she slowed down and made sure her aim was as true as she could make it before firing. Her first shot hit the center of the log in the upper area of the tree. This revealed another quirk of her magic: when she grasped the musket with her magic it seemed to change, time seemed to move again for this object alone. She was also able to fire a shot and have it reach her target, about two meters in front of her. The shot pierced through the wood and peculiarly stopped moving in mid-air behind the tree. The splinters and bits of wood that were blasted off also stopped moving almost immediately.

After having used all three muskets, the TCD snapped back again. Time Release! In that very split-second that her lock was released, the tree was torn apart with violent forces from three different spots, completely obliterating it in the process.

“Amazing!” Rose jumped up into the air.

“Now that is something we can work with.” Amber moved towards Violet and patted her on the shoulder. Her hoof suddenly stopped as she put on a concerned face. “There is only one problem. I can't give you these all the time. If we are fighting together I can lend you some, but there is little use to conjuring them, and passing them over to you to fire them, instead of immediately firing myself. Also, what do you do if you have to fight alone one day? What you need is some firepower of your own. And I think I already have an idea. I can teach you how to transport multiple small objects as if they were air, and about the weapons... Say, what is your alignment to stealing? Actually, it doesn't matter, I don't think you will have another choice.”

***

A battlefield in the sky was the stage for Violet's first hunt. The barrier of this witch seemed odd even compared to the ones she had seen so far: instead of being trapped in worlds of impossible geometry and unreal objects in a variety of hues plastering ethereal walls, this barrier consisted of a multitude of wash-lines, hanging over an endless abyss. Around them: the blue of the sky. Without any safe ground or any platform to stand on, Violet clung as hard as she could to the first line after entering the barrier, while Rose and Amber tried to balance on top of them.

At least the witch showed itself immediately: a sort of octopus of a being hung between multiple wash-lines in front of them. Its giant body consisted of an assortment of massive hooves fanning out between the lines, connected in the middle to a single blob of bubbling tissue.

The octopus witch: frankly, a witch that wasn't worth gathering information on. A reminder to the Sorceresses that not every witch was a cunning and mischievous monster with dark powers. It spent its time residing over its own world as its only goal left. Beyond that, there was nothing needed to satisfy this witch.

“Hang on for a second Violet, we're gonna end this quickly!” Rose shouted over to Violet, who was hanging on for dear life with all her strength and shaking violently.

“Rose, get that thing distracted, I'll prepare something!” With this, Amber summoned numerous ribbons around her, which tied themselves to the lines.

As told, Rose jumped right up to the witch and tickled its hooves with some quick shots, causing the witch to flail its hooves around wildly. “I'm sorry miss witch, but you won't like what comes next.”

“Violet, I'm done, this one is yours! It's safe to let go now!” Trusting in her allies, Violet let go of her line and landed safely on some of Amber's ribbons which had formed an elongated platform. Looking ahead, her view raced along the path Amber had built. With this ode to the bridge-builder Violet was finally ready to attempt her first kill.

Time Lock! With the witch frozen in time and the slowly swinging bridge now completely still, Violet rose up to her hooves and stumbled her way towards her target, one hoof after another, getting faster with every step.

Finally, in the proximity of the witch, her right hoof moved behind the TCD on her left hoof and with an almost inaudible swirling sound, she pulled a short pipe-like object out of thin air. After she pressed a button at the top of the object, it beeped and an assortment of lights blinked in red. A rush of adrenaline overcame Violet, she could feel her body overcoming her past limitations, guided by magic. Almost moving on her own—her subconscious was taking over—she pulled her hoof back and tossed the object towards the witch, using a small amount of magic to stabilize its trajectory and making sure it wouldn't get caught in the time lock before it reached its destination, the central flank of the witch.

Time Release! The next thing Violet remembered was a bright flash and an enormous bang, followed by an ocean of flames gobbling up the witch. Her next clear memory was Rose dancing around her—back on solid ground.

“That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! One second you were back there clinging on like a monkey—no offense—and next second the witch just exploded! You were incredible!” Rose gave Violet a quick embrace. This little gesture was enough to remind Violet—if just for a split-second—what terrors she had locked in her memory.

She hadn't put any deeper thought into becoming a Sorceress back then. But for that moment, for that right there, it had already been worth it and she would never regret that choice. “Just hold out Rose, I'll protect you this time.”

***

Winding down from the witch-hunt, the trio met at Amber's house as they had so often in Violet's memories. As they walked in, Amber apologized for her room not being cleaned up and proceeded to show her around—but Violet already knew where everything was.

When Amber approached the central table with some tea by her side, Rose took the initiative. “There was something I wanted to ask you, Violet.” Violet sat next to her, both on the opposite side of Amber. “When you approached me on that day, how did you know I was a Sorceress?”

Horsefeathers. “Well I um...” She proceeded to scratch the back of her head while her eyes curled towards the top right corners of her eye. “I noticed your earrings. When I looked closer at them I realized only one of them had a sort of gem inside it. I figured that must have been your Soul Gem.”

Even while Violet was still explaining herself, Amber glared at her while she poured her tea. Even without paying attention to it, she poured exactly as much as she always did. “And what if that had just been a coincidence? You can't go around telling random ponies that you are a Sorceress. Ours is a burden we cannot share with regular ponies, it unnecessarily complicates our existence.”

“It was worth taking the risk. If anything I would have just told her it was a reference to some comic I hoped she had read.” Violet crossed her hooves. Amber's professionalism was handy in times of danger, yet Violet was starting to become unnerved at how Amber's observant eye might pave the way for unnecessary quarrels. “I needed the help of another Sorceress, you saw how my first attempts at fighting were like and I couldn't sit there and hope that talent and the right ideas just found their way into my hooves.”

“It's okay, Violet. I'm really grateful that you went and approached me, but I'm not that experienced myself yet. I'm pretty much still learning from Amber here, she's the veteran.”

Violet casually glanced around the room once more and spotted Kiubee sitting in his usual corner, probably pretending to be asleep. “Say Spirit, how strong can witches get?”

“Hm? Well, from what I have seen there are quite some variations between how powerful witches are. Some are sitting ducks, barely even noticing our presence or reacting to it, while others react violently to us and assault us with everything they have. Most of them aren't a problem though, even the fiercest witches are nothing to a Sorceress using their full power.” She took a quick sip of tea and let her eyes wander the room before she continued. “What you really need to watch out for are tricksters. There are some witches who will try to deceive you and strike you when you are most vulnerable. When I was still fighting with a former partner of mine we encountered a sort of Minotaur-like witch wielding a giant ax. After we defeated the Minotaur we were certain we had won, but it turned out the real witch had bound itself to the ax and attacked us when our guard was down. We were lucky we both survived.”

“And that was the toughest witch you know of?”

“The toughest witch I haven't seen with my own eyes but...” Amber scratched her chin. “I once heard some other Sorceresses talk about a sort of gargantuan mega-witch that terrorizes entire cities. I heard multiple ponies talk about that one so maybe those aren't just rumor, however nopony can say when or where they appear.” She smirked. “I'm sure me and my former partner could have taken it out together. The combined efforts of her illusions and my Tiro Finale could defeat anything.”

Rose clapped her hooves. “That sounds so awesome! That's exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to be a part of when I became a Sorceress. Say, what was it like meeting all these Sorceresses?”

Amber sank into her seat. That was probably the most relaxed Violet had ever seen Amber. “Well, when I was in Bluegrass I met a bunch of different Sorceresses, that city was swarming with them at some point, which was one of the reasons I came to Kamino. Most of the time though I just happened to find a witch along with another Sorceress by chance so we defeated it together and then parted ways again afterwards. You see, lasting partnerships are rare in our business. Most Sorceresses just think about themselves.”

Rose raised her hoof. “Well it's settled then. We are gonna form our own team then! You don't have to worry about wandering around and fighting alone anymore, we are gonna stay and fight with you forever. And then one day, we will be Magical Grannies!” The three of them broke into a hearty laughter.

“Thank you, Rose, I'm glad to have you two around.”

Rose took a glance at Violet. “Oh by the way Violet, what was your wish when you became a Sorceress?”

Horsefeathers. Violet's reaction was more extreme than she hoped as she struggled for words.

“If you don't want to, I can tell you mine first: I wished to be able to help ponies all over Komaria. I always wanted to be useful and make ponies happy so if I can continue my work as a Sorceress then I am happy as well.”

Finally, Violet managed to create a coherent sentence. “You see... I didn't really know what to pick for my wish but I always wanted to wish for something that made me happy. But then I realized that whenever I experienced a happy moment, that moment was sure to fade and turn into sadness again sooner or later. So my wish was to be able to stop time so that, once I finally experienced true happiness, I could stop time forever and that moment would never have to end.”

Rose patted Violet on her shoulder. “Don't actually stop time forever though, I'd love to be able to move again at some point.”

Since Violet had intimate knowledge of her own capabilities, she knew that she could not stop time forever. She could only stop it for up to a minute at a time, with extended use bringing with it a rapid decline in magical power. Additionally, she could travel back to the moment of her waking up in the hospital again at anytime, but not to any different moment. That was the full extent of her time-manipulation.

Rose's eyes moved back to Amber. “I never asked, but what was your wish Amber?”

A sudden flash of unease struck Amber's eyes before they reverted back to normal and then turned sullen as her face slightly dropped. The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. “About two years ago I was on a train ride with my parents...”

Violet immediately felt like she wanted to either leave the room in that moment or turn back time and make Rose's question undone. She had never before seen Amber—or any pony for that matter—suddenly shift in mood so quickly. Knowing Amber, if something terrible awaits behind that question, she would not hold anything back.

“At some point the train derailed—I don't know why—and my parents were crushed under the wreckage, along with me. I remember the life being squeezed out of my body and the ground beneath me laughing back at me with a deep red smile. It was then a blurry silhouette appeared in the corner of my eye. 'If you wish to live, then I can make it so.' With the breath that should have been my last I begged what I thought was a messenger of god to save my life.”

Both Rose and Violet covered their gaping mouths in shock. With their bodies shivering they fought to hold back their tears. Violet forced herself to calm down by taking a sip of tea, almost spilling it due to her heavy shaking. After an uneasy silence that went on for what felt like a minute, Rose finally opened her mouth. “I didn't know, I'm so sorry.”

Within the instant of a second Amber returned to a happy smile as she took the empty teapot and made for the kitchen. “Don't worry. I'm happy to still be here after all and I should be grateful to Kiubee for saving me that day.”

Violet couldn't help but notice a bitter tear rolling down Amber's cheek.

***

Most of her past experiences with Rose and Amber seemed to repeat to a certain degree. While some of the witches they encountered mirrored the ones she had seen before, some of them were entirely new to her, the locations the witches attacked seemed to differ, as well as the order some events happened, yet the grand picture was the same.

Along her way, Violet pondered multiple theories regarding her time travel, but it seemed like the idea that this was an entirely new reality for her to shape, where nothing was yet set in stone, seemed to fit the best.

After about two more weeks of witch-hunting and hanging out as a trio, a day came where Violet and Amber met up at Amber's house again, yet Rose was untypically late.

“Did Daybreak say anything why she wouldn't meet us at the usual time today?” Violet traced the top of her empty cup of tea with her hoof, trying to produce a sound. Getting slightly frustrated due to her inability to do so, she almost considered using a little magic to help her. She should have really tried it with a glass instead.

“Not that I know of.” Amber sat in her usual slightly tensed up position across from Violet, her fore-hooves touching each other just above the ground, between her hind-hooves which both were tucked under the table.

Violet wondered for a moment if Amber bought a short table like this on purpose or if it just happened to be around when she got the house. She then proceeded to lie herself on the floor with an exaggerated yawn, while stretching her body to about the length of the table.

“I'm sure she will arrive soon, I don't think she would leave us hanging.”

Looking around the room, Violet tried to find subjects to talk about. Amber on her own would probably remain in her meditative state until spoken to. Not able to find anything noteworthy, she instead used memories of the past day as a source of conversation. “You know that witch from yesterday, Spirit? I guess you weren't kidding when you said the witches could do whatever they want with their barrier, even bending laws of physics to a certain degree or throwing unexpected stuff at us.”

“We can't quite say what will await us inside a barrier once we are in. Most of the times they are rather similar though.” Amber took another sip of tea.

“But something like playing music at us?” Violet waited for a reaction that didn't come. “I can't even say if that sound was coming from the walls or if there were actual minions playing instruments. But what got me thinking was what it sounded like: it sounded like the witch was expressing its feelings, like it was somewhere between angry and sad, unsure how to feel and wanted to vent by playing music.”

“If that's what the witches really feel, then that just makes it more evident that we absolutely need to release them from their suffering.”

“I guess so.”

Just as Violet finished her sentence, a visibly shaken Rose with disheveled mane stormed into the room. “Everyone listen, it's Azure, she went missing last night! We need to get out there and look for her right now!”

“What? We'll be going right away, but first I want you to tell me everything you know about her disappearance.” Amber stood up and moved towards Rose. A shiver went down Violet's spine as she put together the information she had and feared what would happen next. However, another odd thought crept up in her mind: Amber did not seem fazed by what she had just heard. Violet figured that Amber would, with a high degree of certainty, not have anything to do with Azure's disappearance directly, as nothing in this or the past time-line would point towards this, but instead Violet figured that Amber might be even more emotionally cold than she wanted to let on.

“She got into an argument with Leafy yesterday over Slate and stormed off towards the park in the evening, and that was the last time any pony saw her.”

Amber glanced over at Violet. Violet was still shaking. “You aren't the only one who noticed, Violet.”

Rose interjected. “She was not eaten by that witch from yesterday! I refuse to believe that!”

Amber grabbed both of Rose's shoulders and locked eyes. “Listen, we aren't saying that witch got her, none of us would ever want to admit something like that this early. But you need to keep one thing in mind: if such a dreadful thing really happened, we might not be able to find her. Her body might be gone.”

Rose began to stutter uncontrollably, her hooves flailing around. Eventually she stopped trying and blurted out “Let's go and find her so we don't have to think about that,” and neither Amber nor Violet declined.

***

It was around the time they came upon the hospital that their Soul Gems picked up a witch. It pointed to an area right next to one of the outside walls of the building.

They absolutely had to stop a witch in the vicinity of the hospital, but no one wanted to be the one to break the obvious news: their search for Azure had to wait. Destroying the witch was of utmost importance. It was also not necessary to directly break the news, since all three understood the situation they were in and what would happen next, so describing their predicament with words would only unnecessarily salt the bitter wound.

The only words uttered were spoken by Amber to Rose as they entered the barrier. “In here, only the witch counts. Stay focused.”

Rose quickly wiped her eyes clean and took a deep breath.

Their steps, heavy at first, grew quicker and lighter by the minute. Oddly enough, no minions or any other obstacles hindered them in their path to the core, which seemed rather long instead.

The more they walked the more they managed to loosen up their mind and relax their bodies. Finally, Violet turned towards Rose and began to speak. “Say Daybreak, are you alright? You seem scared.”

Rose's face almost immediately lightened up. “It's nothing big really. I guess I'm just a bit taken by how everything looks around here.”

Violet took some time to look at her surroundings more closely. A bright and colorful pallet of plaids spun themselves around the path they walked, with pieces of cheese scattered everywhere. In some places bubbles broke out of the floor and floated towards the ceiling, before disappearing into nothingness again. As expected, this barrier looked different from other barriers, yet it didn't feel as threatening as the others.

Glancing at Amber, Violet noticed her steps seemed a bit off-rhythm from how she usually walked, yet she looked as serious as ever. Violet was looking to bridge the time until they found the witch. Words always got ponies more relaxed. “Spirit, how do you always manage to stay so serious and concentrated?”

Amber smiled back at her. “It's not a big trick really, I just try to think about defeating the witch and stopping her from preying on innocent ponies. Delivering justice is what keeps me going and makes me what I am.”

Rose jumped in. “I could never be that focused, even if I tried really hard I can't forget how everypony is worrying about me and I start to hesitate.”

Violet continued for Rose. “It takes a certain mental strength to pull something like this off. Maybe if we train our mind a lot we might be able to enter a state of focus like Spirit.” In the corner of her eye, Violet noticed that Amber, who had been walking in front of the two, suddenly stopped walking and cramped up her body while muttering something which sounded like 'shut up' under breath.

Rose didn't seem to notice this as she continued on. “It would be great if at some point I could become as great a Sorceress as Amber!”

“Shut up!” This time even Rose heard Amber and promptly froze in her path, her body petrified. Amber was covering her face. “I'm not someone any pony should try to be like. I am raising you in hopes of not becoming anything like me.” Her tone lacked all of her usual authority or seriousness it used to have. Instead, it shook with every word. “I am an absolute failure of a pony.” She grabbed her head with her hooves and lowered it to the floor as her eyes vibrated beyond a layer of liquid. “When I was in that wreckage and Kiubee spoke to me, I only wanted to save myself. I could have saved them, I could have saved all of them, yet I wished for my life and my life alone.”

She removed her hooves from her head and lifted it towards the other two ponies. “And yet here I am, acting like the great ally of justice who saves the innocent by taking out the witches, while hiding my emotions. And in the process I have lost not only my parents but everyone I cared for. And now when I am alone I smother myself in my sorrow and cry like the biggest baby.” She let out a faint laughter. “Can you even believe that? I didn't want to be alone yet I have gotten so lonely.”

The sight of Amber crawling on the floor, swinging between sobbing and sorry attempts of hiding behind laughter, while laying her emotions bare, knocked Violet out of her skies. Even someone as supreme as Amber was sinking in a sea of regret, unable to find her personal light. What if the future did not hold anything good for Violet either? What if despite all her efforts she would ultimately lose her goal out of sight? What if–

As Violet looked at Amber once more, Rose was already embracing her and talking to her. “It's okay Amber. You've pushed yourself through so much and that is exactly why I won't take back what I said earlier: you are a wonderful Sorceress and I would be happy if I could become as great as you one day. Despite how you felt you managed to overcome everything that was thrown at you. And now that you have us you won't ever have to be lonely again. We will stay by your side and comfort you until all your tears have dried.”

Between sobs Amber managed to utter two simple words: “Thank you.”

Seconds passed and Amber slowly managed to calm down and relax until she moved away from Rose and turned around again. Trying to slip back into her usual seriousness, she moved onward. “We should get going. There's a witch waiting for us.”

Violet couldn't suppress a big smile hearing Amber talking with a more relaxed tone from her usual tensed one. Moreover, she was still in awe seeing how natural it seemed for Rose to comfort Amber. Violet herself had been taken in by Amber's sorrow, yet Rose did not even need to think about it for a second. The only thing she needed to worry about was Amber's well-being. Rose always being able to drag ponies up from the depths of despair and giving them hope, that might have been the greatest act of magic Violet ever witnessed, yet it was something so usual for Rose. Violet pondered that Rose's survival was not just for her own good, but for the good of all Sorceresses.

A handful of minutes later, the three of them finally managed to reach the core. Inside, multiple chairs and tables were scattered around the place, the walls lined with colorful plaid similar to what they saw before. Singular plates with pieces of cheese stood in the center of each table. All the chairs stood empty, except for one lonely chair, which supported a peculiar doll-looking being, looking like a young filly with a head shaped like an actual bonbon and sporting a subtle scarf.

The sweet-toothed witch: a cheerful and colorful exterior made to pacify onlookers, yet its own personal remains of self-worth hid a core of bitterness. A bitterness that caused the witch to eat itself inside-out in its dreams. Whatever it was that caused this witch to carry around its burden would surely be a tragedy too much to handle for regular ponies. Despite that, this was the only witch that, when looked at, radiated a calm and even apologetic aura.

Amber entered the core and turned towards the other two. “Stay here, I will finish this witch today as a sort of celebration of our friendship. Also, there's something you haven't seen yet.” They didn't mind.

Entering the arena, Amber quickly rushed to the doll and tested it by knocking it into the air with the butt of a musket. It certainly seemed to bounce like flesh would.

“All right, chew on this then!” Amber quickly readied a dozen muskets and fired a salve at her opponent. The shots pierced through it and tore off pieces of it, scattering it in the vicinity. Eventually, it fell back down onto the ground again, prompting Amber to give it a hefty buck into the wall.

To finish the witch off, Amber conjured an enormous gun, the barrel alone being big enough to house a pony. Violet tried to measure how many ponies it was long and settled at around five. Without trying to aim especially well, Amber grabbed the back of the gun and shouted “Tiro Finale!” before firing a blast wave of a shot directly at the witch. Only smoke and dust remained.

Turning around to face Rose and Violet again, Amber gave them a most unusual sight: the sight of Amber actually smiling at her victory.

It was in this moment an impossibly fast shadow swooped past Amber.

As if a switch had been flipped in her brain, Violet failed to produce any coherent thought after this as her mind blurred and the pictures her eyes saw were refused by her brain.

Her head... It was gone... The bleak screech of Rose as she dropped to the floor bore itself through Violet's ears, yet she couldn't erase the horror her eyes tried to repeatedly register as fact. Amber's lifeless husk dropped to the floor in a spout of blood. Where was her head...

With Rose's scream fading, the sound of something like glass breaking and being crunched reached Violet's ears.

From this point on, Violet couldn't recall what happened in which order and what only happened as a thought in her brain. Did the worm-like witch eat the rest of Amber's body after this or later? At some point her instincts must have kicked in and she must have stopped time and destroyed the witch. At least that's what Violet assumed as she was still alive, alongside Rose, now standing outside the hospital. Was there anything left of Amber after all?

Not one bit.

“Burn that sight into your mind. That is what it means to be a Sorceress.”

Chapter 6: Signum malum (Bad omen)

On the brink between nowhere and purgatory laid a forsaken graveyard where once heroes of an ancient war had been put to rest. The sun, barely visible on the horizon, soaked the area in a blood orange light through a layer of clouds that danced atop Violet and Rose's heads. The placement of the surrounding graves lacked any sort of order, the chaos among them emulated a jungle with graves for trees.

Rose had heard about this place from Amber. No pony would remember the names of these fallen heroes—the inscriptions on their gravestones were already faded out and illegible—so it would be the perfect place doubling as a memorial for Sorceresses, fates never to be recorded and names to fade away without any recognition for their deeds.

“You think Amber would have been okay with us coming here?” Rose reached the top of a hill in the center of the graveyard and looked back at Violet, who was just a few steps behind her. The land around them didn't even befit a graveyard. Many small hills and valleys cut through the area. According to some old rumor the place these corpses were buried was the very battlefield they died on.

Violet spoke up. “I think this was the only place to come to. Amber shares a fate similar to the warriors who lie here, she knew this day would come whenever she went into battle with a witch. Even if society will forget us like them, the least we can do as her companions is remember her as what she was: a hero.”

Rose's body broke down next to a gravestone which was halfway sunken into the ground and almost tipped over. “We don't even have anything of her to bury, what are we even doing here?”

Violet approached a stone statue resembling a pony in a victorious pose next to Rose. She placed her hoof on its side and moved it over the surface. “We can use this.” Her Soul Gem, inset in a singular earring, glowed as she traced the surface of the statue once more. When she removed her hoof, an inscription appeared on the statue.

“In memory of Amber Spirit. A great mentor, an even greater friend, and the greatest ally of justice to have ever lived.”

Violet gestured at the inscription and looked at Rose. “That's the least we can do.”

Rose wiped the tears from her face and embraced Violet. “Thank you so much Violet.”

Contrary to Rose, Violet had lost a friend before, yet this felt and played out completely different. Violet's mourning for Rose was cut short when she ascended to a Sorceress and rushed back to a reality where she was still alive. Losing Amber was different. The pain of losing her lingered around and festered inside her, yet she felt awkwardly indifferent about the prospect of having to brave a future without Amber. She wanted to express her sorrow as Rose did, yet all she could think about was continuing on and making sure Rose was safe.

Violet finally produced some sobs as she returned the embrace and strengthened her grip on Rose.

“We will be all right Violet, we still have each other to fight all the witches that come our way. We won't let Amber's training go to waste.”

***

Taking a break from their hunts did not present itself as a solution. The assault of witches and familiars would not ever give Sorceresses time to rest. And so Violet and Rose were already hunting a familiar again the next day, trying to suppress any lingering feelings of guilt or sadness and cramp them into the backs of their mind so they could stay focused.

This particular familiar did not yet hide itself in a barrier and instead flew across the outskirts of the city in the form of an ethereal toy plane. After following the familiar while untransformed to an area secluded from the eyes of bystanders, they came to a familiar bridge over the Kami river.

“I think we are far enough now!” Violet shouted back at Rose who was galloping a few meters behind her.

As Violet was about to gallop over the central point of the bridge, she immediately came to a halt as an elongated weapon dropped from the sky and landed right in front of her.

“Violet, are you okay?” Rose caught up with Violet.

“Relax, I wasn't even aiming at your friend.” An unfamiliar voice reached their ears, just a split-second before a peculiar pony of dim red coat dropped in front of them, next to the spear that dug itself into the cement of the bridge. Lifting up the spear—a weapon with a rather long staff of finely polished wood and a wide decorative tip of crimson steel—she spun it around and rested it on her back.

Unsure how to react, Violet instead tried to rush after the familiar before it escaped, but was stopped dead in her tracks once again by the crimson-tipped spear which now pointed directly at her throat. Violet took a closer look at the other pony. The Soul Gem in her horn sparkled with a color like the setting sun, barely gleaming over the horizon. Her unkempt and long crimson strands of mane were—apart from some stray strands of hair around her face—bound behind her neck with a ribbon of light black hue, while her tail looked almost like a waterfall of blood, trickling around strands of hair.

“What exactly do you think you're doing? I haven't even introduced myself. I am Crimson Phantasma nice to meet you. I–”

“We can talk later! We have to get this familiar before he circles back into the city and attacks someone!” Violet clenched her teeth to look menacing, but she was already aware that a pony with braids and glasses could never look the least bit threatening.

“So what? I think you should calm down first before you try to do any more of that stupid stuff.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Violet stomped her hooves in protest while Rose twisted her face in disbelief.

“As I was saying, I came to this city after I heard the Sorceresses over here needed some assistance and it seems like you need my help more than ever. I had a really hard time watching you there.”

With the familiar now completely gone both Violet resigned themselves to having lost their opportunity for the hunt, prompting Crimson to retreat her spear. She also produced an apple from an invisible bag behind her right fore-hoof and took a bite.

“Okay what is it? What have you come here to tell us that was so important you had to interrupt our hunt?” Violet finally spoke with a lowered voice.

“Well that's just it: you were hunting a familiar. You do know they don't drop any Grief Seeds right?” Crimson didn't mind speaking while chewing and took even more bites of her apple. “Just let it run around a bit, let it eat some ponies here and there and before you know it that thing turns into a witch on its own. And then we can come in and knock them down to get our well-deserved Grief Seed.”

Violet glanced back at Rose who was visibly distraught at what she just heard. Looking back at Crimson she crunched her teeth. “You are the type of Sorceress that Spirit warned us about. The type that would sit idly by while innocent ponies all over the city are ambushed and eaten by these creatures. The type that would only think about their own personal gains and disregard the needs of others. We don't need any help from your type.”

Instead of taking yet another bite, Crimson put her apple back into her invisible bag. “Yes that sounds like something she would say. Blinded by justice and her black-and-white view of what's right and wrong, she was never able to make the call that could save us all.”

“You knew her?”

“Of course, I'm from Bluegrass. Almost every Sorceress over there knew her. But let me tell you something, kid: you can't save everyone. The more you try the more you will realize your own weaknesses, your short-comings, the limits of what is possible even with our powers. Once you realize those it will be easier to live with yourself in a world like this. No matter what your magic capabilities are, you cannot refill your magic reserves faster than you deplete them if you spend magic on hunting familiars.”

The gears in Violet's head went into overdrive, rattling at dangerous speeds and threatening to break apart. Every word, every sentence flowed directly from her heart to her mouth and shot at her opponent. “And how does that justify sacrificing other ponies so that you get to have magic for longer? How many ponies have you even saved so far? What is the point of being a Sorceress if you don't even use your power for the greater good and instead watch the city burn?” Violet slowly reached for her earring and put her Soul Gem into her hoof. She then pulled it forwards and presented it to Crimson as a threat.

“You are greener behind your ears than I initially thought. Let me teach you a lesson Amber never told you.” With this, she readied her spear and pointed it at Violet while glancing at Rose. “Don't you worry back there, I will just have a little fun with her, but I can't guarantee I will leave in her one piece.”

Violet crunched her teeth even harder. “You make me sick.” Even the worst witches didn't produce such a revolting feeling.“The world would be better off without you.” She didn't want to stop herself. This right here would avenge Amber. She would show her what she could do.

“Don't!” Just as Violet's Soul Gem started glowing, Rose dashed past Violet and grabbed her Soul Gem from her hoof. With one quick motion she tossed it over the side of the bridge.

Violet rushed to the railing only to see her Soul Gem lose its radiance as it was washed away by the flowing water. “Why would you do that?” Violet turned back at Rose, whose glance escaped her.

“I don't want to watch something like this. Sorceresses shouldn't fight each other. Even if we can't agree we can't go around hurting each other. Do you think Amber would have been proud if you went and fought someone like this?”

Violet let out a deep sigh. “You make it hard for me to disagree but...” She pointed at the river. “Was that really necessary?”

“I wouldn't be able to stop you once you used your magic, so I panicked!”

Once again trying to figure out what to do about Crimson, Violet swung her head from side to side as she considered her options. Maybe Kiubee could make her a new Soul Gem.Meanwhile, Crimson approached them and was about to open her mouth as Violet's body suddenly went numb and hit the ground with a dull thud.

“Violet? Violet! Are you all right?” Rose rushed to lift her head off the ground and shouted at her frozen face.

“You really shouldn't have done that.” Turning around, Rose noticed Kiubee standing on the railing next to them. “Throwing your friend away is not something I can agree on.”

“What?” Rose stared at Kiubee in disbelief, her face almost freezing as much as Violet's. “What happened to Violet? Why did she fall asleep? Why doesn't she wake up?”

Kiubee quickly inspected Violet's lifeless body and then looked back at Rose. “This isn't Violet. You just threw Violet into the water.”

