Violet Lace

by DemonAngel13

Fragments of the Day

"So, let's see here..."

"Marty, if you make me forget one of my books, I'll never forgive you." Violet said jokingly.

"Now, now, scamp." Marty Graw said in his usual Cajun twang. "I just wanna offer you a deal." He pushed the tattered novels her way. "These books have been requested to be thrown away by many of our customers. I figured, what with that exam next week, that you would be interested."

"Thrown away...?" Violet looked at the books curiously. Obviously, they were spell books, they were always spell books. "Really?"

Violet shook her head. As kind as the offer always was, it never seemed to settle correctly. This happened every time Violet wandered into Marty's book store. He always offered her spell books, and they always ended up making her feel abnormal.

Magic had its rules. If a pony thought about it a certain way, one could even say that memorizing the rules of magic was easy. Violet always considered magical abilities to be on a spectrum. Others thought of magic as like a tree, with different branches and leaves and fruit. Some thought of it as like a tier system, with certain unicorns being at certain levels and being capable of doing more magic than other unicorns who were at the bottom.

Some days, Violet thought the tier system was the most similar to her way of thinking about it. Other days, the tree seemed to be closer. Today, it happened to be a strange combination of the two. Marty had that ability, especially with spell books. He always made her think that, if she tried hard enough, she could jump from branch to branch, and climb higher up the tree, or go to a certain end of the spectrum with practice.

Violet's spectrum seemed to satisfy her needs well enough. It was always what she ended up relying on, even when magic seemed utterly unfathomable. It was simple, but could easily become complicated when it needed to.

At one end of the spectrum, were unicorns that were capable of using complicated, powerful, and abundant amounts of magic. Though Violet hadn't particularly met a unicorn with freakishly impressive abilities, she's certainly heard about them. One specifically left her relieved, while the other students fumed with jealously. It was some 'Twinkle Glitter' individual testing room 3a. She supposedly hatched a dormant dragon egg, caused said dragon to age significantly within a matter of seconds, turn living ponies into house plants, and caused a large amount of damage to the classroom's roof in the process. Violet, though admittedly impressed, was more frightened than anything. Hence the relieved feeling when it was officially announced that the unicorn would officially become Celestia's personal student about a year ago. Violet had enough problems at the time. Concussion by falling rubble did not need to be added to the list.

At the other end of the spectrum, were unicorns like Satin. Now, Violet was more than quick to defend her friend's abilities, as well as her many other talents. But she also wasn't one to deny that Satin's magical ability was one of the lowest on record. Satin, as brilliant as she was, could only perform basic levitation. This was because of genetics, what with her mother being a pegasus, and her father being an average (magically speaking) unicorn. Much to Shimmering's dismay, this also made her thinner, lighter, and more delicate in appearance than the already demure looking average unicorn. Of course, genetics weren't the only thing that could cause this. It could be a fluke, it could be bad luck, it could be good luck. It really didn't matter.

The only thing that frustrated Violet about her spectrum, was the fact that she couldn't put herself on it. Even before her talent, which only seemed to complicate things further, she had never been able to identify her magical ability. When she saw other unicorns push their limits, they always held the same characteristics afterwards. Sweaty brows, heavy breathing, and an expression that made other ponies feel as though they needed to call the medics. Or, at the very least, get a pillow for them to land on.

Violet never reached that stage. She pushed herself. She felt like she knew her limit when she was using magic, but she never seemed as tired when she reached it. It was like there was some sort of wall, blocking her from reaching her full potential. And now, with her unique talent giving her new abilities when she let her guard down, she was even more confused. She supposed this was why she kept trying to use spells that she knew she would never be able to complete. Like, maybe if she found a specific spell that she could do, and only she could do, it would give her some answers.

"Aw, come on cher." Marty begged. "What's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work, bam! You got yourself a doorstop!"

Violet narrowed her eyes at Marty's words. "Marty... why do I keep coming back if you disrespect my hobbies every time?"

"My charming smile, and quick wit." He smiled. His bright white teeth stood out against his green coat.

