//------------------------------//
// A Frightening Discovery 
// Story: Violet Lace 
// by DemonAngel13 
//------------------------------//

	"Alright, say something." Violet said as they walked through the hall. Cloudy and Midnight stared guiltily at Violet's... everything. "The silence is worse than insults."
"No!" Midnight quickly defended. "You... you look-"
"Good." Cloudy finished. Their sisterly bond got rid of formalities, so she continued to stare as Midnight politely looked away. "Great... actually."
"T-thanks." The awkwardness consumed them. It was awkward, horribly so. But Violet swallowed through it, not letting herself cave and let silence consume them again as well. "You, uh... I'm glad you like it. Because I like it too."
"You do?" Midnight asked. Her eyes trailed behind Violet and rested on her tail. "I... figured you wouldn't like it, what with you not liking change and all..."
"Sometimes change is necessary." She responded bluntly. "Weren't you the one who told me that?" Midnight simply shrugged and continued to let her eyes shoot invisible lasers at Violet's lean legs. 
"But... this change... in five minutes..." Cloudy had taken it upon herself to grab a lock of Violet's mane and examine it as she walked. "Did it hurt?"
"Yeah, for a while, I guess..." Cloudy was looking at her face now, and Violet felt herself blush. "Does... does it bother you?"
"What?!" Cloudy quickly snapped out of it. "No, not at all... it's just... Violet you look so pretty!"
"Oh, stop with the family flattery." Violet pushed her sister off her shoulder. "I look different, alright? Let's just all admit that."
Cloudy had known Violet long enough to not tackle her on her self-esteem. "It just kinda sucks that you weren't able to grow into this naturally..."
"At this rate, do you think we would've settled for anything less exciting?" Violet tried to add a little humor to lighten the situation. 
Cloudy chuckled. "I guess not."
"Are you mad at her... the time-pony?" Midnight asked delicately. The three of them were now walking shoulder to shoulder.
Violet sighed. "No, not really... I think I'm coming to terms with everything. I get the feeling that Clock Mage wouldn't do this if she didn't have to."
"I suppose you're right..." Midnight agreed. "It is a lovely change though. You really do look great."
"Thanks." Violet smiled. Midnight really was the sweetest pony.
"How do you think mom's going to react this week?" Cloudy asked a few moments later. "I mean... do you want to tell her the truth or... not?"
"Not, definitely not." Violet answered without hesitation. "She would freak. Let's just tell her that... I went to a royal stylist or something."
"I think that's a good idea, she's already on the fence with you being in the castle. I bet if she thinks you're enjoying yourself, things will get better." Cloudy reassured.
"Yeah." The group trailed off into silence. Violet saw a moon decorating one of the glass windows hover over them like a large plate. Her stomach rumbled. She was really happy that they were finally getting some food.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Violet?" Midnight asked out of the blue. She nearly stopped dead in the hallway, shocked by the abruptness of the question. "I don't think you're miserable... and if you are, you're doing an excellent job of hiding it." Cloudy wrinkled her nose, confused and slightly put off by the question. Not even her sister could tell whether or not she was happy.
"I..." Violet thought about it. She was separated from her parents, and had the horrid threat of a cult trying to kill her. But, even with everything happening, she felt physically better at the moment than she had in years. She didn't have nightmares anymore. She had friends, and just because she didn't live with her parents anymore... she still got the ability to see them. "I guess I'm pretty satisfied."
"Really?" Cloudy's face didn't betray any sort of emotion, her only safe spot when it came to acting and Violet. One flicker of an eyebrow or twitch of her lip would betray everything. But Violet had the feeling that Cloudy wasn't as upset with everything herself, as she figured she would be.
"Yeah..." Violet nodded, coming to terms once again. "Luna's been more than accommodating, we get to see dad and mom because they're allowed to visit whenever,... Midnight..." She nodded her head towards the bat pony next to them and she smiled, flattered. "My nightmares are gone, I... look like this!" Cloudy's eyes darted back towards Violet's now-healthy looking body. "If I'm perfectly honest... this is the best situation we could possibly be in given the circumstances."