“Do you mean...” Crimson stepped next to Violet and placed her hoof on her neck. “I don't feel anything! She's dead!”

Rose dropped to the ground. The weight of Crimson's words crushed Rose underneath them and left her stunned.

An unbearable silence went over the three which would have lasted half an eternity if Kiubee did not break it after a few seconds. “You see, I couldn't let you fight monsters like these with the frail bodies you have. Even their weakest attacks could cause a great enough pain to incapacitate you, rendering you unable to fight. So I did the most logical thing and extracted your souls into a tiny and handy form that you could carry around with yourself. This way, the pain your body feels can be dampened by a large factor and allow you to fight while facing great odds.”

“You did what? You mean we don't even have our souls anymore? You turned us into zombies!” Crimson shouted at the top of her lungs at the emotionless face of Kiubee.

“Why are you ponies always so touchy about where your soul is placed? Handling it like this is a much better way when it comes to fighting. Seriously, you should be thanking me.”

Crimson pointed at Violet in a stabbing motion. “Then what is this? Is this what you had in mind with your great design?”

“Well, your Soul Gem can only control your body to up to about one hundred meters. You always carry them around with you so accidents like these are fairly rare. But don't worry, as long as her body doesn't rot away you can just retrieve her Soul Gem.”

“And you say that now?” With Rose still frozen in shock, Crimson mobilized her body, jumped onto the railing, and with another powerful jump leaped off the bridge and into the river.

Meanwhile, Kiubee slowly turned his head towards Rose. “It's because she didn't ask.”

“Do you have no consideration for how we feel?” Rose's voice trembled with every word. “Has it ever crossed your mind that we wouldn't want this?”

“Why are you making such a deal out of this? Of course I tried telling ponies in the past what I would do, but I found that fewer and fewer ponies would want to become a Sorceress. Meanwhile, the witches and familiars went rampant and reached a record number of ponies killed. I decided to leave this detail out on purpose to make sure the witches could continue to be fought and the balance upheld, and as I mentioned earlier, separating body from soul is a highly beneficial practice for you.”

A multitude of emotions washed over Rose as she felt her body revolt against what she just heard. Unknowing what to say in response, she instead resigned herself to silence. While hoping that Crimson would indeed be able to return Violet's Soul Gem, Rose sat next to her body, occasionally stroking her fur with an absent mind.

After about five minutes, Crimson finally reappeared on the bridge with soaked fur and mane. Walking over to Violet she placed Violet's Soul Gem next to her head and sat down on the ground. Slowly, the Soul Gem gained back its radiance.

Only a few seconds later, Violet suddenly gasped for air as the light returned to her eyes and she moved her body into an upright position. Rose immediately jumped at Violet and pressed her against her body, crying shouts of joy.

“What happened? Daybreak, why are you celebrating?”

Crimson bore her gaze into Violet's eyes as she approached her. “Listen...” Within the next minute, Crimson had told Violet everything that had just transpired.

“Are you feeling all right, Violet?” Rose was still clinging around Violet's neck.

“I think so... I don't feel any different even after... that. It felt like I blacked out and then came to again.” Violet shook her head and inspected her body. “I really don't have a soul anymore... I didn't even notice it.”

“The procedure leaves no seams one could feel.” Kiubee proclaimed, still sitting on the railing motionless.

While Kiubee spoke, Crimson slowly made her way away from the group.

“Wait, I didn't even thank you yet!” Rose rushed after her.

“Don't mention it.” With this, she pulled out an apple covered in bite marks and took a bite. “I think it's best if I just leave now and don't bother you again. I need some time to think about what I learned today; by myself.”

“Please help us with the familiars! I don't think we are as different as you think we are!”

Turning back one last time, Crimson pointed the hoof she used to hold her apple at Rose. “Don't get this mixed up. My beliefs and my way of handling my life as a Sorceress are something completely different from what I just did. Firstly, I wouldn't have seriously hurt any of you. And secondly, even if I did hate you with all my guts I don't think I could bring myself to watch any of you die. Just as I have before saved ponies I came across from familiars. Actually watching someone die or killing them with my own hands out of a craze of power? That is something only monsters and the utterly insane could do without regret.”

***

That dreaded day crept up on Violet once more. The day Kamino was beset by a catastrophic storm. The day Walpurgisnacht attacked. The day Rose died.

Despite everything she had learned about fighting witches, all the skills she acquired and all the victories she earned, she feared what would transpire if the Walpurgisnacht appeared today. Even if she was powerful enough to take it down together with Rose, Violet would not be ready to face the odds of losing her best friend once more. At least if it would not appear today Violet would have been relieved. The more she thought about when the Walpurgisnacht attacked the more she tried to suppress these very thoughts as the anticipation only sprouted dread inside her.

Still, in order to prepare for the eventuality of an attack, Violet subtly led Rose to the park after a day of witch hunting and searching for Azure, who was still missing. Leading Rose around did not take a lot of effort since she seemed to follow Violet around without asking questions, trusting her to know where they wanted to go.

The whole situation felt surreal. Not even two months ago Violet was a regular pony living a fairly normal life, and today she was leading her best friend around to prepare for a fight against an ungodly demon that could destroy the entire city and most regrettably kill her best friend a second time. Every time she recalled everything that had happened, the impossible things happening—ethereal beings in unworldly realms, powerful magic, fights between Sorceresses, even her time-travel—were all being filed under 'fact'. After everything she had witnessed, still calling any of it 'imagination' was a futile attack on reality. That did not mean, however, that she had built up a mental immunity to the surreal. She merely learned to accept it when confronted with it.

It was around the central area of the park when Violet felt the winds picking up. All of her planning evaporated on the spot and she instead turned to Rose who was tagging alongside her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Daybreak! Listen! You have to be calm now okay?” Violet's whole body was overcome by anxiety. All the visions of losing Rose, all the possibilities of how they could fail had stacked to form a tower of terror, which in that moment collapsed above Violet and unleashed all of her pent-up emotions onto her. She had not trained her psyche well enough.

Right then, an extreme gust of wind swept through the park, robbing trees of their leaves, causing the water in the fountain to spray around and almost knocking both Violet and Rose off their hooves.

Violet tightened her grab on Rose but the grip of fear held Violet even tighter. “Listen! Daybreak, stay with me! You have to get ready!” She shook Rose far more vehemently than she wanted to, her whole body racing in a rush of adrenaline while Rose shook on her own, unable to comprehend where the gust of wind came from, why Violet was in a panic or why it suddenly started raining.

As expected, Kiubee appeared from behind a bush next to them and placed himself on the ground.

Rose immediately turned to him. “What is going on, Kiubee? Where did that sudden change in weather come from?”

Kiubee slowly turned his head to face Rose. “Ten... nine...”

Violet shook Rose again to regain her attention. “Daybreak, ignore him! A Walpurgisnacht is going to appear! It's one of those gargantuan witches Amber talked about! We have to defeat it!”

Rose ripped her eyes open as she stared back at Violet with an open mouth.

“Two... one...”

Once again, enormous chains materialized and pulled an even more enormous blackened being down from beyond the clouds. A cold shiver froze Violet's body as she identified the being as the very Walpurgisnacht of her memories.

Unable to avert her eyes from the witch, she took a deep breath. She shook her head and tried to slip back into a normal breathing pattern. Finally, able to grasp some slips of composure, she reached out for Rose again. “You have to listen very closely now, I have a strategy for this. I will tell you what you will have to do...”

Rose's expression of silent panic barely changed throughout Violet's instructions. Unsure at first if Rose was even following, Violet stopped after crucial points, waiting for Rose to nod in approval.

Violet held on to the hope that Rose listened to her and followed her closely enough, that she would find a certain strength in her words that animated her to fight with all her heart and not ask the questions that Violet could not explain at this point. Once the Walpurgisnacht was defeated, she could tell her everything.

“And remember, Daybreak, this is a two-versus-one, if we just keep it under control, we should be able to beat it handily.”

After the explanation was finished, Rose nodded one last time, transformed, and started by jumping up into the air and stabilizing herself using her magic. Then, she conjured her bow and readied her first shots. This must have been her way to show her agreement to Violet's plan. Meanwhile, Violet transformed and ran through the park below her and closed some of the distance between her and the Walpurgisnacht.

After a few of Rose's shots hit Walpurgisnacht, all focused on the same spot on its head, bits of torn off ethereal tissue and dust provided the witch with a sort of smokescreen to hide behind. The perfect time to retaliate. Bursts of energy of enormous speed blasted past the smokescreen and hurtled towards Rose's location.

About halfway to Rose, the bursts exploded in mid-air. Instead of a magical explosion, however, it was an explosion created by pony technology.

“It's working! Keep firing!” On Violet's command, Rose fired even more shots to deepen the crater in the witch's face. As expected, it didn't actually seem to feel any pain or change its behavior even after having a sizable hole in her head.

Violet barely had to wait for the next attack as the Walpurgisnacht lifted a couple of buildings next to it, clumped them together to form a ball of concrete and glass, and tossed it towards Rose.

In the heat of the battle for not only Kamino's future, but also for her own and Rose's survival, Violet's mind managed to reach a state of calculated focus.

Time Lock! Stopping time to grant her the opportunity she needed to reach Rose before the attack reached her, Violet leaped into the air and set herself on a course with Rose. She couldn't stop time for very long, but she should have plenty of time to reach her.

Time Release!

Just before the orb of buildings was about to hit Rose, Violet smashed into her in mid-air and knocked both of them to safety, causing only a few scrapes and bruises as they crashed back onto the ground, which was already covered in a layer of water from the rain.

“But... it wasn't supposed to release yet...” She took a closer look at her TCD and with a sudden realization her mouth fell wide open. She had only had enough sand in her device for about one month. Usually the metal lids on her reservoirs were closed, but now both of them laid open, revealing one empty and one full reservoir of glinting sand. Turning it counter-clockwise at this point to stop time was useless.

“Daybreak, are you okay?” She helped Rose stand up and then grabbed her by her shoulders again. “I can't stop time anymore, we need to improvise.”

For the first time since Walpurgisnacht appeared, Rose opened her mouth. “Don't worry, Violet. Just tell me what to do.” The focused state of mind Violet had been in had cracked and was about to shatter, yet Rose's surprisingly calm and collected words mentally stabilized her. Maybe a shard of Amber's spirit had been absorbed by Rose, granting her a newfound focus.

Just hearing Rose's voice took enough of Violet's fears away to allow her to speak without worries. “I can't deflect its attacks anymore or get you out of the way, so you have to dodge on your own for now. You won't be able to fire shots safely anymore, but I think the damage you did so far should be enough. I will try to finish the Walpurgisnacht off, just make sure to distract it while I get into position.”

Instead of simply agreeing, Rose grabbed Violet by her shoulders just as she did to her before. “Listen Violet: don't overdo it. We can always think of another strategy if this one fails.”

Between the words she heard and Rose's pained expression Violet spotted not a confident advice, but a desperate plea.

One last nod and Violet went off, rushing towards the Walpurgisnacht on the ground, while Rose once again levitated herself in the sky and began shooting quick volleys to bombard the entire body of the witch. Getting close enough to her destination, Violet leaped into the air herself and made directly for the crater on the witch's head.

Arriving there felt like what landing on an asteroid of alien material in another galaxy must have been like. The black ethereal tissue she landed on felt like a sort of jelly which wriggled and writhed around on its own; she got the feeling the tissue tried to separate itself from the rest while binding together in other spots to heal the wound. She also noticed that the outer shell of the Walpurgisnacht was made of an oddly hardened resin which felt a lot more resilient than the jelly. She didn't even want to try to blow a hole into the shell, but she didn't have to, since Rose's magic had created a crater for her just fine.

Without stopping time, moving around on the wriggling mass and taking all her bombs out proved fairly difficult, but since the Walpurgisnacht was focused on trying to deal with Rose, Violet managed to empty her invisible bag rather quickly. The only problem remaining was activating them and getting to safety. At least she could probably activate all of her bombs before the first one went off.

After pressing the trigger on every one of her bombs—somewhere between eighty and one hundred of them—Violet quickly leaped into the air as far as she could, but didn't get more than ten meters away from the bombs before the first one went off.

A blinding light, a deafening blast, the pain of searing fur, and lastly the shock of being flung against a concrete wall were the last things Violet remembered before blacking out.

Coming to, the first thing Violet witnessed was the light of the setting sun illuminating her eyes, the second thing being the sensation of open wounds submerged in water. Through some miracle her glasses survived the ordeal, if a bit singed.

Right when Violet got up, she heard Rose shouting from behind her. “Violet! I finally found you! Are you all right?”

“I should be fine... my magic will heal those wounds in no time. More importantly, did we win?” Violet looked upwards but saw only the sky.

“Seems like it. After that blast I didn't see anything left of that witch.”

Violet averted her eyes from the sky and instead took a closer look at Rose: she had terrible wounds all over her body, cuts around her neck—traces of blood still remaining below them—elongated bruises all along her shoulders, and burn marks around her face.

“What about you, Daybreak, are you all right?”

“Well I had some trouble dodging all of its shots, but I'm fine since I also still have my magic to heal myself.” Rose put a hoof on Violet's shoulder. “Well, now that's over, would you mind telling me what the hay that just was? Where did that thing come from and why did you know about it?”

Violet produced a smile. The first completely genuine one in a long time. “I can tell you all about that once we get someplace to rest. Also, we should check around to see how other ponies are doing.” She quickly looked around. The damage done to the city was a lot lower than last time. Only a handful of buildings were destroyed, yet the other ponies still didn't want to come out, probably because it was still raining—if not heavy as before.

After a month of keeping silent and training her powers, Violet finally managed to reap the rewards of her wish in full. When they arrived someplace calm, she would tell Rose everything about her travels, or so she planned. The weight of having tricked her for a month was not easily overcome, but if it was for a friend like her, she would understand.

Rose and Violet transformed back and took their first heavy steps towards the downtown area. After only a few meters, however, Rose suddenly stopped and twisted her face in terror.

“Daybreak, what's wrong? Did we forget something? Daybreak?”

Violet wanted to get closer to Rose, but was warded off as Rose suddenly threw herself onto the ground and tore off the Soul Gem from her earring in panic.

“Daybreak, answer me! What is going on?” While Violet's sight bounced around in panic, she caught a closer glimpse of Rose's Soul Gem. It was completely black.

Rose's body writhed on the ground in agony as she let out a blood-curdling scream which knocked every last spark of happiness out of Violet. It looked like Rose's body was revolting against itself, trying to kill itself in a fit of blind rage.

Finally, Rose's Soul Gem shattered violently and released black smoke into the air, which gathered a few meters above her. When the last bit of smoke left the fragments of what was once her Soul Gem, Rose's body stopped moving entirely, her face now frozen with an empty expression, eyes devoid of light. In her lifeless hoof she now held an infernal object where her Soul Gem used to be: a Grief Seed.

Above her, the smoke repeatedly changed in nature and shifted around until it took on the form of a new being: it sprouted numerous spindly tendrils that connected its center to the ground, while above it, something formed that resembled the front half of a pony, hooves and head pointed upwards towards the sky. It looked like it was grasping for something.

“No... why would this happen? Is this what happens when our magic runs out? We turn into witches? No, Daybreak please, you have to come back to me!” Violet grabbed Rose's body to shake her awake. “Come on, Daybreak, there must be something left in you! Even if it's just a faint light, you have to hang on to it! Don't end like this!” With her body and mind weakened from her fight against the Walpurgisnacht, her pleas sounded weak and empty. Instead of raging against what had happened, it sounded like Violet had resigned herself.

Without paying attention, Violet already found herself within a barrier, the witch now towering above her, a size greater than most witches she had encountered so far.

The witch of salvation: its desire to free and bring redemption to all its subjects gnawed away at it and created a shell that strove for the heavens. The witch wanted to become a beacon of hope and lead by example of self-sacrifice, yet all of those ideals were merely a fake. After all, the witch itself had never performed any of the actions it thought it did. It was merely a hollow husk that longed for nothing more but to have redemption brought upon itself and those around it, so that the circle may be closed and every being may receive peace.

Within that moment, Violet felt a stinging pain in her chest area, and without looking away from Rose she knew some of the tendrils had just impaled her body and pierced her heart. Grasping onto her light with her last powers, Violet streaked Rose's mane with a shaking hoof. “This was... supposed to be... our victory...” Her tears had long netted Rose's pale face as well as mixed with her own blood as they streamed down her neck and dripped off her face.

Violet fell to the ground, barely able to stay conscious. Kiubee was right. Her body was in a shape that would spell immediate death for any pony, yet—apart from a burning pain which wasn't enough to incapacitate her completely—she was still very much alive. Losing consciousness around a witch, however, would spell certain doom.

The dull colors of the barrier swirled around her peripheral vision as her eyes raced about, trying to escape this hellish scene. A multitude of emotions were locked in a mortal battle inside her, the anger burning inside her being smashed by the despair in her heart, almost completely engulfing Violet in a sinister aura. Yet, a single spark resided within her and ignited the flame of hope. A spark that was once given to her by Rose herself.

Mobilizing the last of her strength, Violet grasped for her TCD with her magic and turned it 180 degrees clock-wise, reversing the flow of sand and time. Today was not the day she gave up. “Forgive me, Daybreak, for even considering the thought of surrendering.”

“Just like the ancient magic in my foalhood dreams, I want to be armed with the power to shatter even the darkness in my hoof, the next time I see your innocent smile.”

Chapter 7: Incertus (Uncertain)

“Kiubee deceived us all.” In her head, Violet played out the scene of confronting him, thinking about which selection of degrading and humiliating words to toss at him. At the same time, however, she tried to deny the words that would inadvertently be uttered by him in defense: “You never asked.”

She awoke in her hospital bed again, visions of Rose's witch still ingrained in her mind, layered over the bright sunshine that passed through the window onto her bed and smiled in her face. “Go away. Your light isn't fooling me. How dare you shine your light onto me. You should burn out. Begone. You have forsaken us, so act like it. I hate you.”

Unable to persist against her stellar opponent, Violet jumped out of her bed... and immediately tossed her body onto the floor with a face of agony. Her body cramped up while she fought against the pain of her prior wounds. The adrenaline surge she had received in her encounter must have helped the effect of her Soul Gem's pain dampening. With that now subsided, a bigger portion of the original pain swept over her. Even though this was still only a small fraction of the amount of pain such a wound would have left her in, it was still enough to make her cower in agony.

After a few seconds, Violet at least managed to find the composure to stand on all fours again, her chest still burning, the taste of blood still lingering. Taking a glance back at the bed while coughing blood into her hoof, she noticed the bed was as white as ever. Her chest seemed fine too, but only on the surface. She must have subconsciously healed her skin first as her body shuffled through the shutters of time, putting off the healing of her internal wounds for now.

Another glance went to her Soul Gem. It was sullied with black clouds, yet it should still provide enough magic for about a minute of time lock, even with the amount of magic subtracted she needs to heal herself. With this in mind, hunting a witch right away was in order to restore her magic.

Violet wouldn't end up as she did. More so, she would save her and unlock the door to a new future.

***

Chance seemed to favor Violet. The first day after leaving hospital, her Soul Gem already reacted to an enemy in a secluded area of the park. She should be able to enter a barrier around here without being seen if she can find an entrance.

Around another set of trees, she finally found her target. It was then she realized chance despised her: she hadn't tracked down a witch, but a familiar instead.

She tried to fight her thoughts about what would happen next as she analyzed her situation. With barely any magic to spare, hunting even a familiar would hinder her if she wanted to restore her magic soon. Avoiding fights entirely was out of the question as well. Even if someone else was to defeat the witches and familiars, her magic was steadily draining to maintain her dead body, demanding her to fight at some point, but only a witch.

The state of her body wasn't an open question for her at this point. If her heart was pierced and she still lived on, she could not call herself alive anymore. She was a walking weapon, remote-controlled by a single object.She placed her Soul Gem on her hoof and looked at it: she was about to run out of fuel.

While still hiding in the treeline, Violet observed the familiar's behavior. In the guise of an ethereal pony formed of shadows, it patrolled a path not often taken. How much she longed to stop time and blast its flank into next Tuesday. She would even forget about the commotion an explosion at sunset might cause, just for the thrill of disintegrating this familiar.

As one would expect, the more she held herself back, the more she had to think about Crimson's words. Her idea of ignoring familiars to conserve magic sparked an immense hatred inside her that she had never felt before, yet now she was forced to act the way Crimson would.

Crimsondidn't know about their souls being inside their Soul Gems, so she must have also not known about what happened once their magic ran out. If all that happened was her being unable to use any further magic and having to give up on her secondary life as a Sorceress, she should have been able to overcome it. In Violet's case, saving Daybreak had a priority so high, even the loss of her magic would have been unforgivable. The loss of her life even more so. She remained different from Phantasma.Violet took a deep breath.

Eventually, she agreed to leave with a heart so heavy, she considered ripping it out to feel better about herself. Just then, she noticed two young ponies striding along the very path the familiar was patrolling.

Her breath was knocked right out of her as she managed to identify the two ponies: Azure and Rose. Frozen in place, she found herself once again unable to make the right call. She knew what the right call was immediately, that wasn't the problem; the problem was actually acting upon that call.

When the two oblivious ponies got into range of the familiar, both of them vanished from sight instantaneously. The audacity to attack two ponies at once!Every bit of reason left her mind in that instant. Surely, she had more than plenty of reasons to save her friends, yet it were the tiny smudges of ill reason that told her not to save them that had blinded her enough to forget her entire purpose. With those gone, Violet exploded towards the familiar, transforming mid-gallop. With speed putting every prior movement of hers to shame, she blasted into the newly created barrier.

Her mind blanked out. Every fiber of her body had yielded to the pent up anger and despair inside her she had partially locked away after seeing Rose's witch, causing her senses to short-circuit and overloading ever muscle she possessed, even the one that managed her magic.

Her body moved on its own. Magic was spent as if the faucet providing her with energy was smashed to pieces to unleash the wild spout beneath. Boiling blood. An immense blast. Violet's brain only calmed down after the deed was already done.

Standing outside, her mind finally managed to catch up with itself and she realized she was awkwardly staring at two ponies both equally terrified and amazed.

***

“This is your house, Violet? It's er... pretty cool!” That was probably the greatest overstatement Violet had heard in the past months. She pointed to a still dust-ridden table with four plain chairs next to it. It came down to personal preference if one put either a tall table in their house that required chairs, or a short table that one would sit next to—like Amber had.

After saving Azure and Rose, Violet felt the need to act similarly to Amber: bringing them to her house and telling them about Sorceresses. Since they had seen a familiar, it meant they were now involved in the Sorceress business. And besides, Rose would probably get recruited by Kiubee sooner or later. It was Azure rather that brought chaos into the round.

A general feeling of uneasiness encumbered Violet ever since she fought that familiar. There was still a bit of juice left in her Soul Gem to keep her alive for maybe two weeks if she did not use any magic in the meantime, but fighting was out of the question for now. She had already formulated a few plans in her head to restock her magic supply, but she now experienced the side-effect of having a corrupted Soul Gem: dark visions of despair clouded her mind and weighed down on her, suffocating her mentally. She could hear the void calling to her, yet she gathered all of her fortitude to focus her mind on the now and smother every dark thought, something she had learned in her fights as a Sorceress.

After having taken their place next to the table in Violet's otherwise unremarkable living room, the three proceeded to bounce glances around. Azure and Rose were waiting for Violet to open her mouth but kept glancing at each other.

Eventually, Violet took a deep breath and spoke. “I'm not very good at this so I guess I'll make it quick: I am a Sorceress and I just saved you from an evil monster that tried to feed on your bodies to grow into an even bigger evil monster and feed on even more ponies. I got my magical powers from a thing called Kiubee—I think he uses telepathy to speak or something—and use them to fight these evil things. You can do the same if you go up to Kiubee and ask him to fulfill one of your wishes. He will then proceed to grant your wish and make you into a Sorceress so you can fight many evils and save many lives. Any questions?”

Azure and Rose looked at each other with open mouths. Slowly, they tilted their head and let out a hearty “What?” in unison. Their sight wandered back towards Violet, their face now showing the sort of expression you would give someone who escaped from an insane asylum, but was speaking like they were stating an obvious truth.

Violet mumbled to herself. “I guess I'll give you the long version...” and began taking apart her earlier words, explaining things in a more detailed way.

After about half an hour, she finally managed to make both Azure and Rose understand what had happened that day and what they were now in for. For now, she let out the parts about them losing their soul and turning into witches. As much as she despised Kiubee for leaving those things out, she understood at least the part about losing their souls. Some parts of her told her that she was no longer a respectable pony for actually siding with Kiubee on this matter, yet the recent events showed her the usefulness of such a modification and so she let that part out with a heavy heart.

On the matter of turning into witches, however, Violet felt an inner tumult about telling them. It was an insane punishment for running out of magic, a fate worse than death that made you “eat other ponies” while “losing your will” and forcing other ponies “to kill you.” At the same time, Rose shined brightest as a Sorceress and always radiated an aura of happiness and light when she was committed to saving ponies. She was reminded of Kiubee's earlier reasoning about not telling them: they would not want to become a Sorceress anymore.

This is where the core of Violet's inner tumult laid: Sorceresses turning into witches was probably the sole instigator for the witch's existence. As long as at least one witch exists, however, there needs to be at least one Sorceress to defeat it. But that Sorceress will then turn into a witch of their own, which requires another Sorceress to beat, unless the Sorceress can die without turning into a witch. And even without the witches, if there was still one familiar alive there would still need to be one Sorceress to kill it. In order to get the number of evils that low, however, one would require slaying multiple witches and familiars before dying, therefore reducing the overall number of evils.

Violet couldn't find an answer to her problem, nor could she come up with a quick solution to her situation. Instead, she figured to leave everything as is and focus on what would happen next. After all, there was still a Walpurgisnacht to beat.

“Wow it seems like a wish come true!” Azure beamed across her face. “More exactly, it's a wish that will come true! I'm gonna have to think about something quickly and get in on this right away!” She looked like she was about to leap right out of her chair and run out the door in excitement.

Rose, on the other hoof, managed to contain her enthusiasm. “That sounds pretty nice. If I could save innocent ponies like you said, that would be really great. You know, I always told myself that I was just another unremarkable pony with no special talents—and that would be correct—but if I could become something like you that fights for good and defeats evil, then I would finally be happy with myself.”

Azure reached over and slapped Rose on the shoulder, almost knocking her out of her chair. “Hey, do you already know what you're gonna wish for? I can't decide! Should I take money, or the glory? Or even... a feast fit for a king?”

Did Rose get that from Azure or the other way around?

Violet spoke up again. “You don't have to push yourselves to think about anything. You can take your time and come up with the perfect wish for yourself. You should be perfect candidates for Sorceresses so whenever you are ready just call out for Kiubee and he will appear.” She knew at least Rose was worthy of becoming a Sorceress, and she didn't see why Azure wouldn't be able to.

“Really? What does this Kiubee look like? We can see him if we are candidates right?” Azure slowly leaned further over the table towards Violet.

Right when Azure almost fell out of her chair, Kiubee appeared from somewhere in the room and hopped onto the table. “Well if you want to know so badly: yes, you are worthy candidates and yes, you can see me. I have nothing to add to what this Sorceress here has said to you—Violet was it?” Kiubee glanced at Violet. He was met with a stare that radiated murderous intent. “Er I guess I can leave you alone until you found your wish. See you until then.” With this, he hopped back down and disappeared behind the corner that led to the kitchen.

“I guess it's settled then. We are gonna come up with some great wishes and become a crime-fighting trio!”

“We are probably going to be a quartet after all. Maybe even a holy quintet.” Violet inspected her Soul Gem again (she took it out earlier to show Rose and Azure). The clouds swirling around her gem were almost covering the entire inside of the gem, only leaving tiny areas of purple radiance.

“Before you leave, I have something to ask of you.” Violet bounced her eyes between Rose and Azure. “You remember the part about running out of magic and being unable to use any magic after that point?” That's what everyone was probably thinking until Violet uncovered the truth.“I haven't mentioned this, but I am actually almost out of magic myself. I know this sounds really selfish, but once you become Sorceresses—I don't want to pressure you or anything, just hear me out—I want you to give the first Grief Seed you find to me, so I can replenish my magic.” In order to say these words, she tried her best to smother every bit of pride she managed to build up in the past weeks.She bit her lip and swallowed hard before finishing. “I can't actually fight right now with this bit of magic left.”

Rose answered with a smile that made Violet think Rose had already known her for half a year. The sort of smile only Rose could give to a stranger. “Don't worry, Violet. You saved our lives so this is the least we could do. So cheer up, you look so gloomy.” To her, they were already close friends. Something told Violet that Rose would have answered similarly even if she had not been the one to save her. Rose was the type of pony that would immediately befriend anyone she deemed trustworthy.

At that moment, Violet doubted parts of herself. Did Rose only befriend her because of her personality? In the past two months, Rose was her best friend, but maybe it could have been any other pony beside Rose that could have managed to get this close to her.Yet Violet still shuddered at even the thought that Rose could have been replaced with any other pony. It had to be Rose, and only Rose that became her friend.

***

Once again, Violet experienced another first day in school. She still felt a certain excitement on this day, a certain anticipation of all the school days that were to come. Here she wouldn't have to worry about any of that Sorceress business and instead focus solely on her friends. Her studies were always the same obviously, so she didn't even need to concentrate on them at all. On top of that, her physique improved through the magic of her Soul Gem that surrounded her body, as well as the training she received from hunting witches.

Violet left Azure and Rose to themselves for a while, simply having small chats on breaks, but not inquiring about their wishes or pushing them to make a contract. After all, this was something they had to decide on their own, without any outer influence.

After school was over, Azure quickly left the group and made her way to the hospital.

Arriving there, she didn't have to ask at the reception where she needed to go. She already knew exactly where her destination was.

The door to his room opened with a faint but audible creek. Stepping through the door, Azure walked towards the bed next to the window with paced steps.

“Hey, I'm over here,” said Azure as she was about to reach the bed. The pony she was visiting, Slate, had been looking out the window. He must have heard the door opening but ignored it.

