Rest in Peace

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Luna stood in that familiar room, where Violet had transformed and slaughtered five of her kind. Violet was not here, but Luna could feel that the dragon was, just beyond the darkness. She lit her horn and cast a spark of light forwards towards the dragon.

But the dragon was Violet.

She was transformed once more into the murderous form. The stingers at the nape of her neck rose as Violet's eyes locked with her own. Luna could feel the full magical potential of the dragon Violet and her allies had gone to slay within her, and even with her own heightened power as a true alicorn, it was stifling to her like the heat of a thousand-year old desert. Violet gazed coldly at her, eyes hidden behind the bony plates. Briefly, the magic holding her within Violet's dream flickered. For a tenuous second, the room was colored in grayscale, and Violet's dead comrades could be seen on the floor, their blood still weeping from their bodies into the stone.

For a moment, Luna didn't dare move, waiting to see if Violet was still somewhere in that monster. She had to remain calm first and foremost. Challenging this being was certain to end in failure. Attacking without provocation would be the end of her. Trying to bring back Violet was a matter of time and putting her in a state of mind that had enough significance to bring her the strength to return to her normal self. Briefly, she considered summoning a facsimile of the Elements to purify her. But without Violet's knowledge of them, they had no power here. Luna had to rely on Violet's own power to take down the dragon. She had to be in there, struggling to wrest control again, as she had against Nightmare Moon...

Right?

The dragon-Violet crouched down, bracing itself to leap forth and attack. The dream seemed to groan like a steel beam bending under stress. Shapes distorted, splotches of the room fell away, becoming windows back into the Dreamscape, the other stars visible through the holes. Black flames poured inwards from the splotches, making the light in the room dim even further. A few pillars had shifted sideways as though the top half and bottom half of the dream weren't lined up properly.

Violet lunged forth at Luna. Another brief flicker of magic, and the dream flashed the original dragon, roaring loud enough to send tremors through Canterlot Mountain. Luna was forced to back away and cast defensive magics, putting up several barriers and hoping they'd be enough. Violet's stingers lashed out in an attempt to inject her with whatever vile venom was in them, but the barriers held. Luna then switched to offense, firing a blast of fire towards Violet.

The dream flickered, and the flames went right through her, like she wasn't even there. Behind her, she heard a barrier crack. She turned just in time to see a stinger pierce the first barrier, colliding with the second with incredible force. Luna backed off with a powerful beat of her wings and charged her horn once more, static electricity in the air building up.

Violet froze just in time for several strikes of black lightning to pierce the bony armor of her dragonoid form. She could tell that that spell had done serious damage, but not enough to neutralize Violet. The dragonoid lunged forward again with renewed vigor. Black flames spewed forth from her mouth, and her stingers followed closely behind. Luna leapt up to avoid the attack, but one stinger slammed against her, shattering the second barrier and sending her crashing into a wall. The dream glitched, and she was suddenly against the other wall, and Violet was lunging at her again.

Luna cast the black lightning once more as Violet rapidly approached. The lightning struck Violet and broke the approach, forcing her back as Luna recovered. The dream faltered, cracks fractalizing against the walls, purple light pouring in from the outside Dreamscape. A voice screamed for help, resounding as though from within her own mind, and Luna recognized the voice as Violet's. A single word: "Help!" Luna would bring her friend back from whatever corruption this was, just as Twilight had done for her. Her desire to help Violet would ensure her victory.

She cast a quick spell on her final barrier, then refocused on Violet. The dragonoid was taking a slow, deep breath, and magic seemed to be building at an alarming rate. The purple light flowing in from the outside intensified, approaching blinding brightness. The dream began to fade, and the stress fractures grew larger and deeper. Color slowly began to drain from the room, starting from Violet herself. The black flames from the holes in the dream grew larger and the light in the room dimmed. In a desperate bid to stop her, Luna cast black lightning once more.

The dream glitched. Violet shifted over just slightly to the left, the bolts missing their target entirely. The dragon-Violet built up the flame in her mouth before blasting it down at the floor, sending her flying up into the air. The stingers then grouped up in pairs and swung in wide arcs, turning Violet's body as she sent another blast from her maw, hurdling backwards towards Luna. As she dodged, one stinger scraped against her final barrier, leaving a tiny crack in it. However, in focusing on her reckless attack, she failed to stick the landing, leaving her primed for a counterattack. With that opportunity, Luna cast black lightning once more, seven bolts piercing her from odd angles.

Violet fell to her knees, and then flat forwards, unconscious. Luna approached, and placed a hoof over Violet's shoulder, charging her horn to attempt a reversal spell on her transformation.

A stinger pierced her final barrier and her belly. As the barrier shattered, the shards of magic flew at Violet, only to bounce off harmlessly.

