//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: The Monster of Canterlot // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 14 At breakfast, all the element bearers, all the princesses and Shining Armor were enjoying their meal. I even made it down there early. In part, because I wanted to see Twilight’s friends before they left for Ponyville, but mainly for the show. We were enjoying our conversation and meal, courtesy of Applejack and Pinkie one last time, when a bloodcurdling scream pierced the palace halls. I couldn’t hide the smile stretching across my face. “Whut thu hay was that?” Applejack asked. “I have no idea,” I fibbed. The double doors slammed open and revealed just about the funniest looking royal I’ve ever seen. Also, the third angriest. He stood there, glaring and breathing heavily. One word fit the situation perfectly, ‘seething’, he was seething. His mane was far from its normal, well-groomed luxuriousness. Also, the ‘vomit’ color was a nice touch. The brown streaks in the tail made him look incontinent and the hairless patches shaped like hearts, stars and rainbows made him look like some foals drawing board. I thought about some more obscene images, but other ponies would have to see him, including my mother. “Why cousin,” I mocked a shocked expression, “what happened to you?” “You!” he growled. “You did this to me!” “Why would you think Chris did anything to you?” Celestia asked, barely stifling her laughter, though I think I heard a tiny snort emanate from her. Blueblood froze, he couldn’t expose me without exposing himself. I just sat there and smirked at him. All the mares around me where giggling and it was growing louder. It wasn’t long, however, before somepony couldn’t hold back anymore. Bunny burst out into wild guffaws at the appearance os her most hated ‘superior’. “Stop laughing, you peasant!” he yelled at her. “Don’t you dare yell at her!” I stood between them, knowing full well that he wouldn’t try to get to her through me. He may be mad at me, but he wasn’t stupid. I felt a hoof on my arm, it was Bunny’s. “It’s alright, Chris, he’s just angry.” “Fine, but I still don’t like anypony being mean to my friends.” “And it makes me proud that you would defend your friends so readily,” Celestia told me, “but I do wish you and your cousin would get along better.” “I know that, Mom, and I’m sorry, but I don’t think it will ever happen.” “For once, we are in agreement.” Blueblood was glaring daggers at me. Celestia sighed, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. “Fine, but can you at least act civil toward each other?” “I’ll try, Mom, but I can’t promise he won’t do something to deserve a lesson in the future.” Blueblood was just growling now. “I suppose that’s the best I can hope for.” Celestia tried to move the conversation on from to something more pleasant. “Well then, Chris, now that you have been introduced to the public, what do you plan to do next?” “Well, I figured I’d travel a little. Really see what Equestria has to offer.” “Alright, I suppose I can arrange some time away to…” “No, Mom, I want to see it for myself.” The other ponies looked surprised, Blueblood looked very happy, like I cared, but Celestia just seemed hurt. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved our trips as a kid, but I feel I should do this myself this time. I figure that, maybe if I meet ponies in smaller groups and without a platoon of guards around, then maybe they won’t be so… startled by me.” “I see,” she still looked hurt. “Where do you plan to go and for how long?” “Don’t worry, I’m only planning on going to Ponyville and for just a couple days. You can literally see the town from your private balcony. Hay, with your power, you probably even spot me from here.” “No need ta worry, Princess, we’ll all keep ‘im outa trouble,” Applejack reassured her. “That’s right,” Twilight added, “he can stay with me in the library and one of us can be with him whenever he’s walking around town. Everything should be fine.” The fact that somepony like Twilight, who tends to panic when things aren’t planned out ahead of time, thought things would go alright seemed to put Celestia at ease. Or at least calmed her a little. After all, if she couldn’t trust her favored student, who could she trust? “Very well, just please be careful.” “I will be, Mom, I promise.” After breakfast, Bunny helped me pack. She had offered to accompany me, but I insisted she stay and gave her the week off, with pay of course. While I may have been pampered since I arrived in Equestria, I never got used to it. Besides, if I know Twilight, she’s got Spike doing all that work already. While I was packing, Twilight’s friends were shopping. Twilight herself was telling all about the ponies she’s met in Ponyville and how excited she was to introduce me to them. I was also excited. I had seen the town a thousand times from the palace, but now I was finally goin to be able to see it firsthoof. It wasn’t long before it was time to go and meet Twilight’s