"There's a cult after your head." Cloudy brought up.
"In all fairness, it seems like Violet is just a small switch that turns on a large engine with that situation." Midnight argued. Even Violet was confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well... with all due respect, Violet... you don't have that much ability when it comes to it. If anything... you might have just set off this "Shimmering" pony... whoever she is, and just set everything into motion."
"I... Shimmering?" Violet looked at the floor tiles disappearing underneath them. She changed the topic, her mind going someplace a little more deadly. "Why does it have to be her? What in the world could she do?" 
"She completely disappeared years ago, the fact that you claim that she was in your dream creeps me out."
"It should!" Violet's eyes went wide with the memory of how she looked. "I'm positive it was her."
"I don't doubt you." Cloudy comforted. "It just doesn't even make sense- where in the world did she go to anyway? Do you remember, 'cause I don't."
Violet shook her head. "I don't remember anything. She just... stopped showing up. Nopony said anything..."
There was a horrible silence as a small wave of dread swept over them. Cloudy shivered. "Creepy..." She repeated.
"Who even was she?" Midnight asked. "You said she used to bully you two, but nothing more than that."
"She... really wasn't much else." Cloudy said. "She had her own little group, a horrible attitude, ugly mane but thought she was the best thing since mom's good-luck-gumbo, typical stuff." She turned her head to look at Violet. "She certainly didn't come off as some sort of leader of a cult- especially one that wanted to take over Equestria."
"I don't know..." Violet remembered how dark Shimmering Ruby's eyes used to get. How evil and twisted she used to look. "Something about her was definitely off... What about her father, Hoity Toity? Has anypony heard about him recently?"
"Who?" Midnight asked.
"Big fashion pony, bigger mane." Cloudy answered. She shook her head."He's done a few reviews in some of the best magazines in the fashion industry, opened a few shops in Manehatten... not much more than usual. Shimmering's name doesn't even pop up, as far as I remember."
"Weird... figured there would at least be something in those..." They reached the end of the long hallway. Violet was going to open the door for them with her magic, but Midnight beat her to it and held the door open for them. Sometimes Violet really had to remind herself that she was a guard, and not just a friend. "Maybe we should look around. I'm sure the princess would understand if we looked into a couple records or something."
"Maybe Satin knows something?" Cloudy brought up. They had finally entered the garden. Fountain after fountain laid out in front of them, spraying fine mists our of ponies mouths, out of flowers that the ponies were holding or... other places that made Violet blush like on overly innocent school filly. It was pretty, but the three of them were too motivated by hunger to admire anything.
"You think? She kept tabs on a lot of things, but remember: Once Satin heard that Shimmering had left, she had such a big smile on her face that it almost rivaled yours. I'm pretty sure she would avoid learning anything about her if she did anything at all."
"Still, it's probably the first place we should look." She argued. "Plus, if she doesn't have anything, she's probably the best pony to help us find something."
"Alright now, who's this?" Midnight asked.
"Satin Scarf. She's a friend of ours, but she used to one of Shimmering's lackeys." Violet beamed, remembering the first time the three of them ate doughnuts together. "We helped her out, and she joined us and helped us form our little trio."
"Oh... well, Violet, you do technically have the ability to go outside of castle grounds if you so please, just so long as I'm with you. Maybe we should pay this "Satin Scarf" a little visit."
"See," Cloudy smiled. "Told ya so."
"Alright, fine." Violet relented. "We'll ask Luna and we'll head off as soon as we can." Cloudy gripped the air in a silent motion of triumph.

...

"Wow..."
"This place is, uh..."
"OH. MY. Celestia. They have fried pickles!" Cloudy zoomed somewhere into the square, leaving a sun-colored streak and a few disoriented ponies in her wake.
"Fried... pickles?" Midnight questioned, wrinkling her nose.
"It's her favorite and mom never makes them..." Violet mumbled. "Where... where do you wanna eat?"
