"Yellow! My good man, how are you on this beautiful night?" Fancy Pants raised his glass of red wine in greeting. Violet's father gently clinked his against it in return.
"Quite exhausted, I should say..." Yellow Parchment uttered with a slight chuckle. "Another late night in the archives. You know how it is."
"Ah, indeed I do." Fancy Pants hadn't changed that much over the years. Violet enjoyed realizing this every time she saw him. He kept his handsome features, his kind personality, and his wealth. In fact, the only thing that seemed to change was his mane cut, which now curled charmingly at the nape of his neck and around his eyes, and his moustache... which now exists. It suited him nicely.
"How are the models doing." Violet's father asked after a few moments of chit-chat passed. "Did you get everything in order, or..."
Fancy Pants sighed. "Some of them are still giving me trouble. I'm worried about them, really and truly. Those poor mares... starving themselves into oblivion. They insist on wearing so much make up... troubling to say the least."
"Oh dear..." Violet's mother joined in. "Fancy... with all due respect... have you ever thought of using ponies that... weren't from Canterlot?"
Fancy Pants took the comment in stride. "That's the problem, these models aren't from Canterlot. Most come from Manehatten, and those that aren't are from smaller towns. I was hoping to have a unique mixture of features and faces for my new line... but it looks as though the Canterlot influence might be a bit much for them. Their living conditions certainly don't help matters."
Fancy Pants provided all of his out of town models with the best accommodations possible. They stayed at one of the nicest hotels in Canterlot, surrounded by the elite and lesser snobs. They were new to the field, eager to impress and make it big. Violet felt her ears lower in dull disgust as she thought of the mares, lost and vulnerable, succumbing into the life she's slowly grown to despise. She felt sorry for them, and hoped that Fancy Pants would find a way to help them.
Not wanting to listen to the conversation any longer, she let her eyes take in the beautiful décor of the garden. They had to take a short balloon ride to get there, but it was worth it beyond reason. Bright green grass that shined in the moonlight, iridescent white flowers that nearly glowed. All surrounding a white marble gazebo that was freshly polished and cleaned. A giant skylight was above them, waiting eagerly for the suns rays to filter through and shine against the freshly shined marble floor below them. Supposedly, it was meant to reflect the pony standing on it like a mirror. She saw the other guests, all arriving in balloons similar to her, slowly float up to join the group.
Violet looked closer at the floor. She could already see her reflection. The moons rays were enough for her to see her face and body. She felt her lips turn upward. She always loved the way her mane sparkled in moonlight. Like a dull rainbow, her mane shined silver and pinks and greens and blues. Over the years, due to the fineness of her hair and it's almost clear qualities, it had taken a darker tone. There were days when it almost looked black in the right lighting. Others, it looked white. Cloudy on several occasions said that Violet's hair was magic itself, changing to fit the mood of the situation.
"Good evening, Violet." Satin's voice rang out clear behind her. She turned to see Satin in a pretty white dress, her mane down and curled. Simple, but very cute. Satin readjusted her glasses on her muzzle. "Or, I suppose it would be 'Good morning' at this hour."
"Good morning to you too, Satin." Violet said with a smile. "I hope you're as excited as I am for the celebration."
Satin hastily pulled out a journal from her bag. "It's so interesting, Violet! Ultra-rare, bioluminescent lilies! They're only seen growing naturally in a secluded place in the jungles south of here! And not even all year round. They only last for a few weeks, then the petals wither and fall to the ground, creating one of the most fertile soils in the history of ponydom. And yet, here they are, blooming, out of season and seemingly immortal!" She showed Violet one of numerous sketches showing the white flowers that Violet was admiring just a few seconds ago.
"Yep, very interesting..." Violet stared blankly at the book, not knowing what exactly she should look at. "Very pretty too, Cloudy will lov-"
"Oh My Celestia!" Cloudy suddenly shouted, climbing up the steps of the gazebo. "Violet, did you see these flowers?! They're so pretty! I love them!" Both Violet and Satin shared a laugh.
"I'd say we only have a few short hours left..." Violet's father said, looking at his old pocket watch. "Should we start eating?"
"You know I'm always eager to eat your wife's cooking!" Fancy Pant's looked around. "Fleur...? Where are you?"
