Chapter 4
The Fateful Meeting
It was morning in Agrabah's marketplace and Rainbow Dash, Aladdin, and Abu were sitting on top of the shade of a produce vendor. Rainbow made a quick motion of her hand to Abu as Aladdin sat nearby.
"Ok, Abu. Go!"
The monkey smugly saluted Rainbow before using his tail to lower himself down. Rainbow then waited for the vendor to get distracted by Abu before she reached down from the other side and pilfered two ripe melons. She waited for Abu to reappear before breaking open the melons with her knee.
"Nice going, Abu. Breakfast is served."
As Abu began to devour his melon half, Rainbow handed the other half over to Aladdin.
"Eat up."
But Aladdin didn't take the melon. Instead, he was focused on the rolled up tapestry in his arms. He tried to sell it the previous day, but he found that he couldn't. He knew Applejack took pride on this one piece of fabric. It was a treasure she had hoped to show her birth family one day. That is, if she ever saw them again.
The guilt was devouring Aladdin from the inside. While he and Rainbow were the best at what they do and were better siblings as well, he realized how much their antics were hurting Applejack. She was the only one who provides them with an honest living, even if the tailor she was working for treated her more like an indentured servant. And what does she do with the little money she earns? Spends it all on necessities or paying for his and Rainbow's thefts. Rainbow noticed what was with Aladdin and, upon seeing the tapestry, began to feel guilty as well.
Applejack was right. They needed a change. But how can you change the habits of a pair of Street Rats and their monkey?
Meanwhile, Princess Jasmine was walking down the same street Aladdin and Rainbow were on. With each step, she took in the wonder of the strange and new things she had never seen outside of the palace's walls. While she did feel guilty about leaving her friends behind as well as her brother, who also wanted to see the outside world, Jasmine just couldn't stand being forced to marry some pompous prince who would only marry her for Agrabah's throne and her wealth.
She also hoped that her father would change at least one of the laws, allowing Spike to take her place as the Crown Heir. Despite wanting to take him with her, she knew Agrabah would need a new sultan in the future. All thoughts of the palace and her family broke as Jasmine walked past some street vendors.
"Pretty lady! Buy a pot! No pot in finer brass or silver!"
"Sugar dates! Sugar dates and figs! Sugar dates and pistachios!"
"Would the lady like a necklace? A pretty necklace for a pretty lady."
"Fresh fish! We catch them, you buy them!" the last vendor yelled, causing Jasmine to jump back in surprise.
"Um, I don't think so." She politely refused.
However, she failed to notice the Fire Eater behind her as she bumped into him, causing him to swallow the lit match.
"Oh! Excuse me." Jasmine apologized, jumping back in surprise as the Fire Eater belched fire before he struck his chest with a fist.
The sound of the Fire Eater's belching caught the attention to the three Street Rats nearby, turning their heads to view the scene.
"I'm really, very sorry." Jasmine sheepishly apologized again as she backed away from the Fire Eater.
It was then that Aladdin caught sight of the girl and was amazed. The girl was absolutely beautiful with her big brown eyes and lustrous black hair.
"Wow…" he whispered as the girl covered her head again.
As she approached another street vendor, Rainbow and Abu to notice that Aladdin was staring at the girl with a strange look in his eyes. Abu climbed on his shoulder and waved a hand over his eyes. No response. Rainbow shook grabbed Aladdin's shoulder and shook him.
"Uh, Agrabah to Aladdin. Hello?"
Nearby, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy were weaving their way through the streets, trying to find the missing princess.
"Jasmine! Jasmine!" Twilight called out in a whisper.
Poor Fluttershy kept struggling to make her way through the crowd, only to constantly apologize whenever she even grazed a person. And Rarity? Well, let's just say she caught eye of the same jewelry Jasmine had passed on and leave it at that.
When Jasmine approached the vendor, she saw a little boy struggling to reach for an apple.
"Aww. You must be hungry."
Seeing the boy's pitiful look, the disguised princess took a ripe apple and handed it to the boy.
"Here you go."
But as Jasmine left, the vendor, who noticed the transaction, spoke crossly at the girl.
"You better be able to pay for that."
Turning around, Jasmine confusingly asked, "Pay?"
His anger growing, the vendor grabbed Jasmine's arm.
"No on steals from my cart."
Realizing she had failed to pay, Jasmine naively apologized.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I don't have any money."
