//------------------------------// // La Aventura Comienza // Story: My little pony: Mexico is magic // by EdBoii //------------------------------// Villa Del Pony Arcoiris Veloz stood by the inn's door, the warmth of the day was beginning to fade as the moon rose up in the dark sky. But the rainbow maned pegasus was unable to leave without first answering a few questions to Don Cider. "So, missus Arcoiris, what brings you to the Villa?" Don Cider asked from the counter as he set the cupcake shotgun in a wooden case. After the customers had left, and a few stallions had carried away the unconscious bodies of the two earth ponies, Rosita helped Arcoiris clean off the worst of the frosting from her wings but she still was in no condition to fly. Arcoiris had been badly smeared by the sugary projectiles, she would need professional medical attention to get the frosting from her feathers without injury. Medical attention like that could only be found in the city. "Oh, not much. Just stopping by for some supplies actually..." Arcoiris turned around and started to walk towards an empty chair, she still had half a glass of cider to drink. "And your friends?" Don Cider's eyebrow rose quizzically as he eyed the suspicious mare before him. "What brought them to the Villa?" Arcoiris lowered her drink slowly as she stared off into space, her penetrating gaze steeled by memories of old friends and broken promises. "An old score to settle..." Don Cider tried to press the issue, but Arcoiris simply excused herself and, after paying for the drinks, trotted over to the small room she had rented for the night. Her wings were annoying her, the frosting had caused a rash to form on the soft flesh between the feathers, but she couldn't scratch it without upsetting her feathers, and the last thing she wanted was a bald wing. As her hoofs made their way up the wooden staircase and into a hallway, her thoughts swarmed her mind as she tried to figure out what to do. "Oh dang it! Without my wings I won't be able to fly! And if I can't fly then I won't get to the capital before that freaky, overly dressed unicorn does!" Arcoiris gritted her teeth at the thought of her arch nemesis getting to the capital before her. . That white unicorn everypony back in the United Stables worshiped as a goddess of fashion. Arcoiris's last employer had been the powerful Rareza, and after the job got messed up by Arcoiris's accomplice, a cross-eyed mare with a thing for muffins, several charges were raised on her head. Most of them were false. Now Arcoiris was on a race against the clock to get to the capital and convince an old friend of her innocence before Rareza could soil her, kind of clean, name in Mexicolt. Arcoiris opened the wooden door to her room and looked around it. It was small, no windows a single bed, possibly filled with hay, and an end table beside the door. "Meh, I've seen better." With a disinterested shrug, Arcoiris trotted over to the bed and made herself comfortable. "Yup, it's hay!" Arcoiris scooped out a hoof-full of hay from under the mattress and munched on it happily. Laying back on her bed, she stared at the ceiling until the excitement of the day finally took its toll, her eyes felt heavy as she started to doze off into blissful sleep. Rosita hummed happily to herself as she started to get ready for the night. First she had to brush her teeth, then she had to brush her mane, after that she had to brush her forehead, and then... wait what? After her forehead shone with a gleam the stars would envy, Rosita lowered herself on her bed, pulling the mattress over to her neck. She stared at the ceiling for quite a long time as she thought about everything that had happened so far, helping out with the inn, serving drinks and laughing with everypony else, meeting the strange pegasus and shooting a cupcake at a pony. Rosita giggled as she remembered the shootout. "Heh... Oh well, a little cupcake shot at four hundred hoofs per second has never hurt anypony right?" Rosita then falls asleep, dreams of adventure fill her head throughout the night. =============================================================================================== An Adventure! As morning light filled the streets and houses of Villa Del Pony, several shapes appear on the horizon. Arcoiris Veloz opened her eyes as a loud knock on her door announced the oncoming day. "Arcoiris! Arcoiris! Wakey wakey sleepy head!" Rosita's voice broke through the calm morning silence. "Five minutes!" Arcoiris covered her ears with a pillow and tried to go back to sleep. "No can do! Breakfast is up and ready!" The scent of