Rest in Peace

Luna watched as ~Luna~ read the scroll that had appeared without warning in the midst of their conversation. The moment it flashed into existence, the princess' expression became serious, and this only intensified as her eyes scrolled the page. Her brow furrowed.

~Luna~ looked up to Luna and spoke, "~Two of your kind have come. Twilight is on her way to meet them.~"

Luna's eyes went wide, "~Tell her to stop! It is dangerous!~"

"~She is already moving,~" the pony princess replied. She stood up and gestured to her back. "~Get on. I will take you to her.~"

Luna wasted no time, hopping on ~Luna's~ back. The ~alicorn~ leapt from the balcony with tremendous force as Luna readied a weapon she thought she wouldn't have to use. She slapped a new battery into Cover of Thunder and shoved the charging bolt home. As she flicked the safety, she could feel the presence of Light. Familiar Light at that. She'd been around it long enough to know exactly to whom it belonged.

What the fuck are you two doing here?

Luna felt her arms begin to itch as she raised the butt of the weapon into her shoulder and took a peek through its scope. Sure enough, she could see the familiar sight of Mae beaming something down with Chaos Reach, and above them, a particular pony circling. As the light of the Super faded, she saw Rose leap into the air, using her Solar Light to rise like a phoenix into the sky. In her hand, a familiar weapon, pointed at ~Twilight~.

At that range, there was no way for ~Twilight~ to survive a shot from Rose's weapon. The moment ~Twilight~ lit her horn with magic, Rose would kill her. Knowing Rose, she was set on killing the pony the moment she was as close as her jump would get her.

The rangefinder on her weapon calculated a distance of two kilometers, and her scope's crosshairs depicted a distance of two meters per thousand. That made the distance between Rose and ~Twilight~ just four meters. To make her shot count, she had to aim carefully, but by doing so, she had to activate the weapon's Box Breathing subroutine. If she hit Rose, the arc explosion would hit ~Twilight~ as well, and would likely kill her, either directly or by causing her to fall out of the sky. If she hit ~Twilight~, obviously she'd die.

She pulled the trigger and kept her aim and breathing steady. Arc energy flowed through the weapon, charging the firing coils and passing through the linear repeaters. The weapon hummed with purpose before loosing its deadly bolt of straightened lightning. Luna watched through her scope as the bolt shot forth towards Rose and ~Twilight~...

...and hit neither. The bolt passed directly between the human and pony's faces immediately earning the attention of Rose and allowing ~Twilight~ to back off with a few frantic flaps of her wings. Rose began to fall back down to the ground, tapping her Light to glide gracefully back to the forest floor.

The moment ~Luna~ had begun her descent into the clearing, Luna jumped off her back, falling straight down and landing without harm. Her eyes were locked onto both Rose and Mae as they turned to approach her, and both faltered as they saw the anger on her face.

"You! Helmet off!" Luna called as she stomped forth, pointing at Mae. The Titan shuddered and complied without a word.

Rose opened her mouth to speak, "Lun—"

WHACK!

Rose's head spun sideways, twisting her entire body with it from the force of the slap. The Warlock fell to the ground clutching her cheek.

"Don't!" Luna growled venomously, "speak to me before I'm done yelling at you!"

Rose fell silent. Luna turned her icy gaze to Mae, who simply offered her own cheek to be slapped.

Luna slapped Mae hard enough to send her to the ground as well. She waited for the two to return to their feet.

"You fucking morons!" she hissed. She turned her frigid glare to Rose. "Fucking Light, are you two truly braindead without me? Do neither of you understand logic‽ Did you not see the fucking tiara on her head‽"

"I—"

WHACK!

Back to the ground went Rose, spiraling the other direction this time.

"Shut your stupid fucking mouth when I'm yelling at you!" Luna screamed.

Rose pushed her jaw back in place with an uncomfortable crack. Mae shrunk in place a little.