"I'm a hayburger kind of girl." Midnight suggested. Violet shrugged. She could go for a burger.
"With mayo... and lots of tomato juice." 
"Do you think that's a good place to start?" Violet motioned to what looked like a burger joint. Midnight nodded, just as lost as she was, and they both started walking.
The place that they were in was just like a tiny square in a tiny town. Violet could see the pathways that led to Canterlot, but they were small and looked like they tucked into several pieces of shrubbery and forested areas near the cliff-face. The maid-pony wasn't wrong when she said this place was secluded. Violet only saw castle staff. Guards in armor eating hay fries and milkshakes, maids out of uniform, but still had their manes in buns, nibbling on salads, butlers wearing shiny shoes and clean white shirts, but having their bow ties undone and hair slightly askew drinking tea and shoving sandwiches in their faces. It was all very surreal.
"How can I help you ladies?" A gruff looking chef asked them, poking his scruffy, bearded face outside of the window. The two of them sat down on their bar-stools. 
"You have any tomato juice?" Midnight asked. The stallion nodded and made her a glass. Violet asked for a small glass of soft-drink.
"Anything else for ya?" He asked when the two of them stopped looking at the menu that hung above them.
"One hay burger... with extra onions... and ketchup, please." Violet ordered. "And some sea-salted fries on the side."
"Hay burger... with tomatoes... mayo, onions, lettuce, peppers... and a side of whatever those are." Midnight followed, pointing at a picture of the menu. The chef looked up to see.
"Those are grilled apple slices with candy coating." He looked back at her with his little pencil and notebook prepped, ready for her to change her mind. "Those aren't a side, and are the size of a whole meal."
"Perfect. I've been craving something a little sweet."  Midnight didn't look at him, she was too busy trying to get a piece of white cobblestone out of her hoof. 
The chef still looked a few miles past unconvinced. "Are you sure miss, uh... that's a pretty big meal for somepony as small as yourself."
Midnight froze, her eyes darted to stare directly at him. With a serene smile, she said: "I'll eat the burger while I wait... and add an extra glass of tomato juice while you're at it." The stallion's eyes went wide. Her ears twitched. "And a side of fries."
He sprinted off, whether out of fear or financial motivation, Violet couldn't quite tell. "That was... interesting." She said while of the faint sizzles of burgers being grilled sounded from the kitchen. "I've never seen you act like that before."
"I don't like being called small..." Midnight's eyes never moved from the wooden bar in front of them. She was pouting.
"Can you really eat all that?" Violet asked carefully, not wanting to make her angry. "I don't even think Cloudy can handle that much food."
"I've always had a black hole for a stomach." Midnight's eyes rose, allowing Violet to release a sigh of relief. She was about to comment on her odd love of tomatoes when a familiar flame walked by.
"Pheonix?" She shouted. "Pheonix Heart, is that you?"
It was her. It couldn't be anypony else. Not only did she look as though she could set the entire square on fire by just simply grazing the grass with her hooves, but she also had her special pet, Sapphire, sitting on her back. Her scorching eyes settled on Violet, startled and confused.
"Yes...?" Her deep voice didn't stutter causing Violet's ears to perk up in surprise. "I'm sorry... do I know you?"
"Oh, um..." Violet eased herself off the stool she was sitting on. "It's me, Violet... Violet Lace. We know each other from school."
"Violet?!" Her bright orange eyes grew big and wide. Even Sapphire let out a very shrill squawk. "You-you look... g-"
"Different, I know." Violet finished for her. She fiddled with a tiny lock of her mane. With a few moments of thinking, she let a small lie slip through her teeth. "Big change... figured that since I'm working at the castle know, I might as well change my appearance to fit in."
"Wow..." Pheonix let out a long whistle. It was so unlike her usual shy demeanor that Violet blushed. "No kidding. It must have cost you a fortune."
"Hehehe... yeah." Violet gulped. "It was sort of a present from my parents."