Swinging his head around like a pendulum, it snapped into a position facing her. “Hey Azure, nice to see you again.” A smile appeared on his face, yet the tone of his voice remained half-asleep. Appearance-wise, his gray fur seemed fairly rough, with an unkempt mane, that seemed to try to form into an actual haircut but wasn't cared for properly recently. His limp facial expression along with the rest of his body made him look fairly meek.

“Hey how's it going Slate?” Azure reached the bed and—instead of grabbing a chair to sit on—sat down on the floor. “Are your hindhooves feeling better?”

Slate slowly reached for his hindhooves that were hidden beneath the sheets. “Well, the feeling has returned to them at least. It might take a while until I can use them properly again.”

“Don't worry, I can lend you some hooves when you walk around again. At least until you can walk properly on your own.”

“Well that's er... nice I guess. I'm not quite sure how that would work but thanks.” Slate scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“More importantly, how is your right hoof doing? Can you move it again?”

“Well, I can kinda swing it around,” he said while grabbing his twitching right hoof with his left hoof and pulling it out from under the sheets, “but I haven't been able to bend it yet. It feels like there's a dead lump of meat attached to my shoulder.”

Azure leaned in closer. “How long do you think until you are up and running again? Surely you want to go back to playing your violin. I'd love to listen to you playing again.”

He streaked his right hoof while staring at it. For a few seconds he remained like this, not uttering a sound. “I... don't know.” His eyes trailed off, bouncing around the room until he met Azure's eyes.

“What do you mean? Did the doctors say anything?”

“Well that's the problem. They didn't want to tell me a whole lot about the state of my hoof. But whenever they tried to say anything about it, they were talking in a really roundabout way. I also remember one of them looking at me like I was a broken puppy.”

“You don't think–”

“It seems like it.” He lifted his right hoof and brought it down like a hammer. He probably couldn't bring it down softly anyway. With this, his voice grew in momentum and shed off it's earlier sleepiness. “Look at it. It's like someone petrified it. I can be happy enough that I can at least move it enough to walk with it, but even then I will have a hard time running or climbing stairs.” He lifted his hoof again and brought it down next to him. He repeatedly slammed it against the side of his bed, the force of his slams increasing with every swing.

“What are you doing, stop!” With a hasty leap, Azure jumped forwards and grabbed his hoof. “What has gotten into you?”

He swung his head around again, facing the window. Despite this, Azure still noticed his watering eyes. “I don't even feel anything in there anymore. I can hide from the truth as much as I want to, but it would be better to just face it: I will never be able to use this hoof again. Forget playing Violin, I now need to try to somehow live with this thing attached to me. If you are so eager to lend me a hoof you can chop this thing off for me so I don't have to carry it around anymore.”

Azure jumped up. “What are you even saying? This isn't the Slate I know! How can you give up like that? Of course you aren't getting better with that attitude! You need to hang on to that glimmer of hope as small as it may be! You will get through this I know you will.”

“Big words from someone with no problems.” For a moment, there was silence. Then, he brought his head back and shook it while muttering “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that.” He focused his eyes on Azure again. “But you have to look at it from my perspective too. The chances this thing will heal on its own are abysmal. I didn't want to tell you this, but... I overheard one of the doctors saying it's hopeless. They are probably still trying to find the right time to tell me directly.”

Azure hesitated for a moment before eventually speaking up again. “Even so, I will be there if you need any help. And don't give up hope just yet.”

***

The weight on Violet's mind increased by the hour, thoughts of death and decay crept through her, trying to take control of her, trying to make her give in to her deep-rooted desires of violence and atonement. She had a hard time breathing normally when she was alone with her thoughts, and she felt like she wanted to redeem herself for things she didn't do by having an executioner cut her down.

A blaring noise eventually pulled her back into reality and banished those thoughts back into the depths of her mind. It also made her jump from her seat and crash face-first onto the floor.

The bell of Violet's home screamed in a shrill voice far louder than needed, causing her to open the door after just a few seconds with an annoyed face. On the other side stood Azure, her face gradually losing its smile.

“I should have told you last time you were here: this bell is really loud, and you should knock instead. And yes, I would hear that since I don't actually have anything else to do.” Especially without being able to hunt witches.

“Er... sorry. I guess. But listen, I have formed a contract with Kiubee! I can start hunting witches now!” Azure jumped up and down with every second word, causing her voice to hiccup with every landing.

“Not a moment too soon. I tracked down a witch close to here, let's go.” She hastily walked past Azure without waiting for a response.

“Wait, but what about teaching me how to fight or use my powers, I don't even know anything about fighting these things yet.” Reluctantly following Violet, Azure made her way down the street.

“Don't worry, this is a simple one. And frankly I'm running out of time. I was about to resort to Plan S to restore my magic but this will do nicely. Even a rookie should be able to take this witch down.”

It only took them a short walk down the streets and into the back alley behind some shops in the market district. Violet came here earlier that day to check if this witch would appear again in this time line and found weak reactions with her Soul Gem. Last time this witch barely defended itself and proved to be an easy kill: the octopus-like witch hanging between lines in a barrier in the sky. She gulped while trying to suppress her anxiety.

“Well, here we go. Follow me, Marina... and get ready to hang on to something.” With this, she transformed, activated the gateway and stepped forward. Azure took a deep breath, transformed herself, and leaped after her.

On the other side, she landed on a wash-line of unmeasurable length, suspended beneath an abyss as blue as the sky around them. The nature of her powers and her class of Sorceress allowed her to immediately balance on the lines, calling upon foreign instincts she didn't even realize she had.

Next to her, Violet was clinging on for dear life.

“Wow this world is amazing.” She glanced over at Violet for recognition. “...Are you all right?”

“It's fine, it's fine, just go and fight that thing!” She hastily waved her hoof around to symbolize her attack command. “Don't overthink anything, the knowledge of how to use your basic abilities should have been ingrained into your brain as soon as you contracted. Just improvise the rest!”

Azure hesitated for a second before nodding. In this form, a white cape the length of her body waved along her back. Violet got the feeling she resembled some sort of feminine knight. That thought was strengthened by the fact she had just materialized two swords in front of her.

Running along the line, Azure levitated her swords around her as she closed in on the witch. As expected, the witch didn't notice her and instead sat prone between multiple lines.

After making her way to a position close to one of its legs, Azure took a leap, grabbing both swords in mid-air. The handles of her swords were shaped like gloves, situated below the blades and pointing downwards, allowing one to use the swords as an extension of one's hooves.

In one fluid movement she brought both swords down, cross-slashing one of the legs of the witch with such a force the cuts widened around the original incision area to encompass the entire leg and sever it within the next second.

“Ha! That was easier than I thought!” Azure landed back on a wash line with swords floating besides her as the witch pulled its body back, increasing the distance between them.

“Well, there's more where that came from!” With small hops, Azure moved from line to line, each of them about five meters from each other, to close in on the witch again. About halfway to the witch, it lifted on of its legs and pointed it at Azure. Much to her dismay, the leg suddenly detached itself from the body and shot at Azure. Startled and unable to dodge the attack, she blocked the massive leg much greater than herself with nothing less but her face, causing her body to be torpedoed backwards through the air.

“Well, that's new. How was I supposed to know it does that? I should have minimized the possibility for error by having her end it right away. I guess I'll think about that next time.”

Meanwhile,Azure's body landed safely—not on a wash line—but on a cushion of yellow ribbon.

“Tiro Finale!” shouted a voice from behind Azure. Just as she turned around, the witch in front of her exploded in a violent blast of magic. The pony behind her, Amber, was holding a ginormous gun between her hooves, much greater than she herself. Seems like Plan S would have also worked.

“If small weapons don't work, use bigger ones.” With this, Amber jumped over to Azure and helped her get up. “It seems like you could use some assistance. Are you all right?”

“I think so...” She brushed her face with her hoof. Within the next second, the barrier around them had disappeared and the three found themselves back in the alley. “Doesn't hurt as much anymore as it did right when that thing hit me...”

“What about you over there?” Amber glanced at Violet who was now approaching the two. “You don't seem wounded.”

“I wasn't exactly fighting, so that's only natural.” Instead of facing Amber, Violet scanned her surroundings until her eyes stuck to the object of her desire: the Grief Seed. Scrambling over and picking it up, she held it out on her stretched hoof, right in front of Amber's face. Violet tried to hide the stinging pain she suddenly felt convulsing in her guts. “Don't get me wrong, you deserve this Grief Seed more than any of us, but I'm in a bind right now and low on magic. We will definitely make this up to you, don't worry.” With this, she immediately used the Grief Seed and let out a long satisfied sigh.

“Oh?” Amber tilted her head in surprise. “You talk like somepony I know. What was her name again? How odd...” She swung her head around and tilted it the other direction. “I don't forget the names of any pony I meet, I could still name you all the Sorceresses in Bluegrass, but this...” A sudden flash of uneasiness shot through her face. “Did I only dream of that?”

“They say it's possible to dream of the future,” Violet chimed in, “some think that's where déjà vu come from.”

“I heard that before, too...” She shook her head. “Well in any case, I have no problem with you taking the Grief Seed, especially after elaborating your position. Oh and you don't have to make it up to me, I would have helped you either way.” She bounced her eyes between Azure and Violet. “Say, why don't you come over to my house and we drink a cup of tea?”

Azure jumped up.“That would be great! But now I have to thank you not only for saving my flank, but for the tea as well!”

“You hadn't lost the fight yet.”

“Sure, that sounds nice,” Violet said and added a nod of approval.

Amber started walking, leading the two ponies behind her, but quickly turned around for one last moment. “Oh and by the way, I'm Amber, nice to meet you.”

“I'm Azure Marina, and I actually became a Sorceress just today, so if you can help me out some that would be great!”

“And I'm Violet Somnia.”

After only a few steps, Amber turned her head toward Azure. “You still seem inexperienced. If you want to, I can train you.”

Azure's face lit up momentarily, but Violet cut in right away. “I wouldn't mind, Spirit. Right now, however, I would like to train Marina myself for a bit. I will make sure to get her up to speed with everything she needs to know about this whole business.”

Azure shot Violet a quick glance, wordlessly telling her of her dissatisfaction. Amber only answered with a satisfied chuckle.

Chapter 8: Conturbatio (Disorder)

“Okay, I'll be your guide today,” Violet said as she walked alongside Azure. Both of them were treading along a road, searching for any sort of reaction with their Soul Gem. “Hunting familiars and witches is simple: walk around with your Soul Gem primed and hope you notice a reaction. You can also try to collect information and rumors from other ponies to try to piece together where a witch might be hiding. Familiars usually stay on the move, so it's harder to pin those down.”

It only took them a few minutes to pick up the trace of an enemy. “Judging from the energy pattern it's probably a familiar. Keep at it, Marina!”

“You seem to be rather knowledgeable about witches and familiars, are you a veteran?”

“Kind of.” They increased their pace until they reached a lonesome alleyway. “It's right up ahead, ready your weapons!”

Azure transformed, conjured a bunch of swords, and instantly launched them forwards at their otherwise invisible foe which had come into view. Just as it was about to hit the familiar—which was riding on a tricycle—the swords were smashed out of their trajectory and hit the wall.

“Marina, did you mess up your magic?”

“I don't think I did...”

“Well, then at least try to retrieve it from over there. Your levitation magic works like a magnet, decreasing in power rapidly with increasing distance, but if you imagine a singular path along an invisible line between you and the swords, you should be able to exert enough force to pull them closer to you.”

Azure didn't have to try for long to get the swords to move towards her. Violet already figured it would be this easy. After all, she had managed to collect a broad knowledge of how Sorceress magic worked and reminded herself of it now and then.

Explaining magic was surely a nice way to get another Sorceress to understand what they were trying to accomplish in detail and by doing so, making it easier to move the invisible muscles that worked one's magic, but that was also why an explanation was usually not vital: it worked like moving muscles after all.

Due to the nature of this magic, it all came down to the simple idea in their mind, and how possible that idea was for their abilities. Those abilities were determined once they contracted and were directly mirrored from their soul, even if they were not aware of those.

For example, Azure seemed to have a thing for stylish swordplay and brave knights, even though she might not have let anyone around her know. Therefore, conjuring swords, swinging them around and tossing them with deadly precision was not something she had to learn. The seeds for those abilities had already been planted in her soul, and Kiubee did nothing more than to force that seed to sprout.

Apart from that, there were abilities that any Sorceress could use by simply having access to magic, no matter what their initial type of magic was. Violet's magical pouch was one of those. Amber told her how to use those after having learned it herself from some other Sorceress, but didn't have a lot of use for it—unlike Violet.

It was hard to gauge how many different abilities one could find, since it all came down to their imagination and the possibility of such a spell. The magical pouch, for example, worked by using a very clever combination of minor teleportation magic and the shrinking magic that every Sorceress used to conceal their Soul Gem. By combining these, a seemingly unique new ability had been found. Similarly, many new types of spells could be found without exceeding the possibilities of one's magical capabilities.

Violet was brought back to earth from her mental stroll by a voice she recognized too well.

“Well, at least you can use basic levitation, that's a good start.” A pony with a dim red coat approached the two from behind a corner, a crimson-tipped spear resting on her back. Violet did not expect to meet Crimson this soon.

“Before I start your next lesson, here's a little question for you two: what do you think you are doing? Why would you hunt a familiar?” Despite calling upon both of them, she only pointed at Azure with her spear, who was standing a few hooves next to Violet.

“Eh? We were hunting that familiar. Speaking of which, it's about to get away, so if you could excuse us–” Azure wanted to leap forward, but Violet tapped her on the shoulder before she could finish that motion.

“We can go after that thing later. Right now I have an even more important lesson for you: talk some sense into this pony over there.”

Azure stared back at Violet in confusion, until she sparked the fire in her eyes to commit. Maybe Violet was not the kind of teacher that was good for Azure after all, but she seemed confident in herself.

Crimson shrugged. “Oh, taking a step back? Fine, if you want to send your rookie to talk to me I have no problem with that, but I do have to say: I'm kind of interested as to way you would seem to harbor such a dislike towards me, purple one. What is it you are trying to accomplish? Oh and by the way, I'm Crimson Phantasma.”

“I'm Violet Somnia, and this is Azure Marina. As for your question, a friend of mine taught me about ponies like you, and I feel like talking to you directly will only get us off to a bad start. You see, I am actually trying to remain neutral, but I am already tainted by my other friend's views. So instead I will sit back and listen to what you have to say to someone new to the business.” Violet calmly took a few steps backwards.

“Hey, what is the big idea? You don't even know who I am and yet you strut around like this! Don't you play games with me!” Crimson lost most of her composure and shouted at Violet, who was now leaning against a wall.

Before Crimson could make a move toward her, Azure barred her way. “Hold on a sec, before you do any of that, would you mind telling me why you even stopped us? And my swords being knocked around back there, that was you wasn't it? Why would you do that?”

Crimson gritted her teeth, before backing off a few steps and taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. “You see, I was patrolling around the area when I saw you guys going after that familiar. Seeing how you would waste your precious magic hunting that thing I obviously had to protect you from your own stupidity by ending your advance before a real fight could start.”

Azure lowered her agitated stance that she must have not even realized she took. “And how is using up some magic to hunt a familiar bad? After all, isn't it our job to hunt familiars and witches?”

“That's where the problem lies. Tell me, why are you hunting them? You are probably doing it to save the lives of innocent ponies. That is very laudable, really, but ultimately that will be your downfall.”

Violet had a hard time listening. She already had this conversation with her before, and seeing someone even less experienced than she was talk to her only made her realize just how strong Crimson's cards really were.

Though Crimson was still a fool for thinking you'd only lose your magic capabilities if you ran out of magic, but with the truth behind the corruption of the Soul Gem known, it made so much more sense to ignore familiars.

If one hunted familiars and died, one could not protect ponies from witches anymore. But if one were to only hunt witches and sustain themselves, they could keep on hunting witches for a long time and ultimately save even more ponies. So even with the argument that Azure was about to take, Crimson was still in the right. For the wrong reason.

Just as the discussion between the two started to heat up, Kiubee approached Violet from the corner that lead to the street. “And what do we have here? Are you taking a breather?”

“Oh hello, Kiubee. I'm observing these two over here settling a quarrel they are about to have.” Violet subtly gestured toward the scene next to her.

“I see. How about I give you some company?” Kiubee jumped up on her back.

“I don't see why I should stop you.”

While Azure had reacted to Crimson's ramblings similar as Violet had, it didn't take very long for Crimson to reach the point she had wanted to reach since the start.

“So you will continue to hunt familiars? Without even thinking about what I just told you? Helping others is all great and fine but as a Sorceress those actions will only come back to hurt you.”

Azure took a step towards her as if to brave her words. “I admit I haven't learned a lot about this business yet, but just the idea of letting those things run around to feed on ponies makes me want to vomit! No matter what your reasoning is, I will not accept such a thing!”

Crimson streaked her chin while her face twisted to match her unsavory words. “I see. Well in that case I guess I have to help you to your luck—by force. You can't hunt that familiar you saw earlier if I knock you out.” She looked over at Violet as she readied her spear in one hoof. “Don't worry, I will try to not hurt her too much if I don't have to.” Violet didn't react.

Azure readied two swords, without asking for Violet's permission if she was allowed to attack another Sorceress. Since she was only defending herself, fighting another Sorceress seemed instantly okay in her book. And besides, even though Azure was terrible at arguing, it was obvious that Crimson had avoided familiars herself and therefore endangered the life of hundreds of ponies. As the ally of justice she wanted to be, an enemy like Crimson would have to fall to her knees.

The two locked eyes with each other, their gazes drilling into their opponent's head with each second. Two unmoving warriors had already begun fighting without a single muscle being moved. One of them, a knight, tensed up each fiber in her body, readying them for the coming storm. The other one bore glinting eyes, set aflame by anticipation for the coming slaughter.

Azure blinked first.

A streak of red shot towards her, sounding a mischievous cackle. In one quick movement, so smooth it looked like Crimson denied all possibilities for errors and noise within her moves, Crimson shot towards the wall next to Azure and got ready to unleash what she had wanted to show off for such a long time. Unsure how to react to such an odd movement, Azure tried to protect her left side, the side Crimson seemed to be aiming for, with both her swords, levitating next to her.

Crimson swung her spear as if about to deliver a fierce slash, however with this trajectory it would surely hit the wall next to her. But it didn't. Instead, as the spear was nearing the wall, the long handle broke into pieces, as if breaking apart after being sliced like a vegetable. In between the pieces of wood, a single metal chain held all the pieces together, the wooden parts enveloping only about half of the length of the chain. With this the spear's true form had been revealed: it was only a spear in its compact state, but in its true state, it was a scorpion tail.

With this newly gained mobility and the impossible-to-predict movement possibilities, Azure was completely unable to react within the fractions of a second she had for herself. All she could do was brace for the scorpion's sting.

The sting... it didn't come. Instead, the chain with the wooden parts along it wrapped around her body and entangled her, until Crimson grabbed one of the wooden parts with her hooves and swung her body around, effectively flinging Azure into the next wall with a force big enough to leave a large imprint in the wall, her bones cracking in multiple places across her body.

“Ah, that felt better than it should have. You were a funny little one I have to give you that.” Crimson recreated her spear by magically contracting all the pieces and snapping them back together. She turned her face toward Violet, who was impressed. “Sorry for interrupting your lessons, teach. I'm sure she'll make a fine Sorceress once she recovers from this.”

Barely unable to hide her snarky grin, Crimson let out a sharp cackle before turning away from Violet without waiting for an answer and getting ready to leave. Violet was about to run over and check on Azure, as a shaking silhouette stood up amid the dust kicked up by the breaking wall.

“Bah... didn't you want to knock me out?” Azure spat blood in Crimson's vague direction. “I wouldn't want to go down before I had a shot at fighting back. Besides, who'd lose to somepony like you?”

Just as she proclaimed this, a magical glow became visible across her body, resembling sparkling musical notes dancing around her body. As the glow increased, bruises and cuts across her body healed almost instantaneously. When every single wound had been treated, the sparkle disappeared.

Violet stared at the scene in awe, but couldn't shake off an uneasy premonition. Something about Azure not being knocked out and instead fighting on didn't strike well with her.

“What you just witnessed was her magic,” Kiubee stated on Violet's back. “Judging from your reaction, it seems like you didn't anticipate something like this, but allow me to explain: a Sorceress's magic depends on their innate abilities, and their wish.

“Her magic concerning the conjuration and handling of swords is due to her abilities as Azure Marina, while her regeneration magic you witnessed is attributed to the wish she made. For example, if a pony were to wish for something like being a great cook, they would probably gain the ability to create food out of thin air. Ponies that wish to communicate with animals would naturally gain additional magics that allow them to handle and manipulate animals, and ponies that wish for healing would gain an even more powerful regeneration magic than what Sorceresses usually have.”

“There I was thinking my time lock magic came from my own abilities, but if the TCD and everything with it came from my wish then I can figure out what my innate ability was: absolutely nothing.”

Kiubee jumped down from Violet's back and stood next to her, trying to get a glance at her face. “That's odd. I don't remember contracting you. Well, must be some sort of error in my memory.”

Meanwhile, Crimson had turned around to face Azure once more, staring into her eyes with a new-found interest. “Oh a fighter are we? I guess this will get interesting after all!”

With one quick movement she dashed forwards again, pointing her spear forward for a lightning-fast thrust. With the power back in her newly healed bones Azure tumbled sideways to avoid the oncoming assault, instantly calling her swords back to her. With Crimson striking past her, Azure grabbed one of the swords and tried to slash back, but her movements were too slow to reach the crimson bolt.

Even before Azure had finished her slash, Crimson had turned her body around as soon as she had noticed her strike would miss, breaking her spear into the scorpion tail just as she passed Azure. From here, she shot the stinger backwards, aimed at Azure's exposed flank.

The sting Azure had feared before: this time it reached her. The wide-tipped metal tore into her side before knocking her off her balance and then retreating. The sting itself lasted only a tiny fraction of a second, it happened so quick that Azure's reaction of pain set in when the stinger had already retracted from her body.

Once again Azure's body collapsed on the floor, but this time she immediately jumped back up again and launched herself at Crimson, her body swirling with sparkles of cerulean hue. While closing the few meters that separated them, Azure conjured two swords and launched them at Crimson ahead of herself, while she grabbed both her other swords and rushed after her projectiles.

Crimson got ready to block the bladed projectiles hurtling towards her. Even though she hastily grabbed her spear with both her hooves, the act of blocking both flying swords—instead of simply dodging them—destabilized her defense. Looking for this, Azure struck.

There definitely was an opening. There was a chance. Yet despite this, Azure found herself on the receiving end of another scorpion sting just half a second later.

“You have quite some spirit in you, but that alone won't be enough to even scratch me! I have been in this business for over a year, honing my skills since the first day! What hope does a puppy like you even have?”

Azure patted herself off before facing Crimson again. “Even if I don't win, I will defend my honor as a Sorceress! And I plan on putting everything I have into that!” A few light sparkles appeared once again, healing some small bruises. At this point, Azure's cape was torn up, with long cuts running through it. Below the cloth, however, the skin no longer showed any signs of inflicted harm.

Violet couldn't help but take a liking to Azure's bravery, yet the whole fight unsettled her.

Close-ranged combat like this as a Sorceress played out as an intricate dance relying a lot on their mastery of close-range levitation. The closer an object was to a Sorceress, the more control they had over it. As such, an experienced fighter like Crimson was able to spin her spear around her body without having to touch it, performing various attacks while parrying incoming strikes and also grabbing the spear with her hooves in between for maximum force and maneuverability.

Kiubee spoke up again. “Interesting. If she keeps healing herself this fast, there is hardly any way to win for Crimson, other than an instant kill.”

Violet scoffed. “It is also possible that her bravery gives out at some point after being subjected to all of these futile efforts. The only thing keeping her going is the hope of victory she is holding on to.”

Kiubee tilted his head. “You have to teach me what this idea of hope is one day. It seems illogical.”

Initially, the fight had resembled an honorable duel between two fearless combatants, but at this point it had devolved into something different. Azure kept launching herself and her weapons towards her opponent, while Crimson gave her ample openings, probably on purpose, yet every single advance was brutally struck down, while Azure involuntarily let out short screams to mask the sound of her body being torn open. It sounded like an animal was cut open alive. And it also smelled like it. There was no glory or honor in this fight; Not for either fighters.

Still, for the most part, Azure's attitude didn't change. Surely she must have felt her resolve wavering underneath, but the face she showed Crimson was that of a brave warrior, not fearing anything that would happen to them.

“Does she not actually have a plan?”

Eventually, Crimson lowered her spear for a second as she took a breather a few hooves away from Azure. “You know it has been really fun playing around like this, but I'm starting to feel like you actually don't want to lose.” She shrugged. “Here I was trying to teach you a valuable lesson while having a bit of rugged fun and you go and repay me like that? Well, in that case, I guess I will just have to give you a scratch that even your tenacity won't heal that quickly!”

Within the very second she had finished her sentence, her spear exploded forward, splitting up in one quick motion and once again wrapping around Azure before her mind had even processed that Crimson had moved. This time, however, Crimson held on to the last part of the handle from a range and yanked it upwards, lifting Azure upwards into the air, and then jumped upwards along her. There, she smashed down Azure to the ground like a sack of meat, the chains letting go of her just before she hit the ground.

For her final move, she recreated the spear in mid-air and charged downward like a falling star, Azure in the center of the projected impact. “This is the end!”

She hit the ground with a force big enough to cleave steel in half, rending the ground and sending bits of pavement flying off into random directions while kicking up a considerable amount of dust. In the center of the crater... she had struck ground. She emitted a clearly audible gasp from amid the dust as she freed her spear from the crack in the ground she created.

Frantically throwing her head around, she spotted Azure lying barely conscious next to the wall. Still unsatisfied, Crimson kept scanning the area but couldn't find what she was so hasty to find.

“I think you had your fun.” Violet's voice sounded from behind her, a spot Crimson was sure she had checked.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to keep out of this?” She tried turning around, but as she did, Violet disappeared again.

“You were going too far. My pupil cannot beat you. You should have realized this and acted accordingly, instead of trying to brute-force a victory.”

Once again, Crimson swung her body around, only to be greeted by two purple eyes that stared directly at her. Instinctively jumping backwards, Crimson regained her stance a meter away from her. “I did go easy on her! I even gave her a chance! It's not my fault if she doesn't give up.” She pouted and got ready to leave. “Whatever, I'm off.”

Azure slowly got up, the glow once again healing her wounds. She tried to open her mouth to say something to Crimson as she was walking away, but instead that very pony turned her head around one last time.

“You're not off the hook yet. I wanna have some more fun with you in the future.” With this, she finally stepped around the next corner and left their field of vision.

“A pony like Phantasma... We need her.”

***

The following day, Azure had made her way to Slate's house, just after school was over. After his limbs had miraculously healed overnight, Slate was able to visit school again only a few days later. Without any idea what had happened, but also without any reason to hold him back, the doctors had released him from the hospital and allowed him to continue his daily life as if nothing had happened. Of course, that also included the return of his ability to play the violin.

Even after coming all the way here, Azure didn't even have any plan what she wanted to accomplish once she arrived. Instead, she stood in front of Slate's house like a garden gnome, staring at the doorbell.

When Azure had made her contract, the impulse of saving her friend allowed her to do so without any hesitation, yet she hadn't at all thought about what she wanted to do afterwards. Obviously she couldn't tell him something ridiculous like her magical wish having healed him. Despite her usually being fairly relaxed around Slate, having done something like this for his sake erected a new mental wall between them. A wall that she had to tear down at some point to continue her relationship.

While she was still thinking about how she could break down that wall—that only she could perceive—a voice approached her from behind.

“What's wrong, didn't you come here to see him?”

Certainly those words meant no harm in themselves, but Azure recognized the owner of that voice and immediately turned around.

“Crimson! What are you doing here?” Azure stretched out her hoof and made a stabbing motion toward Crimson. In some way a distraction from her earlier problem might even be able to have cooled her head, but this was not the kind of distraction she had hoped for.

“I followed you a bit, is that such a bad thing? Isn't this where he lives, your knight in shining armor? I didn't want to interrupt you at first, but you seemed to have some problems.” Crimson casually approached Azure until she was close enough to touch her stretched out hoof. She then casually took out an apple from her magical pouch—located behind her hoof—and took a bite.

Azure growled back at her for an instant, before managing to calm herself and regaining her posture. After taking a deep breath she responded. “Well it's not hard to find out that much. But I doubt you would even understand my situation if I were to tell you more.”

“Ho? Well, now you made me interested. Go ahead, I can be a good listener.”

Azure turned toward the house again. After letting out a short sigh she continued. “In short it goes like this: he is a friend of mine and got into an accident. Afterwards, some of his hooves were in bad shape and he wouldn't have been able to play his violin again. I visited him almost every day to make sure he was all right, but he never got any better.” She bounced her eyes back to Crimson. “And now I'm a Sorceress and he's back to being fine.”

“That sure was a short version, I'll ask Violet later for the full story.” Crimson quickly put the apple back in her pouch. It wasn't the sort of movement like someone throwing away trash. She rather put it there so she could finish it later. “At least now I know how to help you.”

Azure quickly stretched her hoof out again and repeated her stabbing motions as she shouted back at her. “I don't need your help! Stay where you are!”

“Don't want my help? Then I'll give you the advice instead: you want him to be yours? Want him to depend on you and cling to you? It's simple: just go in there and break a few of his bones again. You have to break him carefully enough that he is unable to care for himself anymore. At that point, he will be unable to resist your help, and he will be unable to ever let go of you.”

Azure let out a growl and gritted her teeth. “I knew I shouldn't have told you. Get lost!”

“Don't like the advice? I can re-offer the help: if you want to, I will go in right now and break him for you.”

Pushing her face right up to Crimson's, Azure barked back at her. “You are such a disgusting, honorless pony! Who taught you to be like that? How can you just go around and spout such aggressive and malevolent nonsense? You want to help me? I will help you! By planting my swords between your ribs!”

