//------------------------------// // Chapter 31 // Story: The Monster of Canterlot // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 31 “A vacation?” Celestia asked. “Yeah, Mom. A short vacation while all this mess blows over. Like, two weeks, maybe three.” “I think it is a good idea,” Luna agreed. “But where would you go?” “Actually, Applejack has suggested the perfect place, Appleoosa. She said it was a small and friendly town way out past the badlands. The way it was described to me reminds me of those cowboy movies my dad used to watch. I’m actually really excited.” “Yes, but, what about the Summer Sun Celebration? It’ll be the first time we can celebrate as a family. Plus, Twilight will be there to perform her new duties. You don’t want to miss that, do you?” Celestia was nearly begging. “No, I don’t want to miss it, but I can’t stand this mess. I’m sorry, I really am, but I need to get away from it all. I want to stay here with you, but if I’m going to keep my sanity, I just need some time away. I promise, it’ll only be a couple weeks, three at the most. By then, I should be back to simply being a monster instead of a deadbeat.” Celestia wanted to keep debating, but she knew it was a lost cause. “Very well. Will you please at least take a guard? It would let me sleep better at night.” “Mom, you know I’ve never liked having guards shadowing me. Besides, Aunt Luna can let us dreamwalk again,” Luna nodded and hummed an agreement. “It’ll be like I’m still here at home with you.” “Well, I know I can’t stop you when your mind’s made up, so I have nothing left but to wish you a pleasant trip.” “Thanks, Mom,” I hugged her and Luna, both of them nuzzled me in return. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to start packing.” After about an hour, and a lot of help from Bunny (I’d never packed for a trip this long before, give me a break) I was nearly done. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I was shocked when Blueblood entered. He had never dared to come into my room before, something about it smelling like an animal’s kennel. “Chris, may I speak with you?” “What do you… did you just call me ‘Chris’?” Even Bunny was speechless. “Listen, I know we’ve never gotten along in the past and probably never will in the future, But I had to tell you something.” “Fair enough. Go ahead then.” This I had to hear. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry for what happened to you. Being betrayed like that is not something that anypony should have to go through.” “Wow, Blueblood. Than-“ “Even a monkey like you has feelings after all.” Having said his peace, Blueblood happily trotted back out of the room. “Well, that didn’t last long,” Bunny commented. I had to laugh at her bluntness. “No, no it didn’t. But it did help a little.” Bunny hugged me tight. “I’ll never forgive her for what she did to you.” I reached down and scratched Bunny behind her ear, she leaned into my hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you just how much I value your friendship, have I?” “You’ve told me many times, Chris. You don’t need to say it again.” “No, but I want to. As far as I’m concerned, you and your family are as good as blood to me. If ever the crown can be of service, you only have but to ask. I love you, Dust Bunny.” “I love you too, Christopher Sol. But now that that’s covered, we need to get you to the train station.” Celestia had insisted on riding with me to the station. She had been trying to convince me to postpone the vacation the whole way. I had refused, but promised to bring back souvenirs for everypony. Even at the station in Ponyville, where I had to switch trains, there were pleas from a princess to get me to stay home a little bit longer. I had told Twilight that I needed this more than they needed me. Besides, if I didn’t leave now, Applejack’s letter to her cousin about a special visitor would be a lie, and we couldn’t have that. It was odd that Fluttershy had offered to accompany me. I hadn’t considered it before then. I had no issue with bringing a friend along, but I reminded her that she had too many responsibilities in Ponyville, such as her animals and prep work for the Celebration, to take three unplanned weeks off. Again, I promised souvenirs. ***** You know, there are times when it’s really nice to be a royal. For example, spending two days on a train with your own private car. Or, being allowed to speak with the engineer and learn about how the whole thing works. Also, nopony can really stop you if you wanted to, oh I