This made the vendor furious.
"Thief!"
Now Jasmine was fearful. She had completely forgotten to get some money from the treasury. Now she was going to be punished for a crime she had unknowingly committed. Meanwhile, Aladdin, Rainbow, and Abu were watching in confusion, though none of them liked where this was going.
"P-please! I-if you let me go to the palace, I can get some the sultan!" Jasmine begged, only for her arm to be slammed onto the stall as the vendor drew a sword.
"Do you know what the penalty is for stealing?!"
"No! No! Please!" Jasmine cried out, her cries reaching her ladies-in-waiting.
But before anyone could act, a new hand stopped the sword from coming down on the princess' arm.
As the three ladies-in-waiting ran over they saw a young man in rags taking the sword from the angry vendor and handing it to a rainbow-haired woman, also dressed in rags.
"Thank you kindly, sir! We're so glad you found her.
" The rainbow-haired girl spoke as the boy led Jasmine away.
"We've been looking for you."
"What are you doing?" The disguised princess whispered.
"Just play along." Aladdin responded before the vendor stopped him.
"You, uh, know this girl?"
Aladdin, pretending to be saddened, answered the vendor.
"Sadly, yes. She is our sister."
It was then that Rainbow whispered, "She's a little crazy."
Jasmine silently scoffed at the accusation as the vendor pulled Aladdin by the vest towards Rainbow.
"She said she knew the sultan!"
Removing his hands, Aladdin gestured to Abu.
"She thinks the monkey is the sultan."
Hearing that he was mentioned, Abu pulled away from a coin purse he was peering into and gave a nervous look.
Taking the hint, Jasmine bowed before the monkey, pretending to be crazy.
"Oh, wise sultan! How may I serve you?"
Completely unaware what was going on exactly, Abu babbled as he pretended to act like how a sultan should and patted the girl's head. Taking the opportunity, Rarity lead the other girls over and pulled out a few gold coins from her coin purse.
"I am so sorry that our sister has caused so much trouble. We were taking her to the doctor when she got away from us. The five of us had been searching for her all morning!"
She then handed the coins to the vendor.
"Here. For the all of the trouble."
As Rarity paired the vendor, Twilight motioned the confused siblings and the princess to move. Though confused, they got the hint and started to escort the girl away.
"Come along, sister. Time to go see the doctor, now." Twilight acted, nervously.
"Oh, hello, doctor. How are you?" Jasmine said, still pretending to be crazy by talking to a nearby camel.
"No, no. Not that one." Aladdin 'told' her as Rainbow turned to Abu. "Come on, 'sultan.'"
Upon hearing the girl, Abu climbed up onto her shoulders as the six people left the scene. As soon as they were at least two blocks away, Rarity and Twilight grabbed Jasmine by the arms and pulled her into an empty alley, confusing the two rescuers. Knowing that Rarity and Twilight needed to talk to Jasmine without letting on that she was Agrabah's princess, Fluttershy turned spoke to her princess' rescuers.
"Oh, thank you so much for helping our friend. We, uh, have worked in the palace our whole lives and this was her first time ever in the marketplace."
This confused the siblings. How the girl they had just rescued could have never came to the marketplace before? Fluttershy gulped as she noticed their confusion. She had to think of something to prevent the two from discovering Jasmine's identity.
Much to her relief, the young man spoke in a "no biggie" kind of way.
"Hey. It's no problem."
With a grin of her own, the rainbow-haired woman placed a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, causing her to flinch a bit.
"Just tell her to remember to bring some money with her next time. Farouk's not a guy you should steal from unless you want to miss a limb or two."
Fluttershy gulped as the image of the princess missing her arm because of her mistake.
As Fluttershy spoke as apologetically as Fluttershy could, the other two ladies-in-waiting proceeded to scold the princess.
"What were you thinking?! Running away from the palace like that! And without a proper plan as well?!" Twilight hissed angrily, clearly stressed out at the situation.
Before Jasmine could even speak, Rarity added in her two shekels.
"You were lucky those two people were there! What did you do to anger that merchant so much that he was going to cut off your hand!?"
"I was just trying to help a hungry young boy! It was just an apple!" Jasmine defended herself, trying to find some stable ground in this argument.
But her response only angered them as Twilight gave her an incredulous look.