Without flinching once, Crimson simply nodded to herself before putting on a satisfied expression. “That's what I was hoping for. I'll take you up on those words, but how about we move somewhere else for that. We wouldn't want to alert him.”

***

A short while later, Azure and Crimson reached a bridge that crossed the Kami river. This bridge was fairly isolated from the rest the city and ponies wouldn't usually come here or use this bridge to cross the river at this point. Hardly any pony would care if this bridge was suddenly destroyed, so the two wouldn't need to worry about collateral damage either.

Reaching the center of the bridge, Crimson turned around to face Azure. “This place right here should be just fine.” Transforming and taking out her spear she rammed it tip-first into the ground to show how little she cared about damaging this environment. “Please, don't hold yourself back.”

“I didn't plan on it!” Despite the long walking distance having cooled Azure down quite a bit, she was still unable to control her temper and shouted back at her. She quickly grabbed hold of her Soul Gem and got ready to transform, when hoofsteps approached her from behind.

“Azure, wait!”

“Rose, what are you doing here?” Azure glared back at her. Surely she felt relieved to see Rose, but her enraged stare bore into her more than she had liked to.

“Kiubee told me you were in trouble, so I came to the place he described me!”

From the side of the river, where a few bushes grew, Violet had hidden herself and watched the whole scene.

When she and Rose were walking home after having met with Amber, Kiubee had unexpectedly approached both of them and told her about how Azure was about to get into trouble, as she was fighting Crimson again. Fearing that one of them would face death, he had informed them of the place they were headed to. At that point, Violet had given Rose the urgent task to rush ahead while she herself would return to get Amber. Judging from her current position she obviously hadn't done that. She also implored Rose to stop Azure from entering the fight at any cost.

“It's fine, step back and don't interrupt.” Azure gestured Rose to move backwards so she could start the fight, yet Rose wouldn't back up. Instead she moved in closer.

“I don't want you to fight another Sorceress. We should all work together to fight the witches! What use is it if you attack each other here?”

“You don't even know who this pony is. So please, step back and let me handle this.” Azure slowly averted her gaze from Rose and took a deep breath. At least she tried to. Just as she inhaled, Rose dashed in front of her, grabbed her marine-sparkling Soul Gem and tossed it off the side of the bridge.

Azure immediately rushed to the railing, where she only heard a faint splashing sound as her Soul Gem was swallowed by the watery depths.

Swinging her head downward she fell into a mixture of emotions and let out an awkward sigh mixed with an angered swinging of hooves as her body leaned over the railing. “What in the hay was that? Did you just–” She swung her head around and flailed her way toward Rose. “Why would you–? How and even why–?”

From afar, Violet was only able to make out how Azure bounced her hooves between grabbing her head, throwing them up in the air and then stomping them on the ground again, while her face took a rollercoaster ride from disappointment, through a loop of anger, and down a dip of despair.

The brakes were finally slammed as her body suddenly collapsed on the floor like a puppet that had its strings cut. The sudden gasps of both Crimson—who had felt a similar disappointment at Rose's behavior as she tossed the Soul Gem—and Rose—who had been unable to respond to any of Azure's half-questions until now—reached all the way to Violet.

This would have been the point where Violet would pat herself on the shoulder for managing to recreate this scene, yet she hadn't actually done anything herself. She merely left Rose alone and played silent watcher until now. Still, the projected “best outcome” had been achieved. She had a hard time telling herself that, however, as she spied Crimson's and Rose's terrified expressions as Kiubee had just appeared to tell them what had happened.

Sitting back, she tried to pass the time by trying to come up with an excuse as to why she wasn't able to catch up to Rose with Amber.

Just a short while later, Crimson had jumped into the river to go after the Soul Gem.

Spotting this, Violet subtly made her way out the bush and stepped over to the path, making it seem like she was about to catch up to Rose. She even remembered to act like she was out of breath.

“I'm so sorry, Daybreak, the way to Spirit was so long and in the middle of it I got scared and decided to just run over here before it's too late.” Slowly making her way to Rose—who still wore a blank expression and focused her gaze on the limp body of a zombie named 'Azure'—she acted like she just took notice of the scene.

Crouching next to Rose, Violet reproduced a frightened expression as she appeared to understand that something terrible had happened.

This limp body was hers in a different reality. Instead of inspecting Azure, who had substituted Violet today, she focused on Rose. Her blank stare, her sad expression, mixed with letdown and regret of her actions. All this must have also happened to her when Violet had lost her Soul Gem.

There was no act anymore. No trying to recreating scenes or emotions. She genuinely looked at Rose and felt her mind crumble under the pressure of silent despair that had filled Rose's heart. This is what seeing Violet's dead body had done to her back then, and now Violet had steered her off the same emotional cliff, having forgotten the weight of such a tragedy.

Blinking back tears, Violet slowly embraced Rose with quivering hooves and whispered into her ear, her voice almost breaking up. “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry... I lost sight of you for a second. Please forgive me for doing such a thing to you...” She increased her grip on Rose as she started sobbing.

“She will live...” Rose whispered back, but Violet was only half-listening.

By the time Crimson returned Azure's Soul Gem, Violet's eyes had already dried up, yet she hadn't stopped holding Rose for even a second. This was what she had wanted to do to make up at least a little for indirectly causing this scene instead of stopping it outright.

When Crimson placed the Soul Gem next to Azure, Violet finally let go of Rose and got up.

With a gentle blue sparkle, the Soul Gem resonated with Azure's body, causing a spark to shoot through her body. Her limbs twitched slightly, before the light returned to Azure's eyes.

“Azure!” Rose jumped up and embraced Azure as she woke up. “I'm so sorry. I just wanted to stop you and didn't know what to do. I was such an idiot, I'm so sorry.” Her eyes welled up as she hugged Azure with all her might, almost smothering her under the force.

“What... was that?” Between Rose's waterfall of words, Azure simply shook her head and glanced around.“Did something happen?”

After letting go of Azure, Rose explained to her what had transpired.

Meanwhile, Crimson got ready to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?” Violet turned to go after Crimson.

“What do you mean? There is no reason for me to stay here. Or do you want me to still fight her?” As expected, Crimson's fighting spirit had left her voice, along with her usual enthusiastic tone. “Just leave me alone for now. I don't feel like doing anything anymore.”

“Wait a second and listen. You obviously have some sort of problem with how we deal with the whole idea of being a Sorceress, but you shouldn't turn your back on us. We do follow the same goal in the end, and I will not stand to believe you're just some sort of troublemaker we shouldn't commute with. No, it's the exact opposite: we need you.”

Having finished her explanation, Rose and Azure—along with Crimson—stared at Violet in surprise.

“Come again?”

Violet took a hasty breath before continuing. “Please reconsider. I'm not asking you to tag along with our group, but I want to know that we can count on you when hell might break loose. When we are about to face odds that put us on the brink of death, I want to be able to trust in you to come and lend us a hoof.” Violet extended her hoof as if waiting for a hoofshake. “We are on the same side after all.”

Crimson put on a smug grin before switching to a more serious expression. “I threaten to put your friend into hospital and maybe even kill her on two separate occasions and you just walk up to me like that with these words?” She shook her head. “I don't know what you want from me, I just wanted to have some fun and teach her a few lessons, that's all.”

She bounced her eyes between the ground and the sky while taking a deep breath. “I don't feel like we were ever enemies to begin with, if that's your point. We really are on the same side after all. Take that as you will.” With these parting words, she took off towards the city, Violet's hoof still extended.

Chapter 9: Serena Ira (Peaceful wrath)

Once again, Amber's house had become a sort of basis of operation for the group, consisting of Amber, Violet, Azure, and Rose.

“...in the end, Crimson told us we were on the same side after all and just went and left,” Rose said, finishing up her very brief summary of the day before.

Amber hesitated for a moment, taking another sip from her tea before responding. “I guess I don't have any reason not to believe you... but still, something like this sounds pretty hard to swallow.” Her eyes went upwards, towards her Soul gem, even though she couldn't quite see it from this angle. “Are our souls really in there? What does that say about us as a being?”

“Well, I did talk about the whole thing with Kiubee earlier today,” Azure said in a tone more solemn than usual, “and he shared some more information. He said the whole idea behind this is that when we feel pain, that pain is dulled by having to be transmitted from body to soul, the seat of where our emotions lie. By disconnecting these two, it is possible to endure great pains and only actually feel a fraction of them. He also said it's possible to shut out the pain completely if you focus on it, but that comes at the toll of dulled senses and slower reaction time.”

Getting up, Azure turned away from the table and took a few steps toward a nearby wall. “Seriously, this is all so screwed up!” With renewed fire in her breath, she stomped her hooves down on the floor and raised her tone. “That's all fine and good, but look at what the whole thing can do to us! We have to walk around with that thing for the rest of our lives, and if we lose it we might never wake up again? And besides, what even am I right now? Am I still alive? Am I still a living being? You are telling me I can jump from a skyscraper and get up afterwards like nothing happened? What kind of joke is this?”

“Marina, before that you would probably fall unconscious when your body hits the ground and it would take a considerable amount of time to heal your body.” Right when she said these words, Violet noticed that a bit of Amber had rubbed off on her.

Azure prowled her way toward Violet. “Oh that's great isn't it? It only takes a while to rebuild this husk. Obviously now I see everything in a different light. Shut up will you.”

“Azure, can you please–” Rose tried to grab a hold of Azure, but couldn't find an opening between her stomping and flailing.

“Oh and by the way, what was the whole idea of that last speech you gave Crimson? We need to rely on her soon? You want her to help us out, because we are gonna get into trouble? What has gotten into you?”

Violet's eyes bounced between her friends, trying to look for any opening of empathy.“Well, she didn't seem that bad to me in the end. We need all the help we can get anyways.”

“That's even greater. This pony doesn't even trust our group. Why are you even here if you don't even believe in us? If only you had actually called Amber, she would have just kicked that Crimson's flank into next Sunday and that would be the end of that story.” Azure slowly returned to her place and settled down again, her anger exhausted.

After a short moment of silence, in which Violet was tracing a circle on the ground she replied in an almost silent voice. “Well, I probably should have gotten Spirit after all.”

In a last fit of energy, Azure lashed out one last time. “Why the hay are you calling her that anyway?”

Violet let out an astonished gasp. Rose glanced over to her and bounced her gaze between Azure and Violet. Looking over at the face of Amber, which suddenly bore a satisfied grin, they found their answer.

“It's like I thought after all, Violet. I never even told you my second name.”

A cold wave shot through Violet's limbs as her mouth dropped open. Her reaction as well as how she fumbled for words and excuses did not do a good job of disproving Amber's suspicion.

“As we concluded when we first met: we hadn't known each other from before. Surely you could have found out my name until now, but you called me by my last name since the very minute I introduced myself. Even then, to think you would go out of your way to call me by my second name?” Amber spoke with a sure and convinced tone, like a detective who had just masterfully recreated a crime scene.

Violet's fumbling died down as she accepted the fact she had been outsmarted the very moment they had met. Relaxing her muscles, Violet got ready for the continuation of the detective's great reveal, unable to stop her now.

“I wouldn't forget any pony I had ever met, but at the same time I couldn't remember you. So I thought I would go after my hunch. But enough of that. What interests me more is why you would act the way you did. You are trying to get Crimson to help us out, and you still seem pretty adamant about it. You were talking about one or multiple events where even the four of us might need help. You really make me get that feeling you know more than you want us to believe, especially after finding out you knew me... and maybe even the others before we met.”

All eyes glued themselves to Violet. Her mind turned into a wild tornado that sucked up all her prior fears and spat out only a single conviction. “Enough, I'll tell them.”

Her heart thumped almost loud enough for the others to hear, her body tensing up into a statue. “Spirit, do you remember what a Walpurgisnacht is?”

The astonished look on Amber's face was answer enough to her.

“In about two weeks, such a thing will attack Kamino and lay waste to the entire city. The only way to beat it is by working together as a team. It is not that simple though. We have to beat it while conserving our energy enough, and not use all of it up.” Her face jumped up and her voice did the same. “We absolutely have to beat that thing without running out of magic, and we need as many Sorceresses as we can get for that!”

Violet's sudden expression of terror shrouded the room in a tense light, embracing the other three listeners. Amber opened her mouth, trying to ask the obvious question, but failed to do so before Violet continued.

“If we run out of magic at any point, what will happen is...” She moved both hooves to stop her face from collapsing. “Our lives will be forfeit and our souls will give birth to a witch.” Slowly removing her hooves, her eyes moved to meet Amber's blank gaze.

For a few moments, the monotone ticking of a clock was the only thing to bring sound into this room. Azure and Rose stared at each other in disbelief while Violet was pressed down by the anticipation of their response. Only Amber seemed oddly composed.

“Well, if you didn't want to talk about it, you could have just said so.” Amber recreated a smile on her face. That in itself must have been magic. “I'm sorry for pushing you like this, I should have backed off and left it at that, but you didn't have to come up with such a story.”

It was simple. Azure and Rose had tried to come up with a response to Violet's story, yet the simple act of making it unreal provided a graspable solution. Furthermore, they didn't have to doubt every part of the story. If Violet wanted them to fight a Walpurgisnacht and get Crimson to join them for that, that was all right in everypony's books, it was only the last part that felt like a joke too bad.

“Anyways, it seems like we're almost out of tea. How about we talk more about this Crimson gal when I'm back making more.”

No pony dared interrupting her.

***

With a mood still heavy and a mind still clouded, Azure once again decided to part ways with her friends after school and head home by herself.

With her body of a zombie, a soul detached and Slate's recovery built on a lie, her life turned more complicated than she had hoped.

She had understood the power a wish could have, and the possibilities that came with them. Eagerly grasping for these, like a foal that saw a toy they liked on the shelf in a toy store, she had ended up throwing herself into this world of magic she knew little about.

Was it wrong to charge headfirst into this without a plan? This thought tormented her ever since she found out the truth of the Soul Gem. At the same time, she smothered that thought under a layer of righteousness. “I can, will, and have saved lives by fighting against witches and familiars alike. Something like this cannot be cast aside as a mistake,” she mumbled to herself. “I will never regret this.”

Similarly, she asked herself how she could still be with Slate, how the future of their relationship would pan out. Between the state of her body—or husk—and the lie his recovery was based on, she was unable to find a quick answer, but she told herself she would find one eventually. It would be an answer she could be happy with.

Still pondering, her body came to an abrupt stop as she noticed a streak of red across the fence she was walking along, yet she didn't try to take the initiative.

Instead, the pony in question opened their mouth first. “Hey Azure. Do you have a second?” Crimson took a small step backwards before jumping over the fence in a single leap, gracefully landing next to Azure.

“Didn't you want to run away somewhere? Go back to wherever you came from.”

Crimson bit her lip. Walking in front of Azure, she cut off her path. “That was my plan, but I want you to come along.”

Azure almost flinched at such an odd preposition, but forced herself to stay cool and not show any weaknesses. “What is it this time? You want to pick a fight again? Don't you need to make me angry first? You are doing a terrible job at that this time.”

She looked for the usual fire in Crimson's eyes, her toxic attitude, but she couldn't manage to find it. Instead, Crimson produced a grumpy sigh and lowered her head slightly. “Don't make this harder for me then it already is. Thing is, I just want to talk to you for once. I promise I won't do anything harmful.”

“And where would you want us to go?”

“You are not from Bluegrass but maybe you remember the burnt out and abandoned church, on the side of the city that's facing Kamino.”

Azure took a few seconds to ponder Crimson's current behavior before answering. “Well, Bluegrass is pretty close and I had no plans for today anyway...” Eventually, she nodded. “Don't do anything stupid or I'll have to go back to what I said that other day, about my swords and your ribs.”

***

The front of the church towered over the two ponies, a great gate on the bottom. The massive stone wall was blackened in places around and above the holes that used to be windows, and a general veil of dust mixed with soot embraced it.

Crimson, who had seemed on edge all the way from Kamino to here, finally relaxed upon the sight of the gate. “Well, here we are. Let's not stand around for too long and go inside.”

Azure believed the door Crimson grabbed would fall over the second she touched it, but it actually opened all the way without breaking.

Stepping inside, Azure was immediately greeted with a faint radiance of light which illuminated her face. The inside of the church looked about as ruined as the outside: bits of blackened wood strewn about, a floor covered in a thin layer of dust and soot, and walls and pillars visibly damaged from the fire. If this building wasn't made mostly of stone, it would probably not be standing anymore. Additionally, it would have probably been taken down after the fire if it wasn't located in a tiny grove just outside the city, where barely anyone would mind it.

Approaching the back of the church—where the altar had been missing—Azure once again noticed the glimmer of light that fell onto her face. Despite the ruinous state of the church, she hadn't felt like she was entering a burnt-out corpse of a once living church, but rather a sad but dignified reminder of what had once been. The broken windows behind where the altar should have been allowed the light of the sun to flood in and embrace these shattered remains, creating a feeling that, even if this place had been destroyed, it was still under the eyes of god, and everyone would be welcome here.

Reaching the top of the stairs that led to the back, Crimson reached for an apple from her magical pouch and tossed it to Azure, who was still looking around. “This might take a while, so take one of these.”

Catching the apple, Azure took a moment to look at it, before letting it drop out of her hoof and fall onto the floor. “Sorry, but I'm not really hungry right now.”

Within the very split-second Azure had finished speaking, Crimson was already standing next to her, her face right up to hers and staring back at her with a sudden burst of fire. “Don't you ever dare wasting food.” Giving Azure a slight headbutt, Crimson reached for the apple and picked it up. After inspecting it for a second and scrubbing off the ash, she walked backwards a few steps and took a bite off the apple.

“I didn't come here for fun,” Crimson said, turning around to meet Azure's eyes. “This is where I used to live... Well, I still live here to some degree.” She hesitated for a moment, in which she tossed the apple into the air absentmindedly, and catching it again. “What I do in Kamino to pass the days is another story entirely, and that's not what I came here for.”

Azure couldn't sense any sort of hostility from Crimson, so she decided to make herself as at home as possible and sat down on the floor.

“Obviously this church had days when it was still intact and functioned the way it should. It originally belonged to my father—the priest, and our family lived here. He was an honest and outgoing stallion, who was always trying his hardest to make this world a better place. He believed that with his power as a priest, he would be able to transform everyone around him to become better ponies and live even greater lives in happiness.

“Seeing how the world went against the ideals of happiness, increasing everyone's sadness and fear instead of their well-being, he felt his power ended up being useless, if he couldn't save anyone. It dawned on him: he had to reform his teachings and come up with new ideals that would benefit ponykind as a whole and create better lives that would laugh in the face of adversity.

“And so he deviated from the doctrine and preached new things to the churchgoers, trying to finally utilize his priesthood to the full effect.” She took a moment to take another bite of the apple before continuing. “He ended up being excommunicated and looked on with shame. As days and weeks went by, the churchgoers decreased in numbers rapidly. Society itself closed its eyes and ears, shunning him away.

“Certainly, to outsiders it would seem like he was trying to create his own sect, yet he only had the best of intentions. He took me and my little sister to go around and preach his word on the street. No pony would listen to us, and most would look down on us, shaking their head and moving on.

“At that point, our lives hit a low-point. We had barely any food and lived on an absolute minimum for multiple weeks. Only because our father was trying so hard to change this world for the better. If only any pony had listened to him for a while. If only they hadn't turned away and marked him as a lunatic. They only had to give him a chance and they would have seen for themselves how pure the basis of his teachings were.”

Taking a moment, she glanced over at Azure. She was still sitting there, listening—more or less—interested. Seeing no reason to stop, she continued. “Eventually, I was visited by Kiubee. Of course I had no way of understanding what he was trying to tell me at first, but the opportunity of having a wish granted came so right to me. And so I wished that ponies out there would finally listen to my father. That was the only wish I ever had to that point.”

Azure couldn't help but let out a slight gasp of surprise.

“From that point on, the churchgoers came back, and very soon our church was full to the brim with visitors again, who wanted nothing more than to hear the word of my father. Maybe my father had sensed that this was a miracle, but he held onto the idea that his teachings were finally coming through to them.

“Meanwhile, I ventured out at night and hunted down witches on my own. Of course I was a bit clumsy at first, but with the help of a great friend I managed to grow into an acceptable Sorceress and take down dozens of witches. While my father was fighting against the evil in pony hearts during daytime, I fought against the manifestations of evil during nighttime. We were a pretty powerful duo in that regard, and I was more happy than I have ever been before in my entire life. This was the purpose my life had gotten, and I cherished every second of it.”

Within a split-second, Crimson's almost absentminded face, which traveled through distant memories, took on a bitter expression, her voice turning serious. “Then, one day, a witch attacked this very church in the cover of the night. Of course I rushed out to defeat it, but when I did so, I had realized my mistake. My father had noticed me running into the church and found me, with the Soul Gem on my horn and a legion of floating spears and phantasms surrounding me.

“He made up his mind instantly. He told me how he had thought the sudden surge of visitors who all wanted to listen to him felt like the work of evil magic. He barraged me about how I was a witch who would cloud pony's minds and mislead them.” She shot another glance toward Azure. “Funny, if you realize I was the one fighting the evil witches every night.” Her eyes returned to the apple she was holding, but she couldn't take another bite, as her voice got caught.

“I had nothing to defend myself with. He wouldn't listen to anything I said. It was all so clear to him. How could he have been so blind as to let her little filly become a witch? After he had run his mouth dry, he went back to his chamber, his face lacking any of the light he used to radiate. I hoped that he would at least still see at least a fragment of the Crimson I had always been somewhere in me, so that he would be able to deal with it.

“The following days, he stopped preaching and fell into a deep depression. He would often sit motionless and expressionless in his chair, pondering his mistakes. Then, only a few days after the initial incident, I woke up in the night to the smell of smoke that pierced my nose. I shot upwards and tried to scream for my family, but I couldn't scream anymore. There was a knife embedded in my throat.”

Azure's eyes shot wide open.

“I didn't even try to understand how I was still alive or how I was even able to still move around while only feeling minimal pain. In that moment I only wanted to get out of my room and search for my family. I dashed out the door, fighting the smoke that rushed over my face, and ran into my little sister's room. There, I found her with a throat sliced wide open.

“In a rush of panic I tried to scream again, only to have the wind of my voice get stuck against the blade in my windpipe. In a moment of utter panic, I pulled the knife out and tossed it away. My vision went blurry as a pool of red formed below my hooves and the smoke stung my eyes repeatedly. I rushed out the door again, heading for my parent's room. There, I found what I had hoped I would never see: my mother, throat sliced open, and my father, dangling from the ceiling with neck in a noose. I can't tell you exactly what happened next, the only thing I remember is waking up in the nearby woods a while later. I probably rushed over there after losing the rest of my sanity.”

Pulling her head back, Crimson dropped on her flank, as if she had done something that physically exhausted her. “The wish I made to help my father and the ponies around me: in the end it came back to destroy and take away everything I ever had. I had been such a fool to use my wish for the sake of other ponies, I should have kept it to the one pony I could always trust: me. I had to learn this lesson the hardest way you could imagine.”

She finally tilted her head towards the light that poured in through the broken windows. “Every wish will one day turn into a curse of equal magnitude, creating an eternal balance. Hope that makes the flowers bloom will always be followed by a firestorm of despair, leaving only the primordial ground that had always been there.”

Taking multiple bites of the apple, she finally leaned back and took a long pause.

Eventually, Azure spoke up. “Why have you been telling me this?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Crimson got up again and took a few steps toward Azure. “You have been making the same mistakes I have. You were blinded by the best possible outcome, so you used your wish for the sake of somepony else. I'm trying to tell you to abandon your false hopes before it's too late. You have to understand what sort of strength you hold as you are now and use that—if only once—for yourself. I don't want to see another pony go down the same path, so lay aside your delusions and start living your own life.”

She stuck out a hoof towards Azure. “This is your wake-up-call. I don't know what your deeper motives are behind your becoming a Sorceress or what that Violet pony told you, but it seems she is as naive as you are. You should trust somepony more experienced to show you the way.”

Getting up, Azure dusted herself off, before meeting Crimson's eyes again and refusing her hoof with her stare. “I have to apologize. You are not quite the type of pony I thought you were. I had misunderstood you and for that, I am sorry.” Azure put on a face not as apologetic as her words. Instead, it held a notion of mischief.

“There is something you are getting wrong here though. Your story is not the same as everypony's story, especially not mine. You tell me to abandon others to live for myself? Sitting idly by while others get hurt is not the type of life I want to lead. Just the thought of that makes me sick to the bone. Living for yourself means throwing others into the fire that you are warming yourself with? What kind of sick ideal is this?

“But while we are at it: tell me, where did you get those apples from that you like so much? What money did you use to buy them?” Crimson stared down at the bite-mark-covered apple she was holding. She couldn't answer. “That is something I cannot tolerate. I don't want to tell you how to live your life, since I obviously can't change the way you are. But similarly, there is no way you could ever get me to abandon my duty as a Sorceress. I won't ever regret becoming a Sorceress, as long as I can save lives!”

With this, Azure took the initiative and walked away from Crimson, heading for the gate. Under her breath she mumbled: “Probably didn't even save a single pony after that fire. What a waste.”

From behind, Crimson could be heard shouting. “You idiot! We aren't the type of superheroes that always win! Don't just leave!”

Ignoring every single word, Azure passed the gate and moved around the corner. She was gone.

***

Once more Azure wouldn't join Rose and Violet on their way home as school ended. She had dashed off again, leaving the other two standing in front of the school entrance.

Obviously this behavior struck Violet as odd, but today she felt this even more strongly. When Azure had dashed off she had usually done so without many words, a “see you tomorrow” is what she shouted back most of the time, but today she explicitly told them that she needed somewhere to be. Ever since Azure had contracted she sought out her own ways more strongly than before.

Today, however, this happened to be just what Violet had hoped for.

“Hey Daybreak, before we go home, would you mind following me?”

“Huh? Where are we going?”

Violet had already started walking towards her destination, while only responding “not very far from here. In fact, you can already see it.”

The little jaunt had brought them to the side of a hill close to school. Situated towards the outer parts of the city, this spot was mostly covered in grass and a few patches of flowers. On this hill one could create a small world void of civilization, out of hearing range from others. For some odd reason, not many ponies actually relaxed on this patch of nature. The pupils were probably mostly wanting to go home or meet up in some other place, while others seemed to prefer the cold embrace of civilization instead of relaxing in nature's lap.

Reaching this place, Violet sat down on the grass, gesturing Rose to sit next to her.

“That was a pretty short walk, why did we come here?”

Violet threw her body back and lay in the grass, looking at the ever blue sky. “I thought that we should lean back for a bit and relax. Besides, there are matters I need to clear up.”

“Is it about Azure?”

“Well... kind of. It was mostly about your wish, but I also wanted to talk about her too.”

“My wish?” Rose leaned back as well, mimicking Violet. “I still haven't thought about anything. Well, I really want to start helping all of you out, but I can't come up with anything special that I would want. Just fighting alongside you would make me happy... Should I make a wish for the sake of wishing?”

From outside Rose's vision, Violet rolled her eyes. “Hm... I guess you would come up with something eventually, but if that's what you want to do, then go ahead.” With how happy Rose always seemed to be doing Sorceress things, Violet was sure the actual wish Rose settled on wouldn't matter.

“I don't want to wait too long. I put off making the wish after seeing what happened to Azure, but the more I thought about it the more I understood that this is exactly why I need to help her as soon as possible. She needs more friends that help and support her, so she can overcome every obstacle in her way. I know you are assisting her as well, but I still feel like I absolutely have to support her!”

“Well, I have kind of slacked on that part.” “I understand how you are feeling. I will not hold you back on contracting, so do it whenever you feel like it.” For a second, Violet tried to grasp for a cloud, only to have it slip past her hoof. “I have only really known Azure for the past few weeks, so I can't really tell what she's like yet. Does she usually go on one-pony trips?”

From the corner of her eye, Violet could see Rose smirking. “That sounds just like her. Ever since second grade she had often tried to take matters into her own hooves. If you believe in yourself enough that you think you can do anything, taking the hard work off others only seems like the most reasonable response. She is really good at what she does so this often plays in her favor, although this also means she won't let others take things off her shoulders, and sometimes she will even refuse the help of others.”

Rose let out a short sigh. “Well, that's what me and Leafy are for. Even if she rebels, we are always there for her and make sure she doesn't end up doing anything stupid or overestimating herself.” She shot Violet a grin. “We are pretty good at that.”

“A lone knight. I figure that's why she took that form.”

“Huh?”

“Oh sorry, loud thinking. Anyway, it's hard not to notice, but she has been running off on her own the past few days. Do you want me to keep a closer look on her? You made it sound like that would be a wise idea.”

Rose closed her eyes and produced a smile. “Sure, but you won't be alone, because I will accompany her in the future as well. I have waited long enough. I need to make up for all the times I let her fight alone.”

“Well... I haven't been the greatest help to her either. She once complained my bombs could blow up in her face since she always gets so close to the enemy. That is exactly why I managed to... well, 'collect' another type of weapon. You will probably see it in action soon.”

***

“Damn this stuff is good.” Happily eating away at her vanilla-flavored ice-cream, Azure sat at her destination across the pony who called her here today: Leafy.

“You eat this every time we come here, shouldn't you know what it tastes like already?” Leafy had already finished her scoop of ice-cream. In fact, so had Azure, but she had decided to order another one.

“Don't meddle with my meditation of vanilla-y goodness, frozen to exactly the right point where it stays round in its original form, but as soon as you scoop it up and bring it into your mouth, it turns into soft and creamy packages of flavor.”

Taking a moment to process what she just heard, Leafy only answered with a simple “I guess so.” Usually she would try to play on Azure's ways for a bit, but today she was rather serious. “You have been rather busy lately, haven't you? Instead of meeting together you always run off or tell us you have other things to do.”

“Well...” Azure scratched her head. “You could say I was busy. Without rambling around too much, you could say I am finally closing in on what I want to do with my life.” With the spoon still clenched in her hoof, she raised it triumphantly towards the ceiling.

Finally brightening up, Leafy relaxed a bit in her seat. “That's wonderful to hear. I, too, was asking myself recently what my plans for the future were, but say, how are you coming along with Slate? He has been back in school for a while but I didn't see you talking to him or anything.”

