no guts, no glory—no legend, no story
Charlie lands among the bustling streets of Denocte, hooves scraping against the cobblestone. Firelight lashes the walls of buildings, chasing shadows across the ground. Her heart beats as wildly as the flames, and it burns and burns with something she has never felt before.
The young pegasus has been angry before, felt frustration. When the foals down at the docks had once told her she was too small to play their games. When she has spent so long at the training grounds attempting a throw Commander Marisol has taught her only to fail, and fail and fail again.
This is not anger.
This is oh, oh so much more.
She’d found out from lurking around the castle halls. Charlie is always in places she shouldn’t be, hearing things she probably shouldn’t be hearing. She hadn’t expected to hear about the poor Regent’s nearly one year old daughter, fatherless.
Fatherless.
The girl picks up a stick and points it down at the road at she walks. The sound it makes grinds against all the things inside her she is too young to name, too young to understand. Charlie begins to trot, and then run, until it is practically a buzzing, drowning out everything else. Her eyes are burning embers, bright as the fires that light the darkened court.
When she reaches the markets she stops. There is a sound of something sharp against stone, and she knows Indy has landed next to her. The osprey looks at her bondmate with keen yellow eyes—Charlie doesn’t have to look to know she is preparing a lecture.
“Charlie,” the pegasus flicks an ear toward the bird of prey, as if she were actually speaking out loud, but she doesn’t look at her bonded. “Don’t you think it would be better if we went somewhere less crowded? Maybe you should be alone.” The girl rolls a shoulder and takes a few steps forward, glancing at the stands. The market is busy tonight. “No.”
She feels Indy perch upon her shoulders, a weight that normally would reassure her. “What if we go to the docks, maybe Anil is there. He always lets you onto his ship,” suggests the osprey. Charlie knows that Indy is trying to look out for her, in the way she always has; they are practically sisters after all.
But tonight she does not want to be alone. She has been on her own for so long, and she does not want to go to the docks. She has been filling her life with a pirate’s dream ever since she was just a newborn. Tonight, she wants to be this thing inside her that she cannot put words to.
That’s when she sees the scarves.
They’re lined up all nicely on the surface of the table, some hanging from a rack to better show off how they can be worn. Most of them are decorated in colorful, exotic patterns. But there is one, bright and vermillion. It catches her eye, because it is the exact color of her eyes.
Immediately, she knows she wants it. And she will have it. “Let's go,” Charlie begins to move deeper into the crowd, drifting between the legs of equines gathered at tables, standing and talking to one another, walking the market themselves.
Her gaze lands, almost fatefully, upon a guy pushing a large crate with a dog inside it. No… a two-headed dog. It must be young, because it barely occupies half of the space inside the crate, and is practically bouncing off the walls. Charlie smiles and alters her course just slightly, brushing past the guy and his young, canine charge. With one glance to tell her where they are, she reaches out and slides open the latches on the crate.
The next time the beast lurches against the inside, the door pops open and it tumbles against the street. She’s already moved beyond them when she hears the man’s exclamation, and other people’s sounds of shock and surprise. The bumbling man chasing around a much more agile, much younger animal, draws the attention of most of the equines in the immediate area. Even the merchants. A few gracious passersby even take time out of their night to try and corner down the pup.
Charlie, however, slips through the stream of equines headed toward the noise and commotion, but her course is in the direction of the stand with the scarves. It’s almost within reach, almost… at the last moment she spreads her wings, grabs the scarf and tucks it underneath the wing closest to the table. Then she is practically running.
Indy is forced to take to the air, following closely behind her bondmate as Charlie rounds the next corner and takes to a quieter street. Her heart is beating wildly still, burning but with something else entirely now.
"Speaking"
The young pegasus has been angry before, felt frustration. When the foals down at the docks had once told her she was too small to play their games. When she has spent so long at the training grounds attempting a throw Commander Marisol has taught her only to fail, and fail and fail again.
This is not anger.
This is oh, oh so much more.
She’d found out from lurking around the castle halls. Charlie is always in places she shouldn’t be, hearing things she probably shouldn’t be hearing. She hadn’t expected to hear about the poor Regent’s nearly one year old daughter, fatherless.
Fatherless.
The girl picks up a stick and points it down at the road at she walks. The sound it makes grinds against all the things inside her she is too young to name, too young to understand. Charlie begins to trot, and then run, until it is practically a buzzing, drowning out everything else. Her eyes are burning embers, bright as the fires that light the darkened court.
When she reaches the markets she stops. There is a sound of something sharp against stone, and she knows Indy has landed next to her. The osprey looks at her bondmate with keen yellow eyes—Charlie doesn’t have to look to know she is preparing a lecture.
“Charlie,” the pegasus flicks an ear toward the bird of prey, as if she were actually speaking out loud, but she doesn’t look at her bonded. “Don’t you think it would be better if we went somewhere less crowded? Maybe you should be alone.” The girl rolls a shoulder and takes a few steps forward, glancing at the stands. The market is busy tonight. “No.”
She feels Indy perch upon her shoulders, a weight that normally would reassure her. “What if we go to the docks, maybe Anil is there. He always lets you onto his ship,” suggests the osprey. Charlie knows that Indy is trying to look out for her, in the way she always has; they are practically sisters after all.
But tonight she does not want to be alone. She has been on her own for so long, and she does not want to go to the docks. She has been filling her life with a pirate’s dream ever since she was just a newborn. Tonight, she wants to be this thing inside her that she cannot put words to.
That’s when she sees the scarves.
They’re lined up all nicely on the surface of the table, some hanging from a rack to better show off how they can be worn. Most of them are decorated in colorful, exotic patterns. But there is one, bright and vermillion. It catches her eye, because it is the exact color of her eyes.
Immediately, she knows she wants it. And she will have it. “Let's go,” Charlie begins to move deeper into the crowd, drifting between the legs of equines gathered at tables, standing and talking to one another, walking the market themselves.
Her gaze lands, almost fatefully, upon a guy pushing a large crate with a dog inside it. No… a two-headed dog. It must be young, because it barely occupies half of the space inside the crate, and is practically bouncing off the walls. Charlie smiles and alters her course just slightly, brushing past the guy and his young, canine charge. With one glance to tell her where they are, she reaches out and slides open the latches on the crate.
The next time the beast lurches against the inside, the door pops open and it tumbles against the street. She’s already moved beyond them when she hears the man’s exclamation, and other people’s sounds of shock and surprise. The bumbling man chasing around a much more agile, much younger animal, draws the attention of most of the equines in the immediate area. Even the merchants. A few gracious passersby even take time out of their night to try and corner down the pup.
Charlie, however, slips through the stream of equines headed toward the noise and commotion, but her course is in the direction of the stand with the scarves. It’s almost within reach, almost… at the last moment she spreads her wings, grabs the scarf and tucks it underneath the wing closest to the table. Then she is practically running.
Indy is forced to take to the air, following closely behind her bondmate as Charlie rounds the next corner and takes to a quieter street. Her heart is beating wildly still, burning but with something else entirely now.
![[Image: 13222742_95oVYzdeR5MVhK5.png]](https://file.toyhou.se/images/13222742_95oVYzdeR5MVhK5.png)
you and i, we're pioneers
we make our own rules