freshly baked apple pie and waffles crept up to Arcoiris's nostrils and finished what Rosita started. The pegasus sat on the side of her bed and yawned loudly before stretching her legs and back. "Ok ok Rosita, im coming!" As the rainbow maned pegasus slowly walked over to the door, a sense of danger sparked up in her mind. "Just a sec." Arcoiris turned around and trotted back to the bed, with a hoof she took out her trusty six shooter from under her pillow and checked the chambers. All six were full. Grinning, Arcoiris attached the weapons holster to her waist and holstered the six shooter. It had been a very smart move on her part to take the bullets from the other nights bandits before they were taken away. As the wooden door opened, Rosita greeted Arcoiris with her typical, the-world-may-burn-away-but-I'm-keeping-up-the-cheer, smile. "Come on silly! The food's ready!" Rosita grabbed a startled Arcoiris by the hoof and dragged her downstairs as she let out a yelp of surprise. Don Cider sat in a chair behind the counter, three plates of apple pie and waffles in front of him. "Oh, good morning Arcoiris, I trust you had a good sleep?" Don Cider asked as he looked up to the mares in front of him. "Sure did!" Arcoiris replied as she stretched her forelegs again. "Are those waffles?" "Hungry? They are fresh out of the pan! Please, help yourself." Don Cider smiled happily as both mares sat and quickly devoured their breakfast. A satisfied Arcoiris leaned back on her chair as she patted her stomach. "Now that was an awesome breakfast! Thanks a bunch Mr. Pie!" "Oh please, call me Don Cider, Arcoiris." Don Cider smiled warmly at the pegasus. "The title of 'Mr.' can wait a few years, I'm still young at heart!" Rosita giggled at her father's joke while Arcoiris smiled at the old pony. After a few minutes of idle chatting, Arcoiris stood up and said goodbye. "Can't you stay, like, a little longer!" Rosita gave her the best best puppy eyes she could muster but Arcoiris wouldn't budge. "Nope, sorry but I need to get going. Thanks for the food though! " She trotted over to the door and waved goodbye before moving down the partially empty street. As she trotted around town in search of a bakery to add cookies to her supplies, she noticed just about how empty the place seemed. A few ponies with sombreros moved about on the street but besides them, nothing. It gave the place an almost eerie feeling to it. Arcoiris turned left on a corner and trotted over to a building with a sign in the shape of a muffin outside its door. "That must be the bakery." Arcoiris thought with a smug smile. "I didn't even ask for directions and i got here in no time! Then, the feeling of danger she had felt earlier that morning came back, shifting nervously she weighed her options. She needed the cookies for the trip. Yup, needed, not optional. But if there were unicorns hiding inside the bakery, then she'd be in a lot of trouble. Freeing her gun from its holster, she slowly trotted over to the bakery, breathing slowly to calm her nerves and steady her aim, loosening her hooves for faster reflexes, steeling her mind for what was about to happen. The door opened with a rusty creak of the hinges as Arcoiris's hoof pushed it open. The room was dark and empty. Arcoiris gulped and tried to focus on her surroundings, several tables lay scattered around the floor, a few chairs were broken and littered across the floor, sunlight barely managed to seep in through a few open windows and the tip of a gun slowly pushed against Arcoiris's head... Yup, unexpected! "Well, well, well! If it isn't the great ol' Arcoiris Veloz..." A familiar voice filled Arcoiris's eardrums as the metallic tip of the gun pressed against her mane. As she heard the voice though, Arcoiris grew somber. Immediately recognizing the owner. "Diana Cascos Juliana Concepcion de la Torre de los Montes Verdes..." Arcoiris turned around slowly to meet the eyes of her former accomplice and partner in crime. They stood in front of each other, each mare staring into each others eyes, although the mare holding the gun had one of her eyes staring at her other eye, which was in turn, staring into the eyes of Arcoiris... "I thought the unicorns got you..." Arcoiris continued to stare at her former friend, hoof itching to reach for her gun. "Hehe, not quite..." The cross eyed pegasus chuckled a little as her eyes stared deep into Arcoiris's soul, well, as best as they could. The tension grew, neither side doing anything, sweat started to run from the mares foreheads as the danger of the moment took hold, Diana had one shot, Arcoiris had one chance. "It