//------------------------------//
// Escape from the Witch's House 
// Story: The Witch in Equestria 
// by Natt 
//------------------------------//

She made it. Ellen had been able to escape... 

*SLAM*

The sickly child allowed her broken body to collapse behind the door as it slammed shut, leaving her alone in the dark, cold house. She had used up nearly all of her energy to get to this point, and in the end it had been for nothing. She was going to die, and now her father’s life would be put in danger; all because she had failed to kill her 'friend.'

It had all started with a selfless act. A lonely little girl who was near the brink of death had begged Viola to grant her last wish- to let her experience what it was like to be outside. But the little girls dying body would never allow her to enjoy the temporary time she had in the sunlight.
Her eyes had long since ‘lost their sight,’ her legs no longer ‘had the ability to support her’ and all she could smell was the blood and nearing decay of her own body. It was then that she had confessed something to Viola. She could perform a spell that would allow them to temporally exchange bodies. 

So in a way, all the stories Viola had been told; stories of an evil witch who lived in the woods, had been true. But Viola had been so naïve and trusting in her friend, that she had allowed herself to be fully convinced that no one, not even her own father and his warnings, could be trusted. She never suspected the danger she was in for a second, nor did she realise the horrible decision she was about to make. 

And so with her full love and trust in her friend, Ellen the Witch had cast the spell and had been granted the healthy body she so desperately desired. And just like that Viola was no longer of any use to Ellen, so her beloved 'friend' had left Viola to die alone, unable to even scream for help. 
Before Ellen had revealed her true colours, she had tricked Viola into drinking a sweet smelling medicine that she claimed would 'make the pain go away.' Instead it had been an acid-like, throat-burning medicine which quickly feasted on her bodies vocal cords, rendering Viola almost mute. But as it turned out, Ellen's self destruction of her own body hadn't began there as she gleefully confessed to having had amputated her legs and gouging her own eyes out before Viola had come over to ‘play,’ all to ensure that Viola would suffer in despair as she died, while Ellen escaped with her healthy new body and a happy new life, free of pain. 

But there had been something that Ellen had not counted on. Ellen’s magic had remained in her body, leaving Viola with full access to her powers as well as her memories. Thus Viola was fully aware of the steps necessary to perform the body switching spell and how futile attempting it would be.
There was no way Ellen would be willing to give up the new healthy body that Viola had foolishly given her; but even if Viola could not save herself, she could still save someone else from Ellen; Her father.

Ellen hadn’t just been an innocent and ill little girl of seven years old. She hadn’t been shunned and hidden away by Viola’s village out of fear of her sickness. She was a dangerous monster; a witch, who had been alive for centuries and had taken the lives of numerous innocent people. And the stories about her, the ones that were told to keep children away from the woods, to keep them safe; they had all been true. Viola couldn’t let such evil near her father. Ellen was unstable; she would surely kill him too. 
Viola would never be able to apologise to her father for not trusting him. For going against his word and venturing back into the woods to see Ellen again. So instead of apologising like she so desperately wanted to, she would do what she could to save his life. She had to, or at least die trying.

So with Ellen’s magic, Viola had made the former witch unable to leave, and in turn forced her right back into her own home. With Ellen’s memories Viola formed room after room, each containing their own deadly traps and puzzles that in the end would force Ellen to experience at least one of the many cruel ways her past victims had suffered, were she to fail. 
But fail she did not. It was like Ellen knew the solution to every puzzle and trap that Viola had created, which confused her greatly. Ellen’s memories showed no signs of puzzles similar to the ones Viola had conjured up. Yet with every puzzle Ellen completed and every room she passed, a sudden wave of déjà vu would disrupt Violas thoughts; she could have sworn that she had already felt Ellen fall victim to her traps time and time, and time again, each death being more violent than the last. But whenever Viola would check on Ellen’s progress, her former friend would be perfectly fine, with not even a scratch on her. She was doing well to keep Viola's body in pristine condition. 

