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// El Capitulo Dos 
// Story: Meet me in Maretonia 
// by Paradise Oasis 
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"Wow, dis is mucho increíble!" Fiesta Flair commented, looking out the widow of the moving train. "I mean, I've seen passing el tren  going by Ponyville before, but I never thought I'd be riding one!"

The three ponies had gone to the railroad depot at Froggy Bottom Bog, and boarded a train for Maretonia. For Fiesta, who hadn't been outside the town since arriving during her fillyhood, this was an amazing adventure like she had never experienced before. 

"I quite have to agree, this is quite an experience for the two of us." Fresco agreed, looking out the other window. "We Ponyvillers very rarely leave our town, and unlike Fiesta, this is my first time going out into Equestria."

"Wow, you two act like this is some amazing adventure, when we're just going across country." Watercolor replied in an amused tone, filing her  hooves with a nail file she held in her wings. "What's me exciting to me, is we're going to Maretonia. I mean this is the land where all the Daring Doo takes place. How cool is that?" 

"Yeah, I've heard they have dangerous jungles, filled with wild cats, hidden cities, and dangerous pony tribes." Fresco adds in. "And it has a thousand adventures, just waiting to be had!"

"And I can't wait to see all those ponies wearing all that colorful clothing, to listen the music, and purchase the colorful pottery and blankets." Watercolor looked over at the Maretonian earth pony with them. "Fiesta, are all the ponies in Maretonia as friendly and positive as you are? You always seem really excited and happy about everything."

"Hmm, No se... are all Equestrian mares as shy and nervous as you are?" Fiesta Flair rolled her eyes, before laughing. "Just teasing you, amiga. Mi madre un padre took me away from Maretonia when I was a little la porta. So, I don't know any more than the rest of you."

"Well, I bet it's a whole bunch of stallions in sombreros with mustaches, and a whole lot of cute senoritas in flamenco dresses, just waiting to greet us!"

"I don't know if that's exactly what we're gong to find, Fresco." Colors shook her head, trying to change the subject. "So, do you have any idea why the duke and duchess asked  you to  one to work on the capital's bridges?" 

"I have no idea." The stallion replied. "I guess somebody- or somepony, as they say in Equestria outside of Ponyville- showed Duke Tlahtoque pictures of my work. I just received a letter one day, asking me to come to  Maretonia, and help with the design  and repair work on the city's older buildings and bridges."

"Same thing with me." Watercolors agreed, shifting her hooves around on the seat. "I was at an art exhibition in Baltimare, when I received Duchess Cihuapilli's letter requesting my aid in restoring paintings and tapestries all around the royal palace."

"Oh wow, I bet the la familia real is trying to restore the capital, maybe for some big festivo that is coming up." Fiesta noted. "Ugh, I wish I could remember from when I was a little la porta.... but it was so long ago."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Fiesta." Fresco reassured her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "If your childhood was anything like mine, you had a wonderful upbringing in Ponyville."

"Oh, Si! I loved growing up with my friends in de town." Fiesta agreed. "Mi amigas Cotton Candy, Kimono, and...Razaroo." Fiesta grimaced as she said the last name. "Even the mare who annoyed me de most. I wouldn't trade mi fillyhood back  in Ponyville for all the bits in Equestria."

"Well, now you're going to get the chance to learn about your heritage." Fresco replied, looking back out the window as the train crossed the mountains into Maretonia. "I think we're getting close to our destination."

The train passed over the mountains, and the ponies found themselves in a deep, thick jungle. Two walls of thick, endless green stood on either side of the tracks, and the ponies could hear the noises of various jungle animals over the rumbling of the train.

"Huh, those critters sound hungry." Watercolors shivered. "Good thing we're in here, and not out there."

Soon, the jungle gave way to open plains, where the ponies saw endless fields of corn, with large mansions with archways and red tiled roofs dotting the countryside. They then noticed several earh ponies in sombreros, tilling the fields, and herding sheep and cattle across the endless stretches of farmland.

"Whoa," Fresco asked, looking out at the working ponies. "Who the heck are they?"

"Now this, I do remember." Fiesta smiled, recalling her mother's words from childhood. "Those are the charros, the earth ponies who till the soil and care for the animals on the great haciendas."

"Oh, so they're cowpoines?" Watercolors asked curiously. "Like the ones you see in Appleloosa and Dodge Junction?" 

"Si, mi madre told me stories of the charros' courage and bravery." Fiesta replied. "That's why the noble hidalgos and hidalgas hire them to watch over their estates for them."

"Well, I hope we get the chance to travel out into the countryside and meet them." Fresco added eagerly. But right now, it looks like we've arrived at our stop." 

The train pulled in on the outskirts of what appeared to be a large city, but the ponies couldn't get a really good look at it from here. The trio were the only equines to get off the train, and as they disembarked, Frisco and Watercolors were filled with disappointment.

"They... they look just like normal Equestrian ponies." The stallion sighed, looking around at the Maretonians. "No sombreros, no mariachi bands, and no tacos or tortillas!"

"I hate to admit it, but even I'm disappointed." Watercolors agreed. "This place looks no different than if we were back in Equestria."

"Gee, seinto mucho my country isn't like what you see in books or plays." Fiesta snorted. "They are just ponies, like everybody else!" 

But as they watched the ponies go about their business, Fresco and Watercolor did notice some differences. The ponies all around them spoke in a very strange language, and all seemed to be a little more friendly towards each other than even Equestrian were with each other. It was at the point, that a Pegasus filly with a blue coat and a purple mane in a ponytail spotted them in the crowd, and came flying over to where they stood on the train platform. 

"¡Dios mío! Usted debe ser nad de Fiesta Flair sus amigos!" The filly rushed up excitedly, hugging and kissing the three ponies on the cheek in an overly friendly manner. "¡Estoy tan feliz de conocerte! El duque y la duquesa me ha pedido que encuentre y traigo todo de una vez al Palacio a la vez!"

"W-what was that all about?!" Fresco asked in shock, blushing from the girl's kiss. "What did she just say?"

"Oh, she says she was sent by the duke and duchess to find us," Fiesta explained. " and she's really really happy to meet us."

"Yes! My name is Tlatoani Luz de la Luna, but you all can call me Moonlight." She spoke in an accent much clearer than Fiesta's. "Welcome to Tenochtitlan, de capital of Maretonia!"