While still retaining a bit of her earlier cheerfulness, Azure mumbled. “Well, you see... I had some weird stuff happening lately...” After a short pause in which she was searching for words, she continued: “It's not like I was ever together with him in the first place, he probably just thinks I'm a good friend, but I don't want it to stay that way, yet at the same time I'm having trouble going for it...”

On the spot, Leafy regained her earlier seriousness while trying to speak with an even voice. “You see, when I was thinking about my plans, I came to a conclusion, and after weighing my options I wanted to talk to you right away. We are friends after all and I wouldn't want to do something like this to you, knowing your feelings for Slate.”

Azure's eyes widened as she almost dropped her spoon, fearing her next words.

“I love Slate too, and I am going to confess to him tomorrow. I am telling you this now so I can give you a choice that I could agree on: you have until tomorrow evening to confess to him first and I will give him up to you. I have seen how much you cared for him when he was in the hospital, but you are not getting anywhere if you don't take the next step. I'm really sorry for forcing you to do this, but I didn't want to wait any longer.”

Sitting there with an open mouth, her lower jaw slowly trembled its way upwards. A heavy gulp later, she wiped off the sweat from her forehead and dropped the spoon on the table. “Yeah, I see.”

“I hope you can do the right thing.” Getting up, Leafy dropped a few bits on the table to pay for her ice-cream before walking out the door with heavy steps.

“Thanks for telling me, I guess...” Nopony was able to hear her mumbles.

Chapter 10: Decretum (Decree)

With an exaggerated shout, the darkness before Azure was cut apart, swords flying around her to deflect oncoming shadows; another witch battle.

The barrier of this witch denied the chromatic hue of reality, and instead allowed only black shadows on white background. In this limbo, Azure cut through the silhouettes without being able to grasp their true form.

Azure had somewhere else to be: going after Slate. She had put off the decision as she always had, until the call of the night thrust this witch-encounter onto her. To some degree Azure was even happy to be granted the opportunity to fight a witch instead of clouding her mind by having to think about Slate. And yet, her movements and temper exploded with anger about the foregone conclusion of her future.

Each strike against the black tendrils that shot at her like spears was accompanied by a brutal scream, each scream more powerful than the last.

With every attack she deflected, every shadow she cut in half, more silhouettes of spikes and tendrils formed on the white background that made up this world. They would not let her advance.

The only other silhouette was the figure of a sitting pony, hooves held close to its body as if to protect itself from the heavenly wrath it feared. Unmoving, every shadow originated from its surroundings or grew on its body before separating and hurtling towards Azure.

Despite Azure's inability to keep up with the deflection of attacks, she pushed ever forwards, to close in on the witch. She summoned more swords and screamed louder with every strike, while her will forced itself through a growing sea of blackness, which formed an ever-growing number of spikes to impale Azure with. They watched their prey ever still.

Finally reaching the witch's body, the shadows around her had already swallowed most of the whiteness that resided in this barrier, yet Azure didn't stop nor hesitate: she leaped into the air and thrust herself downwards onto the witch. It would only take a single precise cut to slice this frail silhouette.

Right as she was about to hit it, the sea of black erupted upwards and completely engulfed her within it. Thousands of small spikes dug into her body, while the volatile goo of black smothered her and threatened to crush every single bone of her body.

She wasn't blind to this outcome. She had foreseen it. Still, she had lacked the means—mentally and physically—to avoid it. And so, she had charged headfirst into it as it was the only thing she knew how to do.

The flow of the newly formed river of black swept her back towards the area she came from, gathering even more shadows on the way which piled onto her body.

As the first bones in her body had cracked, a singular sound of metal cutting through fleshy mass shook her awake again.

“There we go.”

Azure's body hit the invisible floor beneath her, engulfed in the whiteness that had been present before.

“You should be more careful when dealing with witches. At least I was here to save your flank.”

This voice. As Azure's body shimmered in the magical glow that healed her wounds and cleansed the black goo away, her eyeballs shifted to the side. A shimmer of red shone in front of the darkness.

“Thank me later. For now, just leave this one to me mkay?” Crimson turned to face the silhouette of the witch, which was now in the distance again. Grabbing her spear she got ready to cha–

“I don't need your help.” Before Crimson could even turn back, Azure was already headfirst back in the fight.

Her voice had lacked the temper it had before. Instead, an emotionless tone filled not only her voice, but her movements as well. Simply rushing forward, she made only haphazard moves to avoid spikes or slash back at them.

“Hey, what do you think you're doing?” Crimson's voice did not sound nearly as forceful as it should have.

A spike shot out of the goo and aimed for her belly. Direct hit. Without dropping a single beat in her gallop, her sheer tempo broke the spike off and pushed the goo out of the wound. Another one aimed for her hind leg. A complete impalement. Tugging on her leg hard enough she broke off the spike once again and kept rushing forwards as if nothing happened.

Azure had dropped almost any defensive movement at this point, only being drawn to the witch in front of her. The next spike aimed for her neck. Azure felt it come out the other end. This time, Azure had to physically grab the spike and pull it out, but even the gushing streams of red that now poured out of her didn't slow her down a single bit.

Even as a Sorceress, even with her healing powers, the rush of adrenaline, this should have been too much for her. She was skewered alive multiple times and still continued breaking free and pushing onward.

By the time she reached the witch again she was a limping sack of meat, the shadows around her drenched in enough blood to turn them more red than black. Still, she raised her sword. Still, she opened her mouth, but instead of shouting, she let out a maniacal cackle that froze the blood in Crimson's body.

Bringing her sword down, she easily chopped the witch in half and created a puddle of gooey blackness on the floor. Again, she laughed. Again, she held up the sword and brought it down. Repeatedly striking at the motionless goo, the crumbling barrier filled with the continuing cackle of Azure, her voice breaking multiple times.

There was barely anything left of her cape, her fur's color invisible behind the coat of blood.

As the barrier had almost completely crumbled, she turned her back towards Crimson, who was still standing back where she had saved Azure earlier.

Finally cutting out her laughter, Azure opened her mouth to utter words. “See? You don't have to feel any pain if you don't want to. You just have to know to suppress it.”

As her final chuckle died down, her head slowly dropped down again, only to be lifted up again as she heard the hoofsteps in front of her. The sight she beheld was Rose, horn on her head that marked her as a Sorceress. The last thing Azure saw before collapsing was the mortified look on Rose's face.

***

A Sorceress's injuries healed fast. Especially Azure's.

She didn't even have to neglect her usual daily routine the next day: get up, have breakfast, enter school, leave school, run away.

On this exact day, on this hour, the time she was given by Leafy would run out.

Wandering through the shadow of a big tree, Azure took cover behind it as she observed Leafy's meeting with Slate, near a river front. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, yet it was obvious by Leafy's blushing face and Slate's awkward reactions what was going on.

She bit her lip. Seeing the two of them together looked so right from an outsider's perspective. Leafy's calm and somewhat shy demeanor went rather well with Slate's more silent yet friendly ways. Above it all, Leafy managed to overcome her fears and confess to the one she loved, even against the rivalry of her friend.

Meanwhile, Azure was crawling around behind a tree, hiding her face as much as she could. She had lacked every bit of courage to go for him, since she couldn't convince herself that she was right for him, especially as a Sorceress.

In the end, she was probably not even angry at Leafy or Slate, but rather at her own inability to make up her mind and follow through on it.

Turning away, Azure was once again met with that familiar face: Rose.

“Are you all right, Azure? I was worried about you after yesterday, so I wanted to talk to you after school, but you were gone so fast...”

Azure let out a sigh before walking down along the river—away from Leafy and Slate—alongside Rose. “It's nothing, I just need a bit of time for myself.”

Rose jumped in front of Azure, her face growing more concerned. “But you have taken so much time for yourself in the past weeks already! Please, if there's anything that's bothering you, let us know.”

“What's bothering me? Probably something between my soul being stuck in some weird object which turns me immortal in the most horrid way, the fact that I am the absolute worst Sorceress who ever lived and I am only capable of fighting because of my regeneration, the fact that everyone I know is trying to dangle some sort of better way in front of my eyes while placing requirements on them I cannot meet or the fact that I am saving so many ponies by fighting all these wicked creatures but get not a single 'thank you' for it...”

Azure tossed her head around while trying to grab it with her hooves. “I wanted to become an ally of justice, helping everyone by fighting evil! It's such a simple goal! And it's possible with all of this, and yet... Yet I have to suffer like this while you all just watch...”

“That's not true at all! We were always there for you!”

“Don't make me laugh. I threw myself into the fray, fighting witches, my personal life, and even a rival Sorceress while you were still deciding on your wish. You never thought about how I was feeling all the time. Even that Violet left me alone. And after everything that happened, after finding out how screwed up my life has become... you contract anyway? When it's already this late! You should have just stayed near that Violet where I can't see you.”

With this, Azure turned around with a forceful gesture and galloped off into the distance, leaving only a teary-eyed Rose behind.

***

Wandering deeper into the city, Azure's hooves led her ever onward, no clear destination in mind. Just away from there. That would have been good.

Her steps grew shorter and slower, almost coming to a crawl as she took a random turn into a lonely alleyway. Her eyes grew hollow. Her breathing almost seized. She merely resembled a walking puppet at this point.

In the deepest part of the alley, new voices reached her ears.

“Hey, how'd it go today?”

“Nah, nothing special, just dealing with that mare again.”

Driven by curiosity as her singular impulse, she followed the voices to a corner in which two stallions where talking to each other.

“Told ya you should ditch her. She even still putting out?”

“Not really, just lying around all day being dumb. Even screwed up my lunch. Probably should go get a 'nother one. Dumb mare wouldn't even notice,” he said before letting out a shriek laughter.

Meanwhile, Azure had walked up right next to them, causing them both to twist their head towards her.

“This mare of yours. What kind of pony is she? Does she still love you?”

“Eh? Who are you?” Both of them quickly glanced at each other, their faces filled with surprise.

“You... are you among the ones I'm fighting for? Tell me. Is it you I am fighting for?”

The stallion she stared at jumped up and swung his head around to his companion. “Dude, who is this? Do you know her?”

The other one shook his head before turning to Azure again. “Erm, I don't think you should be in a place like this, just go home.”

“Well... I guess I should at least thank you... for telling me.”

Her Soul Gem resonated.

A moment later, she walked around the next corner wearing her Sorceress horn. Walking with three hoofs, her fourth hoof dragged her sword behind her, which was connected back to the corner with a streak of red.

***

She had already forgotten what kept driving her forward at this point. Steadily she placed one hoof in front of the others, dragging her body along.

Her eyes long stared ever inwards. Asking herself questions she wouldn't dare to answer. Yet there was one question she always knew the answer to, even at this point: if she could repeat it over again, would she have become a Sorceress again, with the same wish?

As the sun neared the horizon, her steps brought her up to the side of an old building: the train station.

Mindlessly driven onward, she kept walking towards the rails, where she sat down on a bench. She didn't even have to look around to understand that no normal pony was here.

Despite everything she had said earlier, she still hoped for her friends to look for her, run after her, find her. Maybe she could find the right words for once. Yet there was one pony she hoped to see most at this point.

And she found her.

“Hey, there you are! I've been looking for you.” Crimson walked up to the bench and leaned back next to Azure. “Wouldn't have thought to find you here, but I guess you never know. Want an apple?” Calmly grabbing an apple from her invisible pouch she casually struck it out towards Azure, who only continued staring at the ground in front of her, her face hidden behind stray strands of hair.

“Hey, Crimson to Azure! Is anyone home? You didn't fall asleep in there did you?”

As Crimson slowly retreated her hoof, Azure finally opened her mouth. “I'm sorry.”

“Eh? Where did that come from? Now I'm positive you fell asleep.”

“I think I knew you were right, back then. My ideals were so naive I deserved to fall so deep for believing in them all the way. I have given up the one I loved, fell to rage and ignored everyone trying to help me. Worst of all, I got angry at my best friend and made her cry.”

“Hey hey, don't you worry about it. At least you can now work on actually repairing those bridges you let crumble.”

After a short silence in which Azure blinked back a tear she continued. “That's the part I'm sorry about. In my idiocy I drove myself so far off the road I now can't come back, even if I wanted. Though something tells me this... is all right.”

Without any superfluous movement, she produced her Soul Gem and placed it on her hoof. Pitch-black.

Crimson flinched before yelling at her. “But yesterday! The witch!”

“...I left the Grief Seed for you. I guess you missed it.”

“Why would you even do something like that? Anyway, we need to get you a new one.”

“I can hear it calling to me. It's telling me it's time to go. You weren't there when Violet told us, but I believe her. What comes next.”

“Wait, what?”

“All hope will eventually perish and give way to despair. Every wish will one day turn into a curse of equal magnitude, creating an eternal balance. Wasn't it you who told me that?”

“Now hold on a second–”

“You were one of my greatest allies after all. Forgive me for everything I have done to spite you. I really wish we could have been friends from the start, that is my greatest regret.” She finally turned her face towards Crimson, revealing her tear-soaked eyes. “I was such an idiot.”

Within that moment, a bolt of black lightning emanated from her Soul Gem, tearing it asunder and knocking Crimson back.

Azure's body tumbled forwards and landed on the ground. Around her, fierce winds picked up and formed black clouds which swirled around the remains of Azure's Soul Gem, while pushing Crimson further back.

With a screech akin to demons crying, a ghastly form manifested from her Soul Gem, growing in size and twisting reality around it. The exterior of the train station shifted in form, the rules that made it up being copied and temporarily rewritten into the barrier.

When the ghastly being reached its full size, its image was finally visible: a sort of giant mermare-pony with no discernible face, a saber attached directly to one of its hooves.

Around the barrier, an assortment of instruments began to peek out from the newly formed curved walls, playing orchestral music with which the newly born witch could lament its feelings.

Crimson scrambled backwards. “No, don't tell me... Why would you idiot let this happen!” Flaring her nostrils, she got up in an instant before feeling the presence of other ponies around her.

Rose, Amber, and Violet stood next to her, their mouths agape.

Chapter 11: Amicae carae meae (My beloved friend)

The mermare witch: it was in its nature to lose itself in its crusade for love and justice. Minions embedded into the walls blared a cacophony of emotions, steeped in grief and regret. After having lost everything that gave it purpose, the mermare witch hid in its barrier to wallow in self-pity.

“Azure, please come back to your senses!”, shouted Rose.

The ponies, Amber, Rose, Violet, and Crimson found themselves jumping around the witch formerly known as Azure Marina, shouting pleads at it in tandem, while dodging its attacks. Each of them in their own way.

Amber's “Don't leave us Azure!” was followed up by Violet's “Remember who you are!” and finally Crimson's “Stop playing around and come back to us!”

The witch didn't seem to react. Instead, it repeatedly conjured giant wheels of wood to throw at the ponies, while swinging its giant saber, accompanied by the cries of the orchestra coming seemingly out of the walls.

Rose took the brunt of the wheels, dodging in and out of lanes of wheels rolling across the floor, jumping out of the way of wheels raining from the sky before having to jump through the spokes of another wheel to dodge a further attack. Despite this being her first witch battle, she seemed adept.

Meanwhile, Amber supported Rose as much as possible by taking out large numbers of wheels using her muskets, and Crimson parried the witch's saber strikes, despite the sheer weight of the saber pushing Crimson away with every strike.

“Give me a break! Is there nothing we can do to turn her back?” Crimson yelled in between two parries.

Violet stayed at a comfortable range. Looking around she inspected everyone's faces. Rose was already wearing out physically, but didn't seem to want to give up. Crimson had a look even more annoyed than usual, while Amber was having trouble composing herself. Violet looked for a way forward, but only despair stared back at her.

After minutes of trying to shout down the witch, Violet finally entered Time Lock. “I'm sorry everyone.”

With one final glance around she confirmed the situation: it was hopeless. And everyone but Rose knew it.

Time Release.

Within an instant, the witch exploded into an inferno of flames like any other. The walls warped and swirled back into their usual self and the four arrived back at the train station.

“Damn it!” Crimson slammed her spear into the ground, piercing the floor and splitting the concrete. “Just when we were about to get along...”

Violet stared at the floor. The correct words escaped both her mouth and her mind. She stared at Rose, who silently bore her gaze into the ground below her, mouth wide open.

Suddenly, Violet was entangled and held to the ground by flashing yellow ribbons.

Just as she tried to look around, she heard a loud bang and saw the body of Crimson hitting the ground while transforming back. The shards of her Soul Gem sailed through the air next to her.

“Spirit?!”

In front of her, a completely different Amber than before came into view.

“It's true isn't it?” Amber's words caved in on themselves as she spoke them, her voice catching multiple times between her tears. “If Sorceresses turn into witches, there's nothing left for us than to die! Everyone... You... me... even Rose!”

“Spirit, no! Don't! Please come back to us!” “I almost forgot, Daybreak has always confronted the despair in our hearts and comforted us when we were about to fall apart. She is the only one who can comfort Spirit now.”

“I don't want to end as a witch... There is only one way. This way no one has to become a witch! I'll blast everyone away before we–”

And with a snap, Amber's body suddenly lost its grip on live and flew to the ground. The ribbons around Violet disappeared. Shards of a gem rained down next to Amber, hitting the ground with a quiet sound.

“But... Daybreak...” Violet looked over at Rose. “Why didn't you try... Did you–“ She was standing there, bow next to her and eyes staring at what was left of Amber. Within the next instant, her face exploded into a waterfall, as her body slumped down atop her quaking limbs.

“Stop... I don't want to lose anyone else...” It was hard to make out what she was saying between her sobs.

Violet scrambled towards Rose as fast as she could and embraced her. Words were not needed.

Azure became a witch and faded away. Crimson was culled by a maniac and lost her life. Amber lost her sanity and had to be put down. Three lives were lost in only a handful of minutes.

A million screaming thoughts blasted through Violet's mind, yet every single one of them faded away after only a fraction of a second. Ultimately, nothing was left. No pain, no feeling of loss, no grief. The only thing left was the image of Rose in her head.

***

The following day was already the day of the Walpurgisnacht. Despite last night's events, Violet was still looking to push on to defeat the Walpurgisnacht and allow Rose to survive. No matter what.

Violet was sitting at the desk in her room, trying to formulate ideas for today's fight, before she heard a voice.

“You look distressed. Can I come in?” Violet looked around and spotted Kiubee's silhouette on the other side of the window.

“Make it quick.” Violet opened the window wide enough to let Kiubee pass. “Were you looking for new houses to visit now that Amber isn't here anymore? Surely you can find some shelter to take you in if you have nowhere else to go.”

“We have no direct need for rest, so we aren't in need of a permanent residence. Anyway, I came here to ask you about Azure... You seemed to know what would happen to her.” Kiubee hopped down from the windowsill onto the desk in front of Violet.

“Well I saw it happen before somewhere.”

Kiubee stared back at Violet for a while before reacting. “I have no information of you ever experiencing something like this. In fact, I don't seem to have any information on you. Not even when I contracted you or what your wish was. There is an extremely slim chance of information loss between us which might have led to this, so we have to investigate first before making any claims, but in order to save us a lot of work, you might just want to answer: who are you?”

Violet smirked. “You know what? Screw it. I'm from another time-line and my wish got me here. Are you happy now? Can you buzz off now? Or do you want to report me to the inter-dimensional Kiubee-Police? Maybe I am even a threat to whatever stupid thing you have come up with. What is it? World Domination? Would be hard with this stupid Sorceress system. Do you want to see ponies burning down? Tell me, what the hay is it you want?”

Kiubee remained still. “Do you know of entropy?”

Violet answered only with a question mark of a face.

“To put it simply, throughout the universe, energy is repeatedly lost through various processes and turned into heat that dissipates into the cosmos. At any given point in time, tremendous amounts of energy is being wasted in the universe. If this continues on like this, at some point our universe would experience an inevitable heat-death.”

The question mark in Violet's face only intensified.

“Our race has known about this problem for a long time and has since searched for an answer to guarantee the continued existence of our universe. We have spread across multiple galaxies and studied everything we could find to come up with the solution. Finally, we found multiple sentient races like ours, that had something special. Something that we never had and that would maybe even be able to fight against entropy: emotions.”

“Oh no this isn't going where I think it's going...”

“And among all the races we found, we found that young females of your race happened to have the greatest potential to emotions. As such, we have used our technology to come up with the best way to release as much emotional energy as possible. Energy that would spray outwards into the cosmos and work to balance the effects of entropy, effectively prolonging the heat-death of the universe and maybe even completely prevent it.”

Violet slumped back into her chair.

“What we came up with, is the Sorceress system as you know it. We grant ponies a piece of our technology that allows turning soul energy into what you ponies call 'magic', while also providing them with the short ability to tap into their karmic energy and release it as a wish. All we want in return, is for you to squander this gift like we know you will and eventually succumb to your own self in a final burst of despair, which actually releases a tremendous amount of energy. It would be hard for you to believe how much it is if I told you.”

Violet jumped up and crunched her teeth as she raised her hoof in a threat. “You little piece of–”

“It might sound to you like we are using you as tools or even slaves, but it isn't really like this. You see, we are fully acknowledging your sentience before us, and grant you all the mandatory rights to live your lives just like you did before we met. We are also not forcing you into a contract and give you ample time to consider our offer and even decline it. Above that, we are allowing you to partake in the world of magic and wishes. And most of all, you can be happy to know that your sacrifices are saving the universe and will also guarantee the future of your race for billions of years. If you balance it all out, then really you should be thanking us.”

“You deceive us, sever our souls and force us to fight the dead remains of our friends, risking our lives just to sustain ourselves! Because of you, Amber, Crimson, and Azure are dead! Even Rose... They all believed in your words, they all thought they could be happy and fight for justice to save the lives of other ponies, when in fact our lives and the lives of everyone around us wouldn't even be in danger in the first place without you! They all gave you their trust and all you want to do is harvest them like ripe fruit...”

“Your words are most illogical. You number up to billions on this planet, yet you grieve over the loss of so few?”

“To hell with you!” Time Lock! “I should have done this sooner...”

Frothing with anger, Violet pulled out her new weapon: a sort of gun that could be held and fired using one hoof. The hoof wrapped around the grip and could release a shot when the hoof was clenched a certain way.

Aiming it at Kiubee, Violet fired with a loud bang. But time was stopped... There was opportunity for more.

Firing again and again, Violet unloaded everything the gun had to offer towards Kiubee, every single bullet making it's way towards him and stopping in time only mere inches before his fluffy head. His eyes were staring directly at the lead that was about to end him.

Time Release!

The bullets pierced right through Kiubee's head and body in multiple places, tearing it apart and spreading bits of fluff attached to red flesh through the side of the room, with the bullets traveling on and getting stuck in the wall.

From what remained of Kiubee, it looked like he was just a living sack of meat.

“Finally...” Violet sunk down into her chair again, sighing with relief.

She stood up from her chair, taking a breather and moving towards the door. Uncertain if Rose should be told about what she just did, the most important part right now would be to go over their next steps, their fight against the Walpurgisnacht.

She was just about open the door, as she heard a faint knocking sound behind her back. Violet's eyes tore wide apart upon what the sight she beheld. A second Kiubee was standing on the remains of its other self.

“How silly of you, Violet. Of course you can't stop us. Many of you have tried before.” Kiubee leaned down and nibbled on the remains. “We don't waste these of course, we have to conserve the energy after all.”

***

The evening of the accursed day arrived once more, ready to not only remind Rose and Violet of everything that had been lost, but also to take away everything they hadn't lost yet.

Still fatigued from their struggle against Azure's witch, and broke on hope, facing Walpurgisnacht this time felt the most discouraging. Still, Violet pressed on, Rose in tow.

“This Walpurgisnacht... is it really that scary?” Rose's voice quivered.

“Well, I couldn't quite get a good look at it before, but it's extremely destructive and will destroy this city if we don't stop it.” Violet tried to hide the anxiety in her own voice as much as she could.

“I see...”

Both were sitting on a bench in the park, a place from where Walpurgisnacht could easily be attacked. For the longest time both have simply been staring into the distance. Violet wanted to comfort Rose as best as she could, but looking at her now vacant eyes got her choking.

“Violet, listen.” Rose said as she turned towards Violet, her eyes slowly fading back into reality. “You're from the future, aren't you?”

“...Yes”

“Well, that fits then... So, you can travel through time, right?”

Violet nodded. Despite everything, Violet felt comfort in the moment of conversation.

“So you can reverse everything that happened? Even if we manage to beat that thing and save the city, we can still go back?” Rose's voice slowly regained life alongside her expression.

“I think I could, but that would only be me...” Violet hadn't thought about what would happen to her abilities after she saved Rose. The sand in the device was limited and stored exactly one month of time. If she were to extend that time, the one-month period might shift far enough for her to not even wake up in the hospital.

“And do you think this world would continue to live on without you if you go back alone?”

“I... I really don't know... I'm sorry, Daybreak. I never thought about how going back actually worked.”

Rose stood up and put her hooves around Violet, blinking back tears. “Please don't leave me too, Violet. It's just... it hurts so much to let go. I don't want to give up anyone anymore... I want to see a new day.”

Violet wanted to respond, but she already spotted the dark clouds forming. “I'm sorry, but... it's time.”

***

The fight lasted shorter than expected. Rose's magical output was noticeably higher than the last time Violet fought Walpurgisnacht with her, though she was unable to discern why. Ultimately, in a final blast, Walpurgisnacht was defeated again, draining the last amount of available magic out of the two. As the dust settled on the now water-drenched park, Violet and Rose found themselves lying next to each other in the hoof-high water.

“Did... did we do it?” Rose searched the skies with her eyes.

“I think so... we protected the city.” Violet glanced over at Rose and her Soul Gem. “Do you have anything left in there?”

Rose shook her head. “Do you have anything left?”

Violet responded with another shake of her head. “I guess we used it all up... and I don't have any Grief Seeds. We didn't even pick any up... But maybe this is fine too. We can become witches together and haunt this world. We will destroy and destroy until there is nothing left. Put an end to it all. Maybe there is some beauty in there too.”

Despite their quick victory, big parts of the city laid in ruin. Around them laid a sea of water, concrete, glass, and blood. The setting sun stabbed through a layer of clouds and dim orange light illuminated their surroundings. As the light danced off the water and the sound of drops of liquid dripping from the concrete reached Violet's ears, she took a deep breath. “We failed. We stopped one witch at the prize of so many lives and now two more witches are about to be born. Maybe this is how it should be, maybe–“

Violet's head jerked to the side as she felt a familiar warmth near her Soul Gem, the warmth of a Grief Seed restoring magic to a Soul Gem. “Marina's–! But why?”

As it was done, Rose dropped the Grief Seed in the water. “You can go back can't you? Even if it is true and its just you, you still have the power to change this... so that we can be happy in another time...”

“You idiot, what about you? You should have used it for yourself, that was the one reason I did all this. Only for you, Rose...”

Rose produced a pained smile, while staying as still as she could. “You finally called me by my first name...”

“Why didn't you save yourself...” Tears mixed with the rainwater and Violet lost every single bit of composure as her heart was pierced repeatedly.

“I can't do the things you can do... I'm glad to have met you. You can make things right again, I know it. There are so many bad things in this world: pain, grief, sadness, death. But there are also good things. Things worth protecting... I don't want to give up on it. I want to protect it. I'm sorry for only realizing that now.”

Violet rushed to grab Rose's hoof as her voice cracked in panic. “It's okay, Rose. I will protect it, I will definitely succeed, I promise!”

“I'm sorry for being so needy but... can you promise me something else? When we meet again, can you please stop me from being such a fool and becoming a Sorceress? I'm not fit for it...” With that, Rose's body cramped up for a moment and she let out a painful scream, her Soul Gem now pulsing with blackness.

“Rose!”

“Please, Violet... I don't want to become a witch...” Rose placed her Soul Gem on her hoof and lifted it up, right in front of Violet.

Violet bit down and clenched her teeth in mental anguish before she finally uttered “I promise you, even if I can't save everyone... I will save you.” With this, Violet produced her gun and pointed it at Rose's Soul Gem.

For a moment, Violet's heart pounded all the way through her chest as everything in and around her went silent, until her blood-curdling scream tore through the dawning sun.

Finally, she squeezed the trigger. The gem shattered.

Violet's body collapsed on the ground, jumping up again as she continued her scream. “No! I don't want to see her die anymore! I don't want to be the one standing here alone! Please, Rose! Let me save you... I have nothing else.” With that, Violet's body collapsed one final time, her glasses flying off. Right afterwards, a faint glow surrounded her TCD.

***

A slight breeze of wind slid through the open window, gently brushing against the curtains.

Various pills and bottles of medicine, as well as a peculiar purple gem, that were scattered over a small table, a bed, and a calendar on the wall told the tale of a young pony who had been inhabiting this room for half a year now. On the bed lay a young pony of lavender color, her eyes burning with a fire so intense it threatened to burn through the ceiling.

In one swift motion, Violet jumped out of the bed, grabbed her Soul Gem and made for the mirror.

“I can't put my trust in them...” She placed her Soul Gem in front of her eyes and threw her glasses away. The Soul Gem then resonated with her eyes and reformed them.

“No one will believe me... no one can handle the truth... But they don't need to...” Next, she grabbed both the ribbons on the end of her braided hair, and pulled them off, allowing the braids to unfold and her hair to jump around, until it settled on her back in the shape of a dolphin tail. The same awaited her tail.

“I won't rely on anyone anymore... I will defeat every witch on my own... and I will save you.”

Chapter 12: Numquam vincar (Never defeated)

Information was plenty for Violet. Through all her past experiences she gathered every bit she needed in her head to plan out her steps accordingly.

Thus, on a certain to-be-fateful night, Violet snuck to the Daybreak residence and awaited her turn outside of Rose's window.

Though it took a few hours, Violet finally spied Kiubee trying to make his way to Rose's window. Time Lock! Time Release! Only a sad sack of red was left.

Violet appeared right next to Rose's window, and opened it from the outside with a bit of help from her magic. Inside, a timid Rose flinched in her seat as she was working on her homework.

“Wha– who are y– What are you doing here?”

