Violet

Hi, my name is Violet. You’ve probably seen my name quite a bit now, and don’t blame me for that, my dad really wants to have my face plastered on any memories we share, even if that excludes him. He can be quite a bit too caring at times, but if it wasn’t for that, my safety wouldn’t have been assured in the first place, so cut him some slack already! Anyways, I’ve noticed that you are reading this, which means you must really care about someone too, all of your friends. Let’s not delve too far out of the norm at the moment though, and instead I’ll introduce you to the story of my fillyhood. Be forewarned, however, I’m not responsible for any feelings you have, YOU decided to read this, so don’t come after me with tears (unless you want a hug). Fillies and Gentlecolts, Violet.

Chapter 1: Meet Violet

Howdy again, this time be prepared for the real deal, a thrashing experience of survival in a broken, chaotic world filled with creatures that make hydras seem like stars compared to the universe. My story begins in a small farmhouse near the border to the usually all hustle-and-bustle town of Fillydelphia. I was having a fitful dream filled to the brim with horrific scenes, making me break out in sweat that seemed to create a pool all around me. As I experienced the most mortifying part of the dream, a hoof was placed atop my wing, causing me to lash out and almost whack my ever-alert father, Sean. He didn’t even seem fazed with the fact, and instead gave a slight nod of his head, implying that it was time to leave our residence.

I was disheartened to say the least. We lived a relatively peaceful existence within our amber fields, accompanied by a little commotion springing from beyond the city walls now and again. But today was different, there were monstrous inky clouds filling the pale sky, with patterned lights illuminating the horizon, streaking our way. There really was only one thing it could have been, the Discordians. Let’s just say…well, not everpony is fit for their cutie mark, and some never even saw theirs. So, rather than being deemed fit for the derogatory name “Blank Flank” they joined Discord’s newly formed legions, spreading chaos while he fought any resistance.

I wish the Great Heroines would have foreseen the attack, but that’s just wishful thinking. Nopony could have predicted the spontaneity that approached that day when Discord escaped his crumbly, stone bonds, with the help of some ancient ritual kept secret in the Canterlot Libraries. He soon had the land under his control; his reach covered half of Equestria within mere weeks of his emergence.

The Great Heroines are currently on the ‘Frontlines’ so to speak. They won’t be here to assist our problems at the moment, so we have to learn quickly, and stick together to survive, so far it’s just been me and my dear old dad. Now, however, my whole life is about to shatter like glass, leaving survival to the fittest, not to mention…well, surprises are best kept secret until their time comes right?

Hi! Gosh I just love saying ‘hi,’ it makes everything seem better. Potatoes. So, aaaanyway, I got out of my bed, spreading my small wings, and wiping sleep from my eyes. I glanced towards my dad, noticing his expression, and I got worried.

“I…I’m Sorry We Have to Leave Vio, It’s Just…Safety First…” He Started.

“Shhh” I whispered, “I Understand, The Clouds Say it All,” Trying for a reassuring smile, I gave him a warm hug. “We Need to Gather Supplies Fast, Don’t Worry About me, Just Hurry.” He almost smiled, supplying an approving nod, and trotted off next-door.

I stretched a little before grabbing my knapsack. My friend had told me a piece of advice a long time ago; always limber-up before you engage in a taxing activity, to be prepared for anything. Come to think of it, I never found out his name, I just called him Fillydelphia. Hey! Maybe I’ll see him there! Well, I stumbled around the room for a while, dizziness setting in, and grabbed all the supplies I could carry, but for a filly of my build that was astonishing, not to brag or anything (Signatures Below for 30 Bits).

We gathered the bit of food from the fields as well as the absolute necessities, but I also had to grab (and Hide) the few photos that remained of our time here. It brought some especially salty tears to the corners of my eyes, as well as a quick shudder. My dad could tell what was wrong instantly.

“Vio,” He began.

“No, no…it’s fine, I just need a moment before we go,” I Whispered.

His horn brightened for a second, but dimmed slowly, “Alright, but be…hasty if you can.”

His Hoofsteps disappeared down the narrow hall. Every reverberation rang loud and clear through my head, time slowed, and it was just me and my memories. I have a naturally creative imagination so I sat in the musty chair my dad slept on sometimes, weaving vivid memories around the room in my mind. I inhaled the musty scent of home, mixed with a little bit of honey.

I watched the lights create flickers on the old stone walls, making images so clear, I almost yelped. There were monsters biting and snarling, there was dark and powerful magic, but something stood out…my mom. I’ve never actually met her in my life, but the memories shared by my dad and his pictures provoked me, they just seemed plain evil. Her silhouette melted off the picture, glaring with red eyes straight at me. I only sat, every muscle stiff, until she turned her head as if something called to her.

“VIO!” I jerked my head from the wall, stunned to see my dad looking quite flustered. “C’mon, what happened, you weren’t listening! We have to go NOW!” As he said that, a blast shattered the windows and part of the wall, the crumbling knocking us to the floor. Two pairs of malicious eyes swallowed the interior, their talon’s twitching as they hovered over the carnage they caused.

I was shaking, my only comfort being that my dad was so close, less than a foot away, but I still shook. The chaotic creatures hovered for a minute or so, smelling I guess? (Hey, I’m No Monster, I Wouldn’t Know!) But I guess they decided to move on.

My first encounter.

*V*

We gave them about five minutes before we scrambled out of the rubble, dust wasn’t exactly a fashion statement, and I was prepared to brush off, but from the look my dad gave me, ehhh, not in the equation. So we left, I glanced back every so often to make sure nothing changed, well, apart from the walls being torn down, and it seemed pretty much the same.