"Naw..." Violet said, mimicking his Cajun accent. "I think that you might of put some sort of voodoo curse on me."

Marty's smile faded. "Now, shrimp, we don't talk 'bout that art." He leaned in close. "It makes the shadows angry."

"The shadows...?" Violet would never admit it, but she found Marty hilarious when he got like this. It was so different from his usual behavior, that it seemed not only funny, but odd and entertaining. "That some sort of...monster?"

"The worst of its kind!" Marty said, his serious expression flickering like a loosely wired light. "They say that when you's sleepin', it comes into your room and wears your skin like a suit."

"Gross." Violet said, picking up the books that Marty had offered her.

"Legend has it that they control you, and make you do bad things while you's dreamin'. It makes your wildest nightmares come true."

"Oooooh!" Violet said in mock horror. "I'll keep an eye out." She placed the books she bought on her back, then levitated her new spell books on top of them.

Marty chuckled. "Well, I gave them all of my candy one nightmare night. So don't worry cher, ain't no shadows of the swamps goin' to snatch you up tonight."

"Are you requesting a thank you?" Violet asked, walking out the door.

"No." He said. He then shouted as the door closed behind her. "Just some recognition!"

..

"Hey." Cloudy said as Violet walked into Doughnut Joes.

"You took longer than usual." Satin said. She lightly drizzled her powdered doughnut with lemon syrup. "Mr. Graw con you again?"

"N-..." Violet blushed. "... Yes."

"You should really be focusing more on your mathematics, Violet." Satin said, shaking her head. "It's your weakest class."

"Yeah, well..." Violet hastily motioned for Joe to give her the usual. "I'm studying for the magic portion of the test."

"You don't need to study for that." Satin said, taking a small bite of her snack. "You need to spend what little time you have left efficiently."

"I still don't understand why they take everything away tomorrow." Cloudy said. She ended the sentence with a look of despair.

"It prevents cheating, supposedly." Satin answered. She shoved the last of her pastry in her mouth and dug her nose back into her textbook. Violet didn't know why she was reading. She already knew all of the material. Anyway, she wasn't going to look back up until they were leaving,

"Still... " Cloudy said, pushing a loose lock of her mane behind her ear. "It doesn't seem fair. I'll forget all of this material in a week."

"Cloudy..." Violet sighed. "I don't think you need to stress over this kind of thing."

"Why's that?" Cloudy asked. She got fed up with the brave lock falling between her eyes. She began redoing her braid.

"Well... you just need to pass one test out of five." Violet put her books down on the counter. "You're a shoo-in for the arts department."

"What about us? Do you think you'll succeed in magic?" Cloudy asked, eyeing Violet's stack of books.

"I don't know..." Violet answered. "As for us... well... I believe there's only a few differences in the magic department and the arts department. Unlike the sports and athletics part of the school, that's separated by fences and spend most of its classes outside."

"So... we'll still have classes together if you get in?" Cloudy asked excitedly.

"Oh! Yeah, totally." Violet answered quickly. "In fact, I think that if I pass, I'll we'll only have one class apart."

"Yes!" Cloudy punched the air above her head with happiness. After a few moments, she grew somber. "It sucks that they don't have a writing test. You would be amazing at that..."

"Well..." Violet eyed her cutie mark. "I don't know about that. If they did have a test like that, there's no guarantee that I would be able to write that day. The characters might want to rest that day, you know."

Cloudy shrugged. "It would still take a lot of stress off of you."

"Yeah..." Violet remembered when Mrs. Quill told her the news. She originally wanted to pass the art test, for visual media. But Violet couldn't work with paint, or sculpt, which were the only categories. She could only sketch with a pencil, and maybe a piece of charcoal. "Can't disagree with you there."

"Hmmm..." Cloudy hummed.

"Hey." Violet said, not wanting her sister to be in a bad mood. "You only have a day left. Study your plays or whatever."