In the end Viola had been left with no other choice but to try and chase Ellen down. Crawling after her own body, Viola moved as fast as she could with a pair of bloody stumps acting as dead weight behind her. But to no one’s surprise it had all been for naught. In the end Ellen had managed to escape with her healthy body and had left Viola crumpled in defeat, trapped inside of a body that was pulling her nearer and nearer towards deaths embrace. 

Viola cried a gruesome mixture of blood and tears from ‘her’ missing eyes. She had tried so hard and had failed. There was nothing left to do now but disappear with Ellen’s house, and have her soul devoured by the demon responsible for giving Ellen her powers.

‘NO!’ Viola’s thoughts screamed what she could not. 

She would not become a part of this place! Even if she had failed to save herself and her father, even if Ellen had gotten away, Viola would NOT die here. She would NOT be consumed by a demon! She would not stay trapped in this God forsaken house for a moment longer!

It was then that she begun to feel it…

Viola thought that she had used up every last bit of Ellen’s magic in her failed attempt to kill her, and yet somehow, somewhere deep within the depths of Ellen’s body there was something left. It was like a spark, hardly generating the light of a lone star in an endless night sky. But it was enough, it was all Viola needed.
The last speck of Ellen’s magic had merged itself with Viola’s intense desire to not become a part of this cursed place, and despite her burnt vocal cords and the added pain this would cause her, Viola was compelled to scream as the magic inside of her grew and burst forth from Ellen’s body with a mighty force, powerful enough to destroy the entrance of the house. But the forest was not where Viola was headed.

She could feel it; the powerful and warm light that was calling her forward, the powerful light that was forcing away the evil of the Witch’s house. Viola wasn’t sure what the light was or what it would do. But she was sure of one thing. It would keep her safe while she died. 
With the last remaining bits of her strength, Viola crawled forward. All she wished for was to be somewhere far away from this place, somewhere the demon could never reach her. She wanted to die somewhere else; somewhere her soul would be free to pass on and reach the afterlife so she may be with her mother.

With that, Viola had vanished into the light. 

Meanwhile a little ways away through the glowing yellow eyes of a black cat, the moment had been witnessed by the houses demon as it hid itself away from the vanishing structure and the bright light.
The demon sure was disappointed that he wouldn’t be eating Viola’s pained and betrayed soul, but like hell he would follow her where she was going! Begrudgingly he had to give up on his meal and give the girl props. 
Unbeknownst to Viola, she had managed to accomplish a feat that even most experienced witches could not hope to do. She had opened up a doorway to another world; a world known to contain a magic so pure, that even a powerful demon like him would risk the very real threat of being purified. 

Ironically enough it was the very magic that, in the end, had saved Ellen from her sickness. Something that his faithful witch would never truly grasp but had used to her full advantage: The magic of friendship.

“What a laugh.” 





Viola could no longer feel the warmth of the strange light on ‘her’ skin, but what she could feel was the rough dirt beneath ‘her’ hands, that had been warmed up by the sun. 
The sun; slowly too, she began to also feel it. It was pleasant. She could practically almost see the rays of light sparkling against her fingers. Up until she remembered what ‘her’ fingers actually looked like.
She drew them back; her bloody, sore fingers, almost completely red and cracked, attached to a body that was equally as disgusting. Ellen's parents should have just put her out of her misery when they realised their daughter was a lost cause.

Viola balled her fists and clutched the dirt between her fingers, letting it stick deep into her open wounds. Before today she would never have even considered thinking such a terrible thing about anyone! But Ellen wasn’t just anyone. Ellen was disgusting; her body reflected that fact perfectly. Ellen was someone who should never have been born, but instead she had been and despite her diseases she had continued to live. She had lived centuries longer than her illness should have ever let her. And now Viola would be the one to die, she would die because Ellen had been born. 

Viola would die because she had loved Ellen despite her diseases. Viola would die because she wanted to prove to Ellen that she really did love her. Viola would die because she wanted to be a good person. Viola….Viola would die…. She would die and there was nothing she could do about it. She would die consumed by hate and the regret of what she could have done but hadn’t. She would not die in piece. 