friends at the train station. Celestia had insisted I take the royal carriage, saying that it would simply make her feel better knowing that I at least got to the train safely. I had argued that nopony was dumb enough to try anything with Twilight. She cheated to win the argument. “Please, Honey, for me?” It was a dirty trick that some mothers like to use. There was simply no way I could say no to her after that. I will never understand how she was able to do that to me and still sleep at night. Either way, she and Luna were there to see me and Twilight off. They were joined by Bunny, Iron Hammer, Cadence and Shining Armor, Cotton was still in school. It did take some time, and prying, to get Celestia to stop hugging, kissing and telling me how much she loved me long enough to make a break for the carriage. I wish I could say that there was some adventure or even a small crowd of onlookers, but the ride to the station was a quiet one with no excitement. There were some hushed conversations and bowing from the ponies along the road. Luckily, there were no screams, shouts or panicking hordes. All in all, it was a nice ride. Even boarding the train was peaceful. We had gotten our own car. It wasn’t the royal car, but it did have nice big windows and soft benches, so I was happy. It also meant that we, I, wouldn’t be gawked at by nervous ponies. Being in a small space was bad enough, but throw in two members of royalty and make one of them a completely unfamiliar species that’s twice as tall as the average pony, bad could go to worse very quickly. I was staring out the window, enjoying the view. The last time I went through these woods, I was running and hiding. I hadn’t gotten a chance to enjoy them. Even though the scenery was whipping by, it was still a thrill. “…Chris?!” Twilight’s voice pulled me out of my hypnosis. “Huh, wha?” “While I always enjoyed your ear rubs, we were trying to have a conversation.’ Apparently, Twilight and her friends had been trying to talk to me, but because I was so enthralled with the view that I didn’t hear them. Then, when Twilight tried to nudge me, I had started to rub behind her ears. It was something I did often throughout our years together and it just came naturally. I took my hand away from her head, “sorry about that. What did you want to talk about?” “That’s okay, we were all just wondering how you were feeling.” “Oh, and if I can get in on some of that action?” Pinkie hopped up in my lap which made me giggle before I started to rub behind her ears. She cooed and her tongue lulled out of the side of her mouth. “I’m a little nervous, but still very excited. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of the countryside from the air, but a riding train certainly gives a different view than riding on Mom’s back.” All eyes were suddenly on me, except for Pinkie’s, which were still closed, and Twilight who had heard all about it before. “Wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “you’ve ridden Princess Celestia?” “What? She’s my mother. You make it sound like a big deal.” “Well,” Rarity spoke up, “in all of recorded history, there has never been any documented cases of anypony actually riding on the princess’ back. So you can understand our surprise.” “I guess that would make sense. Though, on that same note, is it really so strange for a child to ride on their parent’s back? I mean, even humans do it.” “Really?” Fluttershy asked, she was excited about the chance to learn about a new species. “I’d love to learn more about humans. What’s the social structure like? How many foals can a human female bear? Are human foals super cute?” She kept spitting out questions one after the other. I didn’t even get a chance to answer, not that I could. All the while, the image of my real mother screaming my name and trying her best to reach me as Twilight’s magic enveloped me. No matter how long I live, I will never be able to get that image out of my mind. Twilight herself was swiping her hoof across her throat in a ‘stop talking’ motion. “To tell you the truth, Fluttershy, I don’t know much about humans. I was only six when I came here and my last memory was not a pleasant one.” I could see Twilight cringe out of the corner of my eye. I pulled her close and whispered, “it’s okay, Twilight, it wasn’t your fault.” She nodded and gave me a small smile. “Oh, I-I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” “I know, and it’s alright. You couldn’t have known, Fluttershy.” I reached over and tussled her mane in an attempt to show her everything was fine. “Besides, it was a long time ago. Also, I haven’t exactly had a rough life.” It didn’t seem to make her feel better, which only made me feel worse. I moved Pinkie to the side and slid off my seat onto my knees in front of Fluttershy. I then cupped her head in my hands and made her look into my eyes. “Listen, it’s o-kay. I’m not angry, upset or sad. You couldn’t have known it was a… touchy subject. So please, don’t worry about it, don’t blame yourself, and give me