Never capitulate, never succumb!

Hearing Cynthia’s request, Gerome stood still a moment longer. He held in a sigh. Of course he would much rather be alone, but… Something about the girl’s enthusiasm made it difficult for him to refuse. That or he felt a bit guilty for accusing her and her pegasus so quickly. Either way.

"I suppose nothing is stopping us from making the visit together… Except," he paused, turning to face Cynthia once more. "Let us search for your pegasus first." He made his suggestion, hoping she would take it. She may not have known whether her steed was missing or not, but locating it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Ahh.. you know, you're right. I'd hate for something horrible to happen to her. Like REALLY horrible. Dangerous situations where she ended up injured or stolen..." She tugged on her own hair using one hand, almost dropping her basket full of flowers, her mind filled with with uneasiness. "Uwaaagh, I'd let so many people down! I'd feel so bad!"

Gerome had a good point, and she hadn't really realized it until now. Her pegasus could possibly be in danger. This was certainly a worrying development, and now she was more than motivated to get going. On the bright side, she had a good companion to travel with—if he didn't try to abandon her like usual. But Cynthia would make sure that wouldn't happen until the deed was done at least!

The pegasus knight took in a deep breath, then flashed a smile at Gerome despite her worries. Now wasn't the time to freak out.

He watched for a while as the pegasus knight busied herself with gathering supplies for their task. It was a relief when she called out for him—he hated feeling useless when there was activity afoot.

"Got it!" He called back before approaching the pegasus, smiling as he reached over to take her unstrung reins. "Hello, pretty peggy! You’d sure like a bath, wouldn’t you?" The tactician paused in the middle of coddling her. He whimpered and held his nose with one hand as he led her to a nearby grazing post.

"So, you wanted to learn how to bathe a pegasus, eh? You'll need this!" A sponge was aimlessly tossed towards Morgan, but it was a short enough throw so that she knew he could catch it. "First," Holding a finger up, she began, "you're gonna soak that sponge in the bucket and then rub it all over the coat of my pegasus. It's got soap and water and all that good stuff, so it'll be sure to leave her squeaky clean at the end!"

Cynthia figured that this would be a good opportunity to teach Morgan a new skill. Maybe if he did decide to be a pegasus knight one day, he'd already know how to clean a pegasus! Even then, if he didn't, he could still help her every now and then. It could be more fun that way! Maybe she'd actually be motivated to do it more often!

Cynthia stopped in the middle of what she was doing, which was in fact acting out her catchphrases. “They’re not stupid, they’re totally awesome! You wouldn’t get it though.” Putting her hands on her hips, she huffed.

"What?" Severa couldn’t believe that someone would actually join her in making up pathetic catchphrases. Knowing Morgan however… That child got excited about everything, so she wasn’t surprised. 

"N..no way…" Cynthia fretted. So, if what Severa was saying was true, then all this time… they were just pitying her all along? The thought was creeping through her mind, starting to bother her a little.

Hearing Morgan from a distance, she turned towards him, immediately sensing his excitement. “Dragon..born!? Wooahh, it’s bursting with cool! Nice one!”

Cynthia stopped in the middle of what she was doing, which was in fact acting out her catchphrases. “They’re not stupid, they’re totally awesome! You wouldn’t get it though.” Putting her hands on her hips, she huffed.

"You're wrong! See, just the other day, Morgan joined me in my catchphrase-extravaganza. If anything, they are so catchy that they'll spread throughout the entire camp!" Cynthia spread her arms out wide.

"Oh, hey Gerome! You came to see me!" Cynthia beamed at the sound of her friend’s voice, only to realize that it was not for a good reason. "I don’t know what you’re talking about! I haven’t been with my pegasus since—"

Unbelievable. What was first anger morphed into some form of pity. Not for Cynthia, but more so her pegasus. Had she really forgotten about her so easily? For how long? When was the last time the animal had eaten? It would explain why it might have gone for Minerva’s feed instead.

Amazing! There were other pegasi besides her own running around, causing mishap and mayhem? The pegasus knight was entertained by the idea.

On the other hand, however nice that idea seemed, she still had to face the facts. Cynthia felt somewhat ashamed after realizing it, but she and her pegasus was very blameable. It was probably because she was always so occupied with other things that she would accidentally leave her steed unattended to, causing it to seek out food and get into all sorts of trouble… No wonder Gerome suspected her at first! She'd still forgive him for that though.