What had she been thinking? This wasn’t her…She had already lost her body, was she really going to lose who she was, too? Could she even really call herself ‘Viola’ anymore? Who was she then?

‘Papa….Mama… I’m so sorry…’

Viola loosened her grip and finally let her head fall. Dirt imminently attached itself to her sticky red skin. But she chose not to focus on it. She instead chose to focus on the warm dirt she let slip from her grasp, her weakening breath, and the sounds of her surroundings. 

There were birds chirping in the distance, Viola could just hear them, their soft little tweets intertwined with the gentle breeze. The breeze had caused branches to sway gently back and forth above Viola’s head, the familiar rustling of the leaves soothed her. The occasional small splash seemed to indicate that she was close to a body of water, maybe a lake? The little splashing was most likely being caused by some happy fishes. Overall it was peaceful, at last Viola felt like she could rest. 

Pat, pat, pat- trot...

A small, near unnoticeable vibration barely shook the ground with a sudden and consistent rhythm, Viola listened carefully, and she could almost hear it. It sounded like a small herd of animals. She wondered if they were heading towards the nearby lake for a drink. She at least hoped that was the case because she was sure they were getting closer.

Trot, trot, pat, pat, trot, trot… "Angel….back..." Trot, trot, trot….

‘Was that a voice?’ Violas eyelids cracked open in surprise. She regretted the action for a moment as she felt the air hit the inside of her empty eye sockets.

“Slow down!”

“Why they hay is he acting so weird?"

Pat,  trot, trot,  pat, trot

There were children with the animals. In fact from the sound of the trotting, the children were most likely riding on horseback. 
The very first voice, Viola had hardly heard, but it had been slightly higher pitched than the other two voices. The second could have belonged to either a young boy or a girl, while the third voice definitely belong to a young girl whose accent seemed to imply that she’d grown up in the country. Perhaps she even lived on a farm and the horses Viola heard them riding belonged to her family.
How lovely that sounded to Viola. To grow up raising animals on a quiet little farm out in the middle of the country.

A realisation then came to Viola and her stomach dropped. It occurred to her that it would only be a matter of time before the children and their horses stumbled upon her corpse. 
Viola felt herself visibly shudder. These children shouldn’t have to see something like her. This was a time where the world was still a magical place for them, they didn’t need to look back on their childhood and recall the day they found a mutilated corpse while taking their horses out for a ride. 
Viola tried to move, oh how badly she tried to move and hide herself. But Ellen’s body no longer wished to budge.

With a series of quick taps that Viola hadn’t noticed get closer, something small had suddenly stopped just a few inches in front of her arms with a small thud. Viola flinched and attempted to let out a small ‘eep!’ when she felt a fluffy twitching little nose touch ‘her’ skin. But to Viola’s relief her sudden movement hadn’t scared the animal away and instead it had chosen to stay. 

The urge to pet the little animal was something that Viola, even in her suffering, could not resist as she slowly raised her hand. Her heart skipped a beat when the fluffy creature placed its soft little heard against the palm of Viola’s hand. Then after a second or two of petting Viola realised that the friendly little mystery animal was a bunny.

The sight was something Viola wished she could see. She weakly moved her head and gave the bunny a small, bloody smile while it snuggled itself against her hand, compelling her to continue petting it before she quickly moved her hand away, a guilty expression hidden behind Ellen’s bloodied and scarred face.
She wanted so badly to be able to apologise. She could not have known what colour fur the rabbit had, but either way Viola had just stained it with Ellen’s blood; her vile, evil blood.
In the back of her mind Viola hoped and prayed that Ellen’s blood would not have some unforeseen effect on the rabbit. She knew that Ellen’s magic thrived within her body no more, but she couldn’t help but think that the blood of her former friend would hold some evil curse to it. But then…In a way it did, didn’t it? 

