𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆 𝖘𝖍𝖊-𝖍𝖊𝖉𝖌𝖊𝖍𝖔𝖌

      Holding the hedgehog by the arm, the prince led her with slow steps through the castle gates and into the street. The blue hedgehog himself did not expect that he would have to go outside twice that day. Well, for that he will not only admire how the people are living now, but for one thing he will show his guest how they live here, and maybe she herself will learn something from them. They were just passing by the very gossips who were discussing them. — Here they are! — You said that she was dirty and half naked, but this one is clean and dressed. — So they probably washed her and undressed her. — Don't talk nonsense! She's probably a peasant, like the rest of us. Everyone knows that royals do not treat ordinary people this way and always treat them like things and live off their bills and works. — one of them showed off and his mouth was immediately closed. — Quiet! They can hear us! — they told him in a whisper. Of course, Sonic and Amy heard everything, but decided not to show it. First of all, the prince took the guest to the market, where Maria was already there, trying to choose a fresh purchase. Unfortunately or fortunately, she did not notice them. — Here we have our own market, so to speak. You can buy anything. Just be more careful. Don't just buy anything unless you're sure you need it. Look carefully at the prices so as not to spend too much money, and check the expiration date at the same time to make sure until what time it can be used and after which it cannot be used. Same with food. Check carefully before what time you can eat it, and after what time you can’t, otherwise you may get poisoned. — while he was explaining all this, he didn’t notice that Amy broke away from his hand and went in the other direction. Her curiosity was so high that she wanted to look at everything around her. There were so many people at the market who passed by her. Everyone was even different in character and mood. Someone was in a good mood and even greeted her, even though they didn’t know each other, and someone was dissatisfied with their work, but had to, because there was no other way to live. Rose noticed a shop where they were selling real and live chickens with roosters in cages. The owner of that shop was a very serious and grumpy three-meter black man. He silently looked at Amy and asked her rudely: — What do you want, bastard? — “Oh, how rude! Why is he so angry?” — Amy thought in her thoughts, silently looking at him. That rude man stood up and, continuing to look at her menacingly, asked: — I’m asking, what are you looking at? Did you come to buy my chickens or to stare? Go and look at the gardens in the castle while I tell you... — Before he could finish, he was frightened when he saw the prince. He immediately changed his rudeness to mercy and bowed. — Oh, great prince Sonic, how may I help you? The prince himself looked menacingly at the seller and asked: — Why are you being rude to my friend? — A! So she's your friend? Sorry, I didn't know. By the way, would you like to buy my chickens? I will sell it for you at a discount. — I don’t need your chickens. Do you think I have a farm in the castle? — Sonic asked and the seller silently shook his head. — No? Maybe, in your opinion, I just want to buy from a fool to set up a zoo?... I’m not interested in what you’re selling. Since you live in my village, then treat all my people with more respect. You don’t want me to order your head to be cut off for being rude to others? — No no. Please! I'll fix me. Honestly, I'll fix me! — Look at me! — Sonic pointed his finger threateningly and walked away, noticing that Amy had approached a small mini-scene where the puppeteer put two long-nosed scarecrows on both hands, one of which had a stick and the other did not. The first such doll with a stick beat the second one and finished him off. Amy was so attracted to that same doll with a stick that without thinking, she pulled it off the puppeteer’s hand to examine it. The puppeteer decided that he had dropped it and was trying to get it from somewhere on the table. The puppeteer stuck his face out and looked around. It was a red armadillo who noticed the hedgehog with his doll in her hands and lightly poked her with his finger. — Excuse me, madam, but it’s mine! Could you return it to me? — he politely asked her and the hedgehog gave the doll back to him. — Thank you. — he thanked her and, standing under the table, continued the performance. — I see you like our bazaar already? — Sonic asked her, and Amy nodded. — But you don’t know very well how everything works here and how to behave here correctly? — the hedgehog asked and the hedgehog shook her head sadly in response. — Okay, don't despair! You're lucky to have me around. Just promise not to run