"I'm right here, darling!" Fleur de Lis, Fancy Pants' wife of two years walked up the steps of the gazebo. "Please forgive my absence... once I figured out the décor, I quickly had to change." Violet chuckled at the comment. As far as she was confirmed, Satin's step mom hadn't changed her mane style once, or aged a day since they met all those years ago. But she was quick to silence her laughter, not wanting to give the pretty pony the wrong idea.
"You look lovely, Mrs. Lis." Violet said politely. She meant it too. Fleur was wearing a pretty mulberry colored cape, with a white lace trim.
"Absolutely beautiful!" Cloudy added. The model pony blushed in demure glee.
"Thank you, dears." She said, delicately placing her hoof over her mouth.
The next few hours were spent eating and chatting. Mrs. Sugar went into a story about her life back in Ponyville. It was brief, compared to her other adventures around Equestria, but it was enough time to settle down with Mr. Parch and for Cloudy to have a relatively good fillyhood. But she did find it rather dull, and ordinary. At least in Canterlot, she had the gossip from her daughters and her husband's stories from the archives to entertain her as she stayed at home.
"I certainly hope that arriving here, and spending the celebration with us wasn't an inconvienence." Fancy Pants said with a furrowed brow. "It would be more than reasonable for you to spend the celebration there... given the circumstances."
"Oh, don't worry about that, dear." Mrs. Sugar quickly dismissed Fancy Pants's silent apology. "I can't think how many times I've complained to the girls how boring it was back there! This, spending the night with friends and my beautiful family, is better than anything I could have imagined." She looked towards the girls, who were busy eating and having their own conversations. "To be honest, I was ecstatic when Violet and Cloudy came to me earlier today to ask to spend the celebration with you two. After everything I've been through, it was nice to find a happy medium in everything."
"What do you mean?" Fleur asked.
"Well..." Violet's mother looked slightly embarrassed. "I spent most of my teenage years traveling. And though those years were great and exciting, I secretly always longed for a quieter, happier life. Ponyville seemed to fit at first, but it wasn't enough. It was too far off the spectrum, so to speak. To much contrast compared to what I was experiencing before. Canterlot, however, seems to fit just right... surprisingly."
"Canterlot? Exciting?" Fancy Pants looked puzzled. He cast a glance at Violet's father, who simply shot him a look of knowledge. He had heard this millions of times since they moved here. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Gossip is... well, as dreadful as some of the things said, it's still entertaining in some aspect. To be honest, what these ponies consider to be gossip is comical at times. I mean, just the other day, that sweet mare who owns the boutique- Periwinkle! She just went off to tell me about how how this one pony bought oranges at half off. Oranges! She was gossiping about a pony, using a coupon on produce!" The group of adults snickered. "It was ridiculous. And she was so confident too! She looked me in the eyes with an expression that said 'Oh my Celestia! This is good dirt!', when in reality, it was just hilarious." The adults laughed. Mrs. Sugar took another small sip of her cider. "But, I suppose I could use something more productive to fill up my time..."
"Why don't you open up a restaurant, Crystal?" Fleur said, delighting herself to another gluten free cookie. "You can pull off the business pony look- certainly more than any other mare I know."
"That's very sweet of you, dear." Violet's mom said, waving her hoof. "But... that type of change, after years and years of being a stay-at-home mare? Far too dramatic. I wouldn't be able to handle it."
"Maybe when the girls go off to college... or whatever they plan on doing when they graduate?" Fancy Pants said with a wink to the girls. Technically, they already graduated. But most families didn't consider it official until they got accepted into college, or their name appears in some magazine. 'Twas the Canterlot way. You don't succeed, until you succeed.
"Oh please! Those two will be mooching off me until I use my dusty bones as flour!"
"Hey!" Cloudy said, coughing on her punch.
"Gross." Violet said, scrunching up her nose. She placed her sandwich on her plate, suddenly losing her appetite. Her mother laughed.
"Girls, you know I will always love you." Her kind voice and sunny eyes turned creepy and oddly agitated in an instant. "But know that I'll haunt you till the end of eternity, because I care."
"Mommy, mommy! When's the celebration gonna start?" A tiny filly whined from the other side of the gazebo. Violet looked up towards the skylight. Surely it was about to begin.
"Just a few more minutes, dear" The mother answered. She appeared to be one of Fancy Pants's clients. "And stop ruffling mother's dress."
