This is part of my (hopefully) unexpected crossovers series, but it's something a little different: a multifandom Disney crossover starring Prince Phillip of Sleeping Beauty, Prince Eric of The Little Mermaid, Prince Adam/The Beast of Beauty and the Beast (in his human form), and Scott Pirie of Ride a Wild Pony. Most readers have probably never heard of Ride a Wild Pony, which has been one of my favorite Disney movies ever since I stayed up late one night when I was a kid and happened to catch it on Vault Disney. It's very underappreciated, so you should definitely check it out (if you can actually find it anywhere).
-x-
It was a warm, lazy summer day in Chiltern, and the sun had climbed to its highest point in the sky. The air was so still that even the tall grasses weren't stirring in the wide fields, and the birds had fallen silent in the midday heat. Beneath a large oak tree by the country roadside, three men – Princes Eric, Adam, and Phillip – were relaxing in the shade, where they'd stopped to eat lunch. Chiltern was one of the most rustic, remote worlds of the Disney multiverse, the perfect place to come to get away from it all, even if just for one day.
The men's wives – Princesses Ariel, Belle, and Aurora – were all spending today in Arandelle, where Anna and Elsa were hosting some elaborate event called Once Upon a Princess. Just the name had sounded like a lot of fuss and bother to Phillip. He tried to imagine what Aurora and the other women might be doing right now – taking tea in the castle drawing-room, perhaps, or waving to huge crowds from the balcony – and then he looked at the quiet, empty countryside around him and sighed contentedly, leaning back against the rough bark of the tree. A man in a creaky, horse-drawn wagon had passed by on the dirt road in front of them a few minutes ago, but aside from him, they hadn't seen a single other person since they stopped for lunch.
This world was called Chiltern after the little town at its center, but much of the place was wild, rugged countryside. There were creeks and rivers, fields and forests, all criss-crossed by dirt roads and occasional train tracks. The men had spent the morning happily exploring the landscape until finally, when they grew sweaty and hungry, they stopped here to eat the lunches that Mrs. Potts had packed for them.
Eric, sitting in the shade beside Phillip, took another bite from his apple and let the sweet juice dribble unchecked down his cleft chin. "Well, John Smith said this place was off the beaten track," he said, talking with his mouth full like a boy, and Phillip smirked, imagining the guests' horrified reactions if anyone had dared to do that in the royal banquet hall back home. "And he sure was right."
Phillip nodded in agreement. Eric had heard of this world from Captain Phoebus and John Smith – they were fast friends, both hardy adventurers – who had seen it from a distance one day when they were out exploring the far fringes of the Disney multiverse. The very far fringes, for even Phillip had never heard of Chiltern before they mentioned it, and he liked to study the different worlds of the multiverse in his spare time. His father, King Hubert, was still ruling the kingdom heartily, but whenever the time came for Phillip to inherit the throne, he wanted to be on good relations with all their neighbors.
"And what's the film called again?" he asked.
"The film's Ride a Wild Pony," came a low reply from above. While Phillip and Eric were sitting on the ground beneath the tree, Adam, who still had so much of a wild beast in him, had climbed it and was sitting on a branch above their heads. "Belle looked it up in the library before we left," he went on. "An adventure story about a poor boy and his pony, I think. She said it's a fine film, but for some reason, it's not well-remembered anymore."
"That must be why it's so empty here," Eric said quietly. He pulled the monocular that he used on his ship out of his satchel and perused the landscape through it. He announced that he could see the town, a mile or two away down the dirt road, and the men decided that they would spend the afternoon there.
As they finished their food and gathered their satchels, Phillip thought again of the royal banquet hall – the white tablecloths and wine glasses, the gleaming polished silverware. He'd been having etiquette lessons since he was a boy about which fork to use for which course and so on, but here in Chiltern, there was no need to stand on ceremony or impress anyone. They didn't even pick up their rubbish when they were done eating. They left their apple cores and sandwich crusts under the tree for birds and rabbits to feast on, and then they continued down the dirt road towards town.
But before they had reached town, they encountered the main inhabitant of Chiltern – little Scott, the boy-hero of Ride a Wild Pony, who was riding bareback on his cream-colored pony. They seemed to just appear from out of nowhere in the landscape, as if by some trick of Disney magic. When Scott saw the men, he dismounted, took his pony by the bridle, and silently fell in beside them on the dirt road. The boy – about eleven, Phillip guessed – was barefoot in ragged clothes, with his sandy-brown hair falling in his face. He looked almost as wild as the pony who walked beside him, and Phillip felt a strange stab of jealousy. Scott had clearly never been forced to take etiquette lessons; in fact, he looked like he hardly ever ate his meals at an actual table.