"You almost just killed one of the princesses of this nation," Luna continued. "I have never had to make such a critical shot in my life. If I missed by even two meters in either direction, I could have killed her! You're fucking lucky I was able to hitch a ride here, otherwise we'd all be fucked six fronts to Twilight Gap!"

~Luna~ and ~Twilight~ touched down behind her, but Luna was too busy to care.

"And you!" Luna hissed, turning to Mae. "You know how Rose gets in a fight! You've seen her in the Crucible! Why didn't you grab her and keep her on the ground?"

Mae simply hung her head.

Luna shook her head and sighed, "You're lucky I love you two stupid bitches."

The Hunter then pulled Rose and Mae into a tight hug. The three of them wrapped each other into a close embrace.

"You fucking morons..." Luna murmured as tears fell from her eyes.

"Hey, we're here now... You're okay..." Mae said, pulling the Hunter closer. "You're okay..."

——————————

To say that Violet loved these two was an affront to the kind of relationship they had. Even Luna could immediately feel the intensity of their bond. The way the three of them seemed to complete each other was beyond anything she'd ever witnessed. The bonds of soldiers who fought together was similar, but only in the same way that ice was similar to a diamond. Sure they were both crystalline solids, but the two were made of different stuff and in different conditions. Luna's bond with her sister was vaguely comparable, but again, more different than similar.

The three took a few minutes before finally releasing each other from their collective embrace. All three were weeping. Violet began gathering the scrap wood of the felled timberwolves, and her friends joined her. The whole time, the three were talking.

"Are you okay, young Twilight?" Luna asked softly as she watched the three {humans} work.

"I... think so..." Twilight replied. "I think I saw my life flash before my eyes."

"The moment I told Violet what you wrote in your letter, she demanded I write back to stop you," Luna added. "You are quite lucky."

Twilight simply nodded, returning to silently watching the three {Guardians} work.

"I... don't understand them," Twilight murmured after a while. "Violet seemed so... angry that they were here... She hit them! But... she also seems... relieved?"

"Much the same way I have been with Tia," Luna said. "There were many times when I didn't want her anywhere near me, but was glad she came anyway. Have you not had such moments with your brother?"

"No." Twilight shook her head. "I only ever had moments where I wished he could be there but he couldn't because of his own life."

Luna nodded sagely. "I understand that too."

"But... why does their friendship feel so much different than everything else I've ever felt?" Twilight asked.

"You remember Violet's drawings," Luna said. "Those two are her sisters-in-arms. They have fought alongside each other for longer than anypony should ever have to, and died more times than is reasonable. No bond forged on a world as gentle as this could ever compare to one like theirs."

The three {Guardians} eventually stopped moving around, and were now settled by a couple piles of scrap wood. Violet was talking to them quite animatedly, and her two friends were looking over to the ponies as she spoke. The red-haired one, the one without armor, held a gaze that was much warmer now. Her green eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"Luna, Twilight, come," Violet called. "Come meet my... friends is not right word..."

Luna turned and offered an encouraging smile to Twilight before stepping forwards herself. Twilight hesitated just a moment longer, but she too trotted over. As they approached, the red-haired {Guardian} raised her palm to a small pile of wood. A small blast of flame shot forth, igniting it into a small campfire, providing light to the clearing.

"Twilight, what is the word for one who..." Violet paused, thinking of her words carefully, "...one who gives you born...?"

Violet cursed to herself as Twilight and Luna giggled.

"The word is 'mother'," Twilight answered. "One who gave birth to you is your mother."

"What is the word for one born from the same... mother...?" she asked, testing the new word on her tongue.

"'Sister'," Twilight answered.

"Twilight, Luna, these are my... sisters," Violet said, gesturing to her friends. "We are..."

She cursed again.

"'Family'," Twilight said with a soft smile. "You're family."

Violet smiled. "We are family. Not all by blood, but still family."

The red-haired {human} spoke a few words, bowing slightly afterwards. Violet jabbed her sharply with an elbow, earning an embarrassed giggle and a few extra bashful words.

