//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine: Rico The Crusader // Story: Llamas: A Drama // by SkelePone //------------------------------// LLAMAS a drama CHAPTER NINE: RICO THE CRUSADER by SkelePone Rico limped as fast as he could. His hind legs screamed in pain whenever he applied too much pressure to them. His gallop was restricted to that of a hasty waddle. He had been born that way. An uncommon birth defect, yes. But it wasn’t rare. His parents were gatherers for the herd, collecting berries and roots for eating and potions. When they had birthed a defect, they had been so disappointed. He would never be able to gather. He was too noisy when he walked. He was too… imperfect. He was too slow. Thankfully, the fillies he was chasing weren’t in any hurry. Even if they changed direction few minutes. Rico hobbled after the fillies, wheezing and gasping for breath. He wished Pepe was here. The green Pack llama would scream something ridiculous like ‘HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA’ and then carry Rico all the way to those fillies. But of course, he had left behind his strange friend. And now, he was tiring out far faster than he would have if he had just called to them. Think back on that, Rico realized how foolish he had been. Running across Ponyville. What a stupid little cria he was. Gasping for air, he said a naughty word that he had heard Bonita call Poncho under her breath when she had thought none of the herd was listening. He knew he probably shouldn’t say that word, even if no llama or pony was around to hear him, but he was so frustrated he could scream. If only he wasn’t so out of breath. He stumbled to the ground, resting his painfully curved legs on the street. To make his predicament worse, the thick layer of clouds above the town began to rumble. It was going to storm any minute now. Terrific. How he wished that Pepe was still with him… “Rico?” The cria looked up in surprise at a giant llama who had somehow snuck up on him. Bronco’s light blue wool stood out against the darkening skies as Rico stared up at him from where he sat upon the ground. “Bronco? What are you doing here?” “I was going to ask you the same thing,” Bronco rumbled, “standing about when it’s about to start raining. Come, we don’t want you catching pneumonia. I understand Vicuña is experienced with healing wounds, but we best save him the trouble of crafting an amulet and brewing a potion, eh?” Bronco lifted up the cria and used a cloven hoof to help the scrawny little llama onto his back. “So what were you doing out here?” Rico asked as they bounded along. A light drizzle misted over them as they wandered the empty streets. “I was… visiting a friend.” Rico was surprised. “You’ve made a friend here already?” “Well, yes. I suppose so.” “Who is it?” Bronco was silent. Rico felt he may have tread a little into Bronco’s personal business. The little llama’s flappy ears drooped low, and he pouted. The stocky guard llama glanced at the youngling on his back and saw the cria’s pitiful expression. “A mare. Her name is Fluttershy. She’s been… teaching me…” “Teaching you?” Rico was confused. What could a Guard want to learn from a pony? “I plan on making a change of profession.” “Wait. What? You don’t like being a Guard?” Bronco sneered, but Rico couldn’t see it. Rico could hear the bitterness in Bronco’s voice, though. “Never have. My papa and my mama were guards. So I became a guard. You see how it works? But here… in the land of ponies… I don’t need to guard anymore. And if I’m not guarding, I’m doing nothing. So I decided to find some other more fulfilling career.” “What were you going to do?” “I wanted… I want… ugh. It’s stupid. Don’t worry about it.” Bronco said in gruff tones. Rico’s curiosity got the better of him. “You can tell me. I won’t laugh. Honest!” Bronco cast a doubtful look at the piggybacking cria. Than the guard shook his head and let out a snort. “I want to take care of animals.” “That sounds fun.” They went on in silence. The rain began to pour a little harder as a wind kicked up. Rico shivered and hugged Bronco tighter. He was covered in a light brown wool that was plenty thick, but it wasn’t as thick and warm as Bronco’s wool. The goliath let out a grumble as a blast of wind pushed the two back. The storm was really raging now. Rico accidentally let out a squeal when lightning flashed above them. It never rained this badly in the Alpacas. After what had seemed like ages, Bronco and Rico walked up to a cottage far on the outskirts of Ponyville. But it wasn’t the llamas’ house. Bronco knocked on the door and it was answered by a very, very nervous yellow pegasus. “Oh, Bronco! Oh my goodness, and you must be Rico! Oh dear oh dear oh dear!” Before Rico knew what was going on, he was scooped up by the mare and spun about into her house. He heard Bronco stifle a chuckle as the mare snuggled him to get him warm. Although Rico appreciated it, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be hugged and kissed when he saw who else was taking shelter in the yellow pegasus’ house. The three fillies he had seen earlier were giggling at the spectacle. Blushing, Rico pulled himself off of the mare. “Fluttershy, let the cria go make some friends. He’s made out of hardier