Violet Magica - The Arrow of Light

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.”