Yelling echoed through the house, vibrating within the walls into every room. I should be used to it by now; it's all I've ever heard in the short 3 years of my existence, but being only a young filly, it still traumatized me. The anger that growled out in Fathers vocals had always chilled me to the core and even though he was in a separate room in our house, I could feel his piercing leaf gaze upon my back, along with the seething hatred that burned like wildfire beneath his stare. Mother's voice was barely more than a whisper at this point, but I knew the extent of the argument that was flickering between them, and it was all because of me. Even at this age I knew I was the cause for this, among various other voice-raising conversations that transferred between them all while my own cries were left silent and unheard. Hot tears burned from my filly blues, rolled down my cheeks to the floor as I pushed myself away from the plastered wall, parts of my moon-kissed mane that had become stuck on the wet liquids descent, swept aside as my hoof feverishly scuffed at my face, trying to hide any evidence of my pain before either of my parents decide to check on me.
Sure enough, I heard the doorknob being turned and the tingling sound of magic being cast off, the hinges creaking with the motion of the door as it swung itself shut. I didn't bother turning around, my eyes were still red from crying and my breath refused to return to normal. The shadow that loomed over me caused me to cringe, almost waiting for bitter words to fill my space or even the hard whip of a hoof clipping my ear, but almost instantly relaxed as I felt a warmth embrace me from behind, pale grey fore hooves encased themselves around my petite frame and pulling me back into them. Squirming myself, I managed to spin around to return the hug, burying my entire face into Mothers chest as she rested her head upon my own allowing her cyan and grey mane to fall over her shoulders and her silver eyes close as she pulled us together, pressing my wings tighter to my body but I didn't care, right now this is all I wanted and Mother knew that as she spoke no words and just held me close.
"Silver Whisper!"
I felt her body go rigid as her head snapped up and turned, her eyes wide resting at the doorway of my confinement. Only daring a peak, I looked to see the figure I had always feared, the one I would avoid at any cost.
Father.
His dark orange form stood tall but the stench that wafted through stung my eyes and throat, he had been in his "special" cider although it was more of a clear liquid than the normal coloring that cider would have. Leaf green magic could be seen as he brought the glass to his lips before stumbling into the room, this frightened me and I stole a glance up at Mother scared to speak a word in case it brought up another of their "adult discussions". His ebony mixed orange mane was a sweaty mess that almost covered most of his face down to his darkened muzzle as he stood huffing for a few moments before recollecting himself to stand tall to assert dominance yet only managing to look more sprawled out with his legs spread to keep balance. Mother slowly got to her feet and ushered me to stay behind her while she cleared her throat to speak.
"Sonic Flare, don't you think it's a little too early to be drinking that?"
Her voice went unheard as Father made a few more steps towards us, his eyes trying to focus on Mother once he had come to a stop, faces leveled off as his breath filled her nostrils and how it must of burnt when Mother tried not to gag on the onslaught of alcohol that had infiltrated her lungs. As scared as I was, I had managed to back away without drawing attention from the drunken brute, squeezing myself beneath my bed to hide the existence of their abomination of a child, it's sad that at my age I was acknowledging that that's what I was...At least in Fathers eyes.
His proud lineage of unicorn ancestors had brought him to be extremely picky about any potential partners that may have taken a glance at him by doing extensive research on their family background to ensure that only pure unicorn blood was passed to any of his children, and Mother passed all through all of that like a breeze through the trees...But why had I been born like this? How did two pure blooded unicorns produce a Pegasus? There was no fault in any family tree, it was sheer luck that the Pegasus gene had passed through somehow, though Father didn't believe that. I have heard him call Mother names and accusing her of "fooling around" behind his back, one of the many arguments that was raised on a daily basis and it seemed to be making a comeback and nasty words once more flowed through his voice, mixing in with the heavy scent of alcohol that still reached me under the bed. I closed my own eyes even after I had long heard the door slam shut and earth shattering stomps faded into another room. My body had begun shaking again as I curled into a tight ball with my deep sky blue tail sweeping itself over as a make-shift blanket, lids slowing closing as a heard a faint melody whisper..."I'll be back for you...I promise..."