"Hm? Strange..." Fancy Pants said, looking up towards the sky. "Parchment, check the time, will you? I feel as though something is amiss."
"Oh, don't worry." Yellow Parchment quickly pulled out his pocket watch and flipped open the golden lid. "I'm sure everything is..."
There was silence in the small group of ponies. Though the other mares and stallions were mingling, unaware of the events, the group of grownups and parents sat in a cold quiet. Cloudy saw Violet get up, and wander outside the gazebo.
"Where are you going?" Cloudy asked.
"The celebrations about to begin!" Satin added, a small trickle of urgency in her voice. Her overly information hungry ears picked up the uncomfortable and stiff silence.
"I... I left my water in the balloon. I want to grab it real fast before the sun comes out. I'll... be... be right back." The two ponies quickly picked up Violet's unnaturally tired tone. Her slurred words and almost dazed-sounding voice caused their ears to perk in alarm.
"Are you okay-" Cloudy asked. But her sister was gone. Her body down the steps and headed for their bags.
Cloudy then heard Satin stand up, her white dress rustling in the night breeze.
"Now where are you going?" Cloudy asked.
"I'm going to follow her, of course." Satin answered as though it was obvious. "Clearly, something is wrong. Let's go." Cloudy scrambled to follow.
"Yellow Parchment...?" Fleur asked, oblivious to her step daughter's activities. "What's wrong?"
"Um..." Parchment quickly rattled his watch, as though something was inside and couldn't be shaken out. "My watch is a little bit ahead, is all."
"How much ahead?" Fancy asked. He started unbuttoning his jacket in order to fish out his own watch.
"An hour or so... according to this thing, it was supposed to be sunrise a few minutes ago." He laughed a charmingly awkward laugh, as though it was just a simple mistake. The tension was almost at ease until Fancy Pants spoke.
"As does mine..." Fancy Pants said, looking at his watch as well.
This time, it was Fleur that laughed. "That's impossible, dear! That's the watch I gave you for your birthday! It can't loose track of time I saw the sales pony cast the spell himself!"
"I know." Suddenly the group was silent again. All of them looked up towards the skylight, staring at the stars that didn't seem nearly as bright as what they should have been. The entire night sky seemed threatening and dark, unlike the typical delicate elegance it normally would have been.
"Mom! Mom!" Cloudy sprinted up the steps, causing many of Fancy Pants's clients to huff and gasp in dramatic shock. Once she got close, she barely whispered, making sure that noponies other than them heard. "Mom, we found Violet on the ground by our balloon! She passed out!"
"What!?" Mrs. Sugar's face creased with worry and fear. "Is she alright? How many shifts did she do today?" The group of ponies was already standing and walking down the steps.
"That's just it... it's different..." They all started to run.
"Different?!" Yellow Parchment's gentle demeanor had temporarily disappeared. "Different how?"
But Cloudy didn't need to answer. The group of ponies saw Violet in all of her 'different' glory. It wasn't like the typical scene, where she would fall down in a feint. Beaten down by her talent due to strain.
"My baby!" Mrs. Sugar screamed. She watched her daughter lay on the ground, a menacing blue and black aura pulsing around her. Her body was twitching and spasming, as though it was held down and unable to truly move. Her mouth was hanging open in what appeared to be a silent scream, and her horn was sparking with random and useless magic. The grownups ran to her. Yellow Parchment held her head in his hooves.
"How does she feel?" Mrs. Sugar nearly screamed in her husband's ear.
"Cold..." He kept wiping Violet's face, as though the strange aura was some sort of residue that could be cleaned. "She's sweating... but she feels as cold as ice."
"What's going on?" Fancy Pant's asked. "What kind of spell is this? Who is doing this?"
Before anypony could say anything else, the blue and black smoke started to dissipate. As though it was some sort of living mass, the entire thing lifted up into a cloud, and gracefully drifted into the shadows.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Mrs. Sugar screamed. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and the intense wave of emotion caused her mane to look like glowing pieces of bright yellow amber. After a brief pause, they all just stared at Violet, who was still laying helpless on the ground. She looked... different.
"Celestia..." Yellow cursed, looking down at his daughter's body.
