Princess Alexandrite Chrysoberyl, the eldest foal of King Malachite and Queen Aventurine of the Crystal Empire, woke to the glorious sound of somepony screaming. Her first thought was that one of the maids was startled by a spider or something, but she quickly realized that this was no ordinary scream. This scream was the type of scream that somepony would scream if they were waking up from the worst nightmare they ever had.
It was the type of scream that Onyx would scream whenever his big brother was messing with him.
Please, Rube, Alexandrite pleaded in her head, Please just play nice and leave Onyx alone.
She tried to roll over and buried her head in her pillows, hoping that Rubeus had received her telepathic message and that Onyx would stop screaming in just a few seconds. Fortunately for her eardrums and sanity, his screaming did stop. What did not stop, however, was whatever was going on between the two brothers. Even beneath her mountain of cushy pillows, Alexandrite could hear banging and yelling going on in the bedroom across the hall. She felt no need to intervene, even though she was the oldest and therefore the most mature and responsible.
This fighting had become the norm, ever since one of Rubeus's idiot friends dared him to do something 'epic' with his alicorn magic and he'd blasted a giant hole in the roof of his bedroom. He'd claimed it was an accident of course, but Alexandrite had seen him hoof-bumping all the colts who were with him when it happened.
'Accident,' indeed.
While Rubeus's ceiling was in repair, Father had decided it would be best to have him move into Onyx's room. King Malachite was an excellent ruler and was adored by his citizens, but his daughter couldn't help but question his decision-making skills. At least, when it came to his children. There was no shortage of spare bedrooms in the castle, and it wouldn't have been hard to just let Rubeus use one of those instead. Father had told her that he wanted to give the two colts a chance to bond and have fun together, but she secretly suspected it was really because he didn't want Rubeus blasting another hole in one of the fancy rooms where visiting delegates stay.
Alexandrite was drifting off again to sleep, lost in her own thoughts and having tuned out the chaos across the hall. She took a deep whiff of the floral perfume that Nana spritzed on her pillows, and let out a sigh of pure relaxation.
The arguing grew louder and louder, and a little pang of panic went through Alexandrite. She tried harder to fall back asleep, but she ended up becoming more and more awake instead. A red aura surrounded her door and it flung open, allowing entry to a sobbing black colt.
Alexandrite knew that any chances of sleeping in had vanished.
The poor colt's face was dripping tears and mucus all over the place. Alexandrite levitated a few objects to look for a washcloth or handkerchief, but he hopped onto her bed and hid under her covers before she could find anything to wipe his face.
Yep, there was no way she'd be curling up into that blanket ever again.
She sighed, and then tried to wrestle Onyx out of her bedding. He started shrieking, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" as she levitated him out and plopped him on top of the bed. She rolled her eyes in frustration, but then saw just how terrified he was of her right then. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her anger and pushed the fact that her blankets were covered in Onyx's snot to the back of her mind.
She opened her eyes with a genuine smile on her face and motioned for Onyx to sit on her lap. He sat down cautiously, still wary of her demeanor. "Please don't kill me," he begged again, his watery eyes and quivering lip showing the signs of another meltdown.
"I'm not gonna kill you," she said, ruffling his dark mane and giving him a nuzzle in case her words didn't convince him. "But I will kill Rubeus." Onyx gasped, but then saw the laughter in his sister's eyes and realized she was joking, and the two burst into giggles for a solid minute. Rubeus could be a real meanie sometimes and was the reason why Onyx had run into his sister's room, but he was still Onyx's big brother.
Their laughter died down, and Alexandrite could see that her attempt to cheer her little brother up had worked and would allow her to figure out what the heck happened. "Speaking of Rubeus, what did he do this time?"
Onyx looked down at his hooves and traced the pattern on the blanket he was sitting on. "He hid Marshmallow and wouldn't tell me where he put her."
Instead of lecturing her brother on how he was too old to still care about the stuffed pony, Alexandrite stood up with the fire of justice in her heart and took him by the hoof. Rubeus thought it was funny to pick on his little brother and keep away from him the one thing he held precious. Clearly, such hurtful acts were deserving of some sort of punishment.
"Let's go get her back."
The two burst into the bedroom. Rubeus was on Onyx's bed, reading some of the notes and journals that the younger colt had been writing. Immediately, Onyx yelled with indignation, "HEY! THOSE ARE PRIVATE!!" Instead of behaving like a decent pony and apologizing for invading his brother's privacy, Rubeus rolled his eyes and continued to read through the notebook titled, 'Potion-making: part 7'. Onyx screamed in frustration, then pounced on Rubeus's bright red belly, knocking the wind out of him. The notebook went flying out of his hooves and skidded to a stop at Alexandrite's hooves. She gently levitated the notebook off the carpeted floor and placed it back on the bookcase between volumes 6 and 8 of Onyx's potion-making notes. Alexandrite trotted over to the red colt, still being pinned down by an angry Onyx.
"Rubeus," she said coldly as she glared into his eyes, "Would you care to explain what all this yelling and fighting has been about?"
"Oh, I was just having a little bit of fun, and Onyx here just freaked out for no reason." Rubeus grinned sheepishly. Onyx wasn't satisfied with Rubeus's account and started punching his belly. Onyx was still just a little colt, but he was able to give his brother a few decent-sized bruises.
Rubeus looked up at Alexandrite. "Please, get him off of me!" For a moment, Alexandrite briefly considered leaving him at the mercy of his little brother.
Serves him right.
Alexandrite shook off that thought and remembered the main task at hand. "Where did you hide Marshmallow?"
At first, Rubeus looked perplexed, as if he genuinely had no idea what she was talking about. Then, a flash of realization struck, and he answered with a sly grin, "You mean the little old rag doll that Onyx still keeps around?"
"Yes. Where is she?"
Rubeus feigned innocence. "Well, unfortunately I can't seem to remember." Onyx shrieked again and punched harder. "But, if you get off me, I might be able to find it."
Onyx's eyes grew wide and he jumped off. "Really?! Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?!!"
Books flew everywhere as Onyx lifted them in his red aura and chucked them around, searching for Marshmallow. Alexandrite ducked as Potion-making volumes #1-17 flew at her head. He threw around every book on his shelves, every blanket and pillow on their beds, every robe and cape in his closet--even the rug under his hooves. No square inch of space was spared.
Eventually, Onyx's frenzy calmed down, and he scanned around his room. "Where is she," he muttered to himself.
As he surveyed the disaster site that his room had become, he caught sight of a little gray lump under Rubinus's bed. His face lit up with pure delight, and he dove under the bed to rescue his raggedy doll. He emerged from the crevice covered in dust and cobwebs, but gleefully nuzzling Marshmallow.
"You're welcome," Rubinus said with a smirk on his face. Alexandrite shot him a glare and began to clear out the pile of books and pillows that occupied most of the floorspace.
You didn't do anything to help, you jerk.
She knew better than to say her thoughts out loud. That would only remind Onyx just how upset he was at his brother.
Ten minutes later, Alexandrite put the last tome back into place on Onyx's massive bookcase and let out a sigh of relief, happy that her role as the 'responsible older sister' had fulfilled its purpose. Now, she was free to return to her natural environment and do what she did best: practicing spells.