H-How...? she thought as she felt a burning heat emanating from the wound. What's... happening...‽

The venom quickly paralyzed her muscles, making her collapse to the ground. As much as she tried, she couldn't move or even cast her magic. Soon, the burning heat overwhelmed her entire body, making her acutely aware of her nethers and how aroused she was becoming.

An aphrodisiac...? she wondered as her vision began to swim. Sounds and colors seemed to mix together in the strangest ways, only serving to make the heat in her nethers more pronounced. Violet returned to her normal form, stark naked and seemingly in heat as well. She could feel her nethers dripping against the floor.

The paralysis faded, and she felt compelled to approach her. She was beautiful in a strangely primal way. Despite the difference in species, Violet was deeply attractive to her. Her luminous amber eyes were alluring as a flame, and Luna was a moth. Her slender, furless body looked soft, and she reached out to touch it. She was right.

Luna's body moved on instinct, kissing Violet's neck, earning a satisfied moan that only encouraged her. She kissed down over Violet's breasts, finding them to be just as sensitive as she moaned again. She continued down, over Violet's firmly toned belly, and down further still—

Luna shot back awake with a sharp gasp of air. Her sheets were soaked in a cold sweat and sunlight still leaked in past the curtains yet. Her eyes darted around the room, confirming everything was still where it was supposed to be. She'd never had such a dream feel so real, and the details only left her with more questions. The first, and most important of which was—

What are you, Violet?

She then pulled a notebook from her nightstand and began to write down all of the details she could remember. She noted that when in the dragonoid form, Violet's stingers were her primary weapon, but that she could spew fire and could use magic, although she didn't know what that magic would do. The venom of the stingers didn't seem to be lethal, but were instead laced with a paralyzing agent, an aphrodisiac, and a hallucinogen.

While this information was valuable, it posed a whole new question: Why? Why would a venom include an aphrodisiac? A hallucinogen was understandable, as was a paralyzing agent. But an aphrodisiac was strange and unheard of. But that made it the keystone of the whole puzzle.

Could those dragons feed on the lust and desires of other beings like Changelings feed on love? Luna thought.

The thought would explain why an aphrodisiac was incorporated into the venom. But Violet very clearly ate physical matter as well, herself having witnessed such a thing. Why would she need both a physical and non-physical food source?

Perhaps, if it's not food, it may be fuel for their magic? her mind continued. Side note, she is pretty. Can't deny that.

Her thoughts ground to a halt. Wait. What?

Luna shook the thought away and pulled herself from her bed, removing her bedsheets to be cleaned. From a drawer she pulled a fresh set and remade the bed to perfection.

Before she decided to ruin her perfectly made bed, she felt a bath was in order to clean her coat, especially towards her backside. It may have all been a dream, but her body's reaction was very real. The scent of her own musk was thick in the air, and anyone with a nose would be able to tell what kind of dream she'd had. She plucked a few scented candles from a drawer and set them out at various points in the room, lighting each one with magic. She opened her balcony door some to allow fresh air in, and with that, she retreated to her bathroom.

The bathroom was the most luxurious part of her room. The entire room was decorated to emulate the natural hot springs of Noc'tren, deep in the thestral homelands. Glowing crystals illuminated the room with a soft light, not enough to ruin night vision completely, but enough for normal ponies to see with. The masonry of the walls and ceiling gave the feel that she was indeed inside the mountain, and the small glass mushrooms only added to the simulation. With a flick of her hoof, the bath began to fill.

What are you, Violet?

The question buzzed through her mind like a hornet. The Violet she'd met was calm and cautious, with the mannerisms of a trained soldier but the attitude of a diplomat. She kept her weapon firmly by her side and raised it to the unknown, but did not use it as the first option. She understood when Luna had offered her a token of friendship and offered her own in kind. She was hardened, but still just innocent enough to maintain a sense of trust. She didn't think twice about protecting her, regardless of how long they'd known of each other, or even without being able to understand each other. She didn't hesitate to nearly sacrifice herself for her. She was strong and agile and sharp as a knife and mysterious and beautiful in her own way.

Stop it, brain, she thought, shaking her head once more. She looked down to the bath to find it nearly full, steam rising from the surface of the water and filling the bathroom quite nicely. She quickly poured in a little soap, watching as it mixed in without bubbling. Much as bubbles would be fun, she didn't want to deal with the suds when she tried to get out.

After turning the water off, she stepped into the bath and sighed in pleasure as the warmth surrounded her. She sat down against a water jet and allowed it to massage the muscles in her back. With a quick spell, she took a bath pouf in her magic and pulled it beneath the water to begin scrubbing her body, starting from her hooves. Bit by bit, the pouf scrubbed every inch of her, and the bath's filtration system removed the grime from the water.