"Come on." Fancy Pants looked behind his shoulder, making sure nopony saw what just happened. "Me and Parchment will carry her. We need to make sure nopony sees." Fleur unbuttoned her cape and draped it over Violet's shivering body. "They'll eat this up. Violet won't have another quiet day in Canterlot if anypony finds out."
The hurried to pick up her light body, carful not to hurt her. Throughout the entire trip home, Mrs. Sugar's, Cloudy's, and Satin's gentle sobs were the only thing the ponies heard. Everypony else was too busy waiting for the sun to rise.
...
"What kind of spell do you think it was...?"
"Both me and Satin Scarf are looking dear, but from what we can tell... there doesn't seem to be any spell like it- if it was even a spell at all..."
"What are you talking about? Of course it was a spell! What else could it be?!-"
"Shush!"
Violet groaned in her sleep. She could hear them, saying things that she could comprehend. Did she want to listen to them? Last time she listened to them, she confused them for her parents, and tried to wake up only to open her eyes and see corpses. There eyes were bulbous and falling out of their sockets, their flesh and skin hanging off in gray, decaying chunks and shreds. But before that, she was frightened and tried to resist the urge to listen, only to be plunged into a seemingly endless darkness, running non-stop for hours trying to find a single spark of light.
"She needs to wake up- those nightmares... they don't seem to end! This isn't healthy!"
"The doctor told us not to wake her up before she's ready. We don't know what happened. For all we know, keeping her asleep could be preventing something else from happening. The best thing we can do is wait until she wakes up on her own."
"I don't trust that doctor. She just barged in here and- bam! Didn't even bother examining her! Just, 'That's in interesting mane color. Where did she get it done?'! Are you kidding me? And once we told her what happened, she acted as though Violet was some sort of beast with a disgusting rash! Didn't even want to touch her-"
"Dear, you need to calm down. You could wake up Violet if you're not careful."
"Maybe that's a good thing!"
There was a sigh. "Let's just wait a little longer. If she doesn't wake up by morning, We'll try to wake her up ourselves. Alright?"
There was a pause. "Alright."
And then there was silence. That was odd. The voices never ended before. This silence was strange and cold. She could almost reach the surface. She could almost tear the cover of sleep and stare at the ceiling of her bedroom. She tried, oh boy did she try. The thought of being dragged into another nightmare sent a heavy wave of dread and cold fear down her spine. But there it was, the feeling of helplessness that was all consuming and impossible to escape. The tug of her hooves, dragging her into another reality... she was getting used to the feeling at this point. What was this, the fifth nightmare that night? Sixth? They all seemed to drag together into a seemingly corrupt timeline, some lasting seconds, while others lasted for years.
Violet felt herself falling. No. Plummeting into a seemingly empty space. The cold wind that pulled her hair upward, desperate to cling to things that weren't there, caused frost to collect on her fur and on her face. Her squeezed her eyes against the harsh wind and opened her mouth to bellow out a scream that would only be stolen by the wind. Her body twisted and spun, out of control and limp.
And then she hit the ground. This was supposed to be the part when you woke up, when you don't feel the pain and find your heart racing and your legs tangled in the bed sheets. But that didn't happen. Not this time.
At first, she didn't feel anything other than the intense wave of shock. She was supposed to wake up! Why didn't she wake up?! Then the endless waves of pain crashed onto her like a thousand boulders. It burned and froze her limbs. She couldn't breathe, her breath was smart and ran away before it could experience the pain with her. She let out a scream, this time it was heard. It echoed and radiated from her like a bomb.
But none of her legs or ribs were broken. It was still a nightmare after all. It was simply taunting her with punishments for a crime she didn't really commit.
She opened her eyes. She was no longer in a black void. Instead, she was in a white room. No windows, no doors, nothing but white walls and a white tile floor. The entire roof was a skylight, and it shined with an artificial white light that immediately made Violet think of sun bleached, abandoned rooms and the smell of disinfectant. She thought of hospitals and metal tools and sun burns and blisters and coursed, burned fur and mane.
She blinked a few times, trying to get used to the harsh light. She saw that she wasn't alone. She froze, terrified.
