Some People are the Worst.

"Princess Apple, your hair is so pretty!" Dinni chirps as she skips along beside the horses, more than capable of keeping up with her coltish legs, "You should let me braid it!"

The dragon squirms sheepishly against your back, a bit uncomfortable but unable to keep the broad smile from her face. Having gone from zero companions to three would have been a lot for anyone, but the little nymph seems to have opted to leapfrog directly over 'friend' to 'best friend' pretty much immediately. For a girl who's best friend up to this point has been a sack with a crudely painted face, it takes some getting used to.

Apple clears her throat. "Um, maybe? I guess so...oh, but, um, you can just call me Apple..."

Dinni gasps, "Really?! Ya~ay!! The princess is so niiiice~!" She merrily skips about as Apple pulls her hood a bit lower to hide her embarrassment. "Oh, but we HAVE to get you some nicer clothes! We just have to!"

Rook cranes his head back to nod in agreement from his position leading the group. "Yes indeed. Whatever_ _dreadful, frightfully dreadful peril you saved the princess from was surely dire indeed, to have destroyed all of her clothes.

You blink. "Yes. That is exactly what happened. Er, it was dire."

Apple helpfully chimes in. "Super dire!"

The knight nods, clearly having expected no less. "Luckily, there is a village just up the road. We can resupply the princess in a manner a bit more suited to her requirements, rest for the night, and then be off for the castle by morning!"

Oh, a town. That is....yeah, this could be bad. You share a wary glance with Apple, increasingly aware of the flaws in your plan. Is she just going to wear your hood for her entire life? It's gonna get real dirty! The two of you are going to need to figure out some better solution sooner rather than later.

Before you can ponder further, however, Dinni clasps her hands together and squeals. "Oh, there's a town ahead?! I've never been in a town! I bet they are amazing! Race you!!!"

"No, wait!" Rook calls out to her, but the excitably nymph has already begun bounding towards the modest town walls you can make out in the distance. The knight turns back to you, worry evident on his face. "We need to catch her, she doesn't know that non-humans aren't welcome!"

He spurs his horse on, trying in vain to catch up to Dinni's head start as Apple presses her forehead into your back glumly. "This isn't going to work out, is it."

Probably not. "It absolutely is. Let's catch up!"

The girl dejectedly nods as you urge your horse onwards. If all of this is ruined by some no-name village hick racists, you're going to be cross as FUCK.

It doesn't take long to reach the village at your horses' full speed, but even that was unable to match the effortless pace Dinni managed to set. You're nearly on her heels when she reaches the open village gates and bolts right through, the confused old guardsman stationed there shooting you all a bewildered look. Dude, it's a whole thing; we'll explain it later. Luckily Dinni skids to a halt just inside the village proper, but unluckily it seems to be a market day because the pleasant little town square is stuffed to the rafters with stalls, hawkers and villagers contentedly going about their business.

Oh man, you might have lucked out. The market is so bustling that no one has really taken notice of the nymph yet, at least not beyond a passing glance. If you can just reach her before---

"Omigosh, those tomatoes are so big!"

Shit. The chipper girl certainly draws attention to herself as she thrills her approval of a somewhat stunned farmer's wares. And continues to do so as she merrily prances about, unabashedly inspecting and praising anything she can get her hands on. A large portion of the marketplace seems to have noticed her now, though not like you'd expected. They all look more...bemused?

Apple whispers to you. "Why isn't anyone getting mad?"

"I'm not sure, maybe Rook---"

The mood shifts dramatically, however, when the villagers and merchants notice you and your knight. Suddenly the once buzzing market is very, very still, as uncomfortable villagers stare stiffly at you and seem to be doing their best not to look over at Dinni, the girl rather taken aback by the shift in atmosphere.

At length, someone coughs. "Um, hey, uh, what's what nymph doing here?"

Another voice half-heartedly joins in "Yeah, er, they aren't allowed!! This is a human town and, um...yeah!"

Dinni slowly lowers the shawl she'd been admiring, eye wide as she stares up at a stricken-looking Rook. "I...I'm not allowed?"

The crowd rumbles in that manner as Apple clutches you a bit tighter. This is entirely weird. You're broken from your reverie when a portly villager shuffles up to your horse with hat in hand. "Erm, our 'pologies m'lord, don't know how this happened...if we'd know you we comin' we'd've made sure to be more careful with keepin' out non-humans..."

You stare bewilderedly down at the man, who you suspect is the major. "What? I don't care about that!"

The mayor's face goes blank. "Um...what?"

"I don't care at all about that; why would I care about that?"

The crowd has begun murmuring.

"Did the prince say he doesn't care?"

"--but the laws have always been--"

"--could it really be that--"

Okay, enough of this shit. You rise up in your saddle, calling out for the whole market to hear. "Okay look! I don't give a single shit about if non-humans and humans mingle! In fact, the opposite! I say people who are against it suck!"

Stunned silence weighs heavily over the crowd as you settle back down, having said your peace. So cool, are we going to have to fight now? Because if these village hick racists think they can chat bold to you or any of your friends, they've got another thing--

The crowd erupts in cheers.

"Hooray! Hooray for the prince!"

"Those people DO suck!"

"We can let anyone in now?! That's great!!"

"My WIFE is a nymph!"

The market instantly bursts back into celebratory activity, many villagers happily greeting the now-gleeful Dinni. Uh, wha? The mayor is sniffing away a tear as he crumbles in cap between his hands, beaming up at you. "I always knew our prince was a good man, I did! I always KNEW he weren't part of them awful laws!"

Uh.

Rook wipes a tear away himself as he nods in pride. "Truly sir, truly! He is truly the best man I or ANY ONE OF US will ever know!"

Okay, ridiculous praise that you absolutely don't deserve aside, you can be pleased that this problem has been solved. Apple certainly seemed to be thrilled, the dragon grinning from ear to ear. But you're starting to feel out what the real problem here is, and frankly you're mad at yourself for not understanding it from the beginning.

The problem isn't village hick racists. It's noble hick racists. Like that jerk princess, or whoever put these laws into place. And you can't be sure that it wasn't you.

You've got your work cut out for you. Working at Dairy Queen probably would have been simpler.