don’t know, live out a foalhood fantasy and run along the tops of the cars pretending you’re fighting off outlaws. What? I grew up hidden away inside a palace. Leave me alone. We pulled into the station late in the morning. The air was dry and warm, but a constant breeze kept it from being too hot. The dryness did prevent there from being a lot of excess foliage as well, but that somehow added to the charm. I was enjoying the view when somepony interrupted my meandering. “Hold it right there, Monster!” Ah, that takes me back. I turned around to see an earth pony stallion wearing a Stetson, vest, and a large star-shaped badge. “Um, can I help you?” “Who are you ‘n’ what’s uh monster like you doin’ in my town?” The monster thing was really starting to get on my nerves, but I couldn’t allow myself to give in to my desires to lash out. It would have reflected badly on Celestia. “Well, sir, my name is Chris, Prince of Equestria, and I’m here on vacation.” “Yeah right. You’re the prince, ‘n’ I’m Nightmare Moon. Now tell me who ya really are.” “I’ve already told you, I am Prince Christopher Sol, son of Celestia and second in line for the throne.” “Now, I’ve had ‘bout all I can take. There ain’t no way you can be Celestia’s son. I may not know whut you are, but you ain’t no pony. You look more like a minotaur crossed with a gorilla. Tell me who ya really are right now, or I’ll arrest ya for impersonatin’ royalty.” “You know what, go ahead.” I leaned forward and thrust a finger in his face. “And when Celestia finds out you had her son arrested because he’s not a pony, there won’t even be enough of your town left to build a bon fire.” I was nearly shaking with rage. I’m a patient man, but this guy had already exhausted all I had. He was staring back at me, but I could see he was starting to doubt himself. He was sweating. “Sheriff! Big news frum Cousin Applejack!” came a friendly voice froma stallion galloping toward us. “She says that her friend the prince is comin’ ta visit. She also said ta be careful, ‘cause he’s not a… oh, you found ‘im already.” Now the ‘sheriff’ was drenched in sweat. I stood up and turned to address the new arrival. “Hello there, my name is Prince Christopher Sol, but there’s no need to stand on ceremony with me. Just call me Chris, and please stop the bowing.” I was tempted to give the ‘sheriff’ different instructions, but decided not to lower myself to that level. An hour after that fun little meeting, “…’n’ over here’s the local saloon, ‘The Salt Lick’. ‘N’ that’s everythin’ of interest in town. So, what do ya think of lil Aa~aappleoosa?” Braeburn asked as he finished his tour. “I like it, Braeburn. It seems like a real nice town. I only wish I had come out here sooner and under better circumstances.” “Cousin Applejack said that there was some nasty goin’s on back in Canterlot. Well, let me assure ya here ‘n’ now, there won’t be any of that nonsense here. Applejack said all that mess was phony ‘n’ folks ‘round here know better than to doubt an Apple.” “Glad to hear it.” I patted Braeburn on his withers. “Now, how about I get settled in at the hotel and then you show me the famous Appleoosian orchard?” ***** The orchard was incredible. The mere fact that they were able to get a tree to grow in this arid environment was impressive enough, but this was thousands of trees. It was a dang miracle is what is was. “Is this the trail the buffalo use for their stampeding?” “That’s right. When we planted these trees here, we had no idea this was sacred land and we wound up havin’ a huge fight over it. Luckily, we were able to reach an agreement ‘fore anypony got too badly hurt.” “That is lucky. I only wish the settlers and natives back on my world been able to settle their fight so well. I was only a kid when I left Earth, so I don’t know much, but I do know there was far more than a food fight that took place. There are times I’m glad I came here.” “So the legends are true then.” A small buffalo female stepped out from behind a tree. She wore a headband with a single feather stuck in it. I assumed right away that she was from the nearby native tribe that ran on these grounds. “’Legends’? What legends are those, Little Strongheart?” Braeburn asked. “That there was a visitor from another world roaming the lands.” Braeburn and I looked at each other, then turned back to the buffalo with a look of confusion. “Admittedly, it is not an old legend.” I approached her and knelt down so as to be at her eye level. I held my hand out in a greeting. “Hello, my name is Chris and