The Alpaca Prince
Part 3: The Pond
“Thanks, see y’all again soon!” Applejack waved happily to her last customer, a nice brick-colored stallion who’d bought a nice baker’s dozen of red delicious apples. Why, if she was lucky, she could close up an hour or so early today and have some free time.
Well, she thought that before the stampede happened. A monstrous rush of panicked earth ponies stampeded into the Ponyville market, shouting and throwing bits and buying up everything they could. “Equestria’s economy is in danger!” somepony shouted. “Princess Twilight says buy local!” Another mare was frothing at the mouth.
Applejack glanced at Cherry Joe, who quickly replaced his 1-bit sign with a 10-bit sign. The apple mare eyed the crowd with a cocked eyebrow and a frown, but the crowd swept over them both none the less. She wasn’t about to ask what they hay was going on, nor did she really care a this point. Ponyville had seen chaos gods, floods, famine, and Celestia knew what else. A sudden mass buying spree didn’t strike her as particularly bad. And if Twilight was behind this, well…
“I’ll take ALL your granny smith greens!” the first stallion to arrive said, slamming his bits purse in front of her. Applejack obliged with a basket to go with them.
“Gimme every mcintosh you’ve got!” another mare rushed up to her, saddlebags already bulging with other goods. Applejack passed them to her, taking the bits as she went.
This continued on, back and forth, until Applejack was quite sold out. Reaching into her saddlebags, she produced an earth pony-designed bottle rocket. Tugging the string, she launched it into the sky where it went off like a cannon shot. Plenty of ponies ooooh’d apprieciatively (because c’mon, who doesn’t like fireworks?), but Applejack was only hoping for one pony’s attention.
Miles away, Big Mac looked up from his apple basket-pushing and toward Ponyville. He saw the apple-shaped spray of sparks in the sky. The stand had sold out? Wow. Murmuring to himself he got a barrel of red delicious and golden delicious. Mounting them on the hooks where he usually had his saddlebags, he started towards town at a quick pace. If some kind’a buyer’s spree was happening, they’d have to take advantage while they could.
=-=-=
“How strange! Birds on water!” Prince Cudfellow watched a family of ducks swim by as he and Twilight rested by the lake. Strangely, nopony else seemed to be in the park. It was such a nice day too, and the purple mare hadn’t spotted anyone. Deciding not to worry about it too much since she was playing hostess right then, she smiled and nodded to prince Cudfellow. The birds quack-quack’d along, and he leaned out over the bank to get a better look. “Most times we must drilling for the fresh water, Alpacastan’s water bodies are still,” he told her.
“Oh really?” Twilight asked, “Equestria’s mostly temperate, so we enjoy ponds like this all the time.” She spied Big Macintosh galloping by on the far end of the park. “Wonder what he’s up to, rushing around like that…?” she mumbled.
“Huhm?” Prince Cudfellow turned his head to look, and the shift in weight sent him into the water. Sploosh! “Wha-hah?!” he garbled, then sank like a rock.
“Prince Cudfellow!” Twilight leapt to her hooves in horror.
“I am not swimming!” he garbled to the surface, flailing wildly. “Aid! Aid!” then he sank and bubbled to the bottom.
Twilight backed up a few steps, then LEAPT out—onto dry land. Face-planting into sand she groaned, rubbing her face.
“I am not in the amusing,” grumbled Prince Cudfellow. His expanse of fur had absorbed the entire pond, all the fish in it and he had expanded to the size of a house! “Halp, Princess Twilight…” he groaned, little stubby legs flippity-flapping on either side of him. “I am to be begging you, yes, halp,” he sagged, panting.
Twilight gaped at him, unable to believe it. Was it alpaca magic?! Remembering herself at last she jolted forward. “D-d-don’t move anywhere, I’ll help you just hang on!” she ran a quick circuit around his massive wet shape. The smell was terrible! Lifting a hoof to her face she covered her muzzle with a groan. Wet alpaca was not the best. “Hang on!” she repeated.
“I am not to be having a stopper, dry me!” Cudfellow bleated, flailing his stubby legs back and forth.
Twilight nodded. Coughing, she came around to his front again. “One drying spell, coming up!” she ignited her horn, gritting her teeth and pointing it at him. A massive set of hands gently wrung the prince out, sending fish and debris in all directions. Then they turned into a hairdryer and WHOOOOO’d at him, sending his cheeks flapping back and forth. POOMPH, his fur stood on end with static. He stood there, frowning, looking equally as un-amused as when he was wet. The hairdryer morphed into a lightning rod and ran itself along his back a few times. Discharges and bolts of electricity danced across it until his fur laid normally again.