"Well, it was a present well spent." She smiled. "So, you're working at the castle now?"
"Um... sort of." Violet rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "With the new princess and all... they're trying to sort things out. I'm technically working here, but they don't really have a name."
"That makes sense, I guess." She looked at her bird who nodded, accepting Violet's explanation. "Things are kind of chaotic at the moment and all- I don't think I've ever seen so many ponies here in the square before. And I was raised eating this food!"
"Really?" Violet looked around. She figured it would have always been this crowded.
"Well, this is the only lunch that overlaps, so I guess it's not always this busy." She corrected. "But the sudden change is giving the restaurant owners a run for their money, that's without a doubt."
"Gee, I never thought of that." Violet thought about Midnight's huge order. "The hours must be killing them."
"Nah." Pheonix waved her hoof. "Most of the restaurants are hiring extra staff to keep up with everything. Those that aren't simply close early, so it's not like anypony is dying of exhaustion. It's just a bit... crazy."
"Bet you're not affected." Violet motioned towards Sapphire, who was sitting comfortable on her back and soaking up the sunshine. 
"I go to bed as soon as the sun sets, same as always." She tucked a bright orange lock behind her ear. "You need to sleep all night to deal with the cages: if you take a nap then the entire castle could burn down."
"Sounds... exciting." Violet chuckled. "Figured you would have more free time, what with you and Iron Wing."
"Oh..." The scorching mare's cheeks grew pink. "He comes over to the castle, the big lug. Me and him sit in the garden after I put the birds to sleep. I'm tired most days, but... it's good to go to sleep with a smile on your face. Seeing the pony you love in your dreams... there's nothing like it."
Violet's heart swelled. "You guys have been through thick and thin haven't you?"
Pheonix let out a laugh. "That's putting it mildly! The therapy, the anxiety, all of his sports tournaments... yeesh. And Shimmering Ruby! You remember her? Oh, my Celestia, he almost broke up with me when we were fillies because he didn't want me to "mysteriously fall in a well one day"- Can you believe that?"
Shimmering Ruby! "OH! Pheonix!" Violet sudden shout caused her to end her rant with her mouth hanging open. "Do you remember where she transferred after we got accepted into Celestia's school?"
The smile on her face caused a burst of hope to appear in Violet's chest. But it was quickly smothered as her smile fell, her brow furrowed, and her head tilted to one side. "N... no, Violet. I'm sorry, I don't remember." Violet's look of disappointment must've been pretty pathetic, given the fact that even Sapphire seemed desperate to console her. "I'm sorry, Violet, I really am! Yikes, you'd think I'd remember something like that." She rubbed her chin with her hoof, trying hard to dig up the memory. "I don't even think anypony mentioned it once... how strange."
"Yeah... yeah it really is..." Violet felt a trickle of dread on her spine.
"Is it important?" Pheonix asked, her eyes big.
"No... not really." Violet answered. "It's just... neither Cloudy nor I remember, so we were wondering if we had gone crazy or something."
Pheonix grunted. "Well, no matter where she went, I'm glad to see her gone. " Sapphire let out a few screeches and a cute grumble. "Ah... right. Sorry Sapphy." She looked at Violet and motioned towards the bird on her back. "Sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short- I have to head back to the cages to give them their lunch. I'll talk to you again soon!"
"See ya..." Violet waved and watched as she slipped into the crowd. She made herself get back on her stool and eat with Midnight. She didn't taste any of the food. Her mind was a million miles away. How could neither one of them remember...? It doesn't make any sense. Her ears pricked with a sudden realization Unless she never left in the first place!
"Hey!" Cloudy came bounding up to sit right next to them. "The food here doesn't begin to compare with mom's, but I suppose it'll get the job done."
"That's nice..." Violet commented, her mind still in a daze. "Hey... I think we should go talk to Satin a little sooner than planned."
Midnight swallowed her last apple slice. "I thought we were going right after this. What? Do you wanna leave now?"
