Violet Magica - The Arrow of Light

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.