The Different Prince

Twilight looked a the skeleton on my closet for a long minute before looking back at me. It was an incredibly large closet.

"You can't be serious," she said at last.

"What?" I asked innocently. "I just want you to get a good look at her and tell me about it.

She shakes her head and sighs. "Gold... I know you're smarter than this. It's a hoax, carnivals and..."

"Just look, please?" I asked, voice dripping with honey. She looked in my eye for a minute then slum[ed a the shoulder.

"You're lucky I love you, Gold," she groaned as she turned the fossil and activated her horn. "I promise, I'll be thorough. Just don't be upset when I find it's a hundred different bones cobbled together with some logs."

I gave a little skip. "Thank you... now, if you don't mind, I have to meet somepony important."

She managed a laugh and waved me off. "Go on, stud."

* * *

This particularly important pony was a bat pony filly from a tribe to the west. About a year younger than me, she was one of my future brides promised me at that party long ago. Or promised to the kingdom of Equestria if you want to get political. She was also the first of my future brides I had met.

Swamp Princess Nectarine was adorable dark blue, cute little fangs, and a mane so long she actually tripped over it in the first three seconds we saw each other. Upon her head was a tiny crown of flowers, which fell off as she stared up at my imposing figure.

"Y-you're the prince?" she squeaked in shock.

I nodded as I lay down so that I appeared smaller. "Yes. I know, I'm huge."

She gasped at the sound of my voice, dancing a little. "You can talk too?"

I just laughed. She then rushed up and hugged my neck, kicking her legs excitedly. "You're as big a full grown stallion. How much do you eat?"

"More than enough," I assured her as she climbed upon my back.

Her mother stood off to the side with mother, asking questions. She was half-convinced I was an adult when she first saw me. A big no-no if you must know. Mother calmed her of her concerns quickly and she had chosen to stand off to the side where they could discuss their future hopes for the future of our two nations.

We were a shady part of the gardens, as bat ponies didn't enjoy sunlight. Poor Nectarine, I thought, she was probably up way past her bedtime for this. Or had been made to sleep last night. Either way, poor filly.

I spread my wings for her and she gasped at the size.

"I wish I had wings that big," she squealed as she took off and began flapping around me like a hummingbird. Or a bat, if you prefer. "How fast can you fly?"

I paused. "I really don't know. I've never really tested my speed before."

"Ah, that's boring," she groused. "It's too sunny out for me to fly good. We should have a race tonight."

"No, we'll be leaving tonight," her mother called from the sidelines. "I have business in Manehatten, and will not leave you to torment our good hosts."

"Are you sure," mother asked. "They are getting along fairly well. She won't be any trouble."

Queen Watercress thought a moment then conceded. "Very well. I'll return for her in two nights. And, I'm willing ot pay for whatever damages she may cause."

After we all had a meal in the garden together, the queen left. Question, how was she a queen, and my mother a princess? She's the female ruler of a country for crying out loud. Oh well. Stuff and things.

Nectarine rode upon my back as I escorted her on a tour of the palace. Pound soon appeared and I introduced them. Pound was gentle and happy to see a hew potential playmate

"Silly stallion," she giggled as he licked her ears. "He's like my puppy."

"You have a puppy?" I asked.

She nodded. "Mama didn't let me bring him. He's back home with papa and my sisters."

"Have a lot of sisters do you?"

"Eight," she declared proudly. "No brothers. Though mama says she's trying. Whatever that means."

I patted her head and chuckled. "We'll both find out when we're older."

Just then, someone shouted my name, making all three of us jump. Whirling about, I saw Twilight, running, a smile on her face.

"Gold, come quick," she shouted. "It's absolutely amazing."

* * *

Everyone seemed to be in the closet today. We all gathered around the skeleton while the lavender alicorn waved her arms about like an chicken who had been passed over by the farmer.

"It's like nothing I've seen before," she cried excitedly. Then she smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for dismissing you earlier."

"It's fine," I assured her. "But, what did you find?"

"It's real," she declared. "The bones all have the same chemical compositions, same state of calcification, and even multiple bones are still held together by the same stone they were probably excavated from."

"Alright," I grinned happily. The museum had literally given it away.

"This fossil is... it's priceless," she went on. "To think they just let it collect dust like that."

Then she whirled about and kissed my nose. "You are a genius, you magnificent stud, you."

"So, what is it, exactly?" I asked.

"I have no idea," she said, still smiling. "It's equine in form. Female. But, that's all I can tell right now. We need to find more of them. Maybe they left behind some relics."

"Where would we even begin," I wondered.

She pointed at the plaque. "The Twisted Bridge, of course. Just need to find out where that is. Come along, you found this thing, you get to find more."

"Um, wait what?" I cried, shocked. "We're just leaving?"

"The longer we wait, the less we know," she urged me, pushing me and pound. Nectarine alighted on my back. "Sure, she can come too."

"But, I'd rather not leave without Lyra or Bonbon," I stated. "But they took the day off."

Twilight groaned. "If you really need a wetnurse that badly, I've got plenty of milk. Have all you want. Now get to the carriage shed and hook Pound up to it. I'll get some supplies and leave a message for your mother detailing where we're going."

There was a lot of tripping over our own hooves, but we finally managed to follow her directions and had taken off into the blue. I hoped mother wouldn't be upset. After all, we were practically kidnapped. Twilight was a force of nature.