"Just an apple?! Princess, while you can get apples at the palace with no hassle, out here people pay for food. I don't know if this 'boy' had any money on him or not, but you should have known better than to just take an apple off a merchant stall without paying! That is one of the 'Do Not's' of economic rules and regulations!"
Jasmine rolled her eyes as she was met with another "Twilight Lecture." Yet despite this, Jasmine was, indeed, ashamed at herself for forgetting the most important item she needed outside the palace: money. So despite how redundant and boring Twilight's lectures were, they did have value. Still, how was she going to save the two people that saved her?
But as it looked like the lecture was going to drag on, Twilight fell silent. Confused, Jasmine looked to what her long-time friend was paying attention to. Turned out it was the two that had saved her approaching them along with Fluttershy. The rainbow-haired girl raised an eyebrow.
"Everything alright?"
Seeing her chance, Jasmine spoke before Twilight could speak again.
"Y-yes! My friend, here, always lectures when something like this happens."
Instead of questioning her, the two grinned.
"Yeah. Our sister is like that, too."
Remembering Applejack's request, Aladdin frown as he brought the tapestry out from its hiding place.
"That reminds me. We've got to find someone who wants to buy this."
Seeing the saddened looks on the pair's faces, Rarity decided to speak.
"What's wrong with buying some fabric?"
Calling their sister's cherished possession work "some fabric," Rainbow went into a fit.
"Hey! This is not some fabric!"
Aladdin, seeing Rainbow was about to go off, looks to Abu.
"Abu! Stop her!"
With no need of Aladdin's word, Abu climbed up Rainbow and covered her mouth. Aladdin then looked to the four women and apologized.
"Sorry about that. Our sister wove this tapestry and she had intended on bringing it to her family should she find them again. But we need money and she said that selling it is our only chance."
Hearing this, the four women looked to each other with saddened looks.
"Oh, dear!" Rarity replied sadly. "I am so sorry."
Aladdin shook his head.
"It's ok. You didn't know."
Unbeknownst to everyone present, this provided Jasmine the opportunity to thank her saviors. She approached the trio and asked, "How much is it?"
The trio looked at each other, confused.
"Whatever we can get, to be honest." Rainbow answered.
Hearing this, Jasmine smiled.
"My friends have the foresight to bring money with them. Perhaps we could buy it as a thank-you for stopping that man?"
This caught the trio's attention, but she wasn't done.
"Then, when your sister finds her family again, we can give it back to her. Sort of like storing it in the treasury."
Aladdin and Rainbow looked at each other in confusion. Earlier, this girl didn't know she had to pay for an apple. Now she was interested in buying the tapestry? Something was up and there was only one person they knew who could see the truth.
Applejack.
Aladdin looked to the girls for a moment.
"Can you give us a moment?"
The girl nodded while the other three girls pulled her aside to whisper to her. As they spoke, Aladdin, Abu, and Rainbow had their meeting.
"Well? What do you think?" Rainbow asked.
Aladdin pondered at this as he spoke his thoughts.
"I'll admit, it sounds like a good deal. But this is something I think we need to get Applejack involved."
"But she said to sell it for some coin. How are we going to explain it to her?
" Again, Aladdin had to wrack his brain. He looked at the four girls, particularly the one he saved. She seemed trustworthy. And beautiful. Not to mention smart when she caught on to their act.
"Let's bring them with us. We can explain to Applejack and then she will have the final decision."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"And what makes you think they'll come with us?"
Aladdin shrugged his shoulders before he approached the girls again.
"We would like to accept your offer."
Jasmine smiled as she looked to her handmaidens for the coin. However, the boy held up a hand to stop her.
"But you need to discuss this with our sister."
This confused the girls with Twilight asking, "Why do we need to talk to your sister?"
Aladdin proceeded to explain.
"We told you this tapestry means a lot to her. We feel that it would probably be better if she were part of the discussion."
Rainbow then spoke up.
"We'll treat you to what little dinner we have while we talk. But my brother is right. We'd feel better if our sister was involved."
Jasmine looked to her handmaidens for advice. Each one pondered at the situation. Deciding to hold a private conversation of their own, the four women moved back and whispered their thoughts.
"Are you certain about this, princess?" Fluttershy asked.
Jasmine nodded.
"If it weren't for them, I would be missing a hand right now. And it seems like a reasonable request."
Rarity added her thoughts.
"I'll admit, that tapestry is quite something. But to store it for this girl who may or may never find her family?"