"Yep." And with that one word, Violet was off her stool and heading back towards the castle. She heard Cloudy ask her guard what had happened while she was gone, only to figure out that Midnight was just as clueless as she was. "I need to wear something." Violet shouted back at them. "I need to hide my face."
"What?" Cloudy looked scared. "Violet, you grew up here! Why would you need to hide your face?"
"Because we don't know if she ever really left..." Violet mumbled. She ran to her room and quickly plowed through her drawers, trying to find the right cloak. She picked a simple black one with no adornments except for a silver moon clasp.
"What are you...?" Cloudy grabbed her sister by the shoulders, forcing her to sit still. The sudden action left both of them tangled in the cloak, making them look like a two-headed monster from a children's story. "Violet, calm down!"
"We need to figure out-"
"You're not going to get anything done if you act like this!" Cloudy interrupted. 
"Hey..." Midnight gently derobed them. "Let's all calm down and take a breath." Her warm eyes were trained on Violet's frantic ones. "We're safe, alright? We're safe so long as we're in the castle."
"Right... castle, spell... Luna." Violet's mumbles couldn't be understood by anypony in the room other than herself, but Midnight nodded along anyway for the sake of getting her heart to stop racing. 
"That's right... safe." Midnight repeated. "Now, what happened? You barely spoke at lunch no matter how many times I tried."
"Phoenix Heart... I-I met Phoenix Heart in the square." She answered.
"What so bad about that?" Cloudy asked. She and Phoenix were actually close friends back in school, though Violet normally went out for runs while they ate lunch together. She was one of the few ponies that Phoenix opened up to, other than her long time special some pony, Iron Wing.
"She... she couldn't remember either." Violet swallowed. "She couldn't remember where Shimmering transferred."
"That's... no, Violet. She must have just been in a hurry."
"No!" Violet reached again for the cloak, only to be held back by Midnight. "No, I saw her! She didn't know where she went! It was there- she remembered something! But then she forgot! It was like magic!"
"I should probably start writing all of these names down..." Midnight mumbled. Violet, figuring that she probably wasn't going anywhere acting like she was, set all four hooves on the ground. However, her legs were stiff and read to spring into action.
"Phoenix Heart... clung to Shimmering like glue towards the end, before she disappeared." She explained. "Every minute of every day... she dedicated her time to Shimmering because she felt guilty and frightened."
"She stole Shimmering's "true love!" Cloudy's voice oozed sarcasm. "And ever since then, no matter what we said, how many teachers got involved, or how much Iron Wing begged... she continued to stay by Shimmering's side."
"Why?" Midnight was completely baffled. 
"Because she was the other pony, other than Satin, who knew what Shimmering was like when she got angry... she figured that if she was the bug that was always by her side... that nopony else would get squished." Violet sighed. It really wasn't fair, in any way.
"She would've been the most reliable source other than the school papers themselves." Cloudy pressed her lips together in a fine line. "I also forgot she worked at the castle..."
"And she didn't remember!" Everypony tensed, worried that Violet was going to go into hysterics again. "We need to see Satin! Now! We need an answer-"
"Slow down!" Cloudy shouted. Even Midnight flinched. "It's Satin, for the love of Celestia! As soon as you come nose to nose with her, she's going to bombard you with questions of her own! You're not going to find out anything until tonight, at least!"
"But what about-"
"And, on top of everything, you need to meet up with Princess Luna in about a few hours anyway." Midnight's voice was distant. Both sisters jumped when they saw that she had quietly floated to the other side of the room and picked up a letter that had slipped under the door. She wave it in the air for the two of them to see. "Silver ink. It must be important."
Violet cursed. Foul words that would cause their father to faint spewed from her mouth. "You guys can't just act like this isn't a big deal."
"You're right." Cloudy got in between Violet and the doorway, blocking her from running. "Let's think things through..." After a few moments that involved Violet rubbing her temples, Cloudy staring off into thought, and Midnight watching the two of them with a worried look twisting her face, Cloudy finally spoke.