Tears were welling up, my legs felt wobbly, and menacing thoughts were inserted in my normally optimistic mind. Before I could totally break down, my dad hauled me onto his sturdy shoulders and let me have some peace while he steered us towards the town.

I’ve never felt worse before that day, and it hit me hard, the realization that all of life could fade at any given time while chaos reigned. Wait, not only that, but if my day was normal, life still had an equal chance of ending, just in different situations. Life seemed to be full of chaos no matter what, and that scared me like you wouldn’t believe.

I shifted on my dad’s back, and he felt the distress in my movement. He began thinking of the perfect piece of advice to cheer me up, which always produced a huge grin from me afterwards, but that wasn’t what usually made my day better though, I was more focused on something else, but that comes later.

“I can’t say what lies ahead of us Vio, but even though it won’t exactly be planned out at times, there will always be a way out of these situations. And as long as we stay as thick as thieves, we’ll both make it through this nightmare, ok?”

I didn’t respond for a while, instead I listened to the distant humming of wings that was left by the Discordians. The soft vibrations made my eyes slowly drop, and I allowed a yawn to escape my exhausted body.

The sun was receding behind us, pulling the colors with it. Fillydelphia loomed on the Horizon, not such a bad place from what I’ve heard.

The gates were still plenty hours away, and the looming shadows on the dusty earth made the walk seem intimidating, so we came to a halt under some protective branches that smelled of licorice.

I was intrigued by the discovery and took a bite out of the bark…black licorice. All I could do was gag and shudder for a few seconds, I mean BLACK LICORICE? I knew the Discordians were quite nasty with their tricks, but that was an insult to all of Ponykind. “Dad…why do the Discordians do these horrible things,” a tear, the last one for that night, but also the most solemn for that day, tickled my cheek as it rolled down my face. “Vio, are you talking about the tree being made of licorice?” I sniffled, “Yes.” His stare would make an elephant squirm with discomfort, “What!” I huffed indignantly, “You know how much I despise black licorice, and they could’ve at least made it red…”

He hid a smile and asked, “So are you ready for your favorite bedtime story?” I hesitated. The last time he tried to use the light, I had noticed him grimace, as if under extreme pain, and I wondered why it never occurred to me before. I searched his face, hidden under wispy strands of green hair that swayed a little, and I could tell that his smile was a little forced now. After a moment of hesitation I decided that my dad could handle anything, but as soon as my lips parted to speak, there was a large explosion and everything went pitch black.

“Dad! What’s going on!?” I screamed. He wasted no time in gathering me up and taking off at a breakneck speed towards the town. I glanced behinds us and noticed figures gliding swiftly after us, they were the Discordians that attacked us earlier, back for more I suppose.

They could never resist the urge to bring a bad day upon us normal ponies, and I hated them for it. So what, they didn’t get their cutie marks, why would they blame that upon us? I don’t have a cutie mark and I’m not some egotistical freak spouting chaotic magic, but hey, what can you do?

They apparently had it in for us big time, something about escaping their clutches didn’t sit well with them, maybe they wouldn’t get any pudding for dessert. They threw all the dark magic they could muster our way, with my dad swerving between wads of the sick stuff.

It took a second for me to realize the more imminent danger that was soaring over the clouds, a bombing raid. With that said, we began to become quite frantic; the magic was pulling us towards the very grumpy harpies behind us and a raid was starting ahead, what was the escape route?

I didn’t want to do anything but hold on, I knew my dad would pull us through anything, I mean he said so didn’t he? But the dual-sided attack was creating a paradox that extinguished all hopes of fleeing, until my eagle-eyes spotted the corner of a pale stone building that jutted slightly from the ground. The sliver of hope was almost breathtaking; I nudged my dad and pointed shakily towards our savior. He nodded and made a beeline for it, with our backseat monsters close at hand.

One got a little courageous and swooped for a grab, to which my response was an unsteady kick at his face. It managed to catch him in the chest (high speed chase, can’t be THAT accurate now can you?) and knock his sorry plot to the earth, where he stayed. His buddy, Mr. Scaredy-Colt slipped onto the ground to assess his friend’s wound, but Ugly #1 just glared with pure malice at me.

I would say I wasn’t scared a bit, but that was no joke, he wanted me murdered, thrown in the darkest hole, and my body fed to the buzzards, and that just chilled me to the bone. I always thought Discordians were just somewhat harmless pranksters there to cause trouble and harass us in general, I didn’t know they actually felt hatred towards us.

Before I could give it anymore thought, we were incased in a freezing cellar with nothing but darkness to comfort us (Not That Comforting Actually, Could Do With Some Hot Fudge). The door shut behind me, allowing the ravenous shadows to finally engulf everything.

“Well,” I whispered through my teeth, which were quite chattery I might add, “It looks like we can take shelter from the raid here for tonight.”

My dad didn’t answer, but I heard quite the commotion made of scuffling noises, mixed with a couple of hushed exclamations.

I sat, and quietly huddled up trying not to be noticed. I felt a hoof touch my shoulder, then recoil as I stirred.

“Dad?” My quiet voice magnified as it hit the close walls, rebounding down corridors.

“She’s all right, let him go,” a feminine voice called, her voice greeted by hooves clopping anxiously. Lights blared and revealed an exotic-looking mare,

“Don’t be alarmed, you can call me Aegis.”