Moonlight shone through the pitiful excuse of a window, landing its calm glow on my face. Somehow I had half moved myself from under the bed and was partially exposed to the outside of the protection space. A small sigh escaped as auds listened closely for any hints of movement from the house and slowly snuck out of the comfort of the enclosed space. My back ached a fraction from sleeping on the floor and a rumbled echoed itself from my stomach making me wonder if I should take a risk to get something small to eat. Time was unknown to me but it seemed late enough for Father to have passed out by now, the only thing would be is would he be in his armchair which was located close to the cupboard? Even the tiniest noise made would wake him and being woken hung-over was worse than his drunken state, it wouldn't be worth the risk..right?
The sharp pain in my stomach answered my question for me and before I knew what I was doing, I had left my room and was etching down the stairs, due to the amount of times I had done this, I could almost pick out the exact steps to avoid to keep my presence known, although it would have helped more if I was ever taught how to fly...OK, first. Second. Third. Skip. Land left on the fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Did they replace eight yet?
I kept to my sequence until my hooves touched the wooden floor of the living room, faint light flickered around as the TV was set on mute while the picture flashed on the screen, a quick glance was a wrong choice as I turned back in embarrassment from what the ponies were doing on there, I had only seen this once accidentally but it seemed that it was hurting Mother more than what those ponies were showing or perhaps they weren't doing what Mother and Father were Maybe they were wrestling...yea that's it, that's what they were doing, not what these ponies are displaying.
A loud snore broke me from my thoughts and I made a leap for the closest item that was large enough to conceal me. His shadow loomed large over the ground, flickering along with the colors of the TV as his chest made a steady rise and fall motion with one hoof draped over his liquor bloated belly, several discarded bottles and glasses laid sprawled around his back hooves which were lazily spread just enough to keep his figure from sliding off the chair in his intoxicated slumber. The danger had projected itself to life-threatening as I tippied hoofed my way towards the pantry and carefully opened it a fraction, just large enough to let the limited light through to see what I was grabbing. An apple, that would be perfect for now but where are the small juices that Mother usually places low for me?
My thought was cut off again as another snore filled the air as well as shifting then a grunt, faint clopping of hooves on timber could be heard as I pushed myself into the cupboard letting the door softly shut and the darkness to consume me, my breathing turned short and ragged as I heard him stumble past and the fridge door swing hastily open, a few chugs and a satisfied gasp before slamming the fridge shut and returning to his armchair, hearing it give way from years of use. Trying to keep my breath steady, I stayed in the darkness for a while allowing my eyes and ears to tune themselves to the surroundings then hearing the volume on the television being raised and unidentifiable sounds were being emitted from the speakers. I wanted to take this chance to get back to the confinement of my room, so carefully I tucked the apple under my wing which was only just big enough to conceal majority of it. The juice would have to be sacrificed for now as I gently prodded the pantry door with my snout, taking a peek to ensure that my path was clear before sliding out and hiding among my dancing allies, the shadows.
Creeping along the wall was easy enough being so small, but getting up the stairs in the same sequence as before will be troublesome. I could never remember the pattern from the bottom as well as I could from the top but it was either risk it and hope that Father was still in a drunken haze would not notice my small steps or stay down here until he fell back asleep and that seemed like it wasn't going to happen any time soon as a slight chuckle sounded from his cords. Shaking, I gently placed my hoof on the first step, then another, making my gradual ascent. Blue tinged lips pulled back in a smile that almost made me giddy, I had gotten away from it scot-free, Father never even noticed that I had been there that whole time and it made me feel like I wanted to prance about. But that slight happiness soon faded as I misjudged the distance to the next step and felt my hoof slip downwards, and right on instinct, my tiny wings unfurled to steady myself until I heard a sound that made my heart stop. The thumping of the apple as it tumbled down the stairs.
"What in the HAY do you think you're doing?!"
I felt my body freeze as my head made a slow turn only to be met with cold, green eyes that were filled with rage, the moonshine he had been drinking still clung like a deadly cloud on his rancid breath as he made his way to the stairs. For a moment my mind just shut down as my back legs left the ground to meet Fathers chest, making him stumble slightly and curse beneath his breath. Adrenaline coursed through my blood as I scrambled up the last few steps and just ran to the closest door, slamming it shut and locking it behind me as I heard him fumble up onto the second floor with heavy breath and forceful hoof beats making their way towards my hiding place. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing once I saw the organic colored magic envelop the chrome handle, harshly jolting it to make the lock give way under the pressure. Never had I so badly wanted to yell out to Mother to come and stop him but if I did she would be hurt also for my stupid mistake. This was the only thought that made me bite my tongue from screaming out as the dark orange stallion burst his way into the room, his irises diluted to almost a pin prick in rage that I had left my confinement.