Once more, her thoughts drifted back to Violet. Though the Violet she'd met was by no means a threat, the Violet within her own dreams was vastly different. There, she was unprotected, and her inner thoughts and feelings were rampant. She was traumatized quite severely, likely more than just the two times she'd seen. Her transformed state, if it didn't exist outside of her dreams, could represent her true feelings of anger and pain over the loss of those dearest to her, even if she knew it was the dragon that killed them. If she didn't actually kill those five of her kind, she at least felt responsible for their deaths. It broke her heart to think about how much Violet had suffered.

But here in Equestria, where magic could catalyze buried emotions into very real monsters, that transformed state was a threat. If that pain and trauma were to react with the aetheric field of this world, it was likely that Equestria, or even the world, would be in grave danger. If the dream she'd just had was anything to base judgment upon, even high-tier combat magic like black lightning would only barely cut it. Anything lesser would be useless.

But Violet was in Ponyville, with the Elements nearby. Should that dragon form be realized, the key to purify it was readily available. Young as she was, young Twilight Sparkle was a powerful mage, and would only gain more power over time. Luna expected her to surpass her own magical prowess within the decade.

Luna dredged herself from the bath, letting the majority of the water drip from her coat before toweling off the rest. When she reentered her room, the scent of apples and cinnamon had forced all of the unwanted smells out the balcony door. She snuffed the candles with a small gust of wind magic and returned them to their drawer.

It was then that she noticed a letter on her bed, sealed with Twilight's mark, likely containing news on Violet. She took a deep breath and plucked the letter from the sheets.

Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,

With Violet's release from the hospital approaching quickly, I thought it would be a good idea to ask about plans for her moving forward. Specifically, I'd like to ask where you plan for her to stay until we can ask her about her origins and plans.

That said, I'd like to also pass along Violet's progress learning Equestrian. Her capacity to learn even at what seems to be a mature age is nothing short of incredible. Her own system of learning suggests she's had to learn under dire circumstances before. With only two days of study, she started from two words, and now has close on fifty, and is beginning to pick some up from passing conversation. Under normal circumstances, the only way one becomes fluent is by repetition of the words and the grammatical structures that govern them. The way she seems to master everything, even if she doubts her comprehension when our lesson is over, is beyond brilliant. It's like she's experiencing far more time than us, and she's using it to practice Equestrian.

Sincerely,
~Princess Twilight Sparkle

She set down the letter as a gentle knock came from her door. If the light tingle in her horn was anything to go by, Celestia was here to lower the sun, and afterwards discuss the letter's contents.

"Enter," Luna commanded.

Her guess was proven correct as the pale form of her sister opened the door and slipped inside. In her magic, she held a similar letter sealed in Twilight's mark. She set hers down on a drawer and immediately offered her Luna a tight hug, which Luna returned with equal force.

"Oh dear sister," Celestia said, "we have much to discuss. But first, the night must come."

The two stepped out onto the balcony, overlooking the palace gardens, and in the distance, Ponyville. The root cause of the recent stresses on both of them were down there, in that small town. That visitor from another world, in all of her beauty and terror. Violet Light, the Being, wielder of unknown magics, was down there.

Celestia cast her radiant golden magic, reaching out through the aether. Finding her target as she had for millennia, Celestia gently pulled the sun down towards the horizon.

Luna cast her cooling blue magic, reaching out through the aether. Reaching out as she always had, the brought fourth the moon from beyond the horizon.

The sun and moon peeked over the horizons at each other, their lights mixing into dusky twilight for but one moment. Soon, the sun fell beyond the horizon, and the moon rose to its rightful place, and Luna flared her magic to paint the night sky once more. The constellations found their way back to where they belonged, and Luna brushed the darkness with the light of local nebulae, soft blues and purples and alluring amber staining the deep black with color and beauty. Upon looking up, she marveled at her own work for the first time since her banishment.

"You truly have outdone yourself this time, Lulu," Celestia giggled in her motherly tone. "I don't think I've seen you use such a color scheme before."

Luna blushed ever so subtly at that. "Thank you, Tia. It just... came to me," she said softly, knowing all too well what came next.

Celestia's soft smile curled into a much more mischievous one. "I must ask, from whence did you acquire the inspiration to use these colors? They are quite familiar..."

"T-Tia, let's not do this now," Luna stammered, knowing that her sister would not stop until she'd had her fun.

"Oh, the colors are just so familiar... It reminds me of someone..." she continued, her wicked smirk only widening, and Luna's blush only deepening.

"T-Tia please," Luna begged. "We have important matters to discuss! Young Twilight Sparkle hath sent us a letter!"

"Twilight's colors...?" Celestia tauntingly mused, knowing full well where she was going with this. "The purple most certainly reminds me of her, but that amber clashes with her eyes and mane."

"Tiiiiaaaa!" Luna groaned in frustration, hiding her face in her hooves. "Just get it over with already!"