"She says, 'My name is {Rose}, it is nice to meet you.' She also says sorry for raising her weapon at you," Violet said, translating her friend's words. "Twilight, did you bring paper?"

Twilight offered a friendly smile, accepting the apology. She lit her horn and pulled out a few sheets of parchment as well as a quill and bottle of ink.

Violet took a sheet of parchment, plucking her pen from a pouch on her armor and beginning to draw. Her friends watched as her pen glided across the sheet. When Violet handed back the sheet, the gaze of her friends followed.

Twilight scribbled the spellings of the words Violet was asking for before holding it up for the three to see. "This is 'rose'," she said, pointing to the first image. "This is 'storm', and this is 'mountain'."

Violet quickly told {Rose} something before turning back to Twilight. "In your language, her name would be Rose."

Violet's armored friend spoke in a similar manner to Rose, while Violet keenly listened and prepared to translate. Now that she was more comfortable and calm, Twilight began to notice the little details about Rose and her yet-to-be-named friend. Rose seemed to radiate more heat than the fire she'd started. Even with most of her skin exposed, Twilight could feel the heat from her, yet none of the three seemed to notice. And she also seemed to be entirely fireproof, her bare feet were partially dipped in the fire, yet she showed no sign of pain; not to mention the flaming golden circlet on her arm.

The armored one, on the other hand, seemed to house more electricity than the most violent storm clouds Cloudsdale had ever produced. Static arced around her subtly buzzing and chirping. Her luminous blue eyes seemed to carry the light of a lake constantly struck by lightning.

"She says, 'My name is {Mae Gjallarfjall}. It is nice to meet you'," Violet said. "There is no word for her name in your language. But her family name means 'Yelling Mountain'."

"It is nice to meet you as well," Luna said with a courteous bow of her head. "I am Princess Luna. Welcome to Equestria. Any friend of Violet's is a friend of ours."

"And I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight added.

Violet took a moment to translate for her friends. Rose and {Mae} seemed to nod in understanding before asking their own questions. Violet gestured to the pen and parchment, perhaps warning them of her limited vocabulary. Their talk became somewhat more animated for a moment, but Violet was able to keep her friends' heads level. After a brief silence, Rose and {Mae} seemed to nod in agreement, conceding some point.

"My original plan was to be alone among the stars. That plan was destroyed by the Curse. Now, my plan is to learn to feed the {Ahamkara} so I might control it," Violet said. "If I cannot learn to control the {Ahamkara}, my backup plan is to return to the stars with my sisters."

"It won't come to that," Luna said, just a little too quickly. Twilight cast a glance at her.

Violet shook her head, not bothering to translate before replying, "It might. If I do not lose control, then {Mae}, or Rose. I will not risk your lives. I care about you. I cannot lose you to the {Ahamkara}... to me..."

Rose and {Mae} both placed their hands on Violet's shoulders, expressions solemn. Luna's expression faltered in turn as Violet's words sunk in. Twilight could only watch in silence as she felt the mood around the campfire darken.

The sound of great wings flapping broke the silence. All parties looked up to see Princess Celestia descend from the night sky. Rose and {Mae} both instinctively reached for their weapons, but Violet placed a hand on their shoulders, reassuring both of them. Violet nodded in greeting, and Celestia nodded back. Luna greeted her sister with a brief nuzzle. Twilight gave a humble nod as well.

After quick introductions, Celestia sat down and asked the question that had yet to be asked, "What brings you here?"

Violet answered, not bothering to translate the question. "They came for me."

Celestia's expression became oddly grim. Twilight remembered the day she had departed to the Crystal Empire, and the way Celestia's face looked when she used dark magic. A shiver ran down her spine and her wings began to itch as her mind drew the comparison.

"I once asked you if any would seek you," Celestia asked with a strangely cold voice. Twilight shifted uncomfortably at the subtle venom in her mentor's words. "It seems you have lied."

"When I was asked, I did not believe any would seek me," Violet said, either not noticing or, more likely, not caring about Celestia's tone. "I thought it was impossible to find me."