looks like this time, Arcoiris, you will be the one paying the muffins..." "Yeah, it looks like... Wait what?" "Yup, twenty five muffins!" Diana lowered the gun and grinned happily at her friend. "Those unicorns are really hard to bribe! But I finally managed." Diana looked at her hoof with a smug smile on her face, obviously unaware of the extremely confused look on the other mare. "Wait, so, you're not mad at me?" Arcoiris was shocked to say the least, she expected her next encounter with Diana to end in a shooting match. "Of course not! It wasn't your fault that I broke Rareza's prized jewel and that those unicorns wanted us both covered in frosting for it!" Diana smiled happily as she holstered her weapon and hugged Arcoiris. "Uhm... Thanks for not shooting me I guess?" Arcoiris smiled awkwardly as her friend separated from the embrace. "No prob!" Diana grinned. "So what's the next mission boss?" "Actually Diana... Uhm... I'm kinda trying to retire." Diana's smile faded as she looked at Arcoiris with a blank expression. "Why?" Arcoiris had no idea of how she should tell her friend that the life of a forajida was becoming a bit overwhelming. She had planned to escape to Mexicolt and start from scratch. A life where she didn't have to look over her shoulder to make sure a cupcake was not flying towards her head. "Well, It's uhm... hard to explain..." "Meh... You don't have to." Diana shrugged and walked out of the bakery. "Truth is, I've been wanting to retire myself!" "Wait, really?" Arcoiris was shocked, Diana had always loved the freedom a bandits life offered. "Mhm, you remember Dianita Cascos Juliana Concepcion de la Torre de los Montes Verdes, right?" Diana turned around to face her friend once again. "Yeah, your daughter right? Wasn't she with your cousin?" Arcoiris scratched her mane. "Yup, well, the other day I got a letter from her, she got her cutie mark!" Diana started jumping happily in her spot. "That's awesome Diana! Way to go!" Arcoiris smiled as she remembered the little filly she had occasionally seen with Diana. Diana's features darkened. "Yeah well, I wasn't there to see it..." Diana's gaze lost its shine as it fell to the floor. "I realized just how much I have missed from my little filly's life! And i didn't like it..." Looking back up with renewed cheer she explained her plan. "So, I decided to gather up as many bits as I could and meet up with you here in Mexicolt! As soon as I can set up a respectable muffin stand somewhere in town I'll have my cousin send Dianita over and we can start our new lives!" Arcoiris suddenly realized that both Diana and herself were on the same boat. "Um... Diana? I think there's something you should know..." After explaining Rareza's plan to soil her name in Mexicolt and the race she currently was in to reach the capital before her nemesis, Arcoiris explained how Rareza could just as easily press false charges against Diana. The cross eyed pegasus did not like it one bit. Her eyes lost their goofy expression as they straightened out and a look of pure anger appeared on her face, the usually cheerful grin on her face disappeared. "Why that little! I swear to all the muffins in the United Stables, Mexicolt and Prance that nopony will stand between me and my little filly!" Arcoiris looked in awe, jaw open, eyes wide, Diana was a very sweet and caring mare, never hurting anypony unless provoked. But Celestia had mercy on whatever poor pony managed to get her angry... =============================================================================================== Rosita listened as the two mares talked. She wasn't much for spying or following ponies around, but Arcoiris did forget her dessert... Anyways, as Rosita stood there listening, she became aware of two things. One: Arcoiris was a bandit. One and a half: There was a part of her, and she didn't know how strong that part was, that wanted freedom and forgiveness. And two: Rosita was deeply and madly in- That's it! Enough with the creepy twilight reference... She just wanted to tag along ok? Rosita then noticed that the other mare Arcoiris was with, became extremely angry, the pink pony watched as the grey coated pegasus with the bubbles cutie mark began to shake her hooves angrily in the air as she babbled on about revenge and settling old scores. Eventually though, Rosita heard something that caught her attention. "...we have to get to the capital!" The grey pegasus exclaimed suddenly. Rosita's ears perked up immediately. She had always wanted to go to the capital! It was a dream for hers she thought would never come true! Why, according to everypony, the