Violet tossed the corpse of Kiubee aside outside of Rose's vision. “I'm sorry for scaring you like this. But I have an important message to you: if anyone comes to you and offers you a miracle, deny it with all your heart. Such a wonder does not exist.” Violet tensed up at those words.

With a dumbfounded stare, Rose managed a hesitant nod.

“That is all.” With a heavy body Violet closed the window and turned away.

For the rest of the night, Violet held a close eye on the Daybreak residence and struck down the handful of additional Kiubees that tried to reach Rose. After some time, they must have realized it was futile.

***

Despite her information however, the actual events to take place remained uncertain—to some degree. Violet assured herself that each new beginning was an opportunity for the world to throw its dice anew. But knowing the nature of the dice, Violet would prepare accordingly.

As such, she scouted the lair of another witch fairly soon after it formed. Some swift movements later she found herself at the core.

One would expect the witches to lead the attack on the sorceresses, once they are in their lair's core, warping reality around them, using their malformed bodies as weapons, orchestrating a firework of malefic magic. It would almost be a shame to deny the witches their right to live out their malice in combat... almost.

Even the description of the ensuing fight—if one could even call it that—would have taken longer than the fight itself took. With that, Violet already found herself out of the core and back in reality again, only to twist her head around to face a certain someone.

“I was wondering if I might find you here, Spirit.” Violet found herself next to the central fountain of the park in the evening, her body facing it, but her head turned sideways to look at Amber, who approached her from the side right as the barrier finished crumbling.

Amber would want to approach Violet to congratulate her on a witch well executed, a Grief Seed well earned, and maybe she could have introduced herself and gotten Violet to join up with her, yet this time she was inevitably hesitant, with a visibly tensed up body.

“I'm sorry about this, Spirit. I know you would have really liked to hunt this witch and bring it to justice. Trust me, I know that. And yet, I will have to ask you to refrain from doing exactly that until, let's say, the next month?” Violet finally turned her body around as well.

“What exactly is this you are trying to do here? Do you want to challenge me?” Amber didn't waste a second to put on her aura of confidence.

“No no, not at all. I'm just offering you... a vacation... of sorts. Here, you can even have the Grief Seed I found.” Violet tossed over the Grief Seed of the witch that had just evaporated. “I have no need for these right now. So go ahead and use this to get through the month. You could even last multiple months with that one Grief Seed I assume, as long as you don't fight any witches.”

Amber's stare fixated directly on Violet's eyes, as if to win superiority by making her blink. She also tensed up her voice and moved into a more aggressive stance. “Tell me, right now! What are you trying to pull here? Why would I sit back and stop hunting witches for a month? Because you told me to? How do I even know you aren't trying to pull my hoof here?”

Violet still had to focus herself on not backing down and struggling under pressure. No time for that. “I am... trying to make sure you don't get in my way. All I am asking for, is for you to lie low for a month and not interfere with my witch hunts. That is all.” Violet internally kicked herself for not thinking about her words for this eventual encounter more carefully.

“Interfere with you? So you are one of them after all... You feign a deal to take this city for yourself? Hoard all the future Grief Seeds? Maybe even let some familiars go to make more witches? Take your time with them so they can grow fatter? Is that what you want to accomplish here? I have seen your kind. You abuse the witches as fodder without thinking about the horrible things they are doing!”

Violet felt a burst of anger well up inside her and she tried her hardest to suppress it. “Can you listen to yourself for a second? You are a lost cause...” “I am giving you one final chance. Please, Spirit, make the right choice to let this day end happy yet.”

“I have made up my mind. I will continue hunting for witches to protect this city and the ponies in it, for I do not see that same desire in your eyes. You have the look of someone who stopped caring.”

Violet took a deep breath to bury her anger deeper. Yet her reaction remained clear. “Last time you were able to take my face with you through time, so I truly, truly hope you can take these words with you until the next time we meet: you truly are the champion of justice you wanted to be; in the flesh. However, in order to create that champion you have lost every bit of your sanity. You are a champion of justice, and nothing more. As soon as that facade crumbles, the time-bomb nested in your brain will explode and take everyone around you with you into the abyss. I cannot let that happen.” Time Lock!

Violet moved up to the now frozen Amber and leaned in on her ear. “And one last thing. I might not care about anyone else in this city right now, but there is one I care for. And even if I can't save those ponies, I will save her.” With these last words, Violet produced her gun and located Amber's Soul Gem.

Time Release! A sudden bang later, Amber's body hit the floor.

Violet didn't experience remorse or sadness. Only relief.

***

Up on the hill overlooking Kamino High, Violet took her rest. Gazing from the hill to the crowds of students leaving for their homes, Violet watched over Rose and her friends.

“At this point it has become impossible for me to not save you.” Violet whispered to herself. Something she had done multiple times now since the last time she woke up in that hospital bed. “I have given up too much and made efforts too great to fail.”

For a split-second Violet thought about going back early this time to try to recruit Amber. Within only a moment, Violet stomped the ground with her hoof. “Damn you Spirit! Why did you betray us? I will never forgive you for making the embodiment of hope stop believing in herself!”

With Rose leaving Violet's field of view, she instead turned her eyes to the sky. A blazing sun amid light flecks of clouds, separated by the ever burning blue that slowly gave in to orange.

The wind around Violet, the air in her lungs, the blood flowing through her veins, the sensation of grass straddling her, it was all genuine. “I am still here. Despite everything, I am still here... I didn't go mad like Spirit did. I still know what I must do.”

Violet dropped back and let the grass catch her. “No matter how many times it takes. Be it this time, the next time, or any other chance I get... Some day I will make it through this, together with Rose...”

Nature embraced Violet, holding her close and telling her that no matter the storm, she would find a safe haven. Telling her that no matter the hardships, everything would be alright soon. Nature was such a liar.

***

Inevitably, the bright and cheerful sky gave way to an amalgam of storms, to herald in the coming of Walpurgisnacht.

That dreaded day crept up on Violet every time she gathered the courage to try again. This was no different. Once again Violet stood gazing towards the point in the sky where Walpurgisnacht was showing itself, while ponies around her fled to safety.

“It will become reality, for sure, our future.” Violet readied herself and produced a number of various weapons she procured from a military site at the other end of Bluegrass. With enough opportunity to prepare, a strategy like this was formed.

One weapon was able to fire high velocity bullets from a high distance, another fired an explosive device at the enemy, yet another fired an insane amount of bullets per second to rain destruction on anything it pointed at. Not the most elegant weapons for a sorceress capable of magic, but it was her only real line of offense she was capable of, since her innate weakness caused her to go without any magical offense.

Walpurgisnacht just barely finished making her entrance from the skies, when Violet was already using magic-propelled jumps to fly into range.

The witch's maniacal laughter embraced Violet, who was unleashing a hail of steel and fire upon it. One weapon after another was fired at the witch's head, creating a cacophony of thundering sounds, yet the witch's cackle trumped it all.

Violet frantically scanned the tissue she was firing at in the split-second pauses between shots. Damage was nonexistent. No matter how hard she fired at the target in front of her, no matter how tough and fast the steel was crashing into it, no matter how explosive and hot the fire that engulfed it was, not a single scratch or weakness could be seen.

Violet's previously composed face burst into a visage of hot temper. She let out a defiant scream that broke her voice in pieces as she went to charge into the Walpurgisnacht's head.

As she reached the head, she pulled out her gun. Landing on her giant target—which up until this point passed its time with nothing but laughter at Violet's efforts—she fired one shot after another directly at the writhing tissue. No use.

Her screams turned into pained grunts as she stopped firing and instead used her gun as a bludgeon to smash away at the witch. “I'm not done yet.” Time Lock!

Violet's sudden burst of temper almost made her forget a powerful weapon of hers. She pulled out every single bomb she currently possessed and placed all of them as close as possible to each other on the spot she had been smashing with her gun. Time Release!

Certainly this was the grandest explosion Violet had seen with her own two eyes. Partly because she was just a few meters away from it. Getting away was not of importance anymore.

Shielding her eyes from the blast, Violet could not see the sudden incoming attack from the witch. Spears formed of pure magic were flung at Violet from thin air, hitting her directly and throwing her off-balance from her sustained flight. Unable to recover, Violet slammed into the ground below her after a fall of about thirty meters.

Obviously such an attack with such a fall would kill a pony. But Violet was far past that. She didn't even need to check herself for injuries or take a step back to defend herself from further attacks, all she cared about was her success. And so she gazed up at the spot she had placed the bombs at. No damage.

Violet hadn't even noticed she had already formed a layer of tears on her eyes as she stood up and cursed the sky.

Only a second later, another set of spears hurtled towards Violet and kicked her around like a ragdoll. As she got up to fight on, she noticed a figure in the distance. It was Rose.

“No, why have you come here...” Violet whispered to herself. She tried to jump towards her, but yet another attack knocked her away.

Over towards the center of the park, Rose stood watching the Walpurgisnacht, with Kiubee next to him. “No, this can't be, such a terrible thing...” Rose stuttered.

“And yet you have the power to stop it.” Kiubee said. “Just tell me if you want to unlock that power.”

Violet could barely notice that Kiubee was talking to Rose. “No! Don't listen to him! Rose!” Violet shouted from deep within, yet her warning could not reach Rose's ears. “Don't let it end like this again... I am so close...” Violet's words drifted off into a solemn whisper.

“I don't want to fail like this again...” Violet glanced at her Soul Gem. Darkness swirled within it. Her body was broken in many different spots. Yet she still tried to crawl towards Rose. She still yearned to make it over to her, to tell her how much she needed her to be there for her.

What followed, was the worst possible sight for Violet's eyes. The light of hope shined from within Rose and transformed her, Soul Gem in her horn.

The fight ended quickly.

***

Amid the ruins and the pools formed by rainfalls, Violet sat in a solemn pose, unwavering, staring at a spot on the ground in front of her. Her hair formed waves as the wind rushed through it. Around her, everything laid broken. In the distance, something stood like a tower of black.

“Even I wasn't quite sure, but she actually managed to defeat the witch in one single attack” Kiubee said, standing close to Violet. “Of course, such an immense outburst of energy was too much for her to handle and so she had to become a witch immediately. Well, at least we managed to collect a massive amount of energy from this.”

The tower of black was a witch. Rose's witch. More grand than anything ponies could ever build, a size on par with even the Walpurgisnacht. It wasn't hiding in a barrier anymore.

“Well, it seems like you will have to find a way to get rid of that witch over there now. I am already calling some sorceresses from the neighboring city to clean up. Hey, maybe some of those will turn as well.”

Violet remained unchanging. Her eyes had dried up, and the wind slowly let her hair fall down. It was now swinging back and forth on the side of her head. To anyone watching, she would have looked like a corpse.

“Hey, you are listening, are you?”

“This isn't my battlefield.” Violet finally opened her mouth. She slowly stood up and walked away from the witch.

“Hey, are you–” Though Kiubee's voice never changed tone, he still came across as surprised.

Yet Violet didn't answer. She kept walking through the pools of water and crossing the ruins, as every thought in her mind evaporated until only one purpose remained.

With this, her TCD spun.

***

Violet had stopped counting. Days passed, weeks passed, a month was reset and everything began anew. How many times had she tried finding a way out of this maze again? It didn't matter.

Rushing from one end of the maze to the other, Violet encountered a vast set of possibilities across many worlds. Every time something would change, something would be different, no matter how big or small, something new that hadn't happened before, an event that had never been encountered. And yet, they all ended the same.

The TCD had spun many times, enough for it to now screech when turning. It didn't matter.

She saw all the different ways her friends could turn out. Azure could be stopped from making a pact but would become heartbroken over the loss of Slate and be rendered useless. If she made a pact she could be stopped from turning, but only sometimes. Her fighting abilities were useless anyway.

Crimson would sometimes not appear at all, and when she did it was difficult to stop her from self-destructing by getting caught up in the lives of the sorceresses of Kamino, especially that of Azure. Despite her fighting capability, her inability to use powerful offensive magic also equaled an inability to be a threat to Walpurgisnacht, yet she could still provide support and drag some of it's attention away from Violet. Her best attempts usually involved her fighting Walpurgisnacht with Crimson.

Amber was a ticking time-bomb every single time. Her timer was set to go off at different times each attempt, yet whenever it did go off, the only way to stop her was to put her down. And even though she wouldn't want to admit it, Violet felt a glimpse of satisfaction each time she did.

Interestingly enough, in some rare cases, one pony or another could remember seeing Violet's face, but could not remember anything else about her. This was another oddity of her time-travel, but it was a useless one.

There were also attempts to seek help from neighboring cities, yet she found no other Sorceress she could trust, or even had the power and strength to aid her, physically, magically, or mentally. She also thought that maybe at some point a new Sorceress would show her face, one that had the perfect type of magic to beat the Walpurgisnacht with her, but Violet knew better than to hope for miracles.

Even if all her friends could help her, victory might not be within reach. All of it did not matter.

Violet shut out everything that was telling her these things, because for her there was only one truth: Rose could be saved. As long as this truth existed, she would not stop.

As long as she had hope, Rose could be saved.

Chapter 13: Puella in somnio (The girl in the dream)

A curtain lifted. Composed applause heralded in the start of the main story. A light was turned on, just barely bright enough to describe the contours of a lone pony willing her body to move forward.

Why was the pony moving at all? What goal did she have?

The light intensified, showing almost invisible strings attached to the pony—or rather wrapped around her, threatening to strangle her if she moved too far into a specific direction. And thus she was confined to her spot on the stage.

Did she know of these strings? Did it matter if she did?

The pony moved around the edges of her arena, letting the strings cut into her flesh in some spots, letting them strangle her a bit in other places. Yet she showed no signs of slowing down, looking for the one place the strings were weak.

Why didn't she stop? Couldn't she ask someone for help?

What if someone told her to stop? Would she adhere?

The pony did not look like she showed any signs of giving up, since her eyes were long devoid of any emotions.

Have to reach out... have to help her... If she can't stop herself, then–

Gripping her pillow, Rose drifted into the waking world. With a glimpse at her clock she figured it was about time to get up as well, since school was about to start soon.

***

“Today I am happy to announce that we will be joined by a transfer student from the city of Bluegrass.” Sounded the teacher in front of her class. Azure stopped her usual attempts to grab Rose's attention to chatter with her even during class, and both of them with the rest of their class focused on the door of the classroom that was just opening.

“She–” Before the teacher could continue speaking, the transfer student had already walked in and positioned herself in front of the class, where she talked.

“I am Violet Somnia, pleased to meet you.” Her posture was refined and purposeful, her long black hair inspired awe in the student's hearts. Her gaze was cold, yet strangely captivating. Without looking around for long, she immediately focused her eyes towards the corner Rose was sitting in.

Rose felt a sudden impulse in her mind. “Have I... seen her before?” She whispered to herself.

“Creepy! I hope she's not looking for her next victim! I don't like her!” Azure tried to grab Rose's attention, yet Rose was still fixated on her feeling of familiarity.

***

Violet's aura of ice cold supremacy drew a lot of attention to her during the lessons, and after those she found herself surrounded by classmates asking her many questions, trying to get to know her.

Violet barely reacted to any pony and sat there, trading glances with the room around her.

Then, she calmly stood up and spoke with a quiet voice: “I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling very well. Would it be okay if someone escorted me to the nurse's office?” She turned towards a passing Rose without having to look for her first. “Can you show me the way?”

Rose hushed backwards a step. One gulp later she managed to stutter out: “Ehm... o-okay”

It almost looked like Violet was the one escorting Rose as she immediately made for the door with Rose crawling along behind her. The class stared with bewilderment at Rose who really wanted to ask them what was going on but didn't want to refuse Violet's request.

Out in the hallway, Violet was moving along with purposeful strides.

“Hey, erm... shouldn't you be going to the nurse's office? It's... over there.” Rose got dragged along by Violet who moved without any care in the world.

“Tell me, Rose,” Violet made her move as they were in a spot away from other students, “do you value your current life? Do you value your friends and family? Do you want to see them safe and happy?”

“Eh...?” Rose's heart jumped for a second. She quivered at the implications of such a question, especially when it was asked by such a wondrous yet scary pony. And she still couldn't shake that feeling she saw her before.

Violet stayed silent and did not react to Rose's fumbling as she searched for a way to react. That was all it took for Rose to finally come up with something. “I do... My friends and family are very dear to me... and I would love to know that they are safe and happy.”

Boring deep into Rose's eyes with her gaze, Violet stared right past Rose's eyes, and Rose felt her gaze penetrating into her mind. “Then you absolutely need to stay the way you are right now. If someone comes to you and offers you a miracle, you need to refuse. Stay true to who you are right now and don't give in to anyone promising you anything like a wonder. Understood?”

“O-okay...” Clenching her chest, Rose gulped to mask the sound of her heart thumping. She tried to understand what was going on with Violet, but when she looked at her she only saw a deep and unflinching stare, bearing not the slightest sign of empathy.

“Hm... as long as you remember this you should be fine.” A glimpse of a grin hushed over Violet's face as she quickly averted herself and walked back to the classroom. “I don't need the nurse's office anymore.”

***

The following days, Violet usually spent her time observing Rose and getting rid of any Incubators in the surrounding area. But it didn't take long for one of this timeline's peculiar uniquenesses to show itself: a swarm of Incubators took up residence in an abandoned construction site near the shops that Rose frequents. They had to be cleared.

Not wanting to spend any of her magic for a critter like Kiubee, she simply ran around the site and took out any Incubator she came across with a gun.

After only a few kills, a sudden shiver attacked Violet. Incubators acted towards a certain goal. They were intelligent. What could they possibly gain from a behavior like this? Violet thought to herself that whatever it was, if she was able to get rid of all of them in the area, it would surely fail. After all, Kiubee should have no idea what Violet's goal was.

The uneasiness followed her around as she moved from kill to kill. Until eventually, the uneasiness turned into a sudden realization that hit Violet like a gut punch, as she noticed a pony approaching the area. Rose had been called to the site telepathically by Kiubee.

Before Violet could find a countermeasure, an Incubator had already found her way to Rose, as Violet watched from the shadows.

Feigning weakness, Kiubee tried to get an unknowing Rose to get close to him.

After biting her lip so hard it almost bled, Violet reluctantly jumped out of the shadows and landed next to Kiubee, staring at him with hateful intent. “Stay back, Rose, this thing is dangerous.”

For a second, Rose seemed surprised and backed off, until she came to a halt and tensed up. “But... it looks like it needs help! It called out to me!”

The look of sincerity in Rose's eyes was a telltale sign of what might come next. To prevent this, Violet tried to subtly pull a weapon and eradicate this Kiubee, and then take Rose away from the site afterwards.

“That's certainly something I haven't seen before.” A hated voice reached Violet's ears. “A Sorceress that's attacking Kiubee? I think you should better back off now.” Amber Spirit made her entrance as she jumped next to Rose.

How much Violet wished to take her down right then and there, but yet Amber was a Sorceress, and therefore a potential asset in her fight against Walpurgisnacht. Swallowing her hatred as much as possible, Violet held off on her urge.

“Tell me, why are you so afraid of Kiubee? Are you not happy with the wish you got? Did he say something mean?” Amber narrowed her eyes. “Or could it be... that you are afraid of there being more Sorceresses? Taking away your prey?”

Completely and utterly unable to comprehend what was going on, Rose drifted off into her glassy stare that Violet had seen often enough throughout her travels. The only thing to end that stare would be the world of magic. She failed yet again.

“I'll forgive you for now if you back off and let us be. Or do you want to–”

“Fine.” Violet scoffed at Amber. “I will take my leave for now.” Her final glance went towards Rose. “Remember what I talked to you about.”

With this, Violet turned away and jumped back into the darkness.

Time Lock! Time Release!

Violet used a very quick, but effective time lock maneuver to make her way from the darkness of their eyes to a platform on a higher elevation, able to observe them without them knowing.

Rose scrambled towards Kiubee, trying to give him aid, as he was breathing heavily and looking in ill health. Amber meanwhile explained to her what had just happened, who she was, what Kiubee is, all of that.

As they made their way out of the site, yet another irregularity struck, as both Amber and Rose were assaulted by a nearby familiar that Violet did not anticipate.

With this, Amber would be able to show off her magic. Rose would see the dangers of the world of magic, come face to face with an enemy as she is saved by a hero. Find a purpose that she would want to fight for.

Violet couldn't stomach seeing Rose change like this yet again. Instead, she took her leave.

***

A day passed. Just as expected, Amber had introduced Rose to the world of magic, while Rose dragged Azure along as well.

Resetting the timeline at a point like this often presented itself as an early solution to what could be a looming disaster. Despite this, Violet always chose to keep trying. To keep pushing the timeline further, to see if maybe some new path could be found in unexpected places. She wasn't lucky so far.

Over the course of the timelines, Violet had put together a schedule for possible witch appearances and the locations they might first terrorize. With this, Violet was able to engage witches fairly reliably, though each timeline presented itself with new variations of events that altered even a witch's behavior.

It was to be Rose's and Azure's first real look at a witch-hunt in action. Amber took them along to a witch's lair she had scouted. Violet was already waiting for them to arrive directly behind the entrance inside the barrier. As the three of them entered the witch's realm, Violet showed herself.

“Spirit, I have come to warn you.”

Rose flinched for a second while Azure made sure to instantly put on a hostile face. Amber stayed fairly calm.

“Right to the point? Your way with things is efficient, I will give you that.”

“This witch is not like most other witches.” Violet took a glance at Rose, who seemed to have calmed down a bit after recognizing Violet. “I want you to stay out of this just this once. I will take down the witch and bring you the Grief Seed. Make sure you keep these two safe, they have nothing to do with this.”

A slight grin appeared on Amber's face. “Is that how you're doing it? I am afraid I will have to decline. You attacked Kiubee for no reason, and now you want me to blindly trust you? What if you run away with the Grief Seed, or even stab us in the back while we are lowering our guards? This is my witch for the night.”

Violet's cold demeanor slowly cracked to reveal a more angry facade behind. “Stop playing yourself up so much, I am trying to help you! This witch could easily–”

Before Violet could finish, Amber raised her hoof to point at Violet. “And I'm trying to give you a chance here. Back off and let us pass! This is your last warning.”

“Are you mad? Listen to me! I will be done with this witch in no time, and then–”

Once again, Violet was interrupted by Amber. “Be that way then.” Amber waved her hoof and a multitude of yellow ribbons emerged from the ground, slinging herself around Violet and forcing her to the ground. “I will give you some time to cool down.” She turned to Azure and Rose. “Let's keep going. We'll come back for her.”

With hesitant steps Rose followed Amber and Azure past Violet, who stopped fighting the ribbons almost immediately.

Rose tried to meet eyes with Violet as she passed, but Violet turned away with closed eyes. As Rose was almost out of range, Violet whispered to herself: “I'm sorry, Rose.”

A familiar situation. Instead of trying to prevent a predicament like this or escape from it, Violet let it pass. She knew what would happen next.

The hardest part of waiting for the next step was the fact that Amber had actually put a protection field around Violet as she walked past her. A token of Amber's goodwill. She raised herself up to be the good hero, that protected the weak and fought for others, yet was blinded by inconvenient contradictions and permanently on the verge of snapping. That protection field was nothing more than a sad attempt at a taunt.

After a distant scream, the ribbons holding her down dissipated. The witch of sweets had her way.

Violet sighed and stopped time, running to the barrier's core to defeat a witch and console a broken Rose.

“Maybe for once she will learn... that this is what it means to be a Sorceress.”

Chapter 14: Anima mala (Evil soul)

“So... you knew of that witch before, right?” Rose looked up at Violet, her steps unsure. Violet looked over the side of the bridge with her usual cold stare, watching the rising flow of the Kami river as she led Rose onward. It had been a day since Amber's passing, so her death was still all that Rose could talk of.

“I have studied the witches for a very long time. The aura of this one felt very unusual to me when I entered its realm.”

“Then maybe Amber felt it as well...”

“She didn't.” Violet immediately answered right as Rose had uttered her last word. “Despite her experience in the world of Sorceresses she did not have the ability to sense a witch's potential by studying their aura.”

Violet took a glance behind her. Rose had stopped in her tracks, staring at the cement floor of the bridge, pupils vibrating.

“You tried to save her, Violet... but she didn't trust you... she wouldn't listen...”

Violet slightly raised her voice while still maintaining her solemn tone. “She made up her mind and it was not within our power to change that.” Violet streaked through her mane, making it flow like a wave for a second. “So, do you still intend on becoming a Sorceress?”

Rose didn't react, her mind still stuck on other matters. “Is it true that no pony will ever find out what happened to her? No pony will wonder where she went or be able to find her?”

Violet looked over the side again, letting out a sigh. “When a witch is defeated the barrier bound to its magic will collapse, taking every trace of the witch with it. However, it also has the side effect of swallowing up any leftover body parts, dropped items, blood stains, anything that is not needed anymore and does not have the power to break free of the dying monster's magic. Spirit was fully aware of such implications when she went into battle. This is the end of a Sorceress. And no, the world will not notice she has left. She had no close relatives and hardly any friends besides other Sorceresses. Based on her not appearing to school anymore she will only be a missing case, never to be resolved.”

“...I won't forget her...”

“Huh?” Violet turned towards Rose, who slowly lifted her head up from the floor.

“If the world will not remember Amber, then I will! I will never forget what she did for us, how she put her life on the line to protect us and what she has taught us. I will not let her name be lost!”

Violet scoffed. She knew better. “I'm sure she would be proud to hear these words. She must have been truly blessed to have had a friend like you.”

Turning her head away, Violet got ready to leave.

“I will remember you too, Violet!”

Immediately turning around, Violet engaged in a focused eye-contact with Rose. Her stare almost burned through Rose's vision and threatened to pierce right through her. She had to put on a stare to keep her welling emotions intact.

“The way you jumped in there and saved us from that witch, I will never forget that! Even if you leave us or something happens to you I will always remember you!”

For a few moments, Violet's gaze bored even deeper into Rose's face, until she turned around once more and galloped away.

As Violet disappeared on the horizon, a singular tear soared through the air.

***

The covetous witch: the next on the list. This witch's pattern had proven to be quite interesting in past time-lines. It would try to find a big group of ponies and lead them to a secluded area, where it would pull them into their barrier and consume them. However, it didn't appear on every time-line, unless Violet had missed its existence due to the way it stalks its prey.

To track down this witch Violet devised a plan to oscillate between all the places that had shown to be suitable for the witch's barrier while looking out for big groups of ponies moving in unison on the way. If she started this when the witch appeared her chances of finding it before it could take the souls of its prey would be pretty high.

However, there was one thing she had not accounted for: when she arrived at the witch's barrier, it was already fading before her eyes, a teal-coated pony coming into her sight between the blurred lines of the washed up remains of the witch's magic. Rose was standing at her side.

“Marina... so I see you have become a Sorceress as well?”

Azure tried to catch her breath as she struggled to remain in a standing position. “You... you are late... You are lucky that I was here, or else all of these ponies...” she gestured towards a crowd of ponies, lying unconscious on the floor of an old warehouse, “would have been dead before long.”

“I would have been here soon enough, trust me.” Violet subtly puffed her chest out.

“Trust you?” She glanced over at a spot next to her, searching for an invisible being. “You tried to kill Kiubee, you stood up against Amber! She had no reason to trust you, and neither do I!”

Rose approached Azure from the side. “Azure, I don't like seeing you get beat up like that, can't we fight together with Violet? We should all be holding together if we are up against such terrible things...”

“What do you know?” Azure scoffed.

Violet inspected Rose. “So... you have kept to it then and have not become a Sorceress, Rose? At least I was able to save one of you two...”

Shouting at her, Azure rushed over towards Violet. “Hey, hold on a minute, what gives you the right to–”

Time Lock! Time Release!

Violet suddenly stood right in front of Azure's face, making her stop dead in her tracks. “No, youhold on a minute. Do you think you can prance around here like the big hero? The one who gives herself up to defend ponykind? I didn't think I would have to ask this: do you have any idea what you have just signed up for? I thought seeing how all of this had worked out for Spirit would make you reconsider, yet you still insist on throwing your life away? For what? For something that I could have done myself anyway? Something that I was about to resolve? You know nothing!” Violet moved so close to Azure's face that she almost touched it, yet Azure did not flinch.

“I am different, Violet. I will not make the same mistakes that Amber did, nor will I become as misguided as you have become! There is no way I will ever regret what I have done! Now get out of my sight!”

Violet 'teleported' out of sight again. “...So be it then.”

***

With Amber's death and Azure's contract the following events were steered into a certain direction. On this road however, many different forks in the path still proved to be unclear, only the general course of which things would happen next, which events would no longer be an option or how some ponies would react to others in this cycle had been set to an initial state. This allowed Violet to consider her future actions and pull up different strategies and plans, which she learned to devise in past time-lines.

When Azure and Crimson met for the first time once more, with a still non-Sorceress Rose, one of these strategies was put to action.

While Azure was patrolling the city with Rose, Crimson appeared and got into a fight with Azure. After Azure got beaten up, Violet jumped in to put an end to the fight and told Crimson to back off or she would have to interfere again. Crimson obliged and they parted ways for that day.

This was the setup Violet was looking for.

Crimson took a bite of an apple as she trotted through the streets of the Kamino suburbs. On her back she balanced a bag full of fresh apples, swaying from side to side, always an inch away from toppling over but still maintaining its balance.

She tried to take another bite but was interrupted by an almost silent voice. “Come over here.” She took a closer look at the apple and held it next to her ear, listening closely. “What exactly do you think you are doing Phantasma? Over here, on the other side of the wall.”

Crimson leaned over the side of the wall and discovered a familiar pony on the other side. At first, hopping over the wall looked like a great idea, but as the bag of apples began to soar through the air and scattered a bunch of apples on the grass, the idea did not seem that great anymore.

“You are more of a klutz than I remember you. You know you can use your invisible pouch in public too, if you disguise the motions well enough.”

Crimson looked up at Violet glaring at her. “You again! You interrupted my fight with that little newbie the other day! How do you know me?”

