Nightfall descended on the unnamed forest. Astra was snoozing softly under W's cloak, the silverette still hunched by the fire, staring intensely at the flames, or that's how it appeared to anyone on the outside. Inside she was quite tame, mulling over the new wave of information she had been given just from the arrival of her new... acquaintance, she still wasn't sure what to call him. A human, technically speaking, displaced just like her.
"Level with me," Her voice sounded over the crackling embers, startling Sora from his own trance. "How come I'm the ' Beast of the Everfree'? You're human too, why didn't they draw that obvious conclusion?"
Sora thought for a moment. "It might be because I've always referred to myself as an Aasimar, I have told the likes of Celestia and a few others I'm human," He saw W raise a finger, so he added with an apologetic smile. "Twilight's never met me directly, so she's never known what a human looks like - that, and with your demon-like appearance I think it might have confused ponies if they tried to draw a comparison between us," Then he motioned to her. "I made sure to change that once I heard the report myself."
"Great..." W pouted, looking elsewhere. "You live it up in Canterlot, praised and all, I get treated like I spat in their faces - ungrateful fucks," Shaking her head, W noted his odd expression before quickly adding out of character briefly. "S-sorry, I've only really had a few that I could talk to, and you're like me... I dunno, guess you can get the picture better."
"No-no, it's okay, I... wasn't really accepted for the first few years here, can't say I don't still resent a few ponies either," Sora sighed, rubbing his nape. "It's funny, really, so much has changed yet I don't feel I've really... changed, you know?"
W never spoke, staring through the fire that crackled on to listen to Sora while he allowed his eyes to linger on the sky above the trees. "...before this world, I had a pretty normal life, not some rich family's son or poor beyond measure, just... ordinary," He smiled. "I always liked mythology and fairy tales though, the idea of... falling into those worlds excited me, a place beyond our own yet so similar,"
His hand reached up, reminiscing without concern for W's thoughts, afraid that if he looked he'd see how annoyed she was by his rambling. "One of them feels like it's back to haunt me though, 'A girl fled from the consequence of a choice, having never learned from her mistake she only succeeded in spreading it', my... Mom said that the day before I went to that stupid festival I..." He closed his eyes, shaking out a sigh. "It feels like I've been doing exactly what that girl did in the story,"
"You feel like you ran from your mundane life, instead of trying to make it something more," Hearing her verbal reply, Sora met her ember eyes masked by the flames, and the soft frown on her lips. "You worry you'll turn out like the girl in this story, making things worse for others around you but look at you, dude-" She motioned to Sora with a chuff. "You're an Aasimar in Equestria, and you seemed to have it easy compared to my first few weeks here... just because you've spent years wondering if you made the wrong choice, how about focusing on what you can earn from the ones you have."
Sora stared deeply through the fire, his understanding of his actions led to the events of his life now in this world, and yet, she just dismantled his darker take on his new life in one answer. It wasn't a complete fix but... he smiled, genuinely, "Thanks I... I think that's a good way to start," W's tail flicked with her humorous huff, choosing to lie on her back, arms crossed behind her head. "So... what about you?"
"What about me?" W snorted, "What's there to know about a nobody?" He to him the venom in her tone meant it was a sore spot. "I'm W now, who I am before doesn't matt-"
"I think it matters," Sora added quickly but with a steady voice. Even if W was innocent in his eyes, her mentality on people outside of Astra and a few was very thin, if he said the wrong thing it could set her off. "If... if the person you were before didn't matter, then how come you're here? I doubt you knew the Merchant was the real deal, like me, and I was ten." Rationalizing his question, he worried she might snap, her body barely even flinched.
"Like I said, what about me?" W repeated again, staring up at the stars angrily, feeling only embarrassment at even recalling her old life that felt so much farther away. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows either. "A nobody with very little socially, a blank slate, who cares?" Did she hate herself? Maybe years ago she wouldn't be so callous, the ponies certainly didn't help, even prior to them, her teenage life had been a living hell, in her perspective.
When her head turned briefly, she chuckled, "What's with that face, Wing-Boy?" Sora's face was upset slightly, more-so for the girl he watched spit nothing but venom back at herself. W turned her head to the sky, eyes hazy. "Expecting some emotional breakdown of how fucked up my life was? How I was bullied for not following the status quo?" Now her nails dug into the soil. "How, even clawing for a scrap of respect, left me feeling worse about myself?" Her voice rose, then she brought it down, remembering Astra was sleeping.
A silence passed between them and the fire before W moved again. She sat up, running her left hand over her respective horn, feeling its smooth groove down to the tip. "When I picked up that scarf, it felt..."
"Right," Her ember orbs met aqua, the Aasimar nodding slowly. "I... was offered this sword," He held up the silver blade in its scabbard. "Hehe, how crazy is that? The very replica of the one I gave myself in DnD, my very first weapon and I never knew."