best parties in all of Mexicolt were held in the city's largest ballrooms. Smiling grandly at the simple thought of a party, Rosita jumped in the air letting out a loud scream of happiness. Arcoiris and Diana stopped talking and stared in shock as the pink blur of motion danced around them frantically, occasionally they managed to distinguish words like "Party!" or "Happy!" and the occasional "Piñata!". After their eyes could no longer keep up with the lightning fast pony and their heads started to ache from all the motion sickness, they finally... "STOP!" ...snapped. Their shout stopped Rosita immediately, but her excitement was still visible. "So when are we leaving?" Rosita looked expectantly at the two forajidas. Arcoiris looked at Diana, who looked back at Arcoiris. An awkward silence descended upon the three mares before a snickering Arcoiris spoke up. "You want to come along?" Hardly able to hold it in for long, Arcoiris and Diana went from a soft giggling to a full fledged outburst of laughter. They fell on their backs and rolled around for a while, holding their stomachs they eventually managed to stand up. Rosita kept her smile throughout the outburst, not being affected in the slightest. "So? When do we leave!" Barely able to speak, Diana tried to answer the pink pony but failed as another short burst of laughter overtook her. It was Arcoiris who finally managed to reply. "My stomach! *laughing* It... It hurts! *more laughing*" Finally controlling the the outburst she looked at Rosita with the best serious face she could manage. "I'm sorry kid, but you're just not up to the task! I mean, you don't even have wings!" Arcoiris extended her wings briefly to show them off, but the frosting made them heavy and she could only open them so much before it got tiresome. "Yeah! And you cant fly either!" Diana replied, her eyes back to their goofy selves. "Diana, the whole point of her not having wings means that she couldn't fly in the first place..." Arcoiris facehooved. "Oh, right!" Rosita then pointed out the clear flaw in the pegasi's argument, you know, the one regarding a certain rainbow maned mare and a wing full of frosting? "You'll need a baker!" Rosita answered brightly, obviously deciding that baking was a better counter argument. Although she was, in fact, quite a skilled baker. Best in Villa Del Pony actually. Arcoiris stared at her blankly. "Um... How does that-?" "HIRED!" Diana pushed Arcoiris away as she wildly shook Rosita's hoof. "Welcome aboard! Now tell me... What can you bake?" "Ooooh! All sorts of yummy stuff! Like cupcakes, muffins..." Arcoiris stood up slowly as the two other mares walked off down the street. "Stuff just keeps getting weirder..." Shrugging she trotted off behind the two mares trying to catch up. The gang was up and ready, now all they needed was to get going. =============================================================================================== Arena Caliente Desert, south of Villa Del Pony, main road to the capital Dulce Bella gazed at the sun as it slowly sank in the horizon, thoughts of her past filled her head. Retoño de Manzana trotted over to her after several seconds of silence. "You okay Dulce? Ya seemed a bit off today" Retoño looked at her friend, worried expression in her eyes. "I'm fine... I just remembered the...accident..." Placing a hoof on her friends shoulder Retoño nodded as she also recalled the story her friend had told them a long time ago. All three of them had one. "Hey! Come here guys! The fire's ready!" A third voice rang from behind them. "Coming Trotti-" "HEY! DON'T CALL ME THAT!" The orange filly raised her head looking up at her friends, her purple mane covering her face. Retoño and Dulce giggled, they knew their friend didn't like her name at all. So as good friends, they made sure to say it as often as possible. "Sorry 'Speed Devil', Ah forgot!" Retoño said in between giggles. "Yeah, we would never call you by your frenc-" Dulce teased but was interrupted once again. "Cut it out you guys! Its not funny!" 'Speed Devil' glared at her two friends until the laughter died out. After the three fillies finally settled their argument they sat down around a fire and began to roast a few marshmallows. They told stories and laughed as they spent yet another night together, running away from their pasts and the memories of dark events that made them leave all they knew behind and exchange it for the life of... "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, HIGHWAY BANDITS YAY!" Laughter filled the air as the three friends rejoiced on their latest plan to get their cutie marks.