Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time, though I adore the show, so I had to write this story. It's AU, and has OCs, the other children of Snow and James. The curse hasn't happened yet, and when it does, it happens in an entirely different way. This is just a silly little short story, I'll probably write a longer one about an AU version of the curse later. Maybe someone will enjoy this? :) Emma is 17, Nicholas is 15, Ava is 11 and Merrilee is three.

Can't Break Me

"This is insane."

Emma scanned the selection of bridles on the wall and then grabbed one from its peg. There was a minimal amount of iron in it, which she guessed the beast would appreciate. She thrust the bridle in her brother's direction, nearly putting it in his face. At least this way he could make himself useful. "Hold this."

"You're insane, too, by the way." Blue eyes were accusing and imploring at the same time. "Really, Emma, do you have to go through with this? I don't want to explain how bullheaded you are to Mother and Father when they ask me why I let you ride off to your death." Nicholas didn't want her to do this, she knew that, but she wasn't about to be dissuaded now. She only had a small window of time to put her plan in action, and she was going to take her chances.

And she wasn't about to let some brother mess it up.

"You're the youngest worrywart ever," Emma said, frowning, "I don't even know how we're related, it's a mystery to me." She jingled the bridle at him. "Take this."

Nicholas leaned against the stall doorway and shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd rather not. I'm against assisting you in suicide." He glanced at the ceiling and sighed. "That's what worrywarts do, I believe."

Emma gave him a withering look. Her brother was a strong contender for the household title of 'Royal Wet Blanket.' He was far too serious and responsible to be only fifteen, and she absolutely hated it when he gave her his best impression of their father's disapproving look. Mostly because he could pull the look off much better than she could since he was a near-perfect copy of Papa, and it was worse because he shot the look at her far more often than Papa did. And it was especially annoying now that he was taller than her, around Papa's height.

Extremely annoying.

"Take it, Nick, or I'm dropping it on your foot." She grinned viciously. "And then I'll stomp on it."

Nicholas snatched it out of her hand, scowling as he gripped the reins and bit. "You're impossible, you know."

"Yep. You've said so before." She reached down to adjust the straps on her boot and kept an eye on Nick. She didn't trust him to not shove her over and lock her in the tack room to keep her from her main goal, which was to ride and break that fae stallion before her parents returned from the afternoon ride they had taken. All right, so she had been expressly forbidden from stepping a foot into the horse's stall, mostly because he had broken seven bones on three stablemen and had taken a vengeful chunk of flesh out of a stableboy's arm once when said stupid boy had been late with his dinner. Still, if she could tame the stallion, make him let her ride him, maybe her father would think she was ready to be a knight.

Emma jerked at her boot. She was seventeen, for the love of the forest, and she was skilled in battle and kept a clear head in the middle of a fight. And she had been on a quest and saved her mother and baby sister when she was just fourteen. And she had protected Nick and Ava for three days and nights, alone, in the forest. The Enchanted Forest. In winter. But still her father wouldn't let her become a knight, and the argument was becoming ridiculous and circular. If she had one more thing to bring up against his defense, it would crumble. It had to.

She had to do something with her life, and she knew she wasn't going to be content to romp around the castle in froo-froo dresses and act the part of the perfect royal. No one in her family expected that of her, but other royals did, and she hated it. Emma was more comfortable in trousers than skirts, felt better with a sword in hand than a scepter, and she wasn't ashamed about it. Now, if she could just get her father to accept that she wanted to be a knight…

Emma straightened up and grabbed the lightest saddle from its stand. Breaking horses wasn't exactly her forte, but how hard could it be? Put the bridle on, put the saddle on, climb on and then hold on until the horse was exhausted and let you ride. Simple steps. She slung the saddle onto her shoulder and headed out the door of the tack room and into the stables proper. The familiar smell of hay and horses enveloped her as she walked, confident and sure of herself. A few stablehands were around, but most of them were out exercising horses or ponies right now or overseeing other stable matters. The ones who remained bowed briefly or nodded to the royals before carrying on with their tasks.

Nicholas followed her, bringing his frown and the bridle. "Emma, come on, don't be stupid," he said, falling into step beside her, "There are less deadly ways to spend your time." A piercing, almost human whinny broke the air, and Nick looked toward the end of the stables before glaring back at Emma. "That isn't even a horse."

"Is too a horse," a clear, cheerful voice exclaimed. A little hand slipped into Emma's free one, and she looked down to see a grin nestled between two rosy cheeks framed by wild black curls. Merrilee's blue eyes, identical in shade to their father's, danced with excitement. Her trousers and tunic were muddy and there was flour all over her, probably from an impromptu baking lesson. "The faerie horse is a pretty horse!"

Emma frowned down at Merrilee. "Mer, you're not supposed to be here." It was going to get dangerous soon, and she didn't want her three-year-old sister around when it did.

"Me and Ava made a cake with Red. It's blue. Wanna see?" Mer reached into her pocket and pulled out a fistful of blue tinted crumbs. "It's blueberry tasting! Want some?"

"No, thanks, Mer," Emma said, tweaking one of Mer's untamable curls. "Where's Ava?"

"With me," Mer said before waving her cake-filled hand at Nicholas. "You want cake, Nick?"

