//------------------------------// // El Capitulo Cinco // Story: Meet me in Maretonia // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// "Whoah, dis city is sooo amazing!" Fiesta exclaimed, as she looked around at the sight, sounds, and colors. "I could spen all day in dis incredible place!" "Si! I knew you'd love it!" Moonlight replied with a grin. "Dere is noting that you can't find anyting you want for sale out here!" The two mares trotted out to the eastern side of the capital, heading into the part of town that spread out of the lake, and covered a large part of the shoreline of the valley. Moonlight led her new friend into a massive domed building, where Fiesta's eyes lit up with a sparkling glow. All around them, there were hundreds of vendors stalls, filled to the brim with merchandise. Hundreds of ponies milled about; buying, selling, and haggling over the various items to purchase. "Welcome to the Mercado, the city of Tenochtitlan's biggest marketplace." Moonlight replied proudly. "Come on, you gotta have a look around!" The two mares galloped from stall to stall, trying on hats and dresses, sampling various tropical fruits and vegetables, and buying all the merchandise their hooves could carry. By the time the two were finished shopping, both were wearing China Poblana dresses, and combs with mantilla veils in their manes. "Aye caramba! You not gonna believe de bargains I got on dese outfits!" Fiesta declared, setting down the full shopping bag she was carrying in her mouth. "I got four new pairs of horseshoes at half de price I pay in Equestria!" "Hey, the clothes shopping is only the first thing I wanted to show you!" Moonlight replied, gesturing towards another table. "Check out these cut little dolls of mares in traditional dress, we call them Maria dolls!" "Oh, how cute!" Fiesta exclaimed, as they each purchased one of the adorable little dolls. "I'll buy one for meself, an two for de little fillies aIm know back home; Sweetie Bell an Scootaloo." Then the two mares departed the marketplace, dropping off their purchases at Fiesta's room at the castle, before heading back out onto the capital's streets. Moonlight first took her to the Maretonian wax museum, where Fiesta saw wax sculptures of famous ponies from all of the equine nations. "Ohhhhh, that wax figure of Princess Celestia muy Magnifica!" The earth pony exclaimed, staring at the alicorn display. "An Luna and Cadence look incredible, too. But I wonder who dat little purple alicorn beside them In the display was, huh?" "I don't know, but it is still an amazing display!" Moonlight replied, before looking back at Fiesta. "Now, why don't we go over an' look at the Starswirl the bearded display, yeah?" After finishing at the wax museum, the two headed back to Lake Texicoco, where they boarded a colorful boat, and had a stallion gondolier take them out on the lake. "This boat, she is called a Trajinera gondola." Moonlight explained, as Fiesta gazed around the lake. "So, what does the Equestrian pony tink of our little country here, hmm?" "Oh it is truly wonderful, but I don't know if I'm an equestrian pony... I never really fit in dere." Fiesta sighed, leaning over the gondola's rail. "Actually I don't know if I fit In anywhere." "But... you seem to be so happy here!" Moonlight replied hopefully. Do Maretonia feel more like home to you, maybe?" "Oh, Si! I feel really at home here! It is a wonderful country!" Fiesta admitted, before sighing again. "But I still feel like a guest here, like I really don't belong." "Que Pena! That is so sad!" Moonlight added sympathetically. “But your parents left Maretonia in the first place. Surely they must’ve not fit in here if they left.” “Well... not exactly.” Fiesta replied sheepishly. “See, me mi madre y padre, dey were party planners in de Maretonian city of Acacolto, and dey did parties by contract. One day, de griffins hired them to do a fiesta for all de ponies in de town. But while de ponies were at de party, de girffins went and stole everyting from the townspeople’s haciendas.” “Oh no, and they blamed your family and exiled them!” Moonlight replied sympathetically, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You must have only been a little filly when it happened!” “Si, they took me far away, an’ I remember so little.” Fiesta replied, thinking hard as she tried to remember. “But dey finally brought me to Ponyville, an’ dats where I remember growing up.” “But, if you were so