I’m very pleased to meet you.” “I am Little Strongheart and it is an honor to meet you, Son of the Sun,” she told me as she shook my hand. “Son of the Sun, huh?” I rubbed my chin in thought. “I like it. Heck, I bet Mom’d get a real kick out of it. May I use that title?” “Of course. I’m sure the chief would be happy to know you enjoyed the name he chose for you when we first heard of the legend. Actually, I’m certain he would love to meet you as well.” “Well, I don’t know about Braeburn here, but I would very much like to meet him also.” Half an hour later, I was sitting with the buffalo chief, Thunderhooves. He was massive, easily big enough to give even Big Macintosh a tough time, let his deep voice spoke of only wisdom and care for his tribe. With no more than a simple greeting and a single gesture, I could tell this buffalo was one who led his tribe with tradition in mind, but their well-being valued above all else. He reminded me a lot of my own family. Chief Thunderhooves welcomed me into his tribal village. We spoke for a long time about the history of his tribe and we discussed many of their traditions. He even shared some of their meal with me (I wouldn’t recommend it to a human). In all, it was a very informative and interesting discussion. I only wished I could have spent more time there. Unfortunately, after everything that we had done that day, it was starting to get late. ***** “Mom, it’s not that I’m not happy to see you, I am, but why are you a human again? Better yet, why are both you and Aunt Luna human?” “What,” Celestia asked innocently as she held me to her chest, “you don’t like it? Besides, I enjoyed the form last time and Luna was curious.” “True enough,” Luna said as she inspected her new shape, “though I find myself thankful this is the dreamscape. I do not think I could stay upright as you do without much practice.” “Hmm, I agree. But that just means my baby is that much more impressive.” Celestia rocked me back and forth a little more before releasing me. “Now, tell us how your trip’s been so far.” “You mean all of today?” We all laughed briefly. “Yes, Honey, the whole day. I want to know.” “Alright,” a small hill covered in grass, flowers and a single shade tree appeared with a blanket spread for us to sit on, “take a seat.” I watched as Luna and Celestia both tried to figure out how to sit with their legs bend the wrong way. Luna’s first attempt was her trying to sit on haunches that she didn’t have, causing her to roll backward down the hill. Celestia had given up and simply laid on her side. I walked over to her and rolled her onto her back so I could lay my head on her stomach. Again, I know it was kind of foolish, but who was going to say anything in the dreamscape? And so I told them. I told them about walking on the train, Celestia didn’t like that very much, and touring the town with Braebrun. I talked about the orchard and omitted dealing with the sheriff. “…then the chief gave me a bag of turquoise for Spike. Oh, and get this, Chief Thunderhooves made me an honorary member of their tribe. He also wishes to send his respect and warmest greetings to you both.” Celestia was stroking my hair as she listened. “Well, I’s say you’ve had a great first day of your vacation, Honey. I only wish you’d reconsider staying there through the Celebration.” “I agree. I am happy you are finding your time relaxing, but I did wish to enjoy my first Summer Sun Celebration with my whole family.” Now Luna wasn’t playing fair. “So did I, but I’m afraid I won’t be there. I’ll be back in two weeks though, so we’ll see each other again then.” “You know, we could hold the Celebration there,” Celestia offered hopefully. “No, you can’t. Everything’s ready to go there and you would have to take it all down just to reassemble it a hundred miles away in the course of two days. Could you imagine what that would do to Twilight? She’d explode.” Both princesses burst out laughing. “You may be right. She and her friends arrived at the palace today to prepare. Do you want me to tell them you’re thinking of them?” “Please do. Also, tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.” “We shall, but sadly, we must say farewell for now.” We all stood up and hugged each other tightly before the dreamscape faded away. At another part of the palace that night, there was an entirely different kind of conversation going on. “Wait, ya’ll got crush… on who?” The only response to the farmpony’s question was a series of incomprehensible squeaks. And that was my first day of vacation.