//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Vámonos, Equestrian Exploradora! // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 2 ___________________________________________________________ “I’m telling you, it’s been pretty hectic in the Crystal Empire with the plans for the Friendship Festival happening in Canterlot,” Shining Armour said as he walked alongside Fluttershy and Applejack. “Cadance has been so busy, I’ve been having to take on more of the responsibilities.” “It’s a shame ya just missed Twilight by half an hour,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Guessin’ this was the first break ya’ve had?” “In a week? Yes,” Shining nodded, seeming a little dejected, but smiling none the less. “Of course, I do wish Cadance would take it easy.” The farm mare chuckled. “Who’s the one havin’ the foal again? Shinin’, Cadance will be fine. It’s only been three months. There’s still eight ta go. She ain’t even showin’ yet.” “I know, I know,” the stallion shook his head, sighing. “I guess I’m just worried. I mean, do you think I’m going to be a good father? Like, in all honesty?” “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful father, Shining Armour,” Fluttershy encouraged as they reach Carousel Boutique and she knocked. “Come in~” Rarity called in a sing-song voice. The three entered, glancing around to see Rarity wasn’t in the main room. “Rarity?” Applejack called as she glanced around, an eyebrow raised. “Just a minute,” came the unicorn’s reply from the other room. “Oh, darling, stop blushing. You look adorable.” “I… I agree with you,” an uncertain voice none of them recognized said. “I’m just not sure how I feel about that.” “Nonsense, darling. You look wonderful,” Rarity said reassuringly, her voice getting louder as the sound of hooftsteps started towards them. Shining Armour cocked an eyebrow, before whispering to Applejack. “Is it just me, or do I only hear six sets of hoofsteps?” Applejack frowned. He was right. If Rarity were serving another pony, they’d be hearing the sound of eight hooves trotting against the floor, but they could only hear six. Was Rarity serving a creature that only walked on two legs? The questions were answered when Rarity stepped out through the door to her back room, before turning back and ushering her customer out to join them. They definitely were not what any of them were expecting. It was a female, that they could at least tell, but so much else didn’t add up. She stood on two legs, but her face was flat and she had no fur. Her skin was a tanned colour, her eyes were brown, while her mane was dark brown. She was wearing a dark-pink dress with light-pink frills down the bottom over a white shirt. On her feet she wore purple flat shoes. Applejack noticed around her neck she was a pink crystal on a blue ribbon-cord and, on her wrist, there was a small bracelet with silver beads and an odd creature with a fish tail. The moment she caught sight of the three ponies her face went bright red and she bent her head down. “Oh, now, don’t be shy,” Rarity said soothingly to the girl. “These are just my friends I was telling you about earlier. Oh. And Twilight’s brother too. Well, this is quite the nice surprise, Shining Armour. To what do I owe the pleasure?” “Well, honestly, I came to see Twily, but missed her,” the stallion grinned sheepishly. He then looked to the odd creature standing next to Rarity, who looked like she was doing everything she could to just disappear without moving. “So, who’s this young mare? Urm, I mean… I don’t know what she is, so don’t know what a female of her kind is called,” he whispered to the other white unicorn. Rarity gave a light chuckle. “Oh, yes. Well, her speices aren’t normally in Equestria, so I’m not surprised. Go on,” she nudged the girl a little with a hoof. “Introduce yourself.” The creature stepped forward at the nudge and remained silent for several moments, before gulping. “Hola. Soy dora.” ___________________________________________________________ Damn it, I feel so weird. Rarity and I have just spent what I would guess was two or three hours with her making outfits for me to try on and then having me do a little modelling for her to see how well they look. She says I look adorable in all of them and, the scary thing is, not only do I agree with her… I feel happy about it. Like, I feel weird wearing these dresses and what not, but it also feels… normal. Kinda like how I felt when I changed into a mermaid when testing the bracelet. It feels different… but not bad. But while I could reason with myself about the mermaid thing, this just feels like I shouldn’t feel this way. I’m not actually Dora, for crying out loud, so why must I feel okay in her body all fancied up? It’s disturbing a thought process and I’m not sure I wanna know where it’s going. And now I’ve got Applejack, Fluttershy and even