away from me anymore when I explain to you what and how! Okay. Here Amy nodded again in response. She looked around again and saw that between the two shops there was a stable. Amy pointed there silently with her finger. — Do you want to ride horses? — asked the prince. Rose nodded in response and clasped her hands pleadingly. — Well, of course you can. Go. Prince Sonic personally paid a couple of gold coins at his own expense to the groom, a yellow flying squirrel, who allowed him and his girlfriend to take a couple of horses and ride them for one hour. The blue hedgehog immediately jumped onto the saddle on the back of his large horse with blue fur, and Amy looked at the pink horse. The groom helped the hedgehog climb onto the saddle of that horse. At first she was even a little worried, because it was her first time climbing on a horse. Horses, as every racer and racer knows, feel what the person sitting on their back feels. Usually after this the horses begin to be afraid and almost kick. However, this horse was calmer and stronger in spirit. Despite the fear of the one who was now sitting astride her, she did not succumb to her emotions, but pretended to stand calmly. The groom clapped his hands and both blue and pink horses slowly clopped their hooves through the market, leaving it and going into the open field. By the way, the horses also liked the field and the fact that the hedgehogs riding them allowed them to go exactly here. Often this is where many people come and here they sometimes find fresh and edible grass to refresh themselves. While the prince looked around, looking at the field itself, the forests and the blue sky, Rose at that time unfastened one of the saddle straps and the saddle slid to the left. Now the saddle was sticking down, and Amy watched as the horse walked with its front hooves sticking upside down and almost touching the grass itself. Not to say that she really liked it and was even curious to watch how the horse walked. Sonic noticed this and temporarily slowed down his blue horse, and then got off. — Stop, stop, pr-r-r-r! — he calmly stopped the pink horse and it obediently stopped. The prince leaned over to the hedgehog and almost died of laughter, looking at the stupidity she had committed. — Well, why are you here? Why did you unbuckle your saddle and hang upside down? What do you think... Is it more convenient? — he asked her, holding back his laughter, and Amy became thoughtful, looking at the ground, and then shook her head in response. The prince stops laughing and walks around the horse. — Okay. Come on, I'll help you. Having unfastened the other strap of the saddle, the hedgehog could fall, but the hedgehog manages to catch her and pull her out from under the horse. Then, when he helps her up, the hedgehog leans slightly onto the hedgehog's chest, as if lying on a pillow. The warm hug warmed them both. Sonic even liked it a little. Amy may be acting stupid, doing such rash feats, but it's not only funny, it even shows the hedgehog to be completely different. She seemed to him almost different from everyone else. After all, she was different from many others in her behavior and playful character. Having finished hugging each other, they look around in search of their horses, which they will then need to return, and notice that they have moved a little further away from them and stood on one of the hummocks. The blue horse and the pink horse looked at each other like lovers and lightly rubbed their heads and vultures against each other. It was so cute to watch them. Amy immediately imagined in her head herself with Sonic instead of them, because for her they were similar to themselves. However, the prince thought almost exactly the same, but differently. Instead of Amy, he imagined himself and Sally in the place of those horses, thinking that this horse and horse were very similar to them, since they were so in love with each other. The blue horse even took a rose from the grass with its mouth and gave it to the pink horse's mouth, which took it and ate it. I didn’t have to look at the horses in love for too long. After about ten minutes they arrived at their clients and were ready to mount them again. Before that, Sonic helped Amy adjust the saddle and secure it again, before helping her climb onto the pink horse. — Please don't do such stupid things again. I understand that you are very curious and that you have never ridden horses before. But... Try to understand that many of us do not behave the way you do. Amy didn't even argue with him and immediately nodded in confirmation of her concept. At that time, the prince saddled his blue horse and they were about to ride back to the village to the market. Along the way, the pink horse noticed the beach and various rocks that looked more like platforms. She really wanted to