Twilight frowned.
"Not to mention that you ran away, princess! Where would you keep it? Do you even have a plan on where to go? How to live?"
Jasmine frowned. Twilight was right. But if it meant keeping her from being forced into marriage to an unworthy suitor…
"We can discuss that later, Twilight. Right now, I say we agree to their request."
Twilight was not at all relieved. She was hoping to find Jasmine and bring her back to the palace. Not going to some random strangers' home to discuss a tapestry with her handmaidens' money. Fluttershy then timidly whispered.
"I…uh…I agree."
Rarity and Twilight's eyes widened in surprise at their timid companion.
"Really, Fluttershy? You're usually so shy around strangers." Rarity inquired.
The meek handmaiden nodded.
"I…I know my word doesn't mean much. A-and I'm always scared. But…"
She looks back at the pair and smiles softly.
"…I feel like…we can trust them. A-and besides. If it were my tapestry, I would like to have a word about it."
Jasmine smiled warmly at her handmaiden, pulling her in for a hug with one arm. Twilight and Rarity looked to each other before Rarity spoke up.
"Well…they did get you out of trouble. And I'm certain we can get a good price for the tapestry. We could also provide them with some food. From their attire, they don't seem to be well-off."
Jasmine could always count on Rarity's generous heart in times of need. That left Twilight, the most difficult of her handmaidens. Twilight thought and thought. She really wanted to get back to the palace and back to her books. Not to mention her investigatin of Jafar. Still, it was considered ungrateful if she didn't find a way to thank these two. Rarity and Fluttershy didn't help with their valid reasonings and the puppy-dog eyes they were giving her at the moment.
In the end, she relented.
"Fine." She then points to Jasmine. "But we're still going to talk about taking you back to the palace afterwards."
Jasmine frowned, but nodded in agreement. She'll have to find a way to convince Twilight later. For now, she had to give their answer. She turned to the trio and spoke.
"My friends and I will be delighted to come with you."
Rarity then spoke up.
"In the meantime, I'll see about procuring some food for dinner."
Aladdin, Abu, and Rarity looked at the girls in shock before looking to each other again. They then smiled before looking to the girls.
"Alright. It's a deal." Aladdin spoke, holding out his hand for a handshake.
Jasmine smiled and shook his hand. Their mere touch sent a shock into their bodies.
Rainbow and Abu, not noticing their reactions, grinned.
"Alright! Let's go!"
In amusement, the five women, the street rat, and the monkey made their way into the streets of Agrabah once again.
At the palace…
Meanwhile, Jafar and Iago were at work. They needed to find the "diamond in the rough" to enter the Cave of Wonders and get their prize: the lamp. In order to find this "diamond," they needed a storm. So Jafar had Iago run on a set of gears, which connected to a machine that was making a contained storm. After a while, Iago was getting pretty winded.
"With all due respect, Your Rottenness! Couldn't we just wait…for a real storm?!"
Jafar frowned as he placed the Sultan's ring between the fangs of a pair of gold cobras that coiled around an hourglass.
"Save your breath, Iago! Faster!"
Irritated, Iago complied and ran faster.
"Yes, o' mighty evil one!"
Shortly after, Iago ran enough for the storm to cast lightning at the jewel as Jafar spoke the incantation. As he did, the sands in the top part of the hourglass formed into the shape of the Cave of Wonders.
"Part, Sands of Time. Reveal to me the one who can enter the cave."
The sands fell into the bottom half of the hourglass, forming a scene before the Royal Vizier. The image circulated around Aladdin, who, along with Abu and Rainbow, was leading the disguised Princess Jasmine and her three handmaidens to their home to meet with Applejack. Jafar smiled wickedly as he eyed the boy.
"Yes. Yes~ Oh, there he is. My diamond in the rough."
Iago gawked.
"That's him?! That's the clown we've been waiting-!"
In his rant, Iago let go of the bar that held him in place and ended up being pulled into the gears, getting zapped by the storm in the process. Jafar, meanwhile, came up with a plan to obtain the "diamond."
"Let's have the guards extend him an invitation to the palace, shall we?"
As Jafar said that, Iago was flung into the wall by the machine, his feathers gone and smelling a little smoky at the same time.
"Swell. (Wheeze)"
As Iago collapsed, Jafar laughed maniacally. Everything was going according to plan.