Scott was quiet by nature and probably intimidated at seeing three of the most well-known princes of the Disney multiverse in person. When Phillip introduced the three of them, Scott just looked at the ground and mumbled in reply, "'M Scotty, an' this here's Taff." Then he fell into silence again, and the only noise was the crickets and the birds in the fields around them. Scott had clearly never had lessons on how to make conversation, either.
"Today is our first time ever visiting Chiltern," Phillip said, searching for something to talk about. "I suppose you don't get many visitors from the multiverse out here?"
At this, Scott slowly raised his gaze, and his eyes were so shockingly blue in his dirty brown face that Phillip almost gasped. "Well, mostly jus' Pete and Travis," he said, his voice no longer just a mumble. "They like it fine out here. Come 'round all the time to see me."
Phillip nodded, recognizing the names. The boys of Pete's Dragon and Old Yeller were about Scott's age, and they also hailed from older, live-action Disney films, so it made sense that the three of them would be friends.
Talking about his friends brought Scott out of his shell, and he told the princes about how he, Pete, and Travis liked to wander the Chiltern countryside together, always accompanied of course by their loyal pets – Taff, Scott's pony, Yeller, Travis's yellow Labrador retriever, and Elliott, Pete's flying, fire-breathing dragon. Phillip felt his pulse race, just for a second, when Scott said the word dragon, thinking of his terrible duel with Maleficent in the forest of thorns, but he quickly banished that image from his mind and replaced it with one of Elliott. He'd met the silly, smiling dragon before at Disney community events. He listened and smiled while Scott talked about how he, his friends, and their animals would spend all day climbing trees or swimming in the river, and at night, they fell asleep beneath the stars, beside a fine campfire that Elliott made for them.
His words made the princes sigh wistfully. Oh, to be so young and carefree, with no adult responsibilities or royal duties. To be a boy with the entire Disney multiverse at your fingertips...
Yet they had the feeling that Scott didn't take advantage of all that the multiverse had to offer. "And do you ever go visit Pete and Travis in their worlds?" Eric asked.
Scott immediately fell silent and looked down at the ground again. He didn't answer until Taff, apparently finding his silence rude, nudged him with his muzzle. Phillip glanced at the pony and smiled. It was a Disney animal, of course, so it probably understood every word, just like his horse Samson.
"Nah, I don't much like crowds," Scott answered, shaking his head and mumbling again. "I like it fine here."
"Passamaquoddy and Salt Lick are very nice worlds," Phillip told him gently. He prided himself on knowing the name of nearly every world in the multiverse, though he hadn't yet visited them all personally. "I think a young boy like you would enjoy them. And they're pretty well off the beaten track, too. There's nowhere near the sorts of crowds that you would see in... oh, Agrabah, say, or Neverland."
Scott tilted his head for a moment, considering. "Well, Pete's been after me to go visit him in Passa-whatever-it-is. Says he'll show me an' Travis the lighthouse and teach us to fish off the rocks. Reckon that could be jolly fun... long as I could bring Taff with me," he added, and he gripped Taff's bridle tighter for reassurance.
Then, in one smooth, sudden jump, he mounted his pony again. "You all should head on into town and meet Josie," he said, turning Taff around on the dirt path. The boy and pony moved together as if they were one being. "Josie'll just die to see real-live princes. She'll talk your ears off."
Eric peered ahead of them, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand. There wasn't much to the little town, just a few buildings – a schoolhouse, a bank, a saloon, a grocer – surrounded by small houses. "Really? And, uh, where would we find this Josie?" he asked, glancing back at Scott.
Scott grinned. "Great big house. Can't miss it. Gidd'up, Taff!" And with that, he and his pony were gone, galloping away across the sloping fields.
Watching him ride away, Phillip decided that next time – for he already knew that he had to visit Chiltern again – he would bring Samson with him, and then perhaps he and Scott could go out riding together. The boy seemed more used to horses' company than people's, but he might come out of his shell in time. After all, Adam had once been very brusque, but Belle's company had worked wonders on him.
The three men stood and watched Scott riding away for some time, as if they were afraid that living out here in such an obscure little world, the boy might disappear before their eyes.