gallop there and jump over them, but she lowered her head and snorted sadly, thinking that she would not be allowed. Of course, the hedgehog noticed this sadness in the horse and that she was looking exactly there. She felt so sorry for her horse that the hedgehog leaned over to the back of its head and ran her left palm over its mane. The horse, in turn, mistakenly took this as an approving gesture. Like, the hedgehog herself just allowed her to do this. Out of joy, Amy's horse jumped up on its hind hooves, neighed loudly, and immediately galloped off to the beach. — WHERE ARE YOU GOING??? STOP!!! — Sonic shouted and galloped after him on a blue horse. He was already scared that this hedgehog and her horse might crash into something or fall. And Amy wasn't even scared. She decided that this was probably how it should be, and tried to be calm in such a situation. She even had a little fun jumping and riding the horse so fast, trying to hold on and not fall. The horse ran so fast that the hedgehog almost jumped on the saddle from shaking. Now they have already run up to the cliff and the pink horse is jumping. Rose at this moment manages to spread her arms to the sides, close her eyes and open her mouth as if she was trying to scream with joy. However, only quiet inhalations and exhalations came out, somewhat similar to laughter. The pink horse steps on one rock with its four hooves, then jumps from it to another, a third, a fourth, and with its heel jumps off and lands on the sand, next to the water. From such joyful galloping, the horse even moved its head and spread its mane around, already slowly galloping along the sand back to the ground of grass. Looking at this from the cliff, the prince himself took a breath, frightened for them, and clutched his chest. Then they crossed paths again. Sonic got off his horse and was seriously angry with the hedgehog, which the latter and the pink horse did not expect. — Are you out of your mind? The joy of fun in the horse and hedgehog immediately gave way to surprised fear, and the prince continued to scold his guest, as if she was to blame for the fact that the horse wanted to jump on the roofs of the rock garden like a circus horse. — Why did you let her run here and jump on these rocks? What if one of the rocks broke under your weight and you fell, and then you were covered with stones? What if you fell and broke your bones? What would I tell the groom then? What if you couldn’t resist and fell from the saddle? What if the horse got scared, would it throw you forward and trample you with its hooves? If you are in a foreign country, this does not mean that you can consider yourself the navel of the Earth and do whatever you want here. This can all be very dangerous. Do you understand? How did you even get such suicidal stupidity into your head?! Amy was so frightened by the prince's screams that she almost burst into tears. — “My father yelled at me, and now he’s yelling too.” — she whined in her thoughts, holding back tears with difficulty. The pink horse felt ashamed that she, with her risk, almost killed them and the hedgehog. Raising her right front hoof, she gave the hedgehog a gentle push and pointed at herself, lowering her head and making sad eyes. Sonic immediately realized that the hedgehog was not to blame. That horse came up with all this on her own, and Amy apparently felt sorry for her and allowed her to do such a risky trick. The prince ran his hands over the pink horse's head, trying to calm it down and convince it that it was not to blame for anything, since it was so risky. He then noticed that Amy was holding back tears as she leaned toward the back of her horse's head. Sonic also ran his hand over her head. — Sorry, I didn’t know you had nothing to do with it. I was just really scared for you. Couldn't you both think what would happen to both of you if something suddenly went wrong, as luckily for you it did? Besides, I am responsible for both of you. What are your heads on your shoulders for?... That's right, to think. Promise me that first of all you will think with your head before doing anything, and only then do what you want. Okay? By the way, the blue horse also looked a little sternly at the pink horse and nodded in confirmation of the prince’s words. The horse also nodded, thereby asking forgiveness from both the blue horse and Prince Sonic. Then Amy did the same. She stood up straight, wiped the tears from under her eyes and nodded to the green, calming down. — Do not Cry! I was just emotional. I don't want you to get hurt. Understand? — asks the hedgehog and the hedgehog smiles and nods again. How she would like to say in his ear, if she had a voice: — “Forgive me, prince. I won't do this again." Having saddled the blue horse again, the hedgehog and the hedgehog galloped slowly back to their palace.