Cloudy laughed. "I think I'm going to try out for Ismene." She picked up her script. "Again, it sucks that we have such a short time to learn our lines, but I think I can get it down."

"You'll do good." Violet supported. She picked up one of her spell books and let her eyes travel over symbols and spells. She instantly felt a headache. "I believe in you."

"I wish we could do the whole play, instead of five minutes..." Cloudy whined before she continued memorizing.

...

It was almost dinner time, and Violet was reaching the limits of her patience.

To her left, a stack of spell books towered over her and almost touched the low ceiling of the bedroom. A few shelves of her bookshelf were bare, and few loose pages had fallen out to settle sadly on the floor. To her right, were the last three books she had. Cleaning spells, which she knew she could do, but were worthless as far as passing the test. Plant manipulation, which she never tried. And a book that...she didn't know what it was because she couldn't even get it open. It was locked, without a lock, believe it or not. It was held shut, with a simple strap of fabric that couldn't be cut and a white stone that couldn't be cracked, no matter how hard she tried.

"I saw it move." Cloudy said from her bed. Her lines were memorized, and her thin script was laying by her hooves.

Violet groaned in frustration. "I know it moved, but it needs to disappear!"

"Try again?" Cloudy suggested. "Maybe fifth times the charm."

"No..." Violet gave up. It was the last day of their weekend. And the last day before they had where their 'anti-cheating charms'. "It's pointless. Unless I can force, like, five embodiments, I'm screwed."

"It... you can use magic, Violet." Cloudy said, not giving up. "Satin herself said that you didn't have to study for that portion of the test. I've seen you. You're very talented. You're just stressing yourself out. You need to relax."

"I can't relax." Violet said. Once that necklace was around her neck, she couldn't look at any of her previously studied material. Cloudy couldn't look at her lines. And Violet didn't know what Satin was going to do for the week... considering the fact that she seemed to have looked at everything.

"Look... they can't just send you away. If you explain the situation-"

"Do you honestly think that they're going to believe me?" Violet said. She hopped onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow.

"Well..." Cloudy sighed. She and Violet had already had this discussion. She still couldn't explain her talent. It wasn't because nopony would understand, or like, or even exploit her talent. It was because Canterlot ponies had a hard time dealing with other ponies abilities. Oh, a super talented unicorn from Phillydelphia has super powerful teleportation magic? Well, clearly that must be an exaggeration. Nopony could be that powerful and talented and amazing and not be from Canterlot.

Even know, Violet grimaced at the irony and hypocrisy. Canterlot ponies were masters at exaggeration. The statement that they don't exaggerate was an exaggeration! She hid her face in her lace pillow again.

Though Violet was technically a Canterlot pony, born and raised, her new 'relocation', as Fancy Pant's called it, left others either suspicious or giving her the look of envy. Not many ponies knew that she lived with Cloudy. In fact, most were quick to say that she lived in Fancy Pants' manner. Out of those who did know, only a few of them knew the truth about the adoption. Those who didn't thought it was just a fluke that she managed to move in next door. Ever since, those ponies looked at Mr. Parch and Mrs. Sugar with looks of curiosity and adoration, figuring that they secretly worked for Fancy Pants' new company and were 'undercover', for the sake of finding the latest trends.

With her new 'status', she had to tread carefully. A few of her classmates were starting to question her writing abilities, as well as her sketches. A few of them had even accused her of cheating. They couldn't believe that she could be better than them, because she was no longer a Canterlot pony in their eyes. They also bothered Cloudy, as well as Satin on occasion, but all three of them were more than willing to agree that Violet got the worst of it all.

So now, here she was, laying on her bed as her mom called her down for dinner. They told her the same things. To always try her best, and never give up hope. She had talent, but she was simply worrying herself to the point where she couldn't wield it. All she needed to do was calm herself down, and everything would be alright.

She groaned again as she got under her covers that night. She had just attempted the plant manipulation spell, the most basic that the book could provide, but it too ended up in a bust. She could slightly curl the leaves, and make the plant tremble, but she couldn't make it grow. It was a failure.