"You…You are the cause of all this. But don't worry, oh no, I'll soon fix you. I'll fix you up real good."
A gambled glimpse up was a terrible fault as I saw his head lower and his horn glow brighter as a full force magic came blasting out, the speed it travelled at left no time for reaction as I felt it hit the left side of my face with enough force to knock me into the back wall, I could feel my conscience slipping as in a blur I saw Father taking steps near me then it turned black. It was only briefly that I believed that I was dead, I was almost ready to accept that fate being the mistake that I was, but something pulled me back, a pair of crimson hued orbs stared back at me from among the black abyss that were begging me to return to the living. Then a scream found itself in my mind and again I was brought back.
My vision was still fuzzy from the impact and I could only make out the outline of the one I alleged to be my father, but what I couldn't figure out was who those other ponies surrounding him were. Their bodies were a near ghostly white, so close that they seemed transparent and their legs or should I say lack of, the appendages that would normally be there were not to be seen but all connected in a single tendril wisp, sullen eyes briefly made a pass over me as they passed but had more focus on the stallion that now lay cowering in the corner, muttering inaudible words. I was stunned but the next image I saw was the one that made me run for my life.
A foal, couldn't of been younger than myself stepped out, its horn had been snapped clean and strips of flesh were rotting off the body that made the original color of its fur indistinguishable, its innards could be seen from the already decayed parts as well as various bones and tendons that revealed themselves with every movement made but its eyes were the most memorable feature. One metallic green orb was where it was meant to be but the other was left dangling from the socket, holding on with nothing but a mere thread. Its near corroded lips started moving but I had already burst myself through the door and found myself outside among the forest of trees that surrounded our home. I didn't dare to look back as I kept running through the shrubs, stumbling over fallen branches that hid themselves in the dark under growth, I didn't stop until Fathers screams were nothing more than a silent whisper on the breeze and I could no longer feel the intense stare of the foal on my back.
Now scared and alone in the woods, I pushed myself to continue, trying to remember the times Mother had brought me out here to teach me about the nature that surrounded our home but at night everything seemed different. The trees had changed and it felt like they were whispering to me with every step I took to keep going. Even when my legs gave way, I could still hear it in the rustle of the leaves to continue, the wind stirring up the debris on the ground to swirl around me, like it was trying to give me strength. Taking a moment to rest, I gazed up into the stars and at the vast open space of sky that was their home, the world around me changed in that minute, it was no longer dark and frightening but welcoming. The soft silver hints of moonlight that seeped in through the leaves that played their song when they danced among the breeze to the scurry of animals darting back to their nests after a long day of foraging. Each little sound was its own cord that played a part in the melody that was the night and I wanted to add my own, though I couldn't remember the words, the tune of the lullaby Mother use to sing was written in my mind as I took a breath and joined in the night's harmony.
For what it seemed like hours, I just sat and hummed along, eyes shut to enjoy the peaceful serenity that this place had to offer, then a resonance interrupted, almost like that all sound ceased as my voice caught in my throat. My legs still tired from my sprint into the woods before and with it getting closer I was running out of time to hide. I was on my hooves when the figure came through the trees, a lanky pony the shade of caramel emerged, cinnamon dusted mane shook to clear the fallen foliage as a gun was held by his side in an amethyst hue as he made his way toward me, those purple orbs fixated on me like a cat on a mouse. Finally, after a short stare down, he relaxed his gun and returned it to the holster that was strapped to his flank.
"Now what is a filly like yaself doing this far in these parts? Come on, I'll take ya back to the shack and ring ya folk, bet they would be worried sick about cha."