The far more disturbing realization shattered Viola’s thoughts and turned her insides to ice. Her mouth fell open as it at last occurred to her; what if Ellen’s blood made the rabbit sick? What if the rabbit then spread the illness to others? Sure Viola hadn’t been affected by it… at first. But in hindsight, Ellen wouldn’t have been willing to lose her new body to the very thing that was killing her. For all Viola knew, Ellen could have done something to protect her from it. And in turn, lied about her disease not being infectious.

“Angel! There you a-"

The voice of one of the children Viola had heard before cut through Viola’s thoughts like knife. Without her even noticing, they had gotten so close to her. Viola’s mouth went dry; this had to have been their pet rabbit.

‘No! No! No! No! NO! 

After a moment of hesitation the voice of the little girl with the higher pitched voice spoke up; “...Girls….wha….what is that…?”

In a sudden burst of panic, Viola tried and tried with all her might to make Ellen’s body crawl back. If she didn’t get away fast then she would get them sick! She’d kill them! They would experience a slow and painful death as their bodies became frail and unable to move. Their skin would crack open and bleed constantly. And their eyes would eventually lose their sight as they, too, began to bleed and excrete other fluids. 

But they were just children! No one deserved to go through such a thing, not even Ellen! It wasn’t fair! All Viola had wanted to do was be somewhere where she could be left to die in piece. So why was she here? It just wasn’t fair! She needed to warn them!

‘Get away! GET AWAY!’

Viola wanted so desperately to scream. She pushed her burnt vocal cords as hard as she could, but still, only a series of high pitched and incomprehensible wheezes left her mouth. 

She began to cry. She couldn’t do anything, she had not an ounce of strength left and had hardly even managed to move at all. Her heart- Ellen’s heart- was beating faster and at a heavier pace than it should have been in its final moments and her body couldn’t take it.
Viola felt her already darkened world begin to drag her under, deep into the murky depths of unconsciousness. Every breath she took only made her lungs feel more and more like they were being filled with water. Her chest felt heavy. 

What had she done!? She’d doomed these children and who knows how many people with Ellen’s sickness. She would cause so many more people to suffer then Ellen ever did. 
Where was Viola?! Why was she here!? She should never have crossed through that light; she should have left Ellen’s body- her sickness- to disappear along with Ellen’s house! Why did Viola even care if soul was devoured? If she hadn’t been so selfish this never would have happened! No one else would be in danger from Ellen.

‘Except for papa…. he would still be in danger.’

That thought was the end of what she could take as Viola attempted to let out one final anguished cry.
Before Ellen’s body at last gave out, a series of violent coughs that quickly turned hoarse and weak, were Viola’s last inclination of being alive before the world no longer existed.  





What a strange sight it would have been for Viola, if only she could have seen what stared back at her with fear. It had been only a few seconds since she had stopped moving, but to the three fillies that stood just a few feet away from her, time felt like it had come to a screeching halt. 

The fillies could do nothing but stare at the creature before them.  They couldn’t tell what it was but from what they could see, it was something that wore a red dress with bloodied white sleeves; strange bloody appendages resembling claws sticking out from them. Its mane was long and purple and had a big red bow tied to the back of it. (In a way it was similar to what Apple Bloom- one of the three fillies- wore in her mane.) Then…Then there was its face. The fillies had only seen it for a few seconds, but what they saw…. All other details of the creatures face had been but a blur of blood and skin with the exception of two things; its eyes, or lack thereof. In place of where its eyes should have been there were only two gaping and freshly bleeding holes. 

Where were its eyes?

The fillies’ felt like their legs had been planted into the earth. Even if they had wanted to run away screaming ‘monster’ they couldn’t, and they didn’t. The creature had made no attempt to hurt them and had even seemed terrified of them. It soon dawned on them that what they were seeing probably wasn’t a monster or some kind of living corpse set on eating them for lunch; it was just some kind of creature or an animal they had never seen before that had been badly hurt. Something had to have done this to it. Something had taken its eyes. 

The first filly to speak up was Scootaloo, an orange Pegasus filly with small wings.