Silently, as to not wake up her sister that was sleeping a few hoof steps away, she ground her teeth and punched her pillow. She felt like a hypocrite, telling Cloudy that she shouldn't worry about her test, and it now being the only thing she could think about. It kept buzzing around her head, like a wasp, and it stung her mind whenever she thought about the possibility that she could fail. The feeling of dread and the fear of failure feeling like cold ice cubes getting painfully stuck on the lining of her stomach. Her body felt weak, and was shaking. It was like she was disconnected from life, and everything stable that she was only recently able to obtain.

Suddenly, without warning, she saw something flicker across her vision. She looked up, and saw it again. A faint shine, or sparkle that flittered and flew across the room. She looked around, and after a moment, only saw her elongated shadow that found its home in the corner of the room. It slipped and sled across the walls like some sort of assassin, eager to stay out of sight.

She looked up towards the window. Her bed was the closest, and was completely engulfed in moonlight. It was a full moon tonight, and the larger white orb floated innocently in the sky, like a bubble that would never pop. The craters and dark spots created the outline of a unicorn. It was a face that Violet always associated with herself. She always found the moon to be a large igniter of inspiration, so the shape was familiar, and trustworthy.

"Help me." She whispered. "Please... I can't loose this." She looked towards Cloudy. "I can't be separated from her... I can't go to a separate school. I can't even go to different classes... Help me, please."

There was a moment of silence. Violet just simply stared at the moon, thinking that, even if it didn't work, she could get some security in asking. Maybe Celestia would hear her, and offer her aid. Maybe some sort of moon fairy would catch a wisp of her plea, and give her a hoof. Perhaps, even the Mare in the Moon could hear her cries, and sing her lullabies to give her strength.

She saw the flicker again, and quickly swiveled her head to see it. Her eyes landed on her mane. It looked startlingly silver in the light, and almost shocked her by its own beauty. She had never been apart of something so pretty before. She held it in her hooves, and watched as it shifted from pinks to purples to blues to greens as she turn and twisted it around. She must have been dreaming. That was it. She had fallen asleep.

In blissful denial, she figured she might as well end the dream, and face her fears boldly. It was weird. A new found confidence filled her chest, and almost bordered on excitement for tomorrow morning. If she wasn't going to pass her test, she was going to look it in the eye and give it her all. She got under her covers, and rested her head on her pillow.

Before she closed her eyes, however, her gaze landed on the last spell book sitting on her desk. The stone that refused to open the leather bound pages glimmered and shone like her mane.

Her eyes grew heavy, and she felt her dream ending. But, before her mind could wander into a new one, her ears twitched.

Click.

...

"Alright class, quiet down now." Miss. Quill shouted loudly. She hovered in the air, her large wings looking intimidating and strong. The students quickly stopped their conversations.

"As you all know," She began. "The test to choose your next step in this fine school are to be taken within a week's time. That being said, we must officially begin the 'drying' week. This week, will deny you of all studying materials in order to assure that there are no cheaters, as well as the fact that you have officially learned the materials you were given to study."

The door to the classroom opened. Two large unicorn stallions entered the room. They both wore the royal insignia on their chests, and both had a gold ring on their horns.

"These fine stallions are to enchant all students in this classroom with an anti-information spell." She explained.

Violet looked at the two unicorns that stood directly in front of her. They were large, and the rings that surrounded their horns told her how powerful they could be.

"The spell will instantly know what information you have studied, and where you studied it from. It will prevent you from opening another book on the subject, or the same book on a different subject. Due to the forms that your parents and guardians have signed, this is something that is perfectly reasonable within Equestrian law, and it needs to be drawn to attention that in the fact of an emergency, that the spell would be lifted."

Violet felt herself shrinking in her seat. She saw Cloudy and Satin doing the same.

"If your test are in the categories that require your use of a particular object, the spell will be momentarily lifted during the testing period. You will also be given a duplicate that is certified for the testing, if need be. Examples include: sports equipment, magical dummies, and mareniquins." She cleared her throat, ending her speech. "Is that clear?" Nopony in the room spoke.

