It played on loop, over and over.
W leapt across rooftops like a spider-themed vigilante. Webbing replaced with sheer force behind toned muscle.
The voices kept crying out, echoing all around.
Her feet slid over tiles, every uneven surface grooved to her boots, a tail curved to balance against the uneven material that quickly flew away from her feet.
Not a single night had passed she didn't feel her heart pounding, every creak and snap frightening her eardrums.
Landing with a solid thud, W was certain no one saw her. Her body felt grimy, it had been that way for several days now. No matter how much she bathed, it wouldn't completely purify her skin. Muck and bits of gravel were buried deep in her silvery hair, now a dirtied brown. Her clothing was in desperate need of needlework, holes, burns, the occasional spot of blood. Yeah, she looked like shit.
The bag over her shoulder made her balance sway, same for her duffle bag. Both were vital, a necessity to clear her thoughts of bitterness for one night. That's all, just one lapse of peace over the constant storm that swirled around her life. Two bored, exhausted eyes that reflected embers were on high alert despite the state she was in. Antenna twitching to the slightest noise, her horns itchy.
W was close, just a few houses away and -
Something heavy, fast, and obnoxious struck her lower back, tossing herself and her 'procured goods' across the muck below. She hated the aftermath of the rainfall for this very reason. Throwing herself onto her toes immediately, she swiveled and pointed her grenade launcher at her attacker, panting like a cornered animal. "You seriously have bad manners, Skittles,"
"Pah, like you're on to talk!" From above, that annoying blue pegasus had been watching W's attempts to slip away unseen. She'd give the monster credit, she was good at it until today, her mistake was thinking Rainbow would be anywhere but the clouds. She had a job, not that W could recall. "What's wrong? You usually go all rabid by no - hey!" She dodged what appeared to be a knife wedged in the tower behind her.
"Fuck. Off." W was tied, hungry, dirty, and irritated. Cracking a forced grin, she chuckled. "I'm feelin' mighty generous today, Crash, wanna call it quits while I'm ahead? Save you the hospital bill when you wake up from a coma."
"As if!" She charged, typical.
W avoided her assault, or she thought she had, slipping in the mud as her face became cold and wet, and pain flared in her back again. That pegasus had kicked her real good this time, so much so W was certain her ribs were close to breaking. Managing a strained wheeze, she snaked her tail around Rainbow's right foreleg, twisting the mare off her and into a nearby barrel, seeing her shatter the object as W scrambled to grab her things.
"Get back here!" Rainbow's cry was met with a smoke bomb between her hooves, blinding the mare as W heaved the two bags into her aching arms. Inside the dirty burlap sack were a few apples, other odd trinkets and tools, and most importantly, a few pink, blue, and green bars of soap. Tightening the string, W heaved it over her shoulder, wincing as it rubbed against one of her bruises but she knitted her teeth and pushed off her good foot. She needed to run, her energy was spent today as is.
That's right, she ran, as fast as her burning legs could go.
She had to hide. She needed to shelter herself in ruins.
W wanted her revenge, she craved it.
Aoi just wanted them to leave her alone.
Both wanted to scream until their lungs bled.
"No!" Again, Aoi shot up from her bed, covered in sweat that thankfully didn't cling to her shirt, since that was discarded in her sleep by her own body's wishes. She sat there, tucking her knees up as she yanked the only thing she could think to comfort her. That same rugged scarf Kranon had tricked her into buying. Despite that memory, it gave her strength, it warded off her nightmares, it drugged her on a power she could never imagine obtaining as some run-of-the-mill high school girl.
Her breathing was shaky, she was shivering at the memory. It wasn't the worst one she's had, but it was enough to make her heart leap to her throat, her skin itch, her teeth hurt. Burying her face into the article of clothing, Aoi wanted to scream so badly. Her parents would immediately come to her aid, worried again as to why their daughter was curled up in the corner of her room, threatening the shadows around her like they held her at spearpoint, burned her wrists and ankles with magic. Made her feel like a monster in her own skin.
She hated them all. If not for Kranon threatening her home, her family, she would've done it. Razed the whole kingdom of those pastel-colored ponies until they were forced to live in ruins, starving like animals. She would show them how weak they were, how powerless one person could make them. W wouldn't care for power or domination, she wanted a fair take, they should feel a fraction as she had those long, cold, lonely days.
So wrapped up in her own head, Aoi didn't realize her door had opened and closed. Standing before her with those big, silver eyes visible between soft white bangs. "Mama?" That one word made Aoi's stomach twist as she found herself unable to crack a grin.
Nothing was said before Astra had latched herself around Aoi, burying her face against the older girl's chest as her small arms locked around her back tightly under Aoi's arms. Astra could see it, the torment that swallowed the light from Aoi's eyes, the despair, hatred, and pain that continued to haunt her mother figure night after night. Sora didn't know, rather, he knew only the surface-level of what his lover was going through.
Aoi broke, burying her head against the little girl's as her own arms scooped Astra close in terror, sobbing just quietly enough not to arouse suspicion from the other occupants in the house. A small, honest soul had unknowingly saved W and Aoi that fateful day that felt so long ago. She was timid, curious, and lost. The little filly stuck to W like glue, she saw W for who she was, where so many lies and deceptions would tell otherwise. This one girl held together the stitches in Aoi's heart, allowing the scars to fade with time.
"There, there," Astra whispered, patting her mother's back. She smiled, nuzzling closer to the girl she looked up to needing that same level of security as she did in Equestria. "I love you."
"Heh *sniff*... me too *hic*," Aoi murmured, kissing the top of Astra's head. She didn't feel like sleeping for a while, but she was okay with that, so long as Astra got a good night's rest that would put the girl's mind at ease.
Though, no one said she had to do that just yet.
End