Violet Magica - The Arrow of Light

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?”