Trapped In Canterlot

by TartarusFire

C36 - No Hugs and An Important Thing

It was true that Evershade and Deepsky were raised in pretty close quarters. Thestrals would sometimes pile on top of each other instead of being tightly packed, side by side. So Evershade meant with no sarcasm that he really did love hugs. Deepsky just didn’t like to admit that.

"And your plan is to ‘sneak,’ yes I do hoof quotes, and to hug the stuffing out of her?"

"No – well I don’t want to hurt her, but hugs make almost anything better. Example A." He pulled two pictures out of some secret place on his person, pictures of a before and after. "This pony had just lost her pet rabbit. And the second picture is the pony after a hug. Do you see the difference, Evershade?"

"Wait, I wasn’t expecting a pop quiz. Let’s see." He hummed for a long thirty seconds. "The first is a frowny pony, crying. And then the next picture is a sad pony, but marginally better. Your point is?"

"Gah! Look. The second picture, the pony is happier because of a hug. I swear – okay, she is still sad about her pet, but overall, her mood has improved about the situation. Oh, and something that’s not stated on the pictures is that the hug needs to be about twenty to thirty seconds long."

"Whay’s that, hug teacher?"

"First, never call me a hug teacher. Secondly, a hug about that length causes ceresin – or some other chemical stimulant – to be produced which causes trust and happiness in the victim- pony hugged."

"Where do you hear this stuff?"

"Brain Games."

"You mean that newspaper that depicts experiments with people and perspective?"

"Mhm."

They stared at each other, having bantered for a least a fourth of a chapter. Gradually shifting out of the staring, Deepsky stood up and hopped off the edge of his bed while Evershade watched.

"Oh yeah." His legs popped. "Feels nice and lose after laying down so long. Wing still hurts a little." He started walking toward Evershade. "Want to join in? I know you like hugs even more than me."

His partner coughed. "No, who told you that?"

"Now look who’s being shy; it’s a role reversal or something." He held out a hoof, to get Evershade off of his bad leg.

"TV Tropes? Really, that magazine?" He took the extended appendage. "And here I thought you never did anything besides guard stuff."

"I have to have a life outside of hugs and guarding you know." He frowned. "I don’t know if I want to include you now in the hugs."

"What?! But I—"

"—Got tricked." Deepsky snickered. "Told you that you wanted hugs."

"Ah dang it."

"Yes, and I’ve tricked both of you." Red Cross conspired with herself, "I really don’t do well with young patients, so out of the little things I do, like commit malpractice, I really can’t handle foals." She smiled knowing that she was quiet enough so that no pony woke up and no pony heard her.

Both guards sneezed.

"Eh, that was weird, we synced sneezes."

"Dang it, ‘Shade, you better not turn this into something lewd."

"Well I was – no not this time. Colon pea."

"Colon pea?"

"Yeah, some ponies writing the Equestria Daily newspaper started using those two symbols next to each other. I think they’re just being mean to the readers."

"Ha!" Deepsky bopped Evershade on the nose. "I knew I wasn’t the only one reading outside of work."

"...Shutup." His left ear drooped. "Can we just do the hugs? I’m tired of standing here with my hoof over your back."

"Eh, why not? I just don’t want to scare her, seeing how skittish she was before." Evershade nodded.

They walked over and parked themselves on a bed next to Caedes’s bed. They both wondered how they were going to approach the subject. On one hoof, asking would be like erecting a social boundary while just flat out hugging could be scary.

Instead, Deepsky took the front, pretty much ditching Evershade who pouted silently in his defense.

"Hey.. Caedes was it?" She twitched her ear, refusing to budge from her sunken position in the fluffy pillow. "How are you feeling?" He waited for a response which granted him the sound of twenty seconds going by. "Ah, uh, I forgot you were asleep."

His comment threw her for a loop. "But I’m not..." She looked at him, a tiny little smile on his face. "What?"

"Well, you were silent there for a bit, and I was just wondering how you’ve been doing. We’ve been here longer than you’ve been awake, so we grew concerned at how you’re feeling after.. all that."

"W-what?" She pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Can, you s-ay that again?"

Right, still young. Probably not a very well developed vocabulary. "We saw you wake up after being bandaged, so we were worried if you’re sad."

"Oh... yeah. I just c-can’t..." Deepsky scooted a little closer toward the bed. "It’s. Hard."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not r-really. Nurse didn’t want to talk, so so I doubt a-any pony would want to listen." Her face buried into the sheet, muffling a short sob.

"Ah, well I’m not Miss Cross." He sat next to her. "I’m me, so if you still want to talk about it, feel free."

"Maby." She still laid facedown in the sheets, so everything was slightly muffled and softer. "I.. I don’t know. It’s not everything that happened.. It hur-rts, but I can’t stop th-inking about..." She tensed. Deepsky hummed a soft tune. "The. Thing. I can’t stop thinking about.. Ab-out.." She choked, following it up with a sob. "Daddy..."

He paused, venting was part of the plan but not the goal. He wondered if it even mattered anymore, his plan. Perhaps it was wrong of him and Evershade, but after that conversation, the real focus was lost. The point was to make her feel better, and hugs were the best way he knew how. However, it didn’t seem appropriate. Caedes picked up after his long musing.

"I-.. I. I don’t know if I can tell him s-sorry, anymore!"

Author's Note:

Colon Pea = :P (very trollish to readers)

Eh, the guards are absentminded, who knew?

Also, month hiatus is over, teh hype (wow, should've been in caps.)
>> Note: There should be a chapter once every couple of days, and if I miss a post, I'll make up for it later.