Shining Armour seeing me like this. After standing in this new dress Rarity made me, with the stallion and two mares staring curiously at me for what feels like hours, I finally pluck up the courage and speak, saying the first thing that comes to mind. “Hola. Soy dora.” Seriously, brain? Are you just fucking with me because you find it fun? “Well, howdy there, Miss Dora,” Applejack says happily, stepping forward and tipping her head. “It’s a pleasure t’ meet ya. So, what brings ya t’ Ponyville.” I glance down briefly at the Wishing Crystal, but don’t say anything. Rarity decides to explain for me and, by the end of her telling of my story, I find myself being smothered by a butter-yellow Pegasus as we sit at Rarity’s dining room table… and I’m not sure if I’m not happy for the smothering. “So, Twily wasn’t able to find out what sent this poor girl here?” Shining asks, looking to Rarity, who shakes her head. “The timing couldn’t have been worse. If not for the Friendship Festival, she’d have been happy to drop everything to help Dora here.” I sigh, managing to extract myself from the comfiness that is Fluttershy, despite my body’s protests to leaving the warmth. “I just found myself in your world. No idea how. That alone would be hard enough to deal with, but…” I lift a hand, looking down at it. “As Dora, an eight year old little girl. Mucho más estresante.” “She really does just randomly do that, huh?” Applejack glances at Rarity, who nods. “She says it’s something to do with how her body works… and I honestly believe her. Dora seems genuinely annoyed whenever she’s trying to say something, then slips into Equespanol, since she then has to repeat herself, making sure to speak Ponish.” I glance at Rarity, deadpan. The pony puns just keep getting more groan inducing, it seems. “So, will you be bringing Dora to the Friendship Festival?” Fluttershy asks, looking to Rarity. She nods firmly. “Well, of course I am. It would be highly rude, and frankly cruel, to not bring her along to join in with what’s happened to her.” “Wish I could go myself,” Shining sighs. “But, the royal duties of a prince come first. Being a royal delegate can be dull, but it’s needed since Equestria and Yakyakistan have made a new alliance, we’re going to have to keep things simple for a bit.” I blink. Wait a minute. Shining’s Prince of the Crystal Empire. That could work. And anything to keep me from worrying about why I ended up here, as Dora and don’t mind dressing up while in her body. “Wait. Shining Armour, could you help me with something?” I ask, standing up. That causes Fluttershy to pull back as all four give me odd looks. “Uh, no offense t’ Shinin’, but what makes ya think he’ll be able to help ya figure out how t’ get home any better than Twilight could?” Applejack gives me a puzzled eyebrow. “I… well, no, I meant… ” Suddenly, inspiration strikes. “Necesitamos invitar a los hipogrifos!” Confused looks are all I receive. I deadpan. Thanks for the bad timing on the Spanish there, brain. Yeesh. “We need to invite the hippogriffs,” I repeat myself, being sure to make sure I speak English this time. “Told you,” Rarity says, before looking confused again. “Wait, the who?” Shining looks puzzled. “Hippogriffs? Are their kind even still around? I thought they went extinct before the Empire disappeared.” I inwardly cringe. Damn. Either Shining had a more sheltered life in Canterlot than the show suggested, or Celestia is really dropping the ball on keeping interspecies relations open… My inward cringe turns into inward deadpan. I’ve seen seasons eight and nine. I know damn well Celestia dropped the ball on interspecies relations, since it was Twilight and the other who had to clean that mess up. Party Pooped, anyone? “How do you know the hippogriffs are even still around, Dora?” Fluttershy asks, looking quite puzzled. “If you only came to our world a few hours ago, you couldn’t know about a species even we didn’t know about. And what are we inviting them to?” Again, Celestia, you dropped the ball, big time. “The Friendship Festival.” Wait. Shit! Yeah, how do I explain that? I just let slip I know a species in their world apparently even they didn’t know still exists until now. How do I just wave that off? It’s not like I’ve a magic crystal that just… I blink, glancing down at my neck and have to resist smacking myself on the head for being so dumb. Just hope the crystal will play along. “My Wishing Crystal,” I hold it up in both hands. “It can show you things. Like the hippogriffs… I wish,” I mutter, subtly crossing my fingers. Thankfully, luck seems to be on my side as the crystal glows, before an image of the Sea Ponies appears within its surface. “Uh, I don’t mean to make you feel bad, Dora, but those aren’t hippogriffs,” Shining points at the image as several little ones spin by in a school. “I… don’t even know what those are.” “Esos