“Is it….Is it dead? …. W…what do we do!?” She failed to hide the panic in her voice as sweat fell from her brow. 

None of them had ever seen so much blood before. They were very close to the entrance of the Everfree forest; what they were looking at must have been the gruesome aftermath of a monster attack.
Apple Bloom backed away closer to Scootaloo’s side with trembling steps. No, she could see it! The motion was slow, almost unnoticeable, but it was there; the rise and fall of its shoulders from beneath its purple mane. 

Apple Bloom shook her head. “I-it…it’s not dead, it’s still b-breathing. Sweet Celestia! It’s still alive!” 

Apple Bloom was sure she was going to be sick. She was beyond relieved to see that the creature was alive but that realization had quickly brought an added pressure of responsibility on the three children. If it was breathing than it was alive, but for how much longer? If they didn’t do something quick then it would die and it would be all their fault.

Meanwhile, still remaining forgotten about, the rabbit that had lead the three fillies there; Angel Bunny had begun to tap his foot impatiently. He may not have expected them to come across a dying creature when he went to investigate that sudden bright light, or for him to pity it and care about it's wellbeing, let alone let it PET him with his bloodied paws, but did the three fillies really not realise what the best thing to do right now would be? Did they really forget the whole reason why they had been chasing him?!
Angel bounced up and down in front of them while waving his little paws in the air, trying to make himself be seen. Prehaps the blood the creature had left behind on him would be help in getting their attention.

The first one of them to finally notice him was the last of the three, Sweetie Bell; a white unicorn. Today her normally joyful green eyes were wide with horror, her purples as small as pinpricks. 
Nothing her friends had said managed to reach her. In fact, all sound with the exception of the wind whistling through her ears seemed to have disappeared once they had stopped. That was up until she noticed Angel Bunny, bloody and looking none too happy, trying to get her attention. Then the sound of his hopping, each 'thud' his little feet made upon hitting the ground became audible too.

When Sweetie Bell’s eyes were torn away from the creatures body, it was like she could think again and the weight of the situation had quickly hit her in full. 
If something or somepony had done this then, where were they now? They must have left, but what if they hadn’t gotten very far? What if they planned to come back? Or worse…What if they were still here?
Sweetie Bell opened her mouth to scream, to tell her friends that they should run. But all she could manage was to choke on a sharp gasp as one of her two friends finally screamed the name of the pony Angel Bunny had been trying to remind them of this whole time.

“FLUTTERSHY!!”

To their surprise, Scootaloo, who would usually do all she could to be seen as the bravest of the group, had been the first to break down into a flood of tears. 





Viola woke up with a start. A loud and surprisingly painless gasp escaping her throat. She covered her mouth with her hands and looked down at herself. Stretching her arms out she saw that her hands were clean of all blood and instead of Ellen’s blood soaked red dress she wore a clean blue knee length dress with a white apron, a single red stripe went around the base of the skirt and the apron was tied around her waist with a big white bow. Viola imminently recognised the clothing as her own. A pair of cute golden braids hung at her shoulders and most importantly of all were the brown leather boots she wore on her feet; her feet, attached to a pair of strong, healthy, beautiful legs. 

“M-my legs… they’re back!” Tears fell from her eyes as the words left her undamaged throat. She pulled her legs closely against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She began to plant a series of small kisses to her knees. More than happy that there was no one around to see this embarrassing display …

“Oh, my beautiful legs…!” She continued her barrage of small and happy kisses. “I never thought I’d see you again!”

Viola was over the moon with joy, and after a few minutes more of celebrating the return of her lost limbs, she decided to finally stand up. But try as she might, the second she stood tall and proud she immediately found herself being dragged back down with a violent and painfully snap pull at her legs.
She fell forward onto her stomach with a painful thud. just barely catching herself with her hands. After taking a moment to register what had just happened, she pushed herself up by her arms and turned her head around to look back at her legs. To her horror, a group of sharp, thorny vines that were adorned with red roses, had wrapped themselves around her legs and stabbed deeply into them with the clear intent of keeping Viola held down.