Prince Cudfellow worked his mouth a few times, but otherwise looked as good as new. “Very good!” he sat on his haunches to clap for her. “Very good indeed, yes!” Twilight let out a tired huff, wiping her brow. Then she saw all the objects littered around that had come out of the prince’s wooly expanse.
A bronze short sword, bola’s, three day’s rations, a bedroll, bullseye lantern, three pints of oil, candles, chalk, a crossbow, a leather helm, three books, a dirty magazine, a half-eaten (ruined) candy bar, a pillow, paper, quill, yellow inkwell, a foldable chair, a circlet, a royal crown, oak steak, a morning star, wallet, condom, four sorts of currency, a newspaper, a chess set, scattered art supplies, and a rather impressive array of keys. Twilight stared awkwardly as the Prince began repacking himself with all his items. “You keep all that with you all the time? It must weigh a ton!”
“It is not hurting one to be prepared, Princess,” Cudfellow said seriously. “At least I am not having to bathe while I am here, yes?” he snickered good-naturedly. “Princess Twilight has scrubbed me down well and good!” Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. He stabbed himself in the breast with the oak steak to hide it in his fur, threw away the candy bar, and finally was done. “Forgive my messy fallingness,” he said politely.
“It’s no problem,” Twilight said with a little giggle. “At least you didn’t get hurt,” she wondered, not for the first time, how strong the prince may have been under all that fur. Weighed down by that many objects there was no telling.
Sitting by the lake (which Twilight passed a few spells over to clean the hair out), they exchanged small talk for a few hours. Sunbathing, watching clouds, lying on their backs to worship the sun with their bellies as they spoke.
“I am not to be bothering you for too much longer, Princess,” Cudfellow said, turning on his side. “Father will no doubt be done with his summit soon and—“
Swiff-Poof!
Both of them flinched as a scroll arrived by magic, marked with the royal seal of the sisters. “Oh! It’s a message from Princess Celestia!” Twilight sat up to take it out of the air and unfurl it.
“What is it saying? I cannot read your equine-speak,” Cudfellow leaned, but it all looked like neigh-neigh-neigh to him. “Be sharing?” he asked.
“Yes, of course,” Twilight read aloud for him.
Princess Twilight,
I hope you and Prince Cudfellow are doing well together and getting along. I believe at this point the trade summit has reached a climax after mounting tensions and a vigorous back-and-forth exchange concerning Alpacastan's thrust into Equestria. Northeastern winds were cutting off trade routes between our nations for certain goods, but I am sending a team of specialists to heat things up in the proper areas. The Alpacci king has personally ensured that the pass into Equestria will be maintained once it is warmed up properly. We’ve agreed to share the pass as a nomare’s land and use it for trade routes and other ‘cultural exchanges’ only. Happy Day, and a political victory for both sides!
King Fluffington will come to Ponyville tomorrow afternoon to pick up his son, please be sure he has a good time until then. I’m very proud of you for hosting him for me. I thought it would be best if both countrries’ ‘budding royals’ met and interacted as soon as they could.
Very Pleased,
Celestia
“Well she sounds happy,” Twilight concluded, scratching her head a little. “Princess Celestia doesn’t usually write so informally…” she eyed the looping letters, angled and a little trembly for the day Princess’ usual hoof-writing. She must’ve been very tired after hours and hours of empire-molding negotiations.
“I am to be glad-having that our parents are getting along so well,” Cudfellow smiled.
Twilight laughed some, “Princess Celestia isn’t my mother! She’s my teacher!”
“Oh? Oh!” Prince Cudfellow scratched his chin. He’d heard so much about Warrior Princess Twilight Sparkle, how had he passed that bit up? “You are not daughter of the gods, then?”
“Oh no no,” Twilight said, “Princess Celestia is my mentor. She taught me almost everything I know in the areas of advanced magic!” The Prince’s blank expression said he’d only understood half of what she said. “Uhm… Celestia teaches lots… high-end school?”
“Ohhhh, I see! You are ehm… ehm…” he fished for a word. “Prodigy!”
“Protégé,” Twilight nodded, for he’d been quite close. Well she was sort of a Prodigy but that sounded like bragging...
“Pretty Purple Princess Prodigy Protégé!” he mwah-mwah’d her cheeks with affection. Twilight blushed, but nodded and let him take the lead as they started down a walking path around the park.
End of Part 3