"I'll go see Satin." Cloudy said. Violet looked at her with tense lips, pressed so hard together that they appeared white under her purple coat. "I'll go see her... and ask her everything. I'll bring her here to the castle if I need to. You go... calm down... and get ready to see the princess."
"You can't just wander alone." Violet argued. "It goes against your agreement with Luna."
"Only on castle grounds." Cloudy countered. "Once I'm back in the streets of Canterlot, I'm free to do what I choose, with or without you."
"But you-"
"Violet, a door that leads to the outside is literally right down the hall, I'm pretty sure I can make it."
"You can't ju-"
"Oh, for the love of- Midnight, hold her down and draw her a bath!" And with that, chaos ensued. Violet, with her newfound strength that she had developed when her body caught up with her... self? Self., bit and struggled with all her strength. She, however, quickly realized why it only took Midnight half the time to beat every other guard in her initiation.
"It's for your own good." Midnight hissed through gritted teeth as she pulled Violet into the bath by her tail. "Now... do you prefer lavender or sandalwood?"

...

"We are glad you could make it as quickly as you did, Miss Lace." Luna continued to walk forward, her hooves never tripping or or stumbling. "Giving your recent... appearance... we would've understood if you were a minutes past late."
"N-no! Never!" Violet had been staring of into space. "W-We... we could never be late when you call, Princess."
Luna simply grunted. "Now, the jewel that madam Clock Mage has sent us... we believe that we have found the answer to her riddle."
Ah, yes. The jewel. Who would've thought that underneath all of that cloth would've been something so ordinary. It clearly wasn't real, whatever it was. It was made of stone, granted, bright blue stone, but stone none the less. It barely shined like aquamarine or lapis lazuli, to the point where a pony who hadn't grown up in Canterlot and had the ability to see every flaw in a diamond's cut could tell that it was fake. 
"We sent out guards to scout the castle grounds." Luna explained. "We had decided not to tell her, what with the Lunar engraving on the jewel, as well as the fact that madam Clock Mage doesn't seem to want to socialize with our sister."
"What did your guards find?" Violet asked. Midnight's armor rattled behind her as she flew, trailing them. 
"It took a while." Luna said, looking up at the moon she had just risen. Violet was tempted to eat a very early dinner and her stomach quietly growled as a result. But she knew this was more important. "But we found something in one of our forgotten gardens."
"Found... something?" Violet remembered the gardens from her school days. Supposedly, the princess had created them in order to remind the population of Equestria to never forget the beauty of the night. Now that Luna was back, ruling at her side, Violet knew that it was all true, every last word. It caused a wave of emotion as she quickly realized that most of those gardens were hardly cared for due to a lack of tourists going out of their way to see them, leaving them to fall to ruins. 
"Come." Luna ordered. Violet quickly sped up her hoofsteps. Dry fountain after dry fountain crossed their paths, all of them cracked and covered in weeds. She didn't want to think about what was going through Luna's head as statues of ponies holding stars and moons, holding them up to the sky as though trying to place them with the clouds, were left cracked with broken limbs and tear-stained eyes from drips of water that ended decades ago. She led them to a large wall of stone, engraved with a scene. A large pony, made of clouds and stars, traveling across the night sky spreading galaxies and novas like seeds in an empty field. In the center was a hole, that Violet quickly recognized was shaped perfectly for the jewel to rest inside. 
"Look on the bottom." Luna said, her voice tense. "Look at what it says."
The stars take time to create. An army rests inside, prepared for battle like a thousand stars, ready to protect the moon.
"Time..." Midnight whispered. Both ponies, along with the princess, knew that Celestia hadn't built this. 
"Battle...army?" Violet heard her voice crack. She felt a wave of fear. She was almost about to scream, but the princess's large presence and unwavering expression kept her mouth shut. The Princess placed the jewel in place. 
The stone rumbled as it fell into it's proper spot. The rumbling grew louder as the wall of stone split apart at nearly invisible seams. All three ponies stood, awestruck, as the door opened and revealed what was inside.