Topsy wandered aimlessly around the Great Valley. He had many sleepless nights due to a nightmare; a tragic accident that took place in his old home a couple of days after his 6th Star Day. His twin brother Trike had fallen in the watering hole and Topsy jumed in to save him. However, he had died and Topsy nearly drowned saving him. He remembered his own dad telling him that he should have died instead of Trike. That was a secret he had been hiding for 40 cold times. This morning was the day of the incident from 40 cold times ago. That made Topsy feel even worse. Topsy had been afraid of water ever since.
Topsy came across Grandpa Longneck drinking from the watering hole at the Thundering Falls. The elderly longneck stopped drinking and looked over at the younger male.
"Hey Topsy, how you feeling?" Grandpa asked.
Topsy sighed.
Soon enough, he began to have flashbacks about his brother's death and his near-death experience. After 40 cold times of holding in the secret, Topsy began breathing rapidly and started having an anxiety attack. He yelled out for his dad to stop saying how he wish he died. Grandpa saw that Topsy was thrashing around and pinned him to the ground. He stayed like that until Topsy's anxiety attack passed.
"It's all right; your dad isn't here now," Grandpa soothed the threehorn.
Once Topsy's anxiety attack passed, Grandpa set his upper body off of him and laid beside him. It hurt the elderly longneck to see his friend like this. He must have been holding it in for quite some time. Topsy's breathing was also back to normal.
"I think I'm okay now," Topsy said.
Grandpa nodded.
"That's good; you scared me," Grandpa replied.
At that, Topsy let all his bottled up emotions pour out. Torrents of tears were running out of his eyes and he covered his head with his paws. Grandpa thought all of Topsy's emotions were released; but, it seems as though it was high-time he had a good cry. Topsy laid there sobbing; Grandpa said nothing and waited for him to let it out. It was now Grandpa's turn to get upset; this whole scene was heartbreaking.
"Oh... poor... Topsy," Grandpa whispered, slightly crying.
After a few moments, Topsy managed to stop crying and looked up from his paws at Grandpa. Topsy's stomach lurched at the sight of his friend crying. Grandpa's head was hanging low to the ground and Topsy rubbed his frill against his neck. That gave the elderly male a sense of comfort; a side of Topsy that wasn't seen very often. Grandpa looked at Topsy after a few moments.
"Why were you crying? You had nothing to cry about," Topsy said.
Grandpa sighed.
"I know; but, seeing you break down like that was a real tear-jerker," Grandpa replied.
The two males were silent for a while. Soon enough, Grandpa got tired of the silence.
"How are you feeling?" Grandpa asked.
"Better; I really needed to have a good cry; it was worse since today is the day that my brother Trike died from drowning at my old home at Sunset Valley," Topsy said.
"How long has it been?" Grandpa asked.
"Two days after mine and my brother and my two sister's 6th Star Day; he would have been around for 46 cold times if he was still alive," Topsy explained.
Grandpa nodded; now he knew why Topsy was so secretive about his childhood. He didn't want to reopen any old wounds.
"I'm sorry you had to suffer a tragedy at such a young age; I was your age when I watched my mom's dad die of his injuries from a sharptooth," Grandpa said.
"I'm sorry; you must have loved him," Topsy said.
"Yes I did love him; he was my role model," Grandpa replied.
Topsy felt better after talking to Grandpa Longneck. He even managed a small smile and thanked the elderly longneck for letting him talk about his childhood trauma. Topsy knew that Grandpa Longneck could lend a sympathetic ear whenever he had a problem. He truly is one of his good friends.
This is my first LBT one-shot; strictly friendship.