Violet streaked through her hair and let it soar in the wind for a second. “Actually, that is not very important right now. Let's say I have seen you before, but you haven't seen me. Maybe you should observe your surroundings better next time. Especially, when you grab yourselves more of these.” She pointed at the apples on the ground.

“Pah! No pony else saw me, they never have for months now! But you being the first one to see me do it must mean that you are quite the special one... Why are you here?”

Violet focused her eyes. “In about two weeks a horrible witch will come to this city, a witch that outrivals anything you have ever witnessed. It is too much for a single Sorceress to take out on her own, so I ask for your assistance, Phantasma.”

“Ha! You know how to grab my attention! Why not, but I thought you already had your partner in that other one? Are you trying to fool me?”

Violet subtly shook her head. “Marina's fighting prowess is practically zero. She is inexperienced and reckless. She throws herself into any fight without thinking about it, and her magic only complements her uselessness. No, what I need is an experienced veteran, a battle-hardened fighter who rises above her enemies and can even defeat them without even using their illusion magic. Though I'm sure you would love to use it, wouldn't you?”

Crimson's eyes grew enormous upon hearing that question, accompanied by an instinctive flashing of her fangs. “Are you joking me?”

Something appeared on Violet's face that she had been missing for a few days. A grin. “I have my—yellow-coated—sources.”

“...Amber...” Crimson gritted her teeth even harder.

“You have rejected your wish after it had already come into effect, after it had fulfilled its purpose. Surely you know that a Sorceress's magic stands in direct connection to her wish. Our powers are fueled by our wish and take their shape accordingly. But you threw that all away, you could not bear to fight under the banner of such a wish. You have inadvertently cursed yourself and destroyed the majority of your magical capabilities. You are lucky that your wish had already come to fulfillment, abandoning a wish that has yet to take its full effect would probably have disastrous consequences attached to it. You are luckier still, that you didn't lose your entire magic, you can still regenerate your body or conjure your weapon and levitate it, but the ability to create... what was it again?”

“Illusions, phantasms, clones, whatever you want to call it. It worked with my own body, my weapon, and anything else I could get my hooves on.” Crimson's sparkle in her eyes did not go unnoticed.

“You see, despite losing such an incredible ability you have adapted. You have shifted your battle style and refused to give up. After all that you have been through you managed to grow into a formidable foe, one of the strongest I have ever faced. And I need somepony with exactly that sort of attitude and potential to fight that ginormous witch with me.”

“Ha, you are smearing so much honey around my snout I can almost taste it! Ah what the heck, count me in!”

Crimson extended her hoof, waiting for a hoofshake.

“One more thing, Phantasma.”

Crimson bent her hoof, unsure whether to retreat it or not.

“That other Sorceress, Azure Marina, you need to stay off her. I will deal with her myself, understood?”

Fully retreating her hoof, Crimson smirked. “Sure, why not.”

***

Despite Violet's warnings, Crimson had yet again confronted Azure and challenged her to a fight. As their confrontation was witnessed by Rose, she ran between them and tossed Azure's Soul Gem into the Kami river, where it was retrieved by Violet after Rose and Crimson had a good look at the soulless body of Azure.

In all her travels, her empathy for Rose had never wavered, yet she had begun to despise herself in these situations. The yearning to protect Rose no matter the cost and her desire for Rose to be happy clashed each time they met and caused a violet storm of emotions within her that she fought to suppress. Her stoic look was not out of choice.

“Violet... thank you for meeting me here,” Rose said while looking down at the table.

“I had nothing better to do.” Violet was seated opposite of her, supporting her head with a hoof on the table and eating ice-cream with the other.

Usually a place for meet-ups of a different constellation, this time the ice-cream parlor became the host of a meeting between Violet and Rose.

After the events of Azure's and Crimson's confrontation had ended, Crimson had apologized and retreated. To Violet's dismay, before Azure's Soul Gem was tossed, Crimson had already seemed to have developed a liking for teasing Azure. After Azure's lifeless body hit the floor and during her apology, Violet had wondered if Crimson had already been tainted.

After Azure came to again, Rose and Violet escorted her home, where she took her rest, while Rose urged for Violet to join her at the ice-cream parlor right away, even though it would soon be closing.

“It's really nice here... I especially like the vanilla flavor, it's very... light and soft.” Rose's voice still quivered, though she was at least able to produce mostly normal sentences now.

“I instead chose the Stracciatela, because–” Violet tried for once to sound normal, but looking at Rose's uneasy face she found it hard to continue. “I'm sorry I couldn't help sooner.”

Rose slightly shook her head “It's alright, Violet, I'm glad you were there to save Azure at all. I might never have been able to forgive myself, if she–”

“Things like that happen sometimes. You don't have to beat yourself up over it. It's yet another way we Sorceresses have to pay for the miracles granted to us.”

“But how can you say that? Crimson and Azure were terrified when they found out what was going on, but you act like it's natural!” Rose's voice quivered with emotions in every word.

“I have seen this happen often enough, and I have known about it for quite some time. There is no use for me to fear it anymore. I have to move on and focus on what's ahead. Besides, if I can spare you from having to go through such terrors with your own body, then I'm content on having saved at least one pony. I am sorry I could not stop Marina from becoming a Sorceress.”

Rose sat in silence for a minute, stirring the slowly melting mush of Vanilla in front of her.

Violet glanced out the window. The sun had just set, and their meeting would end soon. Even though it was under such circumstances, Violet relished every second she could be with Rose, even if she stayed tough to achieve her goal.

“There must be something we can do... You know so much about Sorceresses, surely there is way for her to turn back? Become a normal pony again?”

“There is none. Nothing short of a miracle could do that. And those would only then be followed by yet another curse.” By this time, Violet was about done with her ice-cream. She wouldn't want any ice-cream go to waste while sitting at a table with Rose. Even though Rose herself seemed to not be very interested in her own ice-cream.

“Then we must support her as much as we can! When we walked her home, I had never seen her so depressed before... And how eager she was to fight all those witches and Crimson... I'm worried something terrible might happen to her...”

“Marina... is going down a path that I can't dissuade her from. Even you won't be able to. She became a Sorceress on a whim, not knowing the full extent of her contract. And even if she did, with the zeal she inherited from Spirit, she would have probably chosen to walk this path still. Kiubee might have deemed Marina worthy of a Sorceress, but I would have never allowed her to make that contract. She might have met the requirements to become a Sorceress, but not the qualifications. In this field of work, even the best ponies often don't make it very long. As for someone like Marina...”

Rose stared at the desk again, her eyes slowly watering.

“...give up on her.”

***

“So, this is your house, Violet? It's er... pretty cool!” Probably the greatest understatement to ever come out of Crimson's mouth. Violet's abode failed to even look like a house from the inside. Instead, it looked like a Sorceress version of a barrier.

“You see, Phantasma, I took a page out of the witch's books and created my own realm in the confines of my home.” Violet drew a wide lying circle in the air. “The first step was to project my magic along the walls of this room—which used to be the living room—and use it to create the illusion of a vast space where there is none.”

Crimson looked around herself. Where there should be walls was instead a seemingly endless world of bright white nothingness. It felt like they were standing in the middle of a ginormous pearl white plane in nirvana, no noticeable sort of landscape in the distance. The only objects in this realm were a strange round table, circular benches placed around the table, floating portraits and diagrams at about the place where the walls should be, and a giant apparatus with spinning gears a few meters above the table, which rose up skywards into the infinite.

This room provided the perfect answer to a problem Violet had faced herself with in her travels: “How do I transport all the information I gather from one time-line to the next?” The solution: connect everything she came to know to an ethereal space that she can re-create at whim. So she created a room within her mind and her mind within her room.

Turning around, Crimson noticed the door behind her shut and vanish instantaneously.

“I have taken a few liberties to create a space suitable to my liking, but don't try to pay too much attention to the purely visual details here. Instead, we should–”

While Crimson was still looking around the room in amazement, she randomly talked without paying attention to Violet. “Oh by the way, I couldn't mention it yet, but I'm sorry. I kind of got carried away and went after Azure again, I just couldn't stop myself you know? She is so naive and brash, all while spouting all these big words...”

“And so you invited her over to have a chat with her earlier today?”

“How even–”

“Listen, Phantasma. That pony is doomed, and you know that. Don't get too close to her, you will only regret it. You don't want to end up like Spirit.”

Crimson did not respond.

“Anyway, focus on this instead.” She walked towards the table and pointed at a map of Kamino city that was laid out there. Levitating a pen, she drew on the map. “The witch—or Walpurgisnacht as it's called—will appear over here, right above the park. From here it will fly eastwards, towards the suburbs. I can only guess that its first instinct is to search for prey, and the suburbs are the closest concentration of ponies to the park.”

Crimson, still confused by her surroundings slowly waved her hoof in the air as she tilted her head sideways. “How exactly do you know all that? I have never even heard of such a witch and yet...” She took a few glances around herself. The floating portraits showed depictions of witches, some of which Crimson had fought herself or watched Azure fight, and others who she never encountered herself. Along with them were verses in a strange language, and diagrams that seemed of almost random nature and did not allow for Crimson to gather any useful information other than one bar being slightly longer than another one. “Yet you seem to know so much about the witches and this Walpurgisnacht...”

Violet's serious expression and tone did not waver. “I have gathered all my information from statistics. This is nothing that should concern you.”

“I too would like to know where you have gotten that information from.” Violet's eyes widened, Crimson turned around immediately.

“Kiubee, what do you want here? You are not welcome here!” Crimson pointed at Kiubee.

“You see, Violet, I have watched you lately. Your actions are quite interesting... Irregulars are quite rare, yet not the worst of my problems. However, you seem more irregular still... You knew what witches would appear, where they would appear. You have tried your hardest to stop me from contracting Rose Daybreak, the pony with the greatest potential I have ever come across, without even possibly knowing my intentions. What exactly are you trying to do here?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Violet did not move her body from the table and merely threw an off-hooved glance at him.

“You heard her! Get out!”

Kiubee waggled his tail. “Have it your way. But before I leave, are you sure you don't want to hear what I have to say about Azure Marina?”

Violet appeared agitated for a second and had to hold herself back from bursting out and saying something unwise.

“So, what will you do now if I told you that Azure's curse is growing faster than expected and that she will prove to be a 'problem' before that Walpurgisnacht arrives?”

With a sudden flinch and without words, Violet immediately rushed past Crimson towards the materializing door and slammed it open, galloping out.

Chapter 15: And I'm Home

A short while later, Violet discovered Azure maundering through a dank alleyway in the twilight of dusk. Hearing steps behind her, Azure slowly turned around, her face—much to Violet's dismay—was already empty, her usual grin missing and with it every sense of happiness.

“Violet... what do you want here? I had enough of your horse apples, let me be for now...”

“What happened to your energetic and animated behavior? Aren't you gonna tell me how you are never going to be defeated and never have any regrets about your crusade?”

“I don't need you taunting me right now, Violet...”

“Listen, Marina, even if you don't agree with the way I act, you need to listen to me for once.” Violet took out a Grief Seed and tossed it right in front of Azure. “Your Soul Gem is almost completely corrupted. You can save yourself from your curse, but you have to be willing to do it.”

Azure looked down at the Grief Seed and tried to grab it but toppled over instead. Lying on the ground, she scrambled for the Grief Seed and when she finally laid hooves on it, she tossed it aside.

“What do you think you're doing? You want to give me another speech now on how you are better than other Sorceresses and how you are going to continue Spirit's legacy? You will meet with an even worse fate than hers if you continue like this. Swallow your pride for once and take it, I am only trying to help you.”

Slowly raising her head, Azure locked eyes with Violet. “Are you? I disagree with you, I dislike you, I don't trust you at all. You have the eyes of somepony who has already given up on everything. No. You seek something different... you want to help me for a different reason... But I will have none of that! I will not be some pawn in whatever the hay sort of game you are playing!”

For a moment, silence filled the alley, the two of them looking at each other in an unstable silence.

Violet finally broke the tension and walked towards the still collapsed Azure. “You are right. I don't care about you at all, or about your personal troubles with Slate and Leafy.” A smug smirk made it's way onto Violet's lips. “I only care about Rose. All I have done, all I will ever do, is only to make sure that Rose will survive all of this; and yet, I watch you dump all your sorrows and self-pity, all of your stupid problems onto her. You call yourself her friend, yet despite her worrying about you all the time and even coming to me, begging me to help you, you just motionlessly fall deeper into the pit you threw yourself into.” Violet transformed in an instant. “If you don't let me settle this the way I wanted to, then I will have to stop you from making Rose sad... by force.”

Violet went for her invisible bag and produced her gun. Azure's blank stare did not change as she slowly pointed it at Azure's Soul Gem. “Last chance.”

Before Azure had the opportunity to spit in Violet's face, Violet's body was suddenly jerked backwards.

“Quick, Azure! I got her! Run away!” Crimson had locked Violet down by putting her in a hold, using the chains of her spear to wrap around her.

Azure gathered her strength and slowly got up while trying to fight her pain. Finally in a standing position, she stumbled onwards into the distance, almost toppling over again after every few steps.

“What has gotten into you? I thought she was a friend of yours?”

Violet gritted her teeth. “You should know well enough that she is not fit for a Sorceress, and you have seen how much it has cost her! She is going to take herself and everyone around her down with her! Why are you still protecting her?”

“That's–! I just feel like–! Well I don't have to explain myself to you!” Violet didn't have to turn around to guess Crimson's expression.

“Fair enough, now let go.”

“What? Oh I see, you are having trouble using that freaky magic of yours when I got you on a lock-down?”

“It's for own safety, I have somewhere to be.”

“Wha–”

Before Crimson could figure out what was going on, a small peculiar-looking grenade dropped out from behind Violet's TCD, which immediately began to beep loudly, causing Crimson to release Violet for a split-second. Time Lock! Time Release!

The grenade exploded right in front of Crimson, but the oddly tiny explosion caused no damage to her. However, as she tried looking around, Violet was already nowhere to be found.

***

“Is there anything else I can do to help her?” Rose sat on a park bench, next to Kiubee. The sun had already gone down and the calming light of the lamps danced around the waterstreams of the fountain.

“I'm afraid not, Rose. Becoming a Sorceress was her own decision. Once you go down that road there is no turning back.”

Rose's head sunk down as she let out a disappointed sigh.

“However... there might be a way for you to change that.”

Instantly jumping up, Rose exposed a wide open smile. “What? Really?”

Kiubee nodded. “There is something that only you can do, you alone of all ponies. If you were to become a Sorceress, your powers would be enormous. Listen to me, Rose: of all the ponies I have encountered your latent potential outclasses every other one by cosmic proportions! I have no idea or theory as to why you possess such enormous ability, but if you would engage in a contract with me, you could do absolutely anything... You could even become a god.”

Her eyes became enormous. “Anything...? I could even transform Azure back into a regular pony?”

“I have to be honest: I have never before heard of such a thing succeeding, however in your case, it might be easily within your powers. Is that something you want to give your soul for?”

“Really... Well...” Rose looked up into the stars for a moment before facing Kiubee again. “If it's for Azure, then I will have to do it! She's my best friend and I need to do everything I can to help her, and Crimson too! Kiubee, I wish to–”

Time Lock! Silence. Every single particle in the air stood still. Until... Time Release! Kiubee's face got instantaneously torn apart, his body splattering all over the bench. Rose let out a sharp shriek and flinched backwards from the bench. Behind her, a black gun was dropped and hit the ground, the barrel still smoking. The pony who had held the gun, Violet, stepped towards Rose.

“Why... Why do you always have to sacrifice yourself!” Violet put her hooves on Rose's shoulders but avoided eye contact. “How can you be so naive? Always wanting to be the great hero?”

“Y- you didn't have to kill him...”

“I had to stop you... You have to stay with us! Don't you know that there will be ponies who will grief when you are gone?” Violet's voice quivered more with each word. “Don't you know that there are some ponies who would be devastated if you were gone? Some ponies who would never be able to handle the loss...”

For a moment, Rose's eyes blanked. Alien visions and impossible memories electrocuted her mind for only a split-second. “Violet... Have we... met before... that day?”

Without moving her head to face her, Violet tried to produce words. “We... we have...”

Rose moved further backwards until she responded. “I... we have to go... We have to find Azure...”

“I'm sorry, but... it's too late.” Time Lock! Time Release! Within the next moment, Violet disappeared in front of Rose.

***

Vaulting over fences, Violet rushed in a straight line as fast as she could without wasting magic to the train station. That is where Azure and Crimson would be in that fateful hour. Without the Grief Seed, Azure could once again not be saved from her demise.

From a distance, Violet watched Azure's Soul Gem explode in front of Crimson, and her witch—the mermare witch as Violet called it—already expanded her barrier around the station, catching Crimson and Violet within. In the fledgling barrier, ethereal instruments formed of wild magic, emitting a cacophony of discordant sounds. No floor or ceiling was discernible, as space was still warping around them.

Crimson, frozen in shock, was only able to utter a few gasps as she twitched, trying to find out where she landed, and what happened to Azure. For a quick moment, she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Azure's body and rushed over in an instant. Crimson tried to shake her awake, searching for signs of life within her husk. Unable to locate her Soul Gem, it had to be truly gone. “Azure! Hey, say something will you, get angry at me or anything. I don't care, just answer me dammit!” A witch of mermare form, wielding a saber, appeared in front of her. Crimson quickly picked up Azure's body and put it on her back, getting ready to flee.

“That is the being formerly known as Azure Marina.” Violet approached Crimson as she was about to rush through the barrier. “You should drop that weight and put what's left of your friend over there to rest.”

“The hell I will! I'm going to get Azure here out of this!”

“That thing you are carrying is not Marina, you should know this already from what happened the other day. And with her Soul Gem breaking and giving birth to a witch, she is gone. You will feel better after defeating her witch.”

“The hell I will! As if I'd throw her away! I'm going to get her body out of here, and then I'll find a solution!” And don't you dare touch that witch! I will find a way to save her!

Letting out a sigh, Violet scratched her head, before extending a hoof to Crimson. “Okay then, hold on.”

“Wha–”

“Do it.”

Crimson did as she was told and grabbed Violet's hoof, as Violet's TCD made sounds. Time Lock!

“You figured out part of it earlier. You see, most things I touch will become immune to my magic.”

Crimson only listened to half of what Violet said. Instead, she looked around herself as she noticed that the entire movement of the barrier's walls and the witch had ceased moving. “Is that it... is that your magic? You can freaking stop time?”

“We have already stood around for too long, follow me. And don't let go, or else I can't stop you from freezing as well.” Yanking Crimson away, Violet dragged her along as she rushed towards the edge of the barrier, Azure's body bouncing up and down on Crimson's back.

Crimson bit her lips as they finally reached the edge, breaking out of the barrier.

Outside, both of them laid eyes on a familiar pony.

“Rose...”

Rose's pain, her lamenting cries, her uncontrollable sobbing. Violet backed off from the scene, not looking back. Even having seen a scene like this once had already been too much in the past. She needed no reminder of what was at stake, not just for her and Rose, but for all the other Sorceresses as well.

***

As the next day had come, Rose and Crimson met atop a hill outside the school right as school ended. That Rose made it through a school day without breaking apart was both proof of her inner strength, and a result of Crimson's words the past day.

“I'm pretty bad at beating around the bush so let's get right to it,” Crimson said right after they both met, “from all we have learned we have found out that Sorceresses consist of a body and a soul, that has been trapped in their Soul Gem. Without her soul, Azure is without any life.”

Rose stared at the grass with a mostly empty face while only occasionally glimpsing at Crimson.

“However, what if we would be able to get Azure's soul back from within that barrier? I don't have any concrete plan, but I think if we go in there and call out to her, maybe she will hear us and come back? At least I'm not willing to give up yet. I know I have acted fairly hostile towards her in the past, but I'm actually really sorry for all the things I did and said, and this is the least I could do to make it up to her.”

“Thank you, Crimson.” A tiny bit of light came back into Rose's expression.

Slightly embarrassed, Crimson scratched her head. “Well, we haven't done anything yet, so don't thank me yet. Anyway, now would be the best part for our plan since I picked up the traces of another witch earlier, and Violet is probably heading to that one as we speak, meaning we can try to get Azure back without her interference.”

“But she–”

“Don't even try to defend her! She is not on Azure's side, and she would not agree with our plan anyway.” Crimson stomped the ground. “I say we go right now and get Azure back!”

Rose hesitated. After stroking her hoof through the grass a couple of times she finally nodded.

***

After only a few minutes, the two ponies found themselves deep within the witch's barrier, facing their usual enemy—a witch. Only this time, that witch was their best friend.

“Okay Rose, it's time!” While Crimson drew her weapon an ethereal protection field of sanguine red magic woven into chains materialized itself around Rose, locking the defenseless pony in a safe area away from the witch. “Call out to her, I will make sure to keep her at bay!”

With a giant leap, Crimson flew towards the witch, her spear floating perpendicular to her body in a protective stance.

“Azure it's me, Rose! Please listen to me!”

Ignoring Rose, the witch pointed its saber forward with a spastic movement, summoning an army of giant wheels the size of at least three ponies to hail down upon Crimson.

“Azure please, you have to stop this... This isn't who you are!”

No reaction. Crimson dodged some of the wheels while swatting away others in between, yet some managed to hit Crimson and slightly knock her back. In every free second, her cries chimed in to disrupt the nightmarish song that the barrier had brought forth. “Azure! You always wanted to protect those around you! That was the reason you kept on fighting! Don't throw this all away now!”

“Please... come to your senses, Azure... you need to remember...” Rose slowly sank down.

With a loud bump a wheel hit Crimson directly from the front, sending her tumbling backwards, crashing into the barrier wall, damaging parts of it as a loud cackle was emitted.

“Crimson! Are you okay?”

Crimson slowly got back on her hooves. “Don't worry about me, keep calling out to her...” Another wave of wheels was sent forth to barrage the pony.

“Please come back to us, Azure... we miss you...”

Crimson's dance around the wheels continued, more and more of them smashing into her. “Azure, is this payback for when we first met? Are you trying to get back at me for me trying to harm you? So be it then... But promise me one thing: once you had enough... please come back to us!”

Almost tripping, Crimson stumbled forwards as two wheels from both sides squashed her between them. Her heavily bruised body toppled over, blood being pressed out of her before the wheels vanished again. As her magic wavered, the protective field around Rose disappeared.

“Crimson!” Rose tried to rush over to her friend. With an erratic movement, the witch leaned forwards across the entire room and picked up Rose between its hooves in a press, slowly increasing the pressure. “Azure... no...” Rose was slowly fading.

With a loud scream, Crimson gathered her strength, leaped upwards, and swung her spear to cut through one of the witch's hooves, creating an enormous fountain of spectral liquid to rush out of the wound. “Azure! You always told me you believed! Don't give up yet!” Rose hit the ground unconscious, yet mostly unscathed.

Materializing its saber again, the witch struck out towards the injured pony. Crimson's movements were slowed down to crawl, her reaction time greatly reduced. And so the blade directly struck her, its tip impaling her body on the blade. In a follow-up the witch smashed the blade into the ground, catapulting Crimson's body off the blade and causing the ground to crumble beneath them. The entire floor collapsed and the unconscious body of Rose, as well as the still breathing and conscious Crimson, who by now lost the majority of her blood, were sent tumbling downwards.

In a surreal swirl Crimson dropped into the depths as the room rotated and swirled around itself to create a new floor the ponies were now hurdling towards. “God... look at the life I have lived... after all this... please... let me have a happy dream for once...”

Before Rose's body hit the ground, her fall was dampened by the magic of a purple pony. Crimson however crashed straight into the ground, her spear following her with a sharp clonk. Violet looked over at the pony who somehow still refused to faint or give up. “Phantasma...” A feint shimmer of empathy made its way into Violet's voice.

Crimson slowly erected her body into an unsteady standing position. Before Violet could rush over to her, a sanguine magical barrier materialized itself between them. “Violet... get Rose out of here... I shouldn't have dragged her in here to come along with my idiocy...” Violet couldn't find the right words to answer. “Oh I know what you think... But after all, I shouldn't fight without a burden anyway... You should go and protect what is important to you...” Her eyes wandered over towards Rose. “Huh, funny... I thought that's what I was doing the entire time... Now go... I will take care of her...” Violet followed her advice.

As Violet rushed away with Rose on her back, the ground violently shook. “My wish wasn't just to aid my father... my wish was to make ponies realize what is right and create a better world for every pony. And to this end... I know what I must do.” She took a small brooch with the emblem of her father's church out from her mane and held it close to her as she closed her eyes. An inner flame lit up inside Crimson and sparked into a fiery storm.

From the shaking ground a ginormous army shot forth. An army of mirror-images of her spear, each one easily the size of the witch. One of these erupted from below Crimson, picking her up on the handle and transporting her high up, closer towards the witch.

“Azure... I know you don't want to be alone... Don't worry... I'll be there...” Taking a final glance at the brooch, she took out her now vibrating Soul Gem from her horn and tossed it high up into the air. From the position she was now on, riding on the back of a giant serpentine spear, she was right in front of the face of her former friend. Swinging her spear around, she charged a final blast of all of her remaining magical energy onto the tip of her weapon. Her Soul Gem reached the apex of it's trail and began falling down towards the ground again. As it passed in between Crimson and the witch, she released her shot.

Tearing through her Soul Gem and the witch behind it, her final act ended the stories of both.

On the other side of the crumbling barrier, Violet reached the exit. Outside, she took a glance at the twilight sky. “I understand.”

Chapter 16: Inevitabilis (Inevitable)

On the brink between nowhere and purgatory laid an ancient graveyard, a place where heroes were laid to be forgotten by the rivers of time. The blood red light of dusk flooded through a veil of clouds as it poured down upon the site. Violet stepped through the darkening shroud amid the cluttered graves scattered around the area. No pony seemed to care about any sort of order while digging the graves or placing the tombstones, creating a site that resembled a jungle of deceased rather than a graveyard.

Violet came to halt in a central space, a small clearing in the forest of graves. Her breathing slowed as she took in the mood of this place. “Come out, Incubator...”

Standing around without moving her head to search for her target, Kiubee appeared on his own and took a seat on top of a tombstone in front of Violet. “You know you didn't have to come here to talk to me.”

“Was there ever any chance for Crimson Phantasma to save Azure Marina?”

Kiubee hesitated for a moment. “No. Her whole idea was doomed to fail from the start, and she probably knew that herself.”

“Then why did you not stop her from throwing her life away before she could become a witch and grant you the energy that you desire so much?”

“You are correct, this does seem like an awful waste in the short-term... but I think you might already have it figured out?” Violet bit her lip. “With her out of the way, there is no way you could fight the Walpurgisnacht on your own, and you know that too well. That means, if the Walpurgisnacht is to be defeated, Rose will have to–”

“No way I will let that happen!”

Kiubee winked while tilting his head to the side. “Fine then... But while we are at it...” Violet took a deep breath, anticipating his next words. “You are from the future aren't you?”

Violet released her breath. “Yes, you found me out again... this is now only the fourth time you managed to do that... You aren't exactly the brightest are you? Or maybe you always assumed irregularities just happen and would not turn out to be an issue?”

“So it was you...” Slight hints of chuckles and repressed laughter hid under his breath. “How many times have you done this?”

“Too many times to count.”

“I see... And for what reason again? To save Rose Daybreak? That's what it was always about?”

Violet didn't answer. Instead she squinted at Kiubee.

“Do you know where a Sorceress gets her energy? How the maximum potential of her wish is determined?”

“It depends on what they wish for and their alignment to that very wish.”

“Not quite. Though it is true that denying your wish or abandoning it can cause serious damage, what really fuels a pony's potential is the weight of her karmic burden. You see, every pony has a certain weight he or she has to carry around with them, a sort of weight proportional to their cosmic burden. For example, queens or heroines shoulder the destinies of many ponies, even entire nations on their backs, therefore carrying an enormous karmic burden, which in turn increases their potential as Sorceresses.”

Kiubee jumped down from the tombstone and slowly walked towards Violet. “You see, I never understood why Rose Daybreak had such an incredible potential. She is an ordinary schoolpony with a handful of friends and a rather average life. But for some reason the weight of her karmic burden outshines absolutely every other pony I have ever seen by multiple magnitudes. But I think I am starting to understand.” He locked eyes with Violet. “It was you. You have rewound time countless times, over and over again, all with a single purpose: to save Rose Daybreak. By doing so you have folded multiple time-lines onto the current one you were in. All these different dimensions have only one single strain their entire existence relies on: your crusade for Rose's safety. Do you understand by now? All you have done has increased Rose's karmic burden by enormous amounts over and over again. And since you are still here today, I assume you have achieved absolutely nothing in all of these time-lines. I cannot thank you enough Violet. You have inadvertently created the most powerful Sorceress of all times. And with it, a witch strong enough to destroy entire solar systems in one swipe. I am willing to assume that the Kiubee who contracted you might have foreseen something like this.”

Violet's mind cracked in multiple places throughout Kiubee's speech. Trying to rearrange her thoughts, she merely turned around and slowly set one hoof in front of another. Every time she had seen Rose's witch, it had always grown stronger than the witch before. And with all the countless time-lines she had traversed, her power might not be too far off of what Kiubee had said. She had known this to be a side-effect of her workings, if she was aware of it or not. It did not matter to her.

There was nothing left to say to Kiubee. She left the graveyard as she had entered it: with heavy steps and an empty stare.

***

“Violet Somnia” a sign stated in front of a rather old house. A young pony knocked on the door.

Opening the door a small bit, the owner looked outside.

“Can I... come in?”

Further opening the door, Violet let Rose in without saying a single word. Astounded gasps filled the magically enhanced and twisted room that Violet had used to meet with Crimson before. “Wow... how did you do this?”

Violet stared back at Rose. “What did you come here for?”

Rose didn't look back at her, as she was occupied examining the floating frames instead. Her eyes locked on some of them which portrayed a peculiar being. “Is this... a Walpurgisnacht?”

“How do you know that?”

“Crimson told me that the two of you were teaming up to fight it...”

Violet rolled her eyes and moved to the opposite end of the room. “This is an extremely dangerous witch that doesn't need to hide inside a barrier. If it manifests even once it can take thousands of lives at once. Since regular ponies can't see it, they will instead think it was some sort of natural disaster like a tornado.”