The sight made her eyes widened, and before she could even attempt to pry the vines from off of her, she heard the very loud click of a rifle being readied for use. Her father’s hunting rifle to be exact. 
Time seemed to play in slow motion as Viola turned her head to look at what was in front of her. Her eyes only managed to somehow grow wider than they already had been. It was Ellen, and she was huddling behind Viola’s father with a cruel smirk painted across her lips and an evil glint in her sharp, golden eyes. 

“Get away you monster!”

Viola’s heart stopped as she looked up. But instead of her father’s face, all she saw was the barrel of his rifle pointed towards her.

“Monster…? No! Papa, it’s me, Viola! I’m your daughter! The monster is behind you papa! Please turn around-“

As soon as Viola looked back to where Ellen had been standing, she found herself unable to speak. Ellen stood, huddled behind her father no longer. Instead it was Viola’s own body that stared back at her with cruelty in its emerald eyes. Her body didn’t have to speak for Viola to understand what she was saying; ‘she had won.’

The tears Viola let fall from her eyes suddenly felt heavier as they slid down her cheeks at a faster pace that Viola had no control over. She watched a few of them fall in front of her hands. But they were no longer her hands; they were smaller, paler, and bloodier; the ‘tears’ that fell from her eyes made sure to contribute heavily to that.

Viola raised her head and looked at her father again. She clenched her eyes shut and hoped that when she opened them, her father would see the pleading in her eyes, see who she really was. But her father wouldn’t see that. Because when her eyes opened, they were no longer there. 

“No….Papa! It’s not me! That’s not ME! PAPA! HELP ME! SAVE ME! I’M SCARED PAPA! I CAN’T SEE YOU ANYMORE!”

But he didn’t hear her. How could he when Viola couldn’t even hear herself? Instead of words, the only sound that went past her lips where what the remainder of Ellen’s vocal cords would allow her to say; a garbled mess of broken sound. 

Then, like a light being turned back on, Viola’s vision came back. Her father along with Ellen dressed in her skin still standing there. But now Viola could hardly recognise the figure that had once been her father. He still held his rifle point blank in front of her, but now she had a clear view of his face. It was rotting. Maggot infested flesh falling in clumps at his feet, and from those rotting clumps of flesh, vines; the same ones that held Viola down, grew from the ground, shooting up to dug themselves into her father’s body. Viola could see the vines worm their way through his skin. They slithered out through every orifice his head provided. His eyes, which were already gone, had quickly been replaced with a series of budding roses and bloody thorns. He could no longer see and yet his rifle remained aimed at Viola’s head. Then, just as he went to pull the trigger and shoot Viola dead, a garbled mockery of her father’s voice spoke to her; “I love you Viola.”

Viola screamed and the next thing she heard was the deafening bang of her father’s rifle. But before the bullet could hit her, it disintegrated before Viola’s eyes until not even its ashes remained. She quickly sat herself up in a panic and frantically looked around. Not only had the bullet disappeared, but the vines, Ellen and the nightmarish form of her father had vanished as well. 

Before Viola could question what had happened, a stunning deep blue light temporally blinded her and the powerful voice of a woman she did not recognise spoke up.

“We have seen enough!”

The blue light began to fade and as Viola rubbed her eyes, she felt something weigh itself gently on her shoulder. Viola quickly assumed it was an arm, but was confused when she didn’t feel a hand or any fingers at the end of it. Did this person not have a hand? A chill ran down Viola's spine as she was immidantly reminded of the grisly details behind one of her earlier traps that had been intended to ensnare Ellen. But of corse she would have know not to "lend a hand" to her former chef. Really it was a trap Viola wasn't too surprised Ellen had passed through unscathed. Tho again, that lingering feeling of seeing it play out despite Ellen's survival remained.

Once shaking off the thought and blinking away a few coloured spots from her eyes, Viola followed the ‘arm’ up from her shoulder. Viola was not prepared for what she was met with as she stared face to face with the most breathtaking animal she was sure she would ever lay eyes on. It was like something right out of a fairy tale. A unicorn! 