"But it felt right," W concluded with a sigh, hand now brushing across the scarf. "Someone else is suffering too, he picked up an item before me," Her heart twisted slightly. "I wonder if he's here too?" It was an impossible idea, but after seeing Sora, maybe not. "Tch, here I am placing bets on improbabilities like I'm some sage - Nah, that's Lil Miss Seer over there," Her tail prodded toward Astra.
Sora watched W's smile rest assuringly at Astra, then looked to the slumbering pony. He remembered that day so vividly. How Twilight, Rainbow and Cliffheart were... so unrecognizable to him. He's seen and heard of them both for so long, but those ponies... they weren't the ones he cared for or admired, just... twisted. All because of that same Merchant that tore them away to this world, and now he was beginning to poison it.
"You care alot for her," W nodded slowly to his words, unable to see his smile and kind eyes. "She defended you and you fought for her, but you never took any lives - even if you wanted to."
"And I did, I... could so very easily do that," The way her voice trembled, it was as if she was afraid of the idea herself. "It's his fault, but... but they..."
"I know-"
"Don't give me that bullsh-"
"Look, I get it because I do understand," Sora kept his word in firmly, hand to his heart as her blazing eyes crossed with his. "I might not have been hunted or hurt the way you were, but I was an outcast for so long, Celetias could have just locked me away, but she didn't, she worked with me and helped me when no one would so much as spare me a second - I relied on her, just like you rely on Astra to keep you grounded."
"To what exactly? Who I was before? To some moral guideline of good and evil?" W scoffed, but Sora never once looked jaded by her sharp remarks, in fact, he sat back reassuringly.
"To your humanity when no one else could."
It was a long time since anything people said to W struck her. Maybe it was all because he was a human, the first human she's met in so long and a nice one at that. A small part of her didn't believe it, not in everything Sora said he was, it was all too good to be true. Yet, she had been around Zecora, Astra, and Mir. Nothing they said ever really struck W though, nothing that she could honestly admit to having taken to heart. It made her feel awful at times, deep down.
With that, W grabbed two spare blankets, nothing fancy or heavy but it kept the cold out atleast. Tossing one over the fire, Sora jumped as he fumbled about to catch it. By then, W already rolled it out and threw it over herself, turning away from the fire. "I think we're done for the night - you can argue philosophy with me tomorrow, Wing-Boy."
"Y-yeah, okay," Defeated, he knew arguing further wouldn't help, frustrating as it may be. He didn't really plan out how he'd go about speaking with W, anxiety, and fear ran rampant, especially after seeing her in action. On her own, W was a force of nature compared to him, his only real advantage was to rely on his wings and swordsmanship. Tucking the rough fabric close to his body, he tried to get comfortable on the rough dirt patch, using his own bag as a pillow.
...
...
...
"Sora?" His eyes crept open, peeking over his shoulder to the back of W still turned his way, the tail wrapping around like a belt to her waist. "Do you really think someone like me is worth trying to help?" His breath hitched, remaining silent in his loss of words. W chuckled. "Figures, making this up as you go..." His head sunk at her hollow tone, ashamed to have hesitated at all. "Well, g'night then."
Silence passed and after risking alot to find her, Sora finally spoke up. "Yes, without question." Strong and assertive in every word that defined him to this point. "A-and goodnight too."
He couldn't see it, but a tiny smile broke W's facade, her tensed form finally relaxing. "...thank you."
Somewhere...
The barren landscape was littered with blood, weapons, and black crystals, all slowly beginning to dissolve into dust. A long blade lit with smoldering embers tore across the sand, fanning flames and a dust cloud through scores of Infected, their bodies crumbling to ash in an instant. The blade plunged forward, sending a slither of flames in a wave fashion through two red Slugs, their dark puddles of acid evaporating under the glare of the heated blade. One slanted slam dispersed the sand cloud, flinging the burning Infected away from the host of the sword, its fire extinguished.
Wading through the devastation of corpses and twisted abomination was a lone pony clad in rigid, badly worn, and charred armor. A strong field of orange magic clutching the longsword with a metal curve coiled around the blade that was dragged through the dunes, disturbing the crimson sand. A faint trace of embers flickered and died once it left their armor with every step and pull of the dry wind resonating from the dark skies above, roaring in reverence at the death and chaos sown into the badlands.
*Bzzt-Zap*
The sound and sensation drew their sword forward, barely grazing the magical appearance of a scroll stained with the seal of the Royal Guard. Lowering their guard, they took the scroll in their magic, embedding the tip of the sword into the sand. Unrolling the scroll, the unicorn read the words quickly and without a stutter. One, long nod of understanding passed, almost as if it was a puppet on strings.
"I see..." His aged voice murmured through the slits in the helmet's visor. Pocketing the scroll into some mysterious storage, his magic wrenched the coiled sword from the sand, a small flourish of heat expelling from their movements through the vanishing corpses, embers dancing around his form. "For the Light of Equestria, I will slay this 'Beast'."
Yet, with every hoof that disturbed the sand, faint sparkles of glass were left in his wake.
To Be Continued...