She was in the middle of the room, and the two corners in front of her had two ponies in them. One of them, the one she automatically recognized as Scarlet Ruby, was bound in chains and standing too still. She looked horrid. Before, she always had a sort of evil elegance in her pretty but harsh features. Now she was near starved, with jagged bones poking out at all angles, and her red mane greasy and unkempt. Her eyes focused on Violet, cold and hard. Deadly. A venomous, evil red that caused Violet's chest to seemingly be filled with ice. She stood, still unmoving, not talking, not even blinking.
In the other corner, was a pony that Violet had never seen before. She was in even worse condition, if that was even possible. She wore a torn, burned, and filthy cloak. Her red mane was the color that reminded Violet of fresh apples left out for too long. Disappointingly rotten. Like, if some pony were to have taken the time to put them away, they would still be beautiful and delicious. Her coat was white, but was patchy in places with burns and stains, revealing the pink and scared skin underneath. Where Scarlet was still and deadly, this mare was animated and moving. She was hardly held down by her chains, which rattled and clanged against each other as she danced in a crazed manner. The dancing was the only thing that could fit the sounds she was making, which was insane laughter and the occasional verse of a some sort of folk song. When she laughed, she showed a set of horribly rotten teeth, black and yellow and gray.
Violet felt the back of her neck prickle. She kept staring at the pony as she jumped and moved without direction. Suddenly, the pony stopped, and stared Violet straight in the eye. Her laughing ended immediately, and her crazed smile faded. All at once, the mare didn't look like an old hag- instead she looked like a pony who was beaten into submission and forced to stay there. Her eyes were sunken in and brimmed with tears. Her body was shaking and weak. The cloak covered her form and draped down to the ground like a blanket coating an innocent filly.
"Moonstone..." The mare whispered. She flinched at the sound of her own voice, which sounded like pain and heartache. She shook her head, clearing it of a thought. "I didn't do anything!" She screamed. "I didn't!"
Suddenly, Scarlet started moving. She ran to the mare, unable to escape her chains. She stood up on her hind legs, stretching her body as far as it could go. She screamed and howled and bared her teeth to the mare who flinched back and cowered like a child afraid of a monster. She spat and foamed at the mouth all the while the hurt mare was cowering in the corner, helpless.
"I swear, I didn't do anything! I'm strong, I promise!" The mare started crying, tears streaming down her scared and ragged cheeks. "I'm strong, I resisted! I promise, I promise!" She held her hooves to Violet, as like a child begging to be picked up and taken away to a safe place. "I'm good! I didn't do anything! I'm strong!" Her voice faded away into mumbles and sobs. Scarlet grew more and more angry, spiting and cursing in the mares direction. "My name is Crimson!.... no... My name is Lilly... Lily Blossom. I... I was captured and forced-"
Scarlet let out a horrid, bloodcurdling scream. Violet tried to run in the direction, but found her hooves caught. She looked down to see thorny stems wrapped around her hooves like rope. Tiny black flowers bloomed around them. They led to the back of the room. When Violet turned her head, eager to see what was holding her in place, she found a wave of black smoke. It twisted and contorted, seemingly unseen by the other mares in the room. They took the shape of a stallion, and gently glided toward her.
"My time is ending..." He whispered. Violet was suddenly alone with him, the other ponies and white room replaced with a familiar living room and kitchen. "My essence is fading away... the last of it will be used tonight, to cure you of your nightmares."
"Cure...?" Violet whispered. "But that means..."
The smoke nodded. "You'll forget... for real this time. You'll remember me... but not me. Same with you to me. We'll meet for the first time soon."
"I don't want to forget." Violet quickly rethought her words when the smoke gave her a look. "I don't want to forget you. You... we've been through so much..."
The smoke tilted his head. "Have we? Weren't you the one who said that it didn't truly matter when neither one us would remember in the end? I can't wait to finally meet you, moon fey."
"Don't go!" Violet felt a lump in her throat as the smoke started to dissipate.
He laughed. "Moon fey, you don't even know my name. I don't even know my name. I don't even have a name!"
"But.. you can't just-"
"I'm not me... I'm just a memory of me. A tiny wisp of spirit, dedicated and hell-bent on protecting you and making sure you and I actually meet. The last traces of a past life, to stubborn to truly fade away and instead chose to help my current life find it's path." He floated down to gently caress her cheek, the last feeling of a kiss Violet was going to get for a long time. "Don't worry, it's better this way..."
And he was gone.
Then Violet woke up.