Rose took a step forward. “So it absolutely has to be stopped, right? Crimson also said that it couldn't be defeated by a single Sorceress, and since you are the only one left then I should–”

“No. Phantasma wouldn't have been able to destroy it all on her own, but I can. I merely took her along so she could keep up and wouldn't feel left out.”

Rose looked at Violet more closely, her eyes slowly filling up with rims of tears. “I want to believe you... I don't know why you'd lie to me...”

A heavy punch hit Violet's heart. “I'm not lying. I will be... fine.”

Rose shook her head. “Despite what everyone has been saying about you and the way you have acted, I don't think you are the pony I see in front of me! You always helped us and saved us, everything you did was to try to get us through this... You are not a bad pony! You are my friend! And that's why I can tell... that you are lying!”

Violet couldn't keep up her composure anymore. Her face broke down and she had to avert her body. “You... you wouldn't know how I feel.” She instinctively reached to take off her glasses, but she hadn't worn them for a long time now. “I don't even live in the same world as you!” She let go of her grasp on her own emotions and let her real self take over. Visions faded in and out in front her eyes, visions of loneliness, death, and despair. Every single one of them featured Rose. Without even noticing it, she now found herself pressing Rose against her chest and embracing her.

For a few moments, none of them reacted, no pony dared to disturb the silence until Violet broke it herself. “Yes... I am from the future...” Her words drowned in suppressed sobs and shivers as her facade crumbled to dust until what was left was the scared little pony that once made a wish to save her friend all those ages ago. “Countless times I have relived this month over and over again, never finding my goal. I met you over and over again, and every single time I had to watch you die...”

The frames behind them reacted to Violet's unlocked memories and reflected them upon themselves, showing recreations of her past events involving the two. Most of these scenes showed Rose's deaths and were in present Rose's line of sight.

Violet tightened her grip on Rose, who still had all her fours on the ground and was subjected to the scenes in the frames. “I'm not making any sense am I? To you I am just some transfer student you met a month ago... But to me you are–” She let out a loud sob. “I will save you. That was the one thought I had when I started all of this... And now it's the only thing I have left to keep me going... The truth is, I think I have lost myself a long time ago... I don't even know who I am anymore.”

“When I first met you I was so scared and lost. I thought if I was unable to make friends with anyone I would be able to truly live, but you changed everything. You gave me so much life that I don't know what else to do with it but spend every second of my life repaying you. Promise me you will let me do that. If I can protect you then all I've done will have been worth it.”

Rose turned her eyes to look at Violet. Unable to produce any words she started crying herself.

Violet continued. “I am so sorry... I was so selfish just walking down my own path, not caring for what happened to anypony besides you. And still I could not save you. Every time I failed I saw a piece of me die alongside you. But still I could not give up. I had to keep trying.” Violet let go of Rose and took a step back, placing a hoof on her shoulder as she tried to regain her composure. “So please, allow me to be selfish one more time and let me protect you.”

***

Rose sat at the kitchen table back in her own house and stared at her glass of water. Behind her, her mother looked out the window. Gray clouds arose over Kamino City, howling winds raced through the alleys and a roaring storm of raindrops painted a nightmarish picture.

Her mother shouted at Rose over her back while she was still focused on the weather outside. “We better stay indoors for now, this doesn't look good out there... Rose, have you seen this?”

Rose slowly traced the top of the glass with her hoof.

“Rose, are you listening?”

She grabbed the glass, took a final sip and got up, heading for her room. “Okay Ma, I'll get to my homework then.”

Only quickly gazing at her leaving daughter, she kept her attention on the storm outside.

Arriving in her room, Rose closed the door behind her and walked over to the window. Resting her elbows on the windowsill, she held her head with her fore-hooves while looking outside. An almost silent thud next to her managed to catch her attention.

“Kiubee, it's you again...”

Kiubee jumped up next to her head and accompanied her in the process of staring out the window.

“Is she out there right now, Kiubee?”

“Probably. The witch is about to appear and I am pretty sure she is getting ready for it, since she knows exactly where it will strike first.”

Rose slightly lowered her head and halfway closed her eyelids. “Does she have a chance? Will she be able to defeat the Walpurgisnacht?”

“Would you believe me if I said yes? None of my words matter at this point, the outcome of this all can't be changed.”

Rose picked her head up and turned towards Kiubee. “Violet told me about her time-traveling to save me... is it true? How far has she gone?”

Kiubee tilted his head sideways and looked at Rose. “I have heard what she told you... and none of what she said warrants me discrediting her story. She has turned back this one month period numerous times now, and do you know what happened as a result?” Rose didn't react. “Every time she turned back time, using her wish to save you, she made you a more powerful Sorceress! And therefore, your witch-form has cosmic powers by now... So hey, if you ever feel like dying for the sake of the universe, go ahead and tell me!”

“For the sake of the universe?” Rose jumped up and stomped the ground while making agitated gestures.

“When you turn into a witch you release energy proportional to the amount of emotional despair you feel in that very moment, coupled with your power as a Sorceress. I can harvest that energy and use it to prolong the life of the universe. Pretty cool, right? You can rest assured though, that your race is the only race in the entire universe that is required to meet our quota. There are countless other races out there that are thankful for your struggles, as they are not needed to harvest energy.”

Rose's pupils widened. “So that's what this was all about? You used us the entire time? Us becoming witches was your plan all along?”

Kiubee let out what sounded like a chuckle. “I'm sure she reacted quite similar to when she found out.” He gestured towards the window. “After all you are so very predictable, the lot of you ponies. The way Violet acts though, makes me believe that she accepted this a long time ago... which doesn't mean that she's not trying to fight it.”

“Fight it? How?”

“There are two ways your Soul Gem can corrupt to a degree where you turn into witches. The most common way is to use up too much of your magic without using a Grief Seed in time. The second way is to fall into emotional despair and corrupt the Soul Gem with your own negative energy. At this point it looks like Violet has dedicated her entire existence to saving you. If she were to ever question her success chances to the point of considering giving up, I would imagine the despair she would feel in that moment would immediately cause her Soul Gem to blacken to its highest degree.”

Rose started shaking. “So what you are saying is...”

“Violet can't be saved. Every time she went backwards, she also increased the weight of her own wish. As long as she has even the slightest glimmer of hope that you could be saved she will continue to fight and turn back time, only worsening her fate. And I am pretty sure she knows that too well. For her, going forward and continuing to fight, searching for a way out of this, is the only option. Her giving up, coming to a halt or dying are exactly the same at this point. And she knows that if she lets that happen, she will have also failed in protecting you.”

Rose slightly raised her voice, but still kept it as quiet as possible to not alarm the rest of her family. “She is doomed? After all she has done?”

“Yes, after about eight years of turning back time nevertheless—if my calculations of your latent power are correct. And as expected all that time was not kind on her. For a race as empathetic as ponies, I never even sensed any sort of empathy from her. Additionally, the magic she used to transform her room is immaculately close to that of a witch's. The way she acts, the way she seemed ready to kill, the way she uses magic... She might as well be a living witch. Not much longer and she might turn into an actual witch.”

For a second, Rose forgot that she wanted to keep her voice down as she shouted with a voice that broke in multiple spots. “Even she has to go? Every single Sorceress is doomed to fail and turn into a witch? They all trusted you! Every single one of them! And you don't even seem to care...”

“It wasn't me who betrayed them. It was their own wishes. Have you never thought about this? Ponykind can not possibly handle a power as mighty as a wish. They all try to help somepony else or themselves in the short term, but always end up being betrayed by their wish in the aftermath. Sorceresses failing is just another constant of the universe. They cannot overcome this fact. Even Violet, who had held on to hope as her only way to keep on existing and prolonging this farce of hers is being betrayed by it. If she feels like she has failed you, she will probably immediately turn back time, and since she has failed to save you for such a long time it's probable that she will never be able to do so. This has locked her into an endless cycle that perpetuates itself by her own hope. As long as she has hope, she cannot be saved.”

A wave of emotions ran through Rose. It ended in determination. “Hope...” she muttered to herself. “I'm sorry, Violet, but I can't keep my promise.” With this, she slid open her window.

***

A last inspection of the firing mechanism on this weapon... done. This was now the fortieth one she double-checked. The aiming mechanism was spot-on, all weapons loaded and ready to fire, no possible malfunctions in sight.

Violet took a last glance over the row of launchers, all leaning towards a specific point in the sky. Everything was in order. She had never before been this prepared to face the Walpurgisnacht. Even so, she never expected winning against the Walpurgisnacht alone. Attempting to beat it became another one of her rituals, since she always felt like she had to try regardless. After all, it only took one lucky success to end all her troubles.

A harsh breeze streaked past her face, ethereal swirls formed in the air around her and popped into nothingness seconds later. Her eyes focused on a spot in the sky, between a crowd of thunderous clouds. As they shifted around and collapsed in the middle, Violet readied her TCD. Time Lock!

Picking up the first launcher with her hooves, she quickly aimed it skywards towards the combination of clouds and let loose a rocket-propelled grenade, sending it hurling towards the sky for a brief moment, before it got caught in the time lock. As soon as she regained control over the empty weapon after the recoil, she tossed it over her shoulder, and rushed to pick up the next one.

One after another she fired every single launcher until every single one was caught in the time stop behind her. Each one did not even fall over completely before it got caught in the time stop, creating a sight similar to a graveyard with deadly weapons as tombstones. In the sky an array of explosives was caught in mid-air, waiting to be let loose upon their target. Feeling like she didn't want to let them wait any longer, she magically released her TCD. Time Release!

Leading with a massive cry of screaming destruction, the shots hurdled towards the sky. Up there, the face of the Walpurgisnacht pierced through the clouds, slowly spinning around to face Violet way off in the distance. Just as she spied the Sorceress, she opened her mouth, readying her maniacal laughter. It was in that moment that the flying grenades reached their destination and sank deep within the witch's gaping maw. Almost within that same moment, the grenades released their potential and exploded, triggering a fiery inferno upon the Walpurgisnacht.

Back down on the ground, Violet did not wait for the dust to settle, but instead rushed towards a peculiar machine a few meters away from the now dormant field of launchers. It consisted of three giant barrels pointed skywards, mounted on a platform. A little console was attached to its side. Hammering a few buttons, the machine began to growl solemnly. Taking a quick glance skywards, she pressed another, even bigger button, to activate the machine. “It was such a hassle to bring this here, this better work...” Her mad mutters almost drowned in the metallic sounds of the oversized weapon. Finally, a sudden bang shot off three ginormous rockets from the barrels, sending another present towards the Walpurgisnacht.

High up between the clouds, the remnants of the dust clouds created by her first attack settled, revealing a slightly malformed but still grinning visage. Finishing what she started, the witch opened her mouth completely and initiated her insane laughter rivaling even the maddest jester having a nightmare of world-domination.

Seconds later, all three rockets made it to the Walpurgisnacht and once again landed deep within what seemed to be its throat. These shots dug deeper than the grenades, seemingly piercing through hellish tissue which only barely classifies as organic, before the detonation was set off. A fireball rivaling the sun in brightness engulfed the witch, sending bits of tissue soaring through the air.

The dust cleared up around the witch's head. For once, the force of the explosions knocked some of the clouds out of the way, so that a ray of light could illuminate its lower body and head, below the spinning gears. The sight of its exposed form tickled a horrified gasp out of Violet. From the silhouette veiled in shadows one could only guess its ginormous body resembled the upper half of a pony, sowed upside down to the gears of equal size around the hips, hanging its head downwards. The revealed guise let Violet in on more of its nature, the most striking part was that it was indeed missing its fore-hooves. Furthermore it was dressed like a sort of jester in a bright blue dress with an eccentric hat that fused together with its pseudo-organic tissue to create a second skin.

Everything that Violet could see however, was only slightly damaged by her attacks, leaving a mostly intact Walpurgisnacht.

The Walpurgisnacht: the most mysterious witch known to date. It was almost impossible to gather information about its nature, only about its behavior. It attacked using lightning-fast burst of magic that could be projected from anywhere in a large radius around it, even allowing it to shoot nearby enemies from behind without them noticing. It could also levitate massive objects and even control the weather to some degree. Its outer shell was hardened with magic tissue that repelled anything that did not match its makeup. The most terrifying thing about it was the fact that the Walpurgisnacht was not a one-of-a-kind entity. It was one entry in a class of witches that was on a completely different level from anything any Sorceress had witnessed and survived.

As it eventually spied Violet again on the ground, it continued its crazed laughter.

Violet took a quick moment to rethink her strategy as she whispered to herself. “Damn... I should make sure my next attack counts...” With this she gazed up at the sky again. Just as the Walpurgisnacht came into her field of view again, a howling blast of energy shot through her and wiped Violet off her feet. Soaring through the air, the only thing that managed to stop her was a brick wall.

Trying to recover from the impact, she shook her head. A sharp pain engulfed her mind as her sight blurred and trembled. More blasts of energy came her way, but instead of being of volatile and of an arrow-like nature, they stopped in front of her.

What followed next could have only been a bad joke by the gods. The energy took shape as many of Violet's 'friends'. Dancing around her she identified Crimson, Azure and even Amber. Still shaking on her hooves, Violet raised her hoof and tried to throw a punch at one of them, only to lose balance and topple over again. The dancing silhouettes pointed at her. The crazed witch's laughter only intensified in the distance.

Getting up on her hoof again, Violet readied her TCD. “All right... you had your fun...” Time Lock!

Gathering her power, she spun around quickly, delivering a kick to each of the silhouettes, causing the energy to disperse into smaller fragments that were now caught in the air. “Now... where was I?” Taking a leap into the air, she flew using her magic to stabilize herself in mid-air. Time Release!

Still trying to recuperate from the initial attack, Violet's movement slowed down, her magic capabilities slightly diminished. Still, she pressed on, trying to get closer to the Walpurgisnacht by flying towards her. She had yet to use her close-range bombs, hidden in the magical pouch behind her TCD. These bombs might not quite have the explosive power of her earlier arsenal, but they still packed quite a punch, especially if she could attach them directly on the witch's body and set them off simultaneously.

As Violet got closer to her destination, her foe levitated buildings around it as a sort of protective barrier. One after another it began launching them towards Violet, massive projectiles with huge momentum. Seeing them coming from afar, Violet readied her TCD once more. Time... Lock? Something was wrong. She immediately canceled her entire forwards momentum as she quickly glanced at her TCD. A gasp of realization was the last thing to come out of her before one of the buildings smacked directly into her. Taking her along, it smashed into the side of a building on the ground, crushing her body between two buildings until the side of the standing building collapsed, sending Violet flying further into it, an avalanche of debris following in her wake and spitting her out on the other side of the carnage.

When Violet came to again, she felt an excruciating pain in her leg. Looking down she understood what had happened. After being launched through the first wall she crashed through the opposite wall, but parts of debris crashed into her and crushed parts of her body. Now that everything had settled, her body was leaning against a piece of debris, one of her hind-legs pulverized and stuck below various fragments of the walls she crashed through. A pool of blood had already formed around it, only adding to the multiple wounds all over body.

Breathing heavily and gasping for air, she looked over towards the side of the ruins, where a giant hole allowed her to look towards the Walpurgisnacht, who had now stopped laughing and turned around. She slowly raised her hoof and reached out for the witch. “Why... why can't I beat it... No matter how many times I try...” She glanced over at her TCD, taking one of her free hooves to grab it, and getting ready to rotate it.

“No... After everything I have done...” Dropping her hoof, she released her grip on the TCD. “After everything that I have done, I have only made things worse...” Her last few words almost drowned in heavy sobs as her tears flowed. “I wanted you to comfort me one last time, embrace me and tell me everything was going to be alright; I am useless without you.”

Her body stopped fighting. She rested her hooves on the ground and laid her head against the wall, turned towards the sky. Blood rushed down her face as the magic shine from her horn faded. Her mind wracked. The Soul Gem in her horn filled with a sinister shade of black. “Rose... I failed... I was doomed from the start...” Her eyelids dropped shut as even the light in her cracked Soul Gem was flooded with black clouds.

“I had found something; someone to live for; someone to protect and devote my everything to. I have taken part in her times of joy and comforted her in her times of loss. I traveled further than any Sorceress could have ever traveled, and committed atrocities against my friends along the way. I have seen myself crumble into a pile of cold devotion, all of this and everything else I have done for you; only you. Now, in a moment of lucidity, I look back upon my life and have come to understand that all of my actions ended up destroying this wonderful world and all the ponies you wanted to protect. You only ever had one goal: to save everyone; but in my crusade to save one pony I have doomed them all. I... have failed you.”

Chapter 17: Taenia memoriae (To the memory of the ribbon)

A choking gasp shook Violet awake as she felt a warm touch on her hoof. Her head fell forwards, angled to the side. A tiny spark of purple remained. A blurry vision of Rose appeared next to her. “Rose... why...”

“Enough, Violet.” Rose took a few bandages and pieces of cloth out of her saddlebags which she had put down next to her and tied them around some of Violet's wounds while wiping away the strands of blood in her face. “You've done enough, Violet. Let me handle the rest of this.”

Rose got up from Violet's side and moved a few steps towards the hole in the wall that lead outside. Spinning her pupils around, Violet was able to make out a cloudy white speck of fur next to Rose. “No... don't... If you do this now, Rose... then what have I done all of this for? Everything I had to go through... was it all for nothing?”

Rose looked back over her shoulder. “Everything is not lost yet. I believe that the only reason I can stand here right now, is because of you... I want to answer your hope. Allow me to do what only I can.”

She gazed outside, Walpurgisnacht in the distance, and moved her forehoof to her chest. A deep breath. “Kiubee, I have decided on my wish. I wish to go to every place on earth, throughout every time-line, all dimensions, past, present, and future, and destroy every single witch before it is even born! All the Sorceresses who still have hope in their heart, I will not let their prayers be unanswered! I want them to keep smiling until the very end!” While she uttered these words, stronger and stronger gales of wind formed around Rose, emitting a glowing light as it almost lifted her up from the ground.

Kiubee gasped with all his force. “What? You can't possibly mean to go through with this! Not even I can say what consequences a wish like that could have! If you use your karmic burden like that... Do you truly intend to become a god?”

“I don't care what you call it!”

“You are tinkering with the very foundations of the laws of the universe! Achieving this will require you to split up your existence to every imaginable point in time. It will be as if you stopped existing.”

“Then so be it!”

The light surrounding Rose exploded in intensity, soaking the entire area in a scintillating aurora. Violet's already blurry vision was completely overloaded with brightness, but as the light faded a familiar picture manifested in front of her eyes. Rose with a Sorceress's horn.

Now standing on the edge of the building, Walpurgisnacht in target, she conjured her bow without a word. However, her bow surpassed every other weapon Violet had ever seen in size. Floating besides Rose, she magically pulled the string, a flickering flame appearing on its top end. With each inch that she drew the string, the flame grew mightier until it grew into a blazing flare. Before she fired the arrow, she turned the bow sideways and aimed it skyward.

Finally releasing her shot, the arrow of light dashed towards the sky until it got almost swallowed by the dark clouds. Right when it was about to disappear, the arrow burst into rays of light and—in an instant—vanquished all the black clouds at once and making way for the most radiating blue sky.

Just a tiny moment later, the rays of light shot forth an enormous array of even more arrows of light, tossing them—millions of them—throughout the entire sky in every possible direction towards the horizon.

In all of this, the Walpurgisnacht maniacally laughed once more, but was drowned out as some of the arrows pierced through her and caused her very body to be torn to pieces.

During all this, Kiubee turned away from Rose and walked over to Violet, who was still in an abysmal shape. “Hey, you seem to be missing the show. Tell you what, I can show you what Rose just did.” He held out his paw and touched Violet with it. “I will let you borrow some of my magic for a minute... go see for yourself, before this whole world will be no more. I don't particularly mind at this point. If my calculations are correct, a new world will arise in which no being will be able to remember Rose Daybreak existing. So go ahead and indulge yourself. It does not matter.”

Before Violet could react, her eyes contorted and her sight went inwards. She could feel her conscience, her soul, leaving behind her body and going on a journey. Her mind was flooded with alien images and visions of distant countries and cultures.

In one of them, Violet was able to make out the silhouette of a dying Sorceress, wearing strange amulets and accessories all over her body. She lay on the ground, her corrupted Soul Gem next to her. With her last breath she stared at her Soul Gem as it cracked, her face flooded with tears and her breath caught. But just as the Soul Gem was about to collapse, a blurred image of Rose materialized above the Sorceress. Stretching out her hoof, Rose reached out for the Soul Gem and vaporized it in an instant, allowing the Sorceress to fade away peacefully with a silent smile on her face.

Visions like these kept appearing in her mind. One showed a pony of a seemingly primordial time, another one a Sorceress in a highly advanced era and yet another one a floralwhite pony from this very city.

These visions rapidly increased in frequency until her brain was about to implode. Just before her mind collapsed, she heard a faint voice. “It's happening Violet! The laws of the universe are being rearranged! It is all you and Rose from here on out! Goodbye!” His last words almost drowned in a blaring sizzling noise that quickly increased in volume. Along with it, her brain finally gave up and drifted into unconsciousness.

***

As the luminosity began to fade it revealed the inside of a house. A triangular glass table and a floral pattern on a green carpet came into existence in the middle of the room.

An image of Rose sat next to the table, sipping on a cup of tea. On the other side of the table, an image of Amber manifested. “Are you really sure you want to do this?”

Rose put down her cup and looked at Amber. She nodded.

“But are you really aware what will happen to you? I cannot even fathom how this will be like for you, fading away into a being that only exists in the moment of redemption.”

Rose looked back at Amber, her voice and posture not wavering for even a fraction of a second. “It's okay. I think if my wish were to become a reality for every pony, then I have no more reason to despair.”

Amber's face bore a smile. Before she could answer however, a noise disrupted her from her side. It was the noise of a pony chomping on an apple. Her full mouth however, did not stop the scarlet pony from responding in Amber's stead. “Yes, that's right. Once you got something in your head you gotta keep at it with the best of your ability. That's how it should be.”

Rose glanced back at Crimson and picked up her teacup again. Before she could take another sip, Amber leaned closer towards her. “Thank you so much, Rose. You are giving us... No, you are becoming hope itself. You will now be the very principle of hope that guides us when we fall.”

The gleaming light returned to engulf the room once more.

***

As the shine faded again, a giant room was exposed. On one end of it, a well-lit stage laid at the bottom of a sea of seats. On this very stage, an ashen pony picked up his violin. “I will be performing Ave Mareia.” With this, he looked back at a handful of classy dressed ponies who were eagerly awaiting to take notes. A moment later, the hall was filled with the most beautiful harmony.

In the middle of the room, within a multitude of empty seats, the only other two attendants for today took their place: Azure and Rose. Both watched Slate play and opened their heart to the harmonious tones.

“I'm sorry, Azure. This is what you wanted to see ever since you made your wish.”

“You know, Rose... I think that this is what I wanted when I wished for his healing... Just listening to him playing again, even if I wanted to tell myself there was another reason.”

Rose stopped watching and instead gazed towards the floor. “You know if I really go back to a point where I could still save you entirely... then this future might have to go as well... But something tells me this isn't what you truly want.”

Azure let down her focus on the play and looked at the ground. “It's okay, Rose. Of course things didn't quite play out how I wanted them to, but I think I'm okay with everything that happened to me. After all, Slate can finally play again and Leafy is almost too good for him...” Her eyes watered more as she spoke. “I was not a very good friend to you or the others. But I have walked my path.”

She turned her head towards Rose. “My time is over. What awaits me now is what will await every Sorceress from now on, thanks to your kind wish...”

Motioning towards Rose, they both got up. “I think it's time to go. We have to meet up with the others.”

The light returned once more, but this time a darkness followed in its wake.

***

Endless depths. Inconceivable distances. The darkness lit up one by one with a magnitude of shining dots in a far distance. Galaxies and nebulae revealed themselves in the background.

Violet came to again, her mind strained from her visions. Her body however, felt unnaturally light and free. For a moment she wasn't even sure if she still had a body or if her mind separated itself from her mortal coil and transgressed towards a higher plane. Thoughts raced through her mind. “Am I dead?” No, she couldn't be. What she saw was but the truth. According to Kiubee, the laws of the universe were to be rewritten. “Where am I?” This particular question lost its meaning after she glanced upon what she found in front of her.

“Rose!”

Rose joined her in floating around in the nothingness of a place they shouldn't even be in, in a time that shouldn't even exist. “Violet... you...” Rose hesitated for a moment. “I managed to do it. I'm sorry I can't give you a better goodbye than this. It is only moments now until the universe will be reborn, and you with it.”

Violet leaned in closer, or at least she tried, since her movement was hindered by zero-gravity.

“What? I don't understand!”

Rose looked off into space. “The universe is being reformed... Everything you once came to know, all the suffering and pain of the Sorceresses will now be rewritten with my wish in place. I will take on the form of something more... Something beyond existence that will be able to guide them all to salvation.” Rose's body slowly phased out of existence.

“No! Don't go! What will happen to me once you are gone? If this is how you end then everything I have done... Have I... failed?”

Rose looked back at Violet, drifting towards her. “Of course not. The only reason I could do all of this was because of you. When I made my wish and transformed, I was able to take a glance throughout all the time-lines that you created. I saw how we first met. I saw how I was able to save you. I saw how sad you were when I died. And I saw how you didn't give up and kept on fighting. I saw how much you cried every time you failed and had to turn back time. I finally understand everything that you have done for me. Thank you so much. You were my best friend all along.”

Rose finally reached Violet and took her in her embrace.

Violet's voice teared itself apart, as a hole of despair ripped through her chest and crushed her heart. “This can't be how it ends! Do you really want to be forced to live as a god? Something that has no beginning nor an end? You would be locked away, out of our reach and we would never even understand what it is that saves us when we die...” Violet's eyes widened in an instant. “No! I don't want to forget you!”

“It's not time to give up yet.” Rose gave herself a little space and pulled both her ribbons from her hair, letting it now flow freely. She placed both of them in Violet's hooves. “You managed to follow me all the way to here, so you might be able to remember me. If it's small enough, a miracle might just happen.”

Violet was fully overcome and burst out in screams as Rose phased out even more. “Rose! No!”

“I have to go guide the others now. Promise me that one day we will meet again.”

The shrieking of Violet's scream ripped apart her mind as she was engulfed in the most vibrant darkness. She could feel it wash over her and enter ever pore of her body, flooding her with an indescribable dread.

***

“I am... Violet Somnia. I am still a young pony, currently visiting school with my friends in Kamino after having been out of commission due to a heart disease. I recently became a Sorceress after I found out my friends Spirit and Phantasma were both Sorceresses. They told me about the world of magic, about their fight against the evil wraiths that hide in the miasma and prey on pony lives. Along with me, my friend Marina also become a Sorceress, but for reasons unknown to me she fought much more recklessly in our recent encounter with a powerful wraith and ended up expending a vast amount of magical energy. Ultimately, the Law of Cycles came for her and she was taken from us.”

Violet came to, gasping for air, lying on a hard floor. Her surroundings whirled around her and only bit by bit cleared up into specific shapes. Slowly getting up she was able to make out the place she had landed in as the Kamino train station. Voices behind her.

“What? Where's Azure? Did she really just–?”

Violet glanced over her shoulder. Crimson and Amber—both transformed—stood a few meters away from her. Amber stared down at the floor. “Her Soul Gem disappeared along with her... She has gone with the Law of Cycles.”

Crimson slammed her hoof against a nearby pillar. “That idiot! Just when we started to become good friends she pulls that on us?”

Violet was unable to pinpoint why she was feeling so sad at that point. “Azure just died... right there...” she mumbled to herself. “No... this is not right...” Something odd had caught her eye.

A faint mumble. “Rose...”

The two other Sorceresses turned towards her. “Violet?”

“Thank you, Rose...” Violet fought to hold back her tears.

The two of them looked at each other. Crimson shrugged. “Is everything alright? Who is this... Rose?”

Epilogue: Cubilulum Album (The white bedroom)

“And that was the last time I saw the greatest pony to ever live... and my best friend.”

Violet grabbed her ashen bow with her hoof that was now void of the TCD and used it to support herself as she looked at her audience of two. “Any more questions... Kiubee, Cassy?”

“So... the angel I saw... was actually a god?” Cassy asked.

“She is... a young pony like you and me. But yes, you could call her a god.”

Cassy, a pony of floralwhite coat about the age of Violet, slowly got up. “So, you have fought witches for all your life, and not wraiths?”

Violet scoffed. “In my memories, yes; but don't forget my life didn't begin only once I regained my memories. I have fought a few wraiths myself... Though not nearly as many as you must have by now.”

“We always thought that wraiths were manifestations of some evil emotion or energy... but if what you say is true, then couldn't wraiths be something connected to Rose? And the energy we harvest from them for our Soul Gem?”

Violet shook her head. “Who knows.”

Meanwhile, Kiubee looked like he was about to leave.

“Incubator, where do you think you are going after I told you all this?”

“You were correct. There is no way we could believe such a story. For one simple reason: we would never act so cruelly to our friends, the ponies. And stop calling me that.” With this, Kiubee hopped down the hillside.

Violet let out a sigh. “Listen, Cassy. We are the only two ponies who know of her existence and I have to bring her back. I swore to see Rose through this to a future where she would be happy, and this is not it. I think there must be a reason why she showed herself to you, but you haven't really told me anything about yourself yet.”

Cassy tried to avert her face while putting on a look of shame.

Violet chased after her line of sight. “I have often heard other ponies tell me that I had the look of someone who had given up. I don't think that is the look that I see on your face, but there is something similar in there...”

“It's... not a very bright story. I might act all mature and serious now, but... that's not really me.” Cassy choked for a second and had to blink back a tear.

“It's okay, don't push yourself.”

“No, I will tell you my story. I have to. I care deeply for my friends, and I want their stories told. My friendship with them might not have been as great as yours, but they were still my friends.”

“Not as great as mine? How do you know?”

Cassy pointed towards Violet's mane. “That is all the proof I need.”

Atop Violet's head sat two red ribbons, neatly tied.

END AND BEGINNING