//------------------------------// // El Capitulo Diez // Story: Meet me in Maretonia // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// ""My good Fiesta Flair..." Sunny salsa told her dramatically. "...welcome, to hacienda Flair." The awestruck mare slowly approached the great house, with it's red tiled roof, three floors, and it's many columns. Trotting her way towards the entrance, Fiesta pushed her way through the large red door, and found herself in a paradise. "Oh my... I can't believe it..." Beautiful, white-washed adobe walls, finely crafted furniture carved from the wood of the nearby rain forest, and luxurious hoof-woven carpets, filled with beautiful and intricate patterns... the great manor house was filled with treasures beyond counting. It was like something out of a fairy tale, a long-lost ancestral home that a pony had managed to discover. But here, in her homeland of Maretonia, Fiesta had uncovered just that. "Hey, gringo! What are you doing here?" A maid pony demanded, coming around the corner. "Nopony is allowed inside the mansión, unless they are on the guided tour!" "Huh?" Fiesta asked, looking back at the mare in the black dress in the white lace trim. "Oh, perdon, I didn't mean to intrude. Me llamo Fiesta Flair, and-" "Fiesta Flair?! Oh, dios mio!! That face, those eyes, why didn't I recognize you? before" The maid bowed to her. "At long last, one of House Flair has returned to us! Magnifico! Magnifico!" "What in de world?" A confused Fiesta asked, not understanding what was going on. "Why de heck are you bowing to me?!" "They have been waiting for a very, very long time for a member of the Flair family to come back here." The prince explained. "The servants have continued to till the land, and care for the house and estate, out of a sense of loyalty." "The last member of the family had died off about four years ago, and we have been awaiting the arrival of a surviving heir." The maid explained. "Senorita, this hacienda, these lands, they now all belong to you." "But that means... you're now Cacique, Fiesta!" Moonlight noted, with a grin. "You're now the same rank as me, and are eligible to serve as a lady-in waiting to the duchess!" She rushed up and hugged Fiesta. "Ohhh, we'll have so much fun together!" "Me, a noblemare?" Fiesta asked in disbelief. "I don't.... I can't believe.... this is all too much." The earth pony stumbled, nearly falling over. "Dis is all too much, I need to sit down." "I have an idea." The maid added hopefully. "Why don't I make up rooms for all of you for the night, and you can stay over." The mare started up the stairs. "You all can look over the estate in the morning, and make up you minds what you want to do then." "A wonderful idea, senoritas." The prince agreed, taking Moonlight by the hoof. "Why don't you let me show you to your rooms, and-" "I'm not going ANYWHERE with an estupido stallion like you!" Moonlight snorted angrily. "I'm still mad at you, so I'll find my own way to my room, thank you very much!" As Moonlight trotted upstairs angrily, Fiesta shook her head. "Don't worry about her, Sunny. Moonlight will come around." Fiesta laughed. "Just go talk to her a bit, and I'm sure she'll forgive you." "Come on, senorita." the maid called to Fiesta, lighting a candle as she ascended farther up the stairs. "I'll show you to the master bedroom." Still surprised by this whole turn of events, Fiesta simply sighed and followed after the eager maid. Some time later, over in Moonlight's room, the young mare was reading a book when she heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" She asked, already dreading the answer. "If that's you, Sunny Salsa, just go away!" "Oh, come on, Moonlight!" Sunny pleaded. "Can't we at least talk about it?" "Oh, really? What is there to talk about?!" Moonlight demanded, opening the door. "Do you want to talk about how we first met by the fountain when we were ten, and you were too shy to come up and talk to me or the other noble girls, so I trotted up and said hi? Do you want to talk about how when we were both twelve, I yelled at the Equestrian ambassador's two sons, when they tried to shove your face in the mud, and how I comforted you after they beat us both up? " She yelled, getting up in his face. "I was always there for you, and you went away and forgot about me, without even saying goodbye!" "..I know, I should have written to you, I'm sorry." The prince replied sadly. "I just... got so caught up in my studies, what I had hoped to do for my subjects when I got home." He looked away from her, closing his eyes. "Ever since I was a colt, all I ever wanted to do was follow in my father's footsteps, and be a good leader. The equestrians... their morals are terrible, and their culture is poison, but I did learn a lot about politics and diplomacy while I was there. I became so obsessed with becoming a good ruler, that I neglected everyone and everything back here at home." "That includes the ponies you care about the most, huh?" She scowled at him, sitting on the bed with her hooves crossed. "While you've been away, I've been sitting here with a happy smile on my face, welcoming royal visitors to the capital, while your father practically hands this kingdom over to the griffo on a silver platter!" "This is another thing I remember about you, Luz de la Luna. How you genuinely care- not about politics or leadership- but the well being of Maretonia and all of it's ponies." He smiled, closing the door to the room, and trotting over to her. "Do you remember the time you got drunk at a royal fiesta, and started bothering that Equestrian Stallion, Jake? If I hadn't dragged you away, you would've made a total fool of yourself." The prince put a hoof on her shoulder. "Or when your mother wouldn't give you permission to go out with your friends, and I helped sneak you out of your family's hacienda at night?" "You also bought me that cute tiger hoodie when I was eighteen, to cover up the fact I was still a blank flank." Moonlight looked up at him, her eyes watering with tears. "Oh, Salsa Soleado, why did you go away and leave us?" "It was a horrible mistake I made, Mia querida." He replied, putting his hoof under her chin. "A mistake I promise you I shall not make again." The two ponies faces were very close now, and Moonlight could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck. As she stared into the stallion's eyes, she saw a burning passion, as wide and deep as the waters of lake Texicoco back in the capital. The mare's face turned a deep shade of pink as they stared at each other, she barely had enough sense about her to ask a single question; "How do I know you will stick around this time, and fight the griffo?" She asked staring up at him, uncertainly. "How do I know you will be masculino enough to stay with me?" "I am going to drive those thieves out of our land, and with your help, show my father the duke I can be a good ruler, just like him." His face moved closer to hers. "And as to how masculino I can be..." Their lips met, and Moonlight felt as if her whole body were on fire. Hungry for the stallion in front of her, she instinctively pressed herself against Sunny, and wrapped her wings around the two of them, like a warm and protective cocoon. "Gran Princessa Luna, gracias por ayudarlo a pedir disculpas." She silently prayed to herself, closing her eyes. "Thank you for bringing him back to me." And as the two ponies enjoyed one another company, an approving beam of moonlight seemed to shine in through the window... .... The next morning, Fiesta came trotting out of her room, and headed down stirs for breakfast. In the kitchen, the maid was already preparing some kind of breakfast, as Fiesta sat down at the table. "Sorry if this doesn't taste very good." The maid apologized. "The cook has the day off, and we didn't exactly expect the long-lost heir to show up yesterday." "De nada,if I can survive Pinkie Pie's cooking, whatever you make can't be that bad." Fiesta laughed. "By de way, what was all that noise coming from Moonlight's room last night? And she still hasn't gotten up yet this morning!" "I don't know, maybe she had some trouble sleeping." The maid shrugged. "But say, why don't you eat this breakfast here, and I'll show you around the manner, si?" "Sounds good to me!" Fiesta replied with a smile, eagerly awaiting her first home-cooked meal in ages. "I just hope the others can join us really soon."