Violet Magica - The Arrow of Light

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.”