a smile.” The corners of her mouth pulled back a little, “o-okay.” “Atta girl.” I climbed back up in my seat and Pinkie immediately reclaimed my lap and I resumed rubbing her ears. “By the way, how much further is it to Ponyville? I’m starting to get antsy.” Just as I finished asking, we came around a bend in the track. The town was completely visible out the window of the car. It was different than the view from my balcony. It’s true that a bird’s eye view is unparalleled, but so is the view from the ground. Besides, from the air, I wouldn’t have been able to read the welcome banner… wait, what? The train pulled into the station and, as we disembarked, we were greeted by the sound of a, to be perfectly blunt, poorly organized band. There was a decent sized crowd of ponies, a lot of them seemed nervous, others were just barely putting on a brave face. A tan mare with a silver mane and tail and gold rimmed glasses approached us and bowed before me. “Greetings, your highness, my name is Mayor Mare and please allow me to welcome you to Ponyville.” I thought she was going to rise again, but she remained glued to the ground. I looked around and noticed that, with the exception of the band, all the other ponies were also bowing. It made me very uncomfortable. I got down on my hands and knees right in front of the mayor. “What are you looking for?” I whispered. The mayor jumped back in surprise. “I-I-I… ” I straightened up so I was sitting on my own heels. “Listen, Miss Mayor, I really appreciate the effort you put into all this, but you don’t need to stand on ceremony for me. Please, stand up.” She did. “Good. Now, can you please tell me what this is all about?” “Well, y-you see, Princess Celestia sent me a message about your pending visit. The message said that we should make certain your visit was a pleasant one as befitting a member of the royal family. So, as per her instructions, we all came out to greet you.” “Ah, Mother, of course.” I tossed in an eye roll for effect. “While I greatly appreciate this, my visit here is purely for pleasure. I don’t want any fanfare or bowing, especially bowing. Please treat me as you would any other visitor to your fair city.” “As you wish, Prince Christopher.” She backed away before turning to give the crowd my instructions. I could see relief washing over her as she trotted away. Twilight walked up next to me, I was still on my knees and therefore at eyelevel. “Well, that certainly went better than it did in Canterlot.” “Yeah, Mom’s letter must have been riddled with either positive things about me, or horrible threats of death and destruction if I wasn’t happy.” Twilight nodded and looked very serious, then she giggled. Pinkie came up on my other side and dipped her head under my hand so that I would have no other choice but to either rub or move my hand, I chose rub. It made her happy and it didn’t bother me. “If you don’t want any fanfare, do you still want to have fun?” “Pinkie, if that’s your way of asking me if I want a party, I would have to be a complete idiot to say no.” her smile got so big, I thought her head would split. “Besides, I haven’t had a party since I was four.” Pinkie shot two meters into the air, gasped incredibly loudly, then shot off like a rocket propelled Wonderbolt. “Well, I don’t mean to ruin the surprise, Darling, but I believe you might be getting a welcome party later on,” Rarity informed me. I nodded and then spotted Spike pushing through the crowd. “As long as my little buddy is there,” I scooped Spike up and set him on my shoulders, “then it should be a blast.” It was a small blast. The only ponies there were the six I arrived with, their sisters, who were still a little nervous around me, and Spike. That was fine though, I didn’t really expect ponies who learned of my species only the day before to be all that willing to attend a party in my honor. However, a party with only a few friends can still be a great party. With plenty of pies and cake and punch and candy for the whole town, we had more than enough to go around. If Celestia knew how many calories I took in that night, I think she would have force fed me carrots for a month. Afterward, the girls all left and it was time for bed. Twilight led me upstairs to the loft. Getting through the door was a tight fit, but the ceilings were high and the space was large. Her bed and Spike’s basket were on a second level, my temporary cot was on the main floor below. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed, but it was big enough for me and that’s all I cared about. “Hey, Chris?” Twilight called from the edge of her loft within a loft. I stood up and was nearly at eye level with the second floor. “Yeah, Twi?” “I’m sorry nopony came to your party.” “Thanks, Twi, but I had a good time anyway. Maybe ponies will warm up to me in time. At least, nopony screamed and ran away, right?” She giggled, “yeah, I guess that’s good. Well, we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.” “Yep. Goodnight, Twilight.” “Goodnight, Chris.”