stuff than you’d think.” Bronco looked to Rico with a raised eyebrow while the pegasus named Fluttershy placed him gently on the ground.. “Well? Why don’t you go make some friends, Rico.” Rico nodded and limped cautiously to the giggling fillies, who had just noticed that the cria male was heading right for them. Bronco and Fluttershy left the room together, chatting like they were good friends. Rico took a moment to wonder how long Bronco had been coming over to Fluttershy’s cottage. The big, intimidating guard was the last llama Rico had expected to want to learn how to care for animals. But Rico did notice there was a vast number of various creatures slithering, flapping, and hopping across the room. The three fillies watched with great interest as Rico slowly limped over to where they sat on the sofa. When Rico sat with a sigh on the loveseat opposite of the couch, he was surprised by a yellow Earth pony filly, with a red mane with a rather ridiculously large bow perched in it, who decided to plop right down beside the quaking cria. “Howdy! Ah’m Apple Bloom. What’s yer name?” “Rico.” The llama murmured shyly. “Are you a llama, too? Like Bronco?” A white unicorn filly asked, sauntering up to sit on the other side of Rico. He felt like the loveseat was suddenly getting very crowded. “What’s up with your legs?” An orange pegasus filly demanded, poking a curious hoof at Rico’s curved hind legs. He yelped in pain and withdrew them, hugging them close to his body. The orange filly winced and shied away. “Sorry…” The unicorn and the Earth pony, Apple Bloom, glared at the pegasus and looked to Rico with concern. Rico felt his face flush with embarrassment. He had to figure out how to bring their attention away from his defect. “S-So… what’s your names?” He asked, gesturing a cloven hoof to the unicorn and the sulking pegasus. “I’m Sweetie Belle! And Miss Rude over there is Scootaloo.” The white unicorn chirped, suddenly wrapping Rico in a hug. “Your wool is soooo sooooft…” “Really? Lemme feel it!” Apple Bloom hugged Rico from the other side. “Wow! He’s like a big ol’ teddy bear!” Rico felt uncomfortable at first. But then he realized he liked it. He had never really been hugged before. Rico kind of liked the idea of sharing his warmth with others. Rico closed his eyes and snuggled in as the fillies sighed in content. They sat together like that for several minutes before Rico realized that somepony in the room wasn’t as happy as the other three. Rico cracked an eye open to look at the orange pegasus, sitting alone in the floor. She was facing away from them, pawing a hoof at the soaking wet carpet. Rico swore he heard a grumble that involved ‘dictionary’ and ‘apple dweeb’. She seemed upset. And Rico wasn’t going to have any of it. Rico shook off the fillies. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped and fell towards each other, knocking one another comically in the head. “Ow!” “Hey!” Rico waddled over to the pegasus. She hadn’t noticed him. He wrapped his cloven hooves around her and pulled her into a surprise hug. “What are you doing?” Scootaloo demanded. Rico flinched but didn’t let go. “Hugging you.” “Why?” “Um… It’s cold?” She didn’t reply. Rico let go of her and made his way back to the loveseat. “Sorry… nevermind.” Rico was suddenly tackled by an orange blur and realized that Scootaloo was lying on top of him. Suddenly, Rico let out a wheeze as another pair of weights slammed into him, making a big pony pile in the middle of the sitting room floor. “Rico?” Apple Bloom called from the top of the pile. “Yes?” Came his muffled reply. “Do llamas get cutie marks?” “I don’t think so.” “Oh.” “Why?” “I was gonna ask if you’d like to be a Cutie Mark Crusader.” Rico struggled to turn around and face Apple Bloom, but eventually he just gave up with a half-irritated, half-amused sigh. “What’s a Cutie Mark Crusader?” “It’s kinda hard to explain.” Scootaloo piped up. “A Cutie Mark Crusader is a foal who can’t find their cutie marks, so they work together to try find them!” Sweetie Belle explained. “Find your cutie marks?” Rico noticed they each had blank flanks, as opposed to every other pony he had seen thus far. “Did you lose them?” He asked in wonder. The three fillies laughed at that. Why was that funny? It was an honest question. “No, silly.” Scootaloo snarked. “Everypony spends their whole foalhood searching for their cutie marks. Because when you earn them, that means you finally have a meaning. A purpose in life. What the hay do llamas do when they’re young?” “One, little llamas are called crias. And two, we just try to survive.” “Survive?” “Llamas don’t have houses and stores and things like that. We don’t have hospitals. If a llama gets hurt, we have to get a shaman to help us. And llamas are always getting eaten by monsters. That’s why we had to leave the mountains. Too many llamas were getting eaten. A few of my friends, a llama who helped take care of me.” And my dad, Rico thought to himself. He’d better keep that information private. The three fillies were silent. Rico felt like they were all thinking. “Well, you can still be a Crusader. How’s about it, Rico?” Before Rico could reply, he was interrupted by a heavy masculine voice. Bronco. “Rico. What in Inti’s name are you doing?”