"Ah, but that's okay! We get blamed all the time, so it's no big deal."

"Oh! And if you're going to see Mother, can I come with you? I've gathered a bunch of flowers for later." The girl revealed a colorful basket filled to the brim with the fruits of her labor.

'Swift as a beetle' for sure! Morgan waved and jumped on the spot a few times when he saw her hurrying back in the distance. From a distance, the pegasus looked fine, but as the pair came closer, it was obvious to see she needed a good grooming. Even so, her rugged appearance made her look as though she had just emerged victorious from a long battle. She was no less magnificent this way, than she would be if she were spotless.

Turning towards Morgan and letting go of her little slip up, she returned his smile. "Thanks for reminding me. But now that means we get to bathe her! You can definitely help me with that one. We can do it together—I can show you how and everything! I'll get a sponge and a bucket and a rag and everything else..."

"...unless we bathe her under a tiny waterfall or something. I've always wondered how effective that would be. It's probably way faster, no doubt. But it's the warmest part of the day, so... "

Suddenly, Cynthia came to a realisation which made made Morgan jump. That was right—they were going to show off her pegasus to Walhart! "Right, let’s go!" He exclaimed and prepared to follow her lead, determined to keep up with her this time, when—

"Ugh.. ugh! Not again!"

With Morgan's help, she rose to her feet and she straightened out her armor. "I'm completely fine. No injuries here! Just annoyance at my dumb legs, but that can always be fixed... anyways, that doesn't matter right now."

She shook it out, the determination showing on her face one more as she focused on the task at hand. "Alright, I'll be as swift as a beetle! Not one second slower!" the girl declared, pointing towards her destination.

Without another word, she hurried off to retrieve her pegasus for Morgan. It didn't take very long for her to come back, directing her steed towards him by a worn out bridle. Its appearance was unkempt; it might have been worse than Cynthia described earlier, for its mane was filled with snarls, layers of filth lined its down feathers, and plumage stuck out all over. Despite its appearance however, the pegasus seemed physically healthy. It was well-fed with strong wings and working legs.

"I’m not slow—I was only thinking of a way that I could use your speed and strength to defeat our opponents! If this was the battlefield, I would have realised in time to only get nicked in the back, not stabbed!" Morgan exclaimed whilst completely ignoring the flaw in his moments of contemplation. Cynthia was undoubtedly right, but such a thing had never happened to him yet, so he had no reason to worry about it—was how his mind worked.

He smiled with misplaced pride as he puffed out his chest and placed his hands on his hips. ”Besides, I plan on becoming as skilled a tactician as Mother someday. She’s capable of coming up with strategies as flexible as the flow of any battle. It’s just… Hard to fight and come up with a plan at the same time. It’s like how you want to live up to the name of your mother being a great Pegasus Knight—I want to do the same,” he said with a smile, seemingly placated after moving onto the topic of their mothers. It was then that he finally took a moment to stop and think.

"Living up to Mother, you say.."

Undoubtedly, Cynthia lived to become as strong as her mother, a brave and remarkable knight, as the legends said. She believed that maybe she could even strive to be way stronger if she tried. Definitely a hard task! It was amazing how Morgan wanted to accomplish the same goal, with his own mother! They were alike in that way, like a lot of the kids from their generation.

A pause happened, then a realization, and she nearly fell out of her boots.

"Oh! Right! We were going to show off—I mean, show him my pegasus! Let me get her, right away!" she blundered, turning a sharp heel. Cynthia was on the move! ...except she had taken all but two steps when she carelessly face-planted onto the soil. It was all but graceful. Feeling slightly embarrassed, she uttered a tiny whine.

"Hm?" Laurent turned his head, only to be met by the rather pompous puff of red smoke. He’d been deep in concentration, peering through a tome as he walked, and not even the sound of Cynthia’s voice had stirred him. In fact, it was the red dye that had begun to waft towards his direction that had caused him to ponder his surroundings. 

"What the…?" As the scarlet tint began to clear from the air, the fallen Pegasus Knight quickly became visible. 

"I...m.s...pf..."

"I.......muffss..ed upf..." Cynthia mumbled dejectedly, her face filled with grass. She messed up. Not bothering to move from her position for a moment, she felt utterly ashamed at her display just then. After all that practice, the pegasus training, the red smoke making, just to fall on her face. She needed to improve on this move.  Next time, longer morning practice... she thought to herself.