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 Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:04 pm
"Wah- wait!" The filly squeaked after her brother, wings taking a moment to start flapping. She wasn't that good of a flier, neither fast or enduring, and it took her time to take off from a standstill, running along the ground while flapping away before she could take off, too. She was feeling really unsure about this, and she couldn't see the cave that her brother was talking about, but she could chase after his fluttering red tail.
It was a good thing that Royal was so certain about all of this, it lightened her heart a little, made her stop thinking about how far away home was now. Home with their mom and her cooking. Home with dad and his cooking. The garden and their rooms.
Damselfly landed back on the mountainside with a plop, chest fluttering and mouth quivering because adventurers did not cry. Not even if they really felt like crying!
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:47 pm
Royal wasn't terribly great himself. He could never enter a race, he had no endurance, but he could take off in a flash. Like when he was bolting from one of his mother's many... helpful... bug lessons.
Had he not glanced back to make sure Damsel was following he may have lost her entirely. Up ahead there was a crack in the mountainside, the mouth of an actual real life cave, right there waiting to be plundered. Shame he wasn't enough of a bad person to ditch his sister's dead weight and go on his own magical journey, free of Disney tunes and the walking traffic cone. He dropped down beside her and rested his forehead against her's.
"Hey Sugarpea, you alright?" Hoping and praying she was. Royal would shave all his hair off if he got her really hurt out here. "We're so close. I can't keep going without my first mate."
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:45 pm
"W-we're r-r-really-" her jaw quivered as she spoke from the force of keeping the waterfall at bay, "f-far from h-home." She snuffled, eyes pressed shut because her brother's were so close and she was really afraid that she'd start crying for real if she stared at them any longer. This was a lot for a scaredy-cat little filly to deal with- being so far from home somewhere strange and with no more snacks because they ate them all earlier.
But Royal We needed her. She was first mate! She could do it! ... Maybe. Hopefully.
The filly hiccuped, slowly putting one trembley leg underneath her, until she was standing on all four trembley legs.
"It's c-close right?" She could walk there- they were close, and then Royal could get what he wanted, and then they could go home to their parents, and then everything would be okay.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:15 pm
"So close. Just a hop skip and a jump and we're there. You won't even realize we're inside because it'll be so fast." She could trust him. It was close. Really close this time. He wasn't lying anymore. And they would find their treasure and never have to see this nasty mountain again. Everything would work out as it should, and Damsel would trust him forever. "Come on Sugarpea, you can do this. I... believe in you?" That was hard to say, when he didn't really believe in himself at the moment. The only thing that was keeping him going was stubborn determination not to have been miserable for nothing at all. Maybe if he did one cool thing with his sister than he wouldn't have such a hard time just being around her. Maybe after all this being family will be easy, like it's supposed to be.
He reached over to rifle in her dumb little fanny pack for a tissue, he knew she had them. A tissue, a handkerchief, a bit of cloth, anything to clean her up and make her look presentable and a lot less miserable. "You're a strong girl, you can do this P-" He paused, giving up in his pursuit for a tissue and just using his foreleg to scrub off the tear tracks and snot. "Come on princess, you can tough it out." It had been a long time since he had called her that. The name had changed so many times, from Princess, to Princess and the Pea, Pea, Peabrain, and finally Sugarpea. They had never really been nice names, even from the start. But maybe if he wished really hard they would be sweet little pet names, and if he wished even harder this wouldn't be a total disaster.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:49 pm
Looking determined was entirely out of Damselfly's range at the moment, lip quivering awfully and nose running ever so slightly. The best she could do was to look tearfully motivated or, perhaps, shakily inclined to keep going. One foot in front of the other, leaning on Royal We's support for each step as they made their way past bushes and rocks to the cave her brother had seen.
Royal We was trying so hard to help her be strong, she could at least be strong for him, too. Even if 'being strong' was hiccuping and sniffling her way alongside him.
"Th-thank you, Royal. M'sorry for cr-crying." Because there was no crying on adventures, and she'd broken the rule on that. Which, predictably enough, almost made her start crying more. She wasn't a very good adventuring friend and first mate, after all.
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:17 pm
She was exhausted.
He was exhausted. But this was the hill he planned on dying on. Not literally (hopefully). He nuzzled softly against his sister, guiding her to sit by the entrance. A nice place to rest.
"Well as your captain I'm making a command decision. The first mate is dead tired and needs a lie down. I'll scout ahead and when I find something I'll come back and we can discover it together. Like partners... Captain and.... other captain. Kay?" He didn't wait around for an answer, best not to linger and let his wobbly legs rest for two long, because he couldn't promise getting back up if he hit the floor. He didn't like any part of Damsel's headlamp, be it the look, the fact that she'd probably grossed it up by wearing it, or the fact that he needed the damn thing. But it wasn't like anything could make the mess his hair was in worse.
He still hated strapping the dumb thing on.
Damsel would be left on her own for far too long, he didn't know how long he walked but it felt like hours. Maybe only minutes passed when he finally stumbled back and dropped to the floor beside his sister.
"The dumb cave's empty." His tone was flat. No spinning it. No shining this turd. Just two tired, dirty foals and an empty cave. Royal saw himself as mature, as collected. A beauty not rocked by lesser emotions. But screw that. He was tired, aching, and it was all for nothing. Screw his no crying rule, because this adventurer wanted to cry. "I screwed up."
