to the same dark places; velkan/sarah pony

[cringe]

how to be a monster:
1. learn the taste of dirt and pain.
2. teach it to others till your knuckles bleed.
3. see if that makes it easier to breathe.

He doesn’t know of this connection, that they both have sprung from unnatural wombs, he knows only that this other horse – this creature - is dark and strange and he is drawn to it.
He likes his appearance, mostly, but sometimes he wonders what he would be liked if he looked more like Bruise, with cloven hooves and curling horns, something fearsome, a monster in mind and matter both.
He has not harnessed his powers yet, he wields them clumsily, often heavy-handed. It’s why he hides it now, not yet wanting to induce fear in the fearsome thing, wanting to draw him closer, a snake in the grass.

He isn’t sure what kind of response he expects – he wasn’t entirely sure, from the shape of the thing’s mouth, that he spoke the same language – but whatever he expected, it’s not the sing-songy brightness that he’s faced with.
His façade slips for a moment in the confusion, eyes narrow and confused, and then he inhales sharply, reclaims his hold on himself, and slathers on his smile once more. Friendly as anything.
Maybe the other’s is an act, too.
“I’m doing great,” he says, trying to match the other’s brightness and failing, a parody of it, “what’s your name? I’m Cringe.”

cringe