"Good." She said. She motioned for the two stallions to begin. "I trust that you and your parents have discussed this matter in better detail with the handouts I gave you a few weeks prior."

The two stallions started to activate their spell. The horns that were adorned with gold rings shimmered with a bright white hue. Violet felt a tightening in her skull, as though somepony was tying a ribbon around her head. Tightly. Soon the same sensation appeared in her hooves. Only this time, the feeling lingered for longer. Violet couldn't help but think of them as shackles and chains, preventing her from moving forward.

"Why did our parent's sign up for this?" Cloudy whispered as soon as the spell was over.

"I bet it seems reasonable for them. My father went through this process once. He survived. I'm sure we'll be fine." Satin said calmly. She subconsciously rubbed her hooves. "The only thing left is to relax."

"Easier said than done." Violet mumbled. Both of her friends heard her, she was certain.

"Well... " Satin said, after a long pause. "I... actually had something in mind for the next week or so... If you two would like to join me?"

"What do you mean?" Cloudy asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Father says that the best way to ensure a good score is to get plenty of relaxation the week before. And... he noticed that we have been hanging out together recently." She swallowed. She was still struck her with small her bouts of anxiety from time to time. "He wanted me to invite you and your parents on a trip."

"A trip?" Violet asked. "Where would we go?"

"We have a small vacation house near the coast." She straightened her scarf. It was new. Violet and Cloudy had bought it for her when they made their friendship official. "We could go there."

"Ooh!" Cloudy said in awe. "The ocean!" She looked towards Violet. "Violet, we just have to go!"

"I..." One look into Cloudy's eyes, and Violet was done for. "We'll have to see what mom and dad say."

Cloudy pumped the air in success. "We're going to the ocean. We're going to the ocean!"

...

It was night. Or, it might as well have been, given the lighting. It was black, and the miniscule amount of light that somehow managed to crawl its way up into the inky blackness quickly dispersed out of fear.

A lone pony trotted though an alley. Though the pony itself would never be caught with this type of atmosphere, she was pushed to her limits. She needed to settle things that needed to be settled. That was that. She was willing to accidently step into some unnamed substance, and startle a few rats in order to deal with business.

Shimmering lowered her hood. Her bright red mane contrasted strangely with the green and black atmosphere.

"Crimson?" She called. Her nasally voice echoed against the chipping walls that surrounded her. "Crimson Eye. I know you're here. We made a deal."

There was a loud thud. Pony dressed in a ragged cloak had fallen, seemingly out of mid-air, only to land gracefully on her hooves behind Shimmering.

"If it isn't the poisoned apple..." Crimson said in greeting. Her voice came out like razor blades and broken glass. It seemed painful for the pony to even talk. Even with the heavy cloak, it was clear that the pony was malnourished and borderline starving. Her bony shoulders and hips stuck out like that of a cow's.

"Crimson." Shimmering said in a demanding tone. "I need you to settle something for me."

"What else is new?" The pony spat. She began coughing. It was vile and disgusting for even the rats to bare. Some fled. One of them crawled into a leaking pipe that led into the building to Shimmering's right.

Shimmering reached into the pocket of her bright pink coat. She pulled out a baggy, containing three hairs. One white, another gray, and the last one was gold.

"Oh?" The pony eyed the bag with wonder. "A lovely little snack for the weak old hag? How charming!" She levitated the bag. Her magic was a horrid looking burnt red. Her red eyes glowed from under the cloak, dangerous and threatening.

"I need you to take care of them." Shimmering said, sounding bored. "You always do the finest job, making sure no evidence is left behind."

"Hypnotism is the best form of magic, isn't it?" Crimson said, dazed. She plucked out the hairs, and quickly placed them on a partially drooling tongue. "I don't have to do any work! They all jump off the cliff for me!" She exploded into a fit of crackles and wheezes. All the while, she rolled the hairs in her mouth, seemingly enjoying their flavor.