Celestia's hoof knocked the floor, and her smile became devilish. "Aha! Those are Violet's colors, aren't they!"

Luna felt that her blush was likely far too harsh for her hooves to contain, and merely sighed in exasperation. "Aye..."

"Oh, my poor Lulu, you're becoming less fun!" Celestia giggled. "You don't deny my allegations?"

"Anyone who's seen Violet awake will know these are her colors," Luna sighed in defeat. "The allegations are true. Honesty did accept me readily, you know."

"As did Loyalty and Laughter," Celestia mused. "But that's memory lane. Now, let us attend to our royal business, shall we?"

"You're going to ask for my reasons, aren't you?" Luna asked.

"Oh Lulu, come now," Celestia tsked. "I've known you since the moment you were born." She leaned in close to Luna's ear and added softly, "I already know your reasons."

If anything could have ripped her soul directly from her body, it was those exact words. Luna felt the wind leave her lungs as though she'd been suckerpunched directly in the gut. Her face instantly reached a low simmer, causing the air around her to steam. Her balance failed immediately after that, causing her to trip on her own hooves and fall unceremoniously into a small pile on the balcony floor.

And for all of that, Celestia laughed, only making the air around Luna dangerously close to spontaneously combusting. "My dear sister, you are quite obvious! The smell of apples and cinnamon? You've used that scent for the same thing for millennia!" Celestia wiped a tear of laughter from her eyes.

Luna righted herself and placed a hoof over her sister's mouth. "We have business to attend to before I decide to teach you about my banishment," Luna growled. Unfortunately, this did nothing to remove the shit-eating grin from her sister's face, and her eyes gleamed with the intelligence of rats.

"When I remove my hoof, thou shalt be in business mode, aye?" she said.

Celestia nodded.

Luna plucked the letters in her magic and dragged her sister inside by the mouth, closing the balcony doors behind them. She unfurled the letters and removed her hoof from Celestia's face.

"So how long di—"

WHACK!

Celestia's face whipped around hard enough to snap a mortal's neck instantly, Luna's hoof having smacked her cheek to make it do so. Luna's face was bright red with a dark scowl. "Business, Tia," she growled darkly.

"Yes, yes, business," Celestia sighed with a satisfied smirk. "Something something plans on where she'll stay."

"Indeed," Luna said.

To other ponies, Celestia in business mode was graceful and level-headed. Her temper was impossible to flare, and her foresight was unmatched. Immediately upon looking at the appeals that came through the courts, she could discern the truth of the matter, and the honesty of those bringing it forth.

But being her sister, Luna was privy to the quite silly inner workings of Celestia's mind. 'Something something business at hand' was her shorthand for 'I didn't read the whole thing, please fill me in.'

"Quite. It seems Violet will be released from the hospital on the morrow, and young Twilight is asking if we have plans on where she'll stay until we can communicate with her in a meaningful way," Luna explained. "Honestly, Tia, she's your faithful student. You could at least read her letters all the way through."

"My mind has been on keeping nobles from inciting a mob to descend on our newest friend from another world," Celestia sighed.

"Fair," Luna said dryly. "Nobles are the worst."

"They're trying," Celestia said. "They just don't have the foresight to know that their ideas are often bad."

"Yes, but back to Violet. As far as I see, there are two options. Allow her to stay in Ponyville, or bring her here to Canterlot."

"I'd wager you think bringing her to Canterlot would be the better option?" Celestia asked with a teasing tone slipping into her voice once more.

"Thou wouldst be incorrect," Luna replied. "Ponyville is the best and safest option."

"How so?" Celestia asked. "We are the most powerful magic users in Equestria. If Violet becomes a threat for some reason, would it not be best for us to contain her?"

Luna shook her head. "Sister, I do not think containment is an option. Remember when I first encountered Violet's dream how she'd transformed?"

"Vaguely?"

"And do you remember the nightmares I told you about before I left and found the thestrals?" Luna added.

"Yes."

"Equis' aetheric field has a tendency to generate monsters from the dreams of ponies. It happens especially more often in those attuned to the night," Luna said, reaching out with her magic. A dusty tome glided from a shelf. "Starswirl did a study on the incidence of Nightmares arising by attunement to day or night. In solar-attuned individuals, Nightmare occurence was observed at an average rate of one-hundred fifty per million per year. In lunar-attuned individuals, that rate averages one-thousand per million per year. As far as I'm aware, his is the only study, but we must consider his findings. Violet has a significant risk to become a Nightmare."

"And keeping her in Ponyville puts her close to the Elements should that Nightmare be realized," Celestia finished for her.

"Yes," Luna confirmed.

"I must yield to your expertise on the Dreamscape," Celestia said. "We will ask Twilight to host her and continue her lessons."

Luna felt the inkling feeling that Celestia was about to shift back into teasing-sister mode.

"In the mean time..."

She was right.