Its eyes were a bright mix of different shades of cyan, while its coat was a deep midnight blue that shone bright against the darkness that surrounded them. It sat in front of her on its back legs, measuring around Viola’s height if not a little taller. On each flank she had the mark of a large white crescent moon atop what looked like a black splotch of ink. 
She wore a strange set of silver horseshoes that curved around each hoof, and a black chest-plate with a white crescent moon that matched the mark on her flank sitting in the middle. A simple black tiara sat upon her head, sitting right behind her horn which stood out long from her mane. Her mane and tail had to have been made out of the night sky itself. Little silver stars sparkled brightly through it as it continuously flowed behind her like it was being moved by a constant, unfelt gust of air. 
Than at last did she finally notice the two wings that were folded delicately at the unicorn’s sides. 

‘Wings,’ Viola thought. She was a unicorn with wings! 

Ohhh there had to be a proper name for them! But no story book Viola read as a child would ever refer to a unicorn with wings as anything else but, well, that! But while Viola was left frustrated that she didn’t have an answer, Ellen’s memories did. 

One single page from a book about mythical creatures that Viola did not recognise filled her thoughts. Nothing on the page was legible to Viola except for an ancient looking illustration of the majestic creature and the name Viola needed.

“An Alicorn…?” 

Viola read the word a loud for the first time and the page disappeared. It admittedly felt strange to finally have a name for a creature that had been a part of so many stories from Viola’s childhood.

The Alicorn smiled at Viola and nodded. “You are correct little one and you need not be frightened any longer, for your nightmares shall be of no burden to you while I am here.”

It could talk! Viola’s mind became imminently muddled with different thoughts and questions once she’d heard the Alicorn speak; questions which ranged from things a small child would ask, like if she could ride on her back. To the vital question of if the Alicorn could send her home to her father. But with everything Viola could have asked or said in that moment, all she managed to do was sniffle and barely let out a soft whisper.

“You…you mean it?” 

And when the Alicorn nodded her head once more it was like Viola had been turned from a teenager of thirteen and back to a little girl of six. The kind of little girl that would have looked at a mystical creature never before seen by man and imminently ask for a ride on its back. But she didn’t. Instead Viola could do nothing else as large, hot tears fell from her eyes and a tired, strained cry escaped past her lips. She leaped forward  

Burying  her face into the Alicorn’s soft blue coat. She wrapped her arms around her and hugged the Alicorn as if she were a large stuffed toy and not a legendary magical creature of myth. Viola sobbed. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, as she was able to at last release the fear, the hopelessness, her frustration and pain; all of it was released in a furry of sobs as Viola held onto the Alicorn for dear life. She was scared that if she let go, then it would vanish, leaving Viola alone again, trapped forever in the depths of her nightmares. 

The Alicorn understood this and although not immediately expecting the tight, desperate hug from the young and mentally exhausted creature, she was quick to hug her back, wrapping her large blue wings around Viola like a shield. She gently stroked her braided mane in a series of comforting strides until her sobbing slowly but surely died down. And when at last Viola’s sobs were reduced to weak sniffles and soft hiccups the Alicorn spoke again, her horn now glowing a light blue.

“Little one,” She paused and let Viola sit back up, materializing a cloth out of nothing to aid the girl in drying the remainder of her tears. “I am Princess Luna; Guardian of the Night. As Princess It is my duty to watch over the dreams of my subjects; the ponies of Equestria, and ensure that they are able to sleep in piece, free from their nightmares.”

Viola’s eyes were torn away from the Princess as the world around them quickly dissolved from darkness and became a glorious world of shimmering stars that floated in the midst of a vast deep blue sky.  
Luna took Viola’s hand in her hoof as the girl stared in awe at the world around them. Thousands, perhaps millions of stars, each a different colour and size, calmly floated around them. And as she and Princess Luna stood up, Viola could not help but reach out to touch one of the stars with her fingertip.
Upon contact with Viola, the star (a small pink one) disappeared. But after a brief moment of panic from Viola and a light chuckle from Luna, the star began to reform itself, but not as a star. Instead, it took on the form of a shimmering, pale, pink bubble, which Viola let fall into her hands upon Princess Luna’s gentle guidance. 

