Just keep running, that's all she had to do was keep moving, they'd be behind her, one step away. Aoi needed time, needed a place to take stock of her situation, then she could plan her next move. Stumbling through the Everfree, she knew none had the balls to come in here, they all called it 'unnatural' or 'untamed', like forests weren't that already. Aoi scoffed at it but continued to stomp through the mud and through bushes, fumbling around in the gloomy woods; once more, thankful for W's sharper vision.

Next move? What was she supposed to do now? They wanted her captured and thrown away to be prodded, most likely, but she couldn't survive out here on nothing. A light laugh caught in her throat. "I mean, not like this is real... honestly; ponies, magic, being W? I'll admit, wild dream..."

She was self-aware, so naturally, she should just wake up, right? But nothing happened, the longer Aoi stood there, the longer the pitter-patter of rainfall reverberated in her ears, the more subtle sounds of the unseen woods caught her attention. The faint taste of copper on her tongue.

Shaking her head, she tried to pinch herself. "Ah, seriously? Okay, then..." Looking around, she approached a nearby tree, then, threw a punch full force into its side.

It didn't hurt nearly as much as she expected to, but the jarring blow to something solid sent a horrid vibration up her arm, causing her to yelp and curse at the pulsing sensation. All this pain was real, the burns Twilight's magic gave her body, the beating to the ground by Rainbow, all of it was too real, far too real to be a dream... but... it was a dream... wasn't it?

"No-no-no..." Refusing to admit it, Aoi instead clenched her fists. "Fine, I'll do it the hard way."

*Bam*

Shaken by the knuckle across her cheek, Aoi stumbled, hand pressed against the nearest tree. She felt a shaky laugh escape her cracked lips. "No... no-no-no-no, this isn't real... just a bad dream, come on, you have self awareness, you can wake up..." She did it again, feeling the sting to her left cheek this time, applying a little more force into the blow.

Still lost in a forest, wet, cold... as W the mercenary.

"There's... there's no way I'm actually in Equestria, come on! This is crazy, hehehe..." But no one was laughing but her, so she slapped her cheeks lightly, pulling them down her skin. "Time to wake up! The hell I'm a-actually here!"

"No... hehehahahaa, this isn't real, wake up," She smacked herself again. "Wake up!" Again. "L-let me go, let m-me go!!" Again, her breathing began to quicken sharply. "I-I-I don't want this...! Pl-Please, please... let me go home...!" Again, again, again, again, againagainagainagainagainagainagainagain-

"Wake Up, DAMMIT!!" She screamed to the pouring heavens, her heart threatening to burst as her right hand slammed into a tree, causing one side of it to heat up and glow a bright, molten orange.

*BOOM!*

Shaken by the blast, Aoi was thrown into the mud in a heap, shakily pushing up with her hands to see what remained of the tree was a charred, burning stump, the rest having been blown away. Aoi's breathing was unsteady, a look of horror and shock written across her face, lifting her palm that had been touching the tree mere moments ago, almost afraid of it doing the same to her.

Looking at her palm, soot dripped off with the rain, but her hand was fine. Arts... she had just used W's Arts...

Her fingers dug into her shirt, feeling an intense, overwhelming surge of anxiety crawl through her chest. Aoi felt dizzy, a cold sweat breaking out over her foreign body as an icy sensation pressed against her chest. It was hard to breathe, feeling her words sputter out of her mouth.

She was really stuck here, in a foreign body, in a land that automatically made her out as the monster. A selfish, egotistical side of her saw this as a great opportunity, how many could really say they got to live through an adventure in another world? And as someone new, no less? It was every nerd's wet dream.

Only, all Aoi felt... was anguish and panic fill her chest, she spoke of grander ideals; 'don't fuck with a Sarkaz mercenary'? Like she really wanted that, she only said whatever it took to get them off her backs. Now... now she really was all alone, she wasn't waking up, no one was coming to save her...

Looking around on her knees, Aoi slumped, tears streaking down her pale expression, pupils shrunken down to pins. "...no... mom... dad..." A whimper, followed by her fists balling up in the mud. "Yrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

Both slammed the mud with a shriek that slowly fell apart into a blubbering sob, the young girl curling up on herself as she screamed, but no one would hear her.

And come tomorrow, W would have them pay...

When W's eyes adjusted again, she was staring at the campfire from her makeshift sleeping bag. She sat up, it was still night out... looking over, a third figure was sleeping soundly against a tree, using its roots as a cubby. Right, today she and Astra ran into another Displaced, Sora.

Sora was his real name, he never had to hide behind a false one, did he? A light huff escaped her, how conflicting both their experiences must've been when they arrived to this hellhole of a world. Laying down, she stared at the quiet flames, raising her hand to shadow her eyes.

Aoi was still who she was, W was her shield against all the conflict she's endured, but cracks were starting to show, weren't they? Much as she wanted to deny it, memories that weren't her own started to creep up on her, so that begged the question. Would Aoi still be in here, or will someone else take her place?

"One problem at a time..." W murmured, curling up beneath her cover, trying to get some dreamless sleep, she had enough to worry about come the morning...

End

Author's Note

The day Aoi hid away, and W took center stage, all to shield a scared little girl from the world out to get her. A handful of these parts to the anthology would've made it into Renegade if I had thought of them at the time or they didn't conflict with the pacing.

But aw well, still fun to write and bolster these little fragments. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya next time, Renegades!