Folk? I think he might mean parents, no they wouldn't worry about me, well Father wouldn't but Mother…maybe she might use it as an excuse to finally leave him, she deserves better than him anyway. With my mind swimming in circles, my legs went into auto and started to follow the caramel pony, only really paying attention whenever the violet hue of magic begun to quiver in my sight becoming weary when it got too close to me. It had only been a little while since we started walking before we had come to a stop in front of a shack, the walls were peeling and the roof seemed like it had one last storm in it before giving way, the hinges of the door screamed as his forehoof pushed it open, ushering me inside the dank place. Allowing my eyes to wander, the inside had a lot more cosy feel than the outside had been, a brilliant glow of a fire sparked itself into existence while the cracking of burning twigs were heard to keep it alive, I found myself staring into the flickering flames as they licked the walls surrounding it, smoke rising like silver tendrils dancing with the heat that rose upwards. Feeling a presence come up behind I spun myself away from the warmth of the blaze, the motion causing my mane to fall over my left eye that was throbbing with severe pain, my stance became defensive but I was only met with an empty space. Accepting my fore hoof to leave the earth to ascend towards my eye, I felt it graze over the eyelid causing a worse reaction with an increase of agony that brought a cry of torture to escape my maw and a fresh stream of tears snaked themselves along, falling to the will of gravity. Heavy hoof steps were heard and the stallion came bursting into the scene, a slight worried expression had etched across his face as he made his way over in front of me, evening off his eyes with my own.
"Y'all alright? What's wrong with ya eye there?"
A caramelized hoof was placed on mine with a gentle touch, slowly coaxing my own to drop away and return to the dusted floorboards before lifting his again higher to tilt my head upwards into the light, sweeping my mane away from the orb that, due to a high amount of discomfort, had welded itself shut in order to protect it. A sigh escaped his velvets and stood up, his hoof pointed down a hall where a white room could be seen.
"There's a bathroom down there. Go wash yaself up and I might be able to help ye with that eye."
A mumble of thanks rose into my mouth but my lips refused to move as my legs went auto and carried me once again to the destination that had been shown. Entering from the darkness, I had to shield my good eye from the blinding light, giving it a second to adjust before scoping out the place. It was the same bathroom as any other, toilet, sink, bath, only really big enough to be used by two ponies but that wasn't of my concern right now more of the fact on how a small filly like myself was going to reach up to the sink and the mirror? The answer came easy enough, with a considerate amount of snooping around, when a dusted old stool appeared in my line of view. Having only one working eye at the moment was kind of annoying.
Placing the stool under the sink and scrambling upon it I was greeted with a reflection that I could only presume was my own and twisted the tap to permit water to escape the faucet, feeling the cool fluid rush over my aching fore hooves for a moment before turning my attention to my stinging face, the sensation had turned itself back to a dull numb like half of it had fallen asleep as I prodded around the base of my injury, gently attempting to open the eyelid to access the damage taken to the sight. As it opened, my vision was completely blurred red in one side and begun blinking in hopes to clear it away, even rubbing it carefully to help it. It wasn't til I open my eye completely that I realized that it wasn't the reason I saw red.
Through my blue eye the room appeared as bright as the dawning sun, but now viewing it through my now crimson left eye it had been hastily coated in a bloody manner, the walls seeped with the life liquid as trails from the splattered mess coursed their way down to form a pool beneath. With a quick turn I bolted, but the blood followed me along the walls, at every corner more came leaking from the ceiling, it was like hell and I couldn't escape it. Running blindly around every turn, I soon found myself back in front of the fire, however it no longer emitted the warmth that I seek, in fact I couldn't feel any heat from the flames despite that it still flickered lively. My breath ran short as the stallion re-entered the space, a tray with medical supplies suspended in the air by his magic, the purple hues watching me carefully as he got closer trying to get my attention, but my focus was elsewhere for in the doorway that he just entered stood a mare soaked from ear to hoof in blood, yellow eyes sullen as they watched the stallion make his way around me and my words spilled themselves out before I could stop them.
"Who's that pony in the doorway. She's scaring me."
"What pony? There isn't anyone here but me."
"The pink one with the yellow eyes….The one covered in blood."
The crash of the tray on the ground didn't break my stare from the mare, only did it waver when I felt two hooves grab me and spun me to face him, large eyes shone with fear as he shook me, words that flowed from hips mouth hardly reaching my ears only hearing short sentences in and out of "how do you know what she looked like" and "no your lying, you can't know" all while his movements became more rash as he shook me, pushing away from me with a terrified expression plastered on his maw. My own voice failed again as the earth pony made her way towards us, blood trailed behind her as her hooves dragged along the ground, small droplets descending in her wake, paying almost no heed to me as she made her way to the stallion that was had backed himself away, her expression turned pained as tear mixed within the crimson liquid while voiceless words were left hanging in the air but one word was distinguishable from the rest.