son ponis marinos. Those are Sea Ponies,” I say after realizing I spoke Spanish again. “The hippogriffs have a magic pearl that lets them change into aquatic versions of their species.” Huh. That’s an odd coincidence, now that I think about it. “So… how’re we supposed to invite them?” Applejack looks to me sceptically. “None o’ us can exactly breathe underwater.” “Oh. Now I see,” Rarity nods, before frowning. “Well, since Twilight put you in my care until she returns, I’m going with you, Dora.” “Would somepony mind explainin’?” Applejack looks very annoyed. “On the way,” I call, running past them and out the door. “Vámonos!” “Vámo-what now?” Applejack calls after me. Okay, I’m really jumping the gun here. Some part of my brain is probably trying to tell me I should wait first, but the sooner I’m in a less odd feeling situation the better. Plus, I’m going to be here when the Storm King invades. The fear of what that could lead to probably isn’t helping my rationale. Half an hour later, Shining Armour, Applejack and Rarity are sitting with me on the train... where I’m once again trying to make myself as small as possible. “I guess I also got Dora’s habit of jumping into adventure without really thinking it through too well,” I mutter, trying to ignore the odd glances I’m occasionally getting. “Don’t worry,” Rarity says reassuringly. “We’ll be at the docks in a few minutes.” “So, we’re rentin’ a boat, Ah’m assumin’?” Applejack asks, looking between the two of us. “Still don’t explain how we’re gonna get down to an underwater city.” “Dora has that covered, Applejack,” Rarity says, winking to me, which gives me at least a little smile. “I hope so,” Shining Armour looks out the window. “I can understand why she’d want me along. As prince of the Crystal Empire, I can act as a diplomat and ease any tension. When was the last time Equestria interacted with the… do I call them the hippogriffs or the Sea Ponies?” I say nothing, keeping quiet. Where the heck is all that enthusiasm I had back at the boutique? It’s like I’m literally shifting between the oblivious excitement of a child to the full awareness and anxiety that comes with it adult. Are my mind and Dora’s brain at war for emotional dominance or something? Actually, scratch that. I don’t want to know. That’s an even more alarming thought than just being stared at by ponies. “Shouldn’t that monkey be on a leash or something?” We all look up, glancing around in confusion before we see a stallion has stopped by us. I blink. For a second, I thought it was Thunderlane, before realizing he’s an Earth Pony. His coat is the same as is the mane, if a little more electric-blue. His Cutie Mark is two pairs of beamed musical notes, one pair golden, the pair other blue. It takes a moment before I realize he’s looking at me and the monkey comments catches up, causing me to glare. “Hey! I’m not monkey!” He looks shocked. “It talks?” “It?” my glare darkens. “It? I have a gender, ya know, Estúpido semental!” Even if I’m the wrong one right now. “Excuse me?!” he puffs out his chest. “Oh, real macho,” I snort. “Standing up to an eight year old little girl! Tipo duro y grande!” “Uh, Dora?” Applejack asks, but I don’t hear her. “Tienes idea del día que tuve?!” I stand up, fists clenched at my sides. “Primero, pierdo un día entero corriendo. Entonces, termino en Equestria en el cuerpo de una niña pequeña de dibujos animados! Starlight casi me atrapa cuando todavía es Pony Hitler.” He’s giving me an odd look. “Luego descubro que tengo que esperar a que llegue el Festival de la Amistad!” I walk up to him and pock him in the chest. “Uh…” he says, taking a step back. “Sin mencionar que el Rey Tormenta invade dentro de dos semanas!” I say, my face starting to feel warm for some reason, but I pay it no mind. “Solo soy una niña pequeña. Tengo que poner a los Ponis Marinos de nuestro lado antes de la invasión para no morir!” Silence follows as I realize I’d started shouting. Glancing around, I realize everypony is staring at me within mixed expressions of confusion and concern. “Dora?” I feel a hoof on my shoulder and look back to see Rarity look at me with worry. Blinking, I slowly come back down to, well, Equestria and realize I’d spoken completely in Spanish. That and… I reach a hand up to my face, feeling a wetness. I’m… I’m crying. Looking around, I see several mother’s with their foals, giving me sad looks that mother’s get. The one’s when they know something, even if you don’t. I blink, going back over what I said, before I feel tears starting anew and fall to my knees, sobbing, Rarity quickly getting down and putting her forelegs around me. What… what is wrong with me? Why did I just start shouting like that? Why did I slip into nothing but Spanish? And why can’t I stop crying? Rarity just holds me, rubbing my back as I cry into her shoulder, not knowing what’s going on anymore.