Princess Luna raised her hoof above her and then motioned across the vast world of stars. “These stars, Viola, each represent a pony or creature in Equestria.” She looked back down at Viola and the pink bubble resting in her hands. “And these bubbles, those are their dreams.” 

Viola gasped and excitedly looked down at the bubble. She waited, hoping that she would get to see what the dreams of another being were like. But to her surprise and slight disappointment, the bubble remained empty. She looked back up at Luna, clearly confused. 

“P-Princess Luna….nothing’s happening?” Luna replied to Viola’s concerns with a nod and carefully took the bubble from her hands, holding it in her hoof.

“You are correct. That is because, like with everypony here at this time, the filly this bubble belongs to is awake.” 

With a slight raise of her hoof, the bubble rose back into the air where it returned to its original form with a soft glow. Within seconds it had disappeared into the never ending sea of stars.  

“Normally I am under no obligation to enter the dream realm at a time where no one else but I are expected to be dreaming. But as you can imagine, Viola, your nightmare was not something I could just ignore. In fact, I dare say it was calling me to you. The pain and anguish I felt resonating from your nightmare was akin to that of which I have not felt my subjects experience in centuries. For that I am sorry Viola, I am so sorry for what you must have gone through to get to this point. But I assure you that the worst of it is over. You are safe.”

Luna’s horn glowed blue once more as she leaned down to rest it momentarily against the top of Viola’s head. Before Viola could begin to question what the Princess was doing, she felt the world slip from under her and she fell. But just as quickly as Viola realized she was falling, she had found herself landing on something soft and comfortable. Her eyes widened and she imminently recognised her new surroundings. No longer were she and Princess Luna surrounded by the stars of her subjects. Instead they were in Viola’s bedroom, and here, Viola sat comfortably atop of her bed, which was already prepared for her to rest in.

‘Rest…’ Viola thought. ‘Rest sounds good….’ 

It was like she had been hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion, she hadn’t been this tired a few seconds ago. Also, wasn’t she dreaming, or in the dream realm? Could she really fall asleep here? Would she continue to dream from inside her own dream?  Or did falling asleep here mean that she would wake up for real?

Viola hadn’t even noticed that she had been enveloped in the same sparkling blue light that lit up Luna’s horn. Nor did she say anything when it assisted her by tucking her into bed, ensuring that she would be comfortable. 

“Viola, before you sleep, you must know that right now you’re….The body you possess outside of the dream realm is in good hooves, but it needs time to rest if it ever hopes to recover. And you Viola, your mind needs rest too if you ever hope to be able to recover with it.”

Even in her sleepy state, Viola attempted to keep her eyes open just a little more as she listened to the Princesses voice.

“I will be sending you into a temporary state of dreamlessness. You need not worry, for I will be watching over you until it is time for you to awaken in the real world. However I will warn you that upon awakening, you may believe yourself to have been sent back into your nightmares, but rest assured that you will be safe hooves and in the care of trusted friends. Sleep now dear Viola, I will come to your side when you awaken.”

Viola smiled at Luna, her eyes on the verge of fluttering shut; “Thank you Princess Luna....please…” she yawned “…rest well… also….”

Luna smiled sadly as she stood watch over Viola’s sleeping form, keeping an eye on her calm, gentle breathing. 

What a curious situation this was. While Viola’s nightmare had confirmed a thing or two for the Princess, like why Viola’s inner form was so unlike her physical body. It would seem that Luna still had plenty more she needed to learn about this young creature and what had brought her here. And Luna was sure that Princess Twilight Sparkle would be jumping at the chance to get those answers and many more once Viola was in better health.
For now though, Luna was content with what she had learned: That even after all Viola had suffered, after everything she may have been through; she still maintained a kind and considerate heart.