little, why didn’t you become like the other Ponyville ponies as you grew up, por que?” Moonlight asked curiously. “Shouldn’t you be talking and acting like them?” “I suppose, but I had already learned to talk when we moved, an’ growing up around madre un padre I never lost mi Maretonian accent.” “Ahhh, and you felt you never quite fit in there, because you didn’t talk like the other ponies.” Moonlight replied. “But didn’t you have any las amigas in Ponyville to help you feel like you belonged there?” “Oh, nuevo si! When I was a little filly, I first met Pinkie Pie, an she threw a cake party to make me feel welcome.” Fiesta laughed. “She wasn’t as good as her la antepasada, de original Pinkie Pie, at throwing parties; de cake had to much yeast, an’ exploded in de oven. But she made me feel so welcome, I was able to make mucho number of friends!” “That is a really conmovedora story, Fiesta.” Moonlight replied sadly. “I always kind of felt a bit out of place, myself, even though Maretonia has always felt like home.” “You?” Fiesta asked in surprise. “But why did you feel out of place?” “Well, when I was a little la porta, my parents were courtiers to the previous duke and duchess.” Moonlight explained. “Back then, there were few colts or fillies at court, and I rarely saw anypony my own age. I was kind of lonely because of that, and I never had anypony to play with.” The Pegasus looked up at the sky, and her eyes began to sparkle as she spoke. “But one day, during a fiesta held by some visiting dignitaries from Equestria, I was standing over in the corner, trying not to be noticed But then, a beautiful alicorn princess came up to me, and asked; Child, why are you over here in this corner, instead of out enjoying the festivities? “That beautiful princess actually talked with me, spent time with me, and became my friend. Nopony, except for my parents, have ever done that before! When I asked her why, she said no little filly should be sitting in a corner all alone. That alicorn was la princessa Luna, a beautiful mare of the night who taught me I had value and could be a beautiful mare, too! Just like her!” Moonlight tossed her mane aside with her hoof, trying to look as elegant as possible. “Ever since then, I’ve grown up to be a courtier like my parents, and I’ve become the official welcoming dona’ for the royal court. And I strive to be just like my idol, the unicornio- pegaso of the night!” “Whoa, sounds like you’ve had quite fillyhood, too.” Fiesta sighed, looking out over the gondola’s rail. “At least you had a happy ending with your loneliness.” The two ponies say there in silence, staring out on the crystal clear waters of the lake, as several swans came in for a landing. Looking down into the water’s surface, they watched whole groups of tropical fish of many colors swim back and forth underneath the boat. The two ponies were so distracted, that they didn’t notice the Trajinera come back into the dock. “Excuse me, senoritas? I am mucho sorry to bother you, but de boat ride is over.” The gondolier stallion told them, putting down the gangplank. “I hope you enjoyed de ride, muchas gracias for your business.” The two ponies were trotting down the main road, when the two mares bumped into another pony, knocking all three of them over. “Hey, you clumsy estupido!” Moonlight snapped, as she tried to stand up, and straightened her mantilla. “Watch where you are going, por favor!” “Oh! terrible lo siento, Senioritas!; I’m terribly sorry I bumped into you!” A muscular orange earth pony stallion, with a purple and pink mane and a tomato cutie mark, apologized as he helped the two mares up. “Please, allow me to help you to get back on your hooves.” Moonlight and Fiesta looked up and the stallion- with his long and ravishing mane, and strong and powerful muscles- and their eyes suddenly grew wide and starry. “Madre di Huitzilopochtli!” Moonlight whispered under her breath, so only Fiesta could hear her. “Ese chico es mucho, muy guapo!” “Si! El semental es mucho, muy lindo!” Fiesta whispered back, her face turning a fiery red. “ ¡Sólo recuerda, yo lo vi primero!” “Hola, girls. My name is Sunny Salsa.” The stallion smiled, causing both mares to giggles. “It was a terrible mistake to bump into you two so rudely. Would you two guapa yegua allow me to take you both to a local ullamaliztli ball game as a way of apologizing?” The two mares only nodded dreamily, following after the stallion as he trotted through the crowds.