"Why?"
Hooves scrambled on the ground as the stallion stood, eyes bright with a terrifying look towards me and a maniacal laugh erupted from within his throat along with the words "freak" and "monster" spoken among the bellowing, amethyst magic grew around his horn and his gun was released from its holster, taking a moment to adjust the aim in my direction. I don't know what came over me, but staring down that barrel into the inner workings of the .45 colt made me realize that this was not the first time I was met with death, nor would I allow it to be my last.
Mentally I snapped, the anxious and scared feelings had suddenly vanished and returned in a more frightful manner, a feeling I had only seen in others and on occasion was subject to its pain. Wrath enveloped my being, almost like it changed me into a completely new pony as I charged forward, fear was no longer known as I heard the gun fire and the bullet ricochet off to my right as I continued my assault, jumping towards the wall to help propel me squarely into his side, the collected force knocking back a fair bit as I took this chance to run towards what I believed to be the exit only to find myself in the kitchen. I could hear him scrabbling back to his hooves and I grabbed the closest object within my vicinity, a knife. The wooden handle felt weird in my jaws, the rough surface made my tongue itch and holding it at the wrong angle projected a blinding light into my eyes, another shot sounded and the bullet grazed itself against my flank, searing pain coursed its way through me almost causing me to drop the only weapon I had in agony, tears flowed as I hobbled into a hiding place to access the damage done. A flesh wound, nothing worse that the beating that I had already encountered.
Those memories flooded my mind, all those times and all the pain I had endured as well as Mothers screams that could be heard when Father had believed that I had gone to sleep to let me recover for another day. Another spark ignited itself in my chest and my breath steadied, the liquid running down my face still flowed but had reduced to just a seep as I recollected myself, auds adjusting themselves to the silence that was around my being, listening to his hoof beats as they got closer and closer to the spot that concealed me. With knife still in mouth, my hoof push the door of my hold open slightly to bear witness to his shadow cast over top, clicks of the gun were heard and could only mean that he was reloading, he must of use the other bullets previously in the forest before finding me. Taking the chance I kicked the door open and burst out, finding myself beneath him and without thinking just thrust the knife upwards into his skin, I wasn't sure where I had gotten him but I felt the blood spurt out on my face and that seemed to only fuel me more as a retracted the knife and bailed out from underneath, pressing against another set of cupboards to push me towards the caramel hide. His hoof caught me in the side and swept me away with a good amount of power, my wings extended on instinct and was able to tumble myself around and land on my hooves but the force of the impact had made me drop my crimson stained knife and the click of the gun cocking was not a good sound, I had no weapon and his was primed and ready not to mention a long range weapon, even if I was able to get his gun, I couldn't use it and he would just take it back with his magic. A thought ran itself through my mind and I dashed forwards, keeping sight on the gun and the stallion as he lined up and took a shot which I was only just able to dodge as I skidded through his legs and grabbed the knife from the ground, using the last ounce of strength I had I made a lead that seemed impossible but none the less made it on his back. The knife positioned itself in my hoof as I stabbed down between the stallions' shoulders, forcing him down to the ground toppling, taking me with him, met with the ground again I took the scarlet blade and drove it into the thing that made a unicorn. His horn.
A bright burst filled the area and I was knocked back again, unable to land on my hooves I let myself roll until a wall decided to stop my motion, the blade falling from my grip as I staggered to get up, the stallion was having the same difficulty as blood ran in two streams down his face. The wooden handle found itself in my mouth again as I limped towards him, grabbing his horn to inflict that much pain that he couldn't stand. How much I wanted to drive this sharpened steel between his eyes, how much I wanted to watch his life leave his body that I felt an unwilling smile stretch itself across my lips, white pearls baring behind stained velvets as I could see his soul swirling behind those purpled hued eyes. I had barely raised the knife when the crash of a door being broken echoed and half a dozen ponies flooded into the shack all dressed in glimmering grey armor as one stepped towards me.
"Hush little one, it's alright now."