"Y...yes..." Shimmering agreed. She was becoming disgusted. She had known Crimson for as long as she could remember, and she never got used to her vile smile or appearance. "Just get it done. I don't even want them to take the test next week." She started smoothing her mane. "Having lame-brain ponies like them near me is bound to make me fail! They're probably going to cheat off me anyway."

"So be it." Crimson said. And with that, Shimmering sauntered off. She had to be home before her father went to bed. She didn't want to go to all this trouble, only to be grounded. She wanted to see the action as it was happening. It was more entertaining that way.

"That filly..." Crimson muttered to herself once she was alone. A sickening smile split her face in two, showing yellow and black teeth. "She's the finest little brat that ever joined our little clan." She chuckled. "She'll make a fine bride."

Suddenly, without warning, a sharp pain appeared in her rotting mouth. She quickly spat out the hairs. One hair, the silver one, glowed in the green light and caused ripples to appear in the puddle it landed in. Crimson watched as the puddle became less clouded, and the bright moon and hundreds of stars appeared in it's reflection.

"What's this?" Crimson said. She laughed more manically than before. "The poison apple found it's worm!" She started dancing, her hooves splashing and spraying the now pure water around the alley. More rats scuttled off. A stray cat joined them. Her raspy voice started singing tunelessly. "Both shall rot and both shall die. One without clearly knowing why. Both shall fall and both shall fight. One will fight for the night. Both shall gain glory and gold. Just like the stories of old!"

Her crackles and insane laughter filled the dirty alley way. Only the moon saw her. Only the moon saw her dancing with happiness and betrayal. For once, in her old and wicked life, Crimson had found the small spark of sanity she needed to set things in motion.

Comments

[Akernis]

"Twinkle Glitter" XD - Well, we have Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, all three being experts at magic, I am not surprised her name got confused like that. Which helps narrow down the time of the story. It has to be after Twilight position as Celestia's student, but before her ascension to an Alicorn. I can't recall if the story ever mentioned one or two princesses, which would narrow it down further... hmm... must keep searching for clues.
It's... almost weird to see Satin with them, after it has only been the two of them for over twenty chapters, weird, but in a good way.
"I think I'm going to try out for Ismene." .... is it bad that I know exactly which character, in which play, by which playwright that is?
Ugh, I have a test coming up, I feel for them.
'Nopony could be that powerful and talented and amazing and not be from Canterlot.' - *Hiss*, I have nothing against Canterlot, but some of the ponies there could use some humility, to say the least.
Hah! Ask, and be answered. Dark spots on the moon, so Nightmare Moon has yet to escape her prison. I wonder if this story will intersect with the event of the show. Hmm...
"Maybe Celestia would hear her, and offer her aid." - uh oh. Careful, Violet, if you ask upon the moon, before Luna is turned back to herself, I doubt it will be Celestia who answers, but an Alicorn with a coat as black as midnight, and a heart just as dark.
"even the Mare in the Moon could hear her cries, and sing her lullabies to give her strength." - Please don't tempt fate, Violet. I think lullabies are the last thing on her mind. - Damn, this chapter took a dark turn in my mind.
Well, well, well, since the story snippets with Luna, this is the first time supernatural magic starts to take effect in the story.
That seems like hard measure for a school. But certainly interesting, I'll give you point for creativity :)
"We'll have to see what mom and dad say." - Awww :)
A trip to the ocean with with the family and Satin and hers, sounds sweet!'
... Crimson Eye? Okay... now we go from petty squabbles to something that is actually legitimately dangerous. For all that I dislike her, I wouldn't call Shimmering evil by any means, but she is treading a very fine line indeed. But I get the feeling she has no idea what she is actually dealing with. This chapter is taking a dark turn, good to know it wasn't just my thoughts.
But Crimson is clearly up to no good at all. Also, allow me to commemorate you on that character, she seem like a really vile, disgusting thing. Revulsion without it seeming exaggerated can be a hard balance to find. Nice work.
Let's just say that this chapter took a turn for the dramatic.