Celestia's face remained stern and cold. Slowly, Twilight and Luna could feel her magic building. "You now seek to aid the changelings with no certainty that they can help you in return. The changelings that killed dozens of ponies in their attack on Canterlot. And your backup plan, if and when your plan fails, is to run away to the stars, for our protection?"

"Yes," Violet answered calmly.

"Forgive me for my harsh language, but bullshit," Celestia spat with blatant venom. Her brow creased in disgusted anger. "We have just learned that your kind can follow you here. What will happen if another of your kind arrives here after you leave?"

"Sister..."

"Will you take responsibility if another of your kind comes and slaughters my ponies?" Celestia demanded, her voice beginning to boil with anger.

"Tia!"

Celestia's magical presence felt dizzying and intense, making Twilight stagger beneath its pressure, and Luna stare helplessly. Boiling tears spilled from her face as she levied a sharp gaze at Violet. "Will you leave us to die when another of your kind, another who can return from death, eventually comes to our world?"

But ever still, Violet remained unfazed. "We will be beyond your reach, but you will always be within ours," she said softly. "No Guardian will raise a weapon against you before we can pull them away. No threat to your world from ours will ever come to pass."

"That's not the point!" Celestia screamed, earning surprised and fearful glances from Luna and Twilight. Luna placed a hoof on her sister's withers, causing the solar alicorn to take a deep breath. "You are now a citizen of Equestria. You have a responsibility to us, just as we have a responsibility to you. We agreed to peace talks with the changelings to help you live a normal life here as a citizen. In turn, we expect that you will remain here as protection from the changelings should those talks fail and from any more of your kind who may arrive here."

Twilight's eyes shifted between Celestia's paradoxically frigid gaze boiling over with tears and the emptiness of Violet's neutral face. Behind her mentor was the confidence of one who'd ruled for thousands of years; behind Violet was the sheer unfathomable power to enact whatever she so chose. Celestia's argument, to anyone with a sense of duty to one's country or empathy for its citizens, could not be denied. On a micro-political level, it was the single most effective speech Celestia had ever given in her time as the crown princess. To Twilight, it was, anyway.

But Violet also had a point: she was unstable, and thus, dangerous. It was clear she cared about Equestria, or if not, at least about the ponies present now. Even without a degree in psychology, it was clear that Violet had a case of post-traumatic stress disorder orders of magnitude beyond what anypony could ever treat. No amount of therapy or medicine that ponies had could help her manage it. Her life had been a tri-edged dagger, wounding her in a way that could never properly or fully heal. And from her own testimony, her lack of control had cost the lives of five more of her kind that, according to her drawings, were also capable of returning from death. And that wasn't even accounting for the magnitude of her curse magic.

Neither Celestia nor Violet were wrong on this. Both sides had equally valid points. But which details were focused on always came down to the experiences each of them had had. For Violet, control was the key factor of everything. Years of war and death and resurrection had made her neurotic. She refused to part with her weapons, even in the library; the ace of spades was always slung on her hip, or on her nightstand when she slept. For Violet, being armed and armored was a constant amid the chaos of her adjustment to life in Equestria, just as it had been in the chaos of war. Her weapons and armor were the only things she had absolute control over.

Celestia, on the other hoof, was a mare of responsibility and duty. She grew up knowing she would one day rule Equestria, and had a responsibility to care for her subjects. When Nightmare Moon had surfaced from within Luna, Celestia did not hesitate to fulfill her duty to protect her subject. Even through the grief of losing her sister, Celestia took on her sister's responsibilities in addition to her own. She'd give everything for Equestria, and any citizen who didn't feel that same duty to do what was best for their country, in her mind, was a reflection of how well she'd fulfilled hers.

Luna stepped forth, the feathers on her wings visibly puffed out a bit, betraying her anxiety.

"Violet...?" the lunar princess asked, voice barely audible over the fire. "May I speak with you... alone...?"