Romero did eventually make it to town at what looked like high noon. He looks around town as he wasn’t too impressed by what he saw. It just looked like an uninteresting town, with uninteresting architecture, and an uninteresting name, right smack-dab in the middle of Equestria. The town square looked quite busy and that’s all he cared about. The plan was now to set up shop, maybe make a few quick bits, and get out without causing any more trouble.
In the bustling square, he rests his carriage and his shoulders. He had picks a spot near the edge of the square where he was a little more out of the way and he could perhaps stick out a little more. The potent smell of his treasure, his coffee beans, fills the air nearby. He sets up his sign in the square advertising his brew in many different varieties from house blends to specialties. He waits patiently in his carriage with the door open. Soon a few curious customers begin inquiring him about his coffee, and even made a few sales. He made some money, but not too much.
After activity had died a bit, Romero was struck with a familiar voice in the air. He hoped he had been hearing things, but he knew he wasn’t. He heard a mare speaking in a thick country accent. He couldn’t pin down which direction he’d heard it, but he knows he’s heard it. He is completely paranoid now. Sweat drips from his forehead. He keeps his head on swivel, trying to locate that orange mare so he can hopefully avoid her.
“Tharr he is!” She’d spotted him. After that, he’d spotted her. Her right hoof was pointed right at him, an angry glare stared him down. It was too late to run now. ‘Uh-oh…’ he thought. The mare stomps towards him quickly. It was at this moment that he noticed that there was a tall purple unicorn following her. Romero swallowed the lump in his throat as he knows that this wasn’t going to be good.
“This rascal’s the one whose been stealing mah apples! Ah dunno how he did it, but he picked six whole trees from the west orchard completely bare. He’s a no-good thief!” The orange mare darts up to him, quickly sticking her hoof right in his face. She’s panting loudly completely out of fury. The purple mare quickly grabs her attention, her voice is a lot softer. Her calm tone is a welcome change.
“Now AppleJack, let’s be reasonable here.”
“Be reasonable? Mah west orchard is to home tah all mah best honeycrisp apples! That’s cider makin’ fruit! Production on that side of the farm are as tight ‘nuff as it is!” The crowd around the three of them begins to quietly murmur. Romero has no idea what all this cider stuff really means, but it seems to have resonated with the crowd.
“You mean there’s going to be less cider than usual this year?” A voice from the crowd speaks up.
“Ah'm ’fraid so, an’ it's all his fault!” The unrest in the crowd begins to build, he can’t believe how fast the crowd he was making customers out of just a few minutes ago had turned on him so quickly.
“AppleJack, calm down.” The purple mare puts a hoof around her friend in an effort to comfort her and calm her down a bit. “Surely there’s a much more civil way we can resolve this.”
“T’aint no bein’ civil with his kind, Twlight!”
“AppleJack! Listen to yourself, you’re--! “
“No, Twilight!” The orange mare quickly interrupts her friend. “You listen to me, he’s… Cavallian!” The crowd collectively shudders and gasps. Then they begin to quietly chatter among themselves.
“Well, he does look kind of dull…”, one pony says.
“I heard they make you eat meat over there.”, said another.
“Well, I heard that in their country, conditions are so bad, that nopony lives to be over 50 years old.”, another pony spoke up. Romero hangs in head. He can feel the judgement raining down on him. He’s embarrassed, and desperately wants to crawl into a hole somewhere.
“Ca-Ca-Cal-vee-nee-on?” The purple mare stammers and struggles to correctly pronounce the name of Romero’s home country.
“Cavallian.” The orange mare states correcting her friend. “It’s a lan’ nice an’ far a' away from here where all the bad ponies are sent off to!”
“What? I’ve never heard of it. You can’t just take ponies, no matter how bad they are, put them on a ship, and send them off somewhere. That doesn’t make sense.”
“It might not make sense t’you, Twilight, but it’s true.” It doesn’t seem like the purple mare is buying it. Skepticism paints her face thickly. “Surely, tharr is somethin' you can do. Maybe you can kick this troublemaker out of Ponyville!”, the orange mare continued. Romero struggled to decipher what she meant by saying there was ‘something she can do’, and it was at this moment that Romero realized that the purple mare was not a unicorn, but an alicorn. This thought sent a cold shiver down his back. As far as Romero knew, there was only three was only two princesses in Equestria: Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. You can debate whether or not Princess Cadence was a Equetrian princess but, this new mare looked oddly foreign to him. Perhaps she wasn’t a Princess? Romero wasn’t quite sure how this whole alicorn thing works anyway.
She takes a step towards Romero, “Do you have a vendor’s permit?” Romero then nods his head yes. The crowd around the three of them begins to dissipate. He uses his mouth to go digging around in his apron, and after a few moments of scrounging, he finally comes up with it.
“Here it is," his voice muffled as he presents the document pinned between his teeth. Romero’s statement is dull and flat, as if he knows where this was going already. The alicorn uses her magic to take his document from him and she looks it over, taking her time and reading it thoroughly. Her eyes scan it for any deficiencies, or signs of forgery. Romero keeps his eyes pinned to the ground in front of him.
“Nothing at all wrong with it.”, the mare finally proclaims. “Everything looks good and up to date.”
“Awh c’mon, Twilight. There’s gotta be somethin’ you can do.”, the orange mare complains.
“I’m sorry, AppleJack, but there really isn’t. The best I can do is send him through small claims, then hold a trial in Canterlot.”
“Canterlot?!”
“Yes, he’s not an Equestrian citizen, therefore he needs to be held in an international court. Only Princess Celestia can do that.” The orange mare did not take the news to well. She groans loudly and slams her hat on the ground beneath her.
“Dagnabit! Ah don’t have time fer this!” The mare shakes her head, and nervously trots in a circle around the two of them. She makes several laps around them while completely deep in thought. After a long pause, she finally speaks up again. “If it means I can collect all the damages, then I’ll do it.” She suddenly stops pacing and takes a few deep breaths in an effort to calm down.
“I’ll help represent you if you need it.” The alicorn wraps a friendly hoof around the orange mare’s shoulders, gently hugging her and rubbing her back. “I'll help you get through this, alight?' A concerned look cakesher face as she comforts her friend. "I suppose that means I need to do some research on this Capela place.”
“Please do all that ya can. I'll see ya ‘round, Twilight.” The alicorn leaves soon thereafter, lying off to the north. The orange mare picks up her hat and dusts it off. After placing it on her head she peers at Romero out of the corner of her eye. “Ah hope the Princess throws the book at you.”