Nick grinned a little at her, his bad mood apparently lifting somewhat in light of Merilee's irrepressible happiness. "Tempting, but no thank you."

"I'll save some for you later."

Emma looked in the direction that Merrilee had come from to see Ava hurrying toward them, auburn hair escaping the long braid she normally kept it in and green skirts swaying around her ankles. Her timid, gentle brown eyes were resigned as she met Emma's gaze.

"You should wear more padding if you're going to try to ride Artax," Ava said, her tone quietly matter-of-fact, "He'll probably throw you, and you know you'll have to go to Doc if you're covered in bruises."

"What I'm wearing is perfectly…wait, you named him?" Emma's eyebrows rose as she glanced toward Ava, stopping in the hallway. "When did you name him?"

Nick turned to look at Ava as well. "And why Artax?"

"Pretty name, like horse. It's a good name," Mer said. She pulled her hand out of Emma's and ran forward as she spotted one of the scruffy stable kittens. Emma watched her, making sure she didn't go toward the stall at the far end of the stable. She didn't think that the fae stallion would try to bite her sister, but she wasn't actually sure and she didn't want to chance it.

"I thought it was a good name," Ava said. She bit her lip as she moved to stand beside Nicholas. "You don't like it?"

"You shouldn't have named him, Ava, we can't keep him," Nick said. Since it was practically impossible to be irritated with soft-spoken, kind Ava, his tone was only gently disapproving. Now, if it had been Emma who had named the horse, Nick would have been scathingly reproachful. And if he had tried that tone with Ava, Emma would have boxed his ears. "We'll need to release him when summer comes."

"I just thought he should have a name for now, not forever."

"Artax is a fine name," Emma said, partly because she did like the name and partly because she felt like siding with Ava. She started walking again. "I like it."

"Oh, good, I was hoping you would," Ava said. She smiled as she moved away from Nick, who was now rubbing at his face and looking particularly exasperated. "Do you really think he'll let you ride him?"

"Sure, he'll let her ride him," Nick said, "Until he gets the chance to throw and then trample her."

"Please, don't be any more positive, it's too much." Emma rolled her eyes, "I'm getting an inflated sense of confidence."

Nick smirked. "You don't need my help for that."

It was surprisingly easy to tack up the faerie stallion, and that made Emma uneasy for the first time since deciding to go through with her plan. The silky black creature stood quietly in his stall, munching a few cubes of sugar that Ava had brought for him while Emma saddled and bridled him. At first he had rejected the bridle, but after Ava rubbed the iron down with Mer's leftover cake crumbs and bits of sugar, he took the bit. After that trick, Emma and Nick had both agreed that it was time for the younger ones to leave, and Ava had taken Mer away, promising they would play with the kittens on the way out of the stables.

It was strange how much Artax looked like normal horse and how much he seemed like a different animal all together. His head was too narrow, too pointed, his ears too long and thin and sharp, his eyes almond shaped instead of round and wide. There was intelligence in his eyes that was nearly predatory, and it was easy to see the malicious mischief lurking there. It made her suspicious that he was standing calmly while she tacked him up; it was almost like he was formulating a plan of his own...

By the time she led him out into the yard to mount up, Nick walking on the other side of the horse's head, she had gained quite the audience. Pinocchio, the kingdom's young Master Craftsman, was leaning against the fence and holding Mer up so she could stand on one of the fence poles and see. Ava was perched on the fence beside Mer, her round, honest face anxious. Grumpy stood at the entrance to the yard, his arms crossed in a way that told her he wasn't going to let her into the yard and onto the horse if he could help it. Red and her husband Robin were standing nearby talking to Arabelle, one of the castle cooks, and there were a few other castle guests and dwellers who were out to watch the show and rat her out to her parents when they got home. Well, there wasn't going to be anything to tattle about when she was finished.

"Blondie," Grumpy grumbled when they came closer, "What do you think you're doing?"

Her decision was split second and hasty. "Hold him," Emma said to Nick, catching him off guard as she moved back and slipped a foot into the dangling stirrup.

"What? Emma, wait!" He barely had the chance to get a good grip on Artax's bridle before Emma was swinging onto the horse's tall, slender back. "Not yet, we're not even outside! Emma!"

"Emma!" Grumpy echoed, but Emma ignored him as she gathered the reins in her hands and gave the horse a good kick, trusting Nick's strong common sense to tell him to let go of the bridle.

The fae horse was all power and muscle beneath her as it bucked, reared and then charged into the yard. All she had to do was stay on until he tired himself out, just stay on until then, and when her father rode home with her mother, she could ride out to meet them on Artax. Yes, she just had to stay on.

Artax cantered into the middle of the yard, tossing his head and whinnying, making every other horse in the stables join him in his cry. Emma pulled on the reins to slow him down, but he ignored her and put on extra speed. Fear swept through her as the black demon swept up and over the fence, pounding down on the other side without any care for the reins she was sawing on. No, no, it wasn't supposed to happen this way—but if she did stay on, he would tire eventually…right? The faerie horse tore towards the Enchanted Forest, Emma determinedly perched on his back and prepared to ride him until he threw her or he tired out.

Either way, Emma wasn't going to give up now.

AN: Thank you for reading! Please review, I thoroughly enjoy them! Kudos to anyone who knows where the name Artax is from. :)