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:48 pm
They had been together for so long. A dysfunctional pair of siblings that didn't fit together and yet always seemed to be by each other's side. Their parents had pictures of the two of them cuddled up to one another before they had even been old enough to open their eyes. By some strange magic they had always been inseparable, Royal marching confidently toward one of his flights of fancy and Damsel chasing after him. Maybe they were only together by Damsel's sheer will, if she held onto him tight enough he wouldn't slip away, like her brother was some ethereal presence she was barely holding onto.
In all that time together she had never seen her brother, her cool, collected, smart, talented brother, cry.
And all of a sudden it was like seeing a pony under a mascot costume. The illusion was broken and the truth she had come to rely on all her life had been shattered before her.
"N-no... maybe you missed the gems." Her brother who had always looked so cool and confident was an utter mess now, and she only had one way to cope with that. "You c-cant cry. 'Cause if-if you cry then I'll c-cry!" Already the tears were flowing, leaving two crying foals in a dirty cave.
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:58 pm
"No. There's no gems. Just a big fat load of nothing to be the cherry on top of this whole nightmare! We're going to die here,
cold and wet and sad and it's going to be my fault because I just can't dare admit that maybe I screwed up!" He wasn't pretty. His face was covered in mud and tear tracks and snot and for once he simply couldn't care about how he looked. He was miserable and wanted to go home.
He wanted none of this to have ever happened.
He wanted Damsel to go away so he could be miserable without dragging her down. Couldn't even wipe at her cheeks with how muddy he was.
"Damsel, don't cry. Come on Sweetpea, I'm the screw up. I just..." He bit his cheek, staring at his sister and her own messy, miserable face.
"I don't want to look uncool when you're around. Because maybe if you realize that I'm not cool then you'll realize I'm also kind of a jerk who isn't as nice or understanding as Lance and you'll realize he's the better brother. I'm a jerk who wants you to like me without doing anything to make you like me."
He loved her, dearly. Even if he didn't know what to do with her, even if he made her cry more often than not, she was precious to him. But if this was the mess her trust got them into, then maybe he didn't deserve it.
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:26 pm
"You're not-" Damsel started, and stopped. She stared at her brother, screaming into the night as something clicked into place. "You're... m-maybe a little?" Things she'd written off, little hurts, the scales were lifted from her eyes. If for a moment.
She was freezing, wet and cold and too bone tired to want to move around to get warm again. So she scooted closer to her brother,
resting her head against his shoulder.
"I didn't care about the gems." She had never been on the comforting end before. It felt odd. "I was just happy you w-wanted to spend time with me. I look up to you because you're everything I'm n-not."
They were night and day, and she cherished those differences. Royal was always so strong for her.
So she can be strong for him too!
Damsel took a deep breath, there was no sucking in the tears already there, but it staved off the waterworks for the moment.
"Royal, trust me. Everything is going to be alright! We're going to get out of this! We're going to get home safe, and you're going to watch the little mermaid with me because you promised!" Yelling didn't make her feel more brave, but if she kept yelling she wouldn't cry. It would be close enough.
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 11:25 pm
Royal just stared at his sister. His precious little crybaby, who couldn't even squash a bug without getting upset. She was sucking it up for him.
"When did my crybaby Princess get so cool?" He sniffed, tucking himself against her side. It was selfish, like him, after all this time putting all of this weight on her shoulders. Making her carry the both of them, but he needed her. He needed someone else to put up a front for him. "If mom and dad don't murder us, then lets watch a marathon. We'll get blankets and watch Cinderella and I'll sing along with you." All the bluster and yelling had calmed down. All that was left behind was a tired foal and his brave sister.
"Well, murder me. I won't let them get mad at you. This was my hairbrained idea." He didn't know what he did to deserve Damsel. Probably not nearly enough. But he was suddenly much more aware of how important she was. Someone who loved even his mean selfish side.
"I'm sorry Damsel. I'll make things up to you.
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 11:49 pm
Cool. She was cool! It only took getting stranded in a cave in the middle of nowhere but she was COOL! And Royal wanted to hang out with her, and sing and it was everything she ever dreamed of.
"They're not going to murder us. We'll get home safe and sound. I know it." For Royal, she could sound confident. Because she was cool. Big grey eyes looked up at her in the way that she always looked to him and it made her feel strong. Strong, but cold.
She curled around him, stealing his warmth just as he was trying to take hers. Just a rest. Long enough for them to get back on their feet. She could be strong.She wouldn't have to for long. He swept in, a flurry of wings and once-pristine hair now a tangled mess, windblown and filled with sticks and leaves. Frantic desperation turned to overwhelming relief, as without a word he swept his foals up in a hug.
"I feared I lost you." The two had been gone for so long and said nothing. When he called for them and found their bedrooms empty he had begun to worry. His search quickly turned into a mad scramble the further out he flew, other ponies pointing him farther and farther out of the town. What kind of knight could not even protect his own young? He had been so close to turning back, just about ready to believe he might have missed them and there they were, cold and miserable but safe.
Stern words would have to wait. Damsel was tucked safely between his wings, as he held Royal in his hooves.
"I've got you." He assured his children as he took to the sky.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:17 am
Never had he been happier to see his father. Royal didn't even bother to bluster up some fake story as to why he was so far from home and why they were both ugly crying in the side of a mountain.
He let himself be plucked up without the usual fuss, and curled up tight against his father's chest.
Maybe it was alright to rely on people.
Every now and again.
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