***

      As they promised, they returned their horses back to the stable, but together they decided to keep silent about what happened when they returned from the meadow. They walked around the market for a long time until Amy noticed that in one shop they were selling paper and notepads with pens. She wanted to buy them for herself, so that at least with their help she could communicate with the prince by correspondence. After the market they went to explore other small farms and houses where various neighbors and peasants lived. Everyone was happy with the way he lived. Some were chopping wood, some were tending to their gardens, and some were grinding flour on a wheel that looked like an enlarged hamster wheel. They turned it because there was no wind and the mill was not working. Looking at those poor people who were spinning the wheel and getting tired, the hedgehog wrote the line on the first blank piece of notebook: “Why are you torturing these unfortunate slaves.” The prince read it and replied: — These are not slaves, but workers. They themselves volunteered to turn the mill wheel, since there was no wind, but it was necessary to grind flour. Yes, it’s hard for them, but as you can see, they don’t give up and continue to work, because they also need flour so that each of us has fresh bread, fresh rolls, fresh pizza and fresh pies. Why do we need all this? — Sonic asked Amy. She thought for a moment, put both hands between her cheeks and clenched her teeth, opening and closing her mouth. — Right. To eat. — I'm already tired. — whined one of the wheel spinners, who looked like a rhinoceros and fell out of the wheel onto the grass. — We need to rest a little. Amy couldn't watch them suffer and get tired. She ran and jumped inside and began to spin it herself. The rest of the peasants were also tired and fell out, and Amy herself began to move the wheel. Since those peasants were tired and moving slowly, the wheel moved slowly under their movement, and the hedgehog, since she was full of strength and slender, was more mobile. She didn’t stop with her legs and started running. The wheel was spinning faster under her running, and the wind blower at the mill, under the movement of the wheel, also slightly accelerated its movement. — Wow! Perfect! Now you can grind the flour as much as possible. — the owner of the mill, who looked like a wolf, praised and wanted to thank his workers, but was shocked when he saw that they were lying on the grass and breathing. He was even more surprised when he saw that some stranger was spinning his wheel, and she was spinning it so quickly and didn’t even get tired. In fact, Amy was already tired, but she didn’t care. She really liked the wheel and didn’t even want to get off it at all, because you can not only spin it, but also lose extra calories, and also have fun while running. And most importantly, when you run inside the wheel, you won’t crash anywhere. You don’t even have to look where you’re running at all. The owner of the mill approached the prince and whispered in his ear: — Is this your girlfriend, your Majesty? Sonic first looked questioningly at the owner, then turned his gaze to Amy, who continued to run, smiling and catching her breath as she ran. At the same time, she herself turned to the prince and waved to him with her left hand. The prince smiles and answers: — Yes. — In that case, you are lucky that you found someone so active and energetic. — says the mill owner, hugging the prince’s shoulder. — I wonder where she comes from? — Unfortunately, she doesn’t speak. — Sonic answers and whispers in his ear. — Because she is mute. — Talkative or silent... It doesn’t matter. The main thing is that you are lucky to meet her. Perhaps you should marry her instead of princess Sally. Sonic indignantly removed his hand and replied: — Don't talk nonsense, sir! Sally and I have known each other for a long time. I’m going to marry her, but this little hedgehog... She’s just my girlfriend. We've only known her for one, or maybe two, days. — Why one or two? — I met her just early this morning in the meadow. Although I have a feeling that she and I met just yesterday, when she or not she, but looking exactly like her, like two peas in a pod, saved me from a shipwreck. — Well, he started this song about mermaids again. — the rhinoceros grinned, catching his breath and getting to his feet. — Prince, stop listening to these fairy tales from Anderson! We tell you for the hundredth time, there are no mermaids. — “Yeah. They think we don't exist. Maybe this is for the better?” — Amy herself thought, having accidentally heard this conversation of the rhinoceros. — I know, I know, you still don’t believe me. But if you don't believe it, don't. — the prince waved his hand at them. A miller who looked like a walrus came out of the mill and addressed the wolf. — Chief, we’ve run out of all the wheat. All flour has been ground. — Stop, girl, stop, stop! Enough! — the gray one immediately shouted at the pink one, and she obediently stopped the movement of the wheel. Although she didn’t understand why she was stopped. — Thank you for helping, but that’s enough for today. The prince approaches the wheel, extends his hand to the hedgehog and helps her get off the wheel. — I didn’t know you were so active. Didn't you even feel tired? — he asked her, and Amy, taking a breath and smiling, shook her head. The wolf gives each worker the promised mug of kvass to quench their thirst. He gives another similar mug into Rose’s hands. — You did a good job. This is for you. — he hands a mug of kvass into the hands of the hedgehog. — By the way, what’s your name? Amy turned her gaze to Sonic, since she was only introducing herself to him, but she couldn’t say it herself. The prince is responsible for her. — Amy Rose.