//------------------------------// // Las Caballitas (Part 1) // Story: Fluttershy's Big Break // by Sloped Armoured Pony //------------------------------// The night was a long one. The idea of a dragon being in the caboose, as well as his obnoxious snoring, prevented even the slightest amount of rest for our little protagonist. The car bumped over the spikes on the rail, wile past the door formal laughter was heard. Well, being in the filthy outhouse of the train must have only been an inconvenience, as Fluttershy would soon find out as the train came to a stop. Fluttershy got up to look out of the window. The sun seemed brighter and hotter. Outside, she could hear cheering, music, and celebration. When it was time, she disembarked the train and went out to explore. Fluttershy came out of the gate and she saw a massive parade. Ponies danced with trumpets in their mouths, while others shook maracas and clicked castanets. The dresses the dancers wore were immensely colourful, as she could see zig-zaged lines, each coloured in forms of green, red, yellow, and orange. The buildings were decorated with streamers and banners, almost as if Pinkie Pie took a stroll though here. The placed seemed to be slightly male-oriented, as none of the mares took centre stage in the various songs that were sung. With all this commotion and drama, Fluttershy was not sure where to even start. That was when a handsome stallion popped in front of her and caught her attention. "Bienvenido, senorita bonitisima! You look like you need some assistance trekking through this muy fabuloso lugar! That is espanol for 'magical sanctuary'!" charmed the stallion. As awkward as his appearance into the scene was, he was indeed devilishly handsome. His face seemed to be incinerating the area he faced with his luscious mustache, while his eyebrows acted like magnets pulling Fluttershy's eyes into his direction stronger than gravity was to light. The stallion seemed confident in himself, but Fluttershy only felt more awkward as she discovered that he was ready with a very nice tuxedo and a rose in his pocket. Did he appear like this to most mares he met for the first time? "Um, hello sir. Don't you look, um, handsome?" muttered Fluttershy being as confuse as any mare who would confront a handsome stallion only a mere three seconds after passing the gate into the city. "Would you like some help with your bags senorita? I know this city like the back of my ear, and I can carry you to the hotel you plan on sleeping in, mi amor!" charmed the stallion. "Um, ok? Mi amor? What is your name again?" asked the confused pegasus. She had no idea what "mi amor" meant, or how he would manage to carry her bags and her at the same time. The only was to humor him was, well, to humor him. "Mi nombre es El Caballo Magnifico! Now let me carry your bags. Oye! Taxi! Give this caballita bonita a comfortable ride to El Hotel a la Mar!" ordered El Magnifico as a taxi halted immediately for Fluttershy's boarding. "El Hotel a la Mar is one of the best hotels in Equestria. This will not be disappointing like your horribly uncomfortable ride in that patty wagon. If you are wondering why I appeared so suddenly, it is because I was the pony sent by her majesty to pick you up. You have a nice room looking to the west onto the sea! Sit on the balcony for the nice hot ocean breeze, or lay in your bed for the cooling indoor air. Room service is immediate and elite! The apples served are golden and delicious, as well as golden delicious if you like that. You have 24 hour access to the restricted elites-only sector of the beach, so you can have nice clean relaxation during the day, as well as clean water to swim in. Are you ready to enjoy your first day here?" All this seemed exciting, until one thing struck Fluttershy. This was the first of her seven day vacation (Princess Celestia was nice enough to make the earlier travel night not included in the week-long plan), and she would not have time to enjoy all of these supposed enjoyments. "How about I leave my luggage at the train station. I am only staying here for the day, so it won't matter if I bring it to the hotel. In fact, can you just show me around, I mean, if you don't mind?" asked Fluttershy. As devilishly handsome and charming as he was, he seemed to also be devilishly lazy. Originally expecting a quick drop off at the hotel and then the rest of the day for himself, he was reluctant to put away his time to show Fluttershy around, as he so explained, "Um, sorry. I have some work to do now, so, call me later. Adios!" He then ran of behind a building, where she caught sight of some mares who had been waiting to continue their mingling session with El Magnifico. "Well, that was nice of him, I guess," Fluttershy said to herself. "So, what should I do first, now that I have no guide." Fluttershy walked out of the procession to find the town square. There was a nice mix of Moorish and indigenous culture in the clothing and the architecture. There was almost impossible to walk more than five feet without catching sight of an arch and a dome. Market stands covered all the corners of the squares, with every pony yelling out deals and purchase options. Fluttershy went to explore the market, and perhaps do some shopping. Ponies were selling hoof knitted sweaters, necklaces, bracelets, light drums, crafted gems, and other souvenirs. At the end of the market, there was a winery. Fluttershy has had plenty of apple cider back in Ponyville, but it seemed that it was time to taste something new. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Come, come all! All you folk from distant land! May I introduce to you all a taste from an ancient land!" announced an indigenous brewer. This brewery was small, but the smells were inviting, and the windows were stain-glassed, giving a nice vineyard feeling to the building. Several tourists had gathered here in hope of tasting what the brewer announced to be some of the best wine in Equestria. While the tourists chattered amongst themselves, the floor was teaming with workers moving quickly, yet gracefully, to tend to each barrel and fill the bottles for sale. The brewer started the tour through the complex and began explaining each role of the workers and the components. He, however, warned about his recipe being top secret. "Move now! We have got not all day! I will take you to room that bottles all the wine to be sent to all the thirsty mouths of Equestria. The bottling floor was also teaming with life. To avoid making the jobs too boring, all the bottling was hoof work. No machines, no computers, all mind and muscle work. Workers rushed with bottles, while others brought funnels to pour the fermented wine into the glass containers. There were other ponies who would vacuum seal the bottles to avoid spoiling. One of the workers dropped a glass on accident, and the mist sprayed onto the faces of the tourists, who all enjoyed the minute taste of this liquid pleasure. Workers came in assistance with brooms and mops to clear the mess in no time whatsoever. As the tour began to enter the sample room for all the tourist to sample the wine, all seemed to go well, until Fluttershy sneezed. All the tourists, the workers, and the brewer halted all activity and focused attention on the confused and humiliated pegasus. A large uniform gasp struck the hall. "What have you done?" panicked the brewer. "Um, what have I done?" asked Fluttersy, knowing something bad was about to happen. "You have contaminated hall with disgusting ejection of nasal fluid! You have ruined pristine conditions for fermentation! What do you have to say for yourself?" angered the brewer while everyone else also gave an angered face at Fluttershy. "Um, gesundheit?" asked Fluttershy. In an almost comical way, Fluttershy was booted out of the brewery, quite literally. She looked around to reorient herself until she saw something strange. It looked like a pony in a black spandex uniform who was heading for the brewery. It almost looked like he was about to rob the brewery, or even... Fluttershy followed the suspicious pony to try and put a stop to an upcoming series of shenanigans. Fluttershy promptly followed the "burglar" onto the roof of the brewer to catch him and question him. Her first attempt seemed successful. "Um, excuse me sir? Can you please tell me why you are on the roof of a building?" politely asked Fluttershy. The mysterious pony stuttered, shivered, and sweat. Out of the whim to try and get her to not rat him out, he started to talk. "It's not what it looks like," explained the pony. "Have you been in the brewery before?" "Um, yes? I was kicked out afterwards for sneezing," responded Fluttershy. "I knew it!" announced the pony. "Knew what?" asked Fluttershy. "I am trying to put a stop to these crimes. Do you know why you were kicked out for sneezing? Wines are usually fine in a sneezy environment. Obviously, something is up, and I discovered that the brewer as developed a poisoned wine to try and intoxicate all of Equestria so he can take over the land," explained the pony. "Isn't that a little, you know, far fetched?" asked Fluttershy. Almost immediately after the comment, the pony shot a dart at a nearby tourist, causing him to drop dead. Fluttershy saw the dead tourist, but not the pea shooter that the pony was using. "Why, you are right!" "But of course my pink haired friend. In fact, how about you help me stop these injustices," requested the pony. "Hmm, ok! This sounds important. Just promise that there is really something bad happening here," ordered Fluttershy. "Oh, believe me! There will be something bad here," reassured the pony as he gave an evil chuckle away from the attention of the characters. "Now, first, you must enter through this top window and get at the buttons on the vault. The code is 1-5-5-6-2-3-8-4-8-4-6-2-7-8-8-5-7-2-3-4-0-8-3-4-7-5-2-4-7-8-6-6-8-3-6-3-1-2-4-2-2-1-4-7-3-8-5-3-6-8-9-6-4-7-5-9-0-7-6-5-4-5-6-3-2-1-2-7-6-5-3-4-2-7-7. Do you think you can remember that? Open the vault and I will attain the secret formula." "I'll try to remember," responded Fluttershy as she hopped into the vault hall. Guards patrolled the hall outside, so it seemed that their was no escape. Fluttershy warned the pony, but he only reassured that everything would go as according to plan. She hopped to the vault door and stared at the code lock. You can't blame a pony for not remembering a 75 digit code combination. As she attempted to remember, she pressed the first number she thought was right. All the alarms went off and the guards came in almost no time, armed with guns. Fluttershy fled the scene in all directions, trying to find a safe way out, while the pony snuck in by typing a 3 digit combination, stole the formula, and ran off unnoticed. "Oh good, you got the formula," panted Fluttershy as she hid around a corner away from the guards, "so, what is the plan to get us out of here?" "You see that window?" asked the pony. "Let me climb on your back and reach it to get out." Fluttershy promptly did as ordered and waited for further instructions. "Now, um, how do I get out?" asked Fluttershy in a panicky state. "The plan is, you don't! Adios culo agujero!" taunted the pony as he fled the scene. Fluttershy cried in fear as she ran away, only into the hood-cuffs of some ambushing guards. "So you thought you could steal the secret recipe, now, did you? So, was sneezing not enough to ruin the business?" taunted the guards. Fluttershy begged in tears, "But I was tricked! I didn't mean to steal the formula. In fact, I didn't even steal it! The other pony did!" "Oh yeah, that invisible nonexistent pony I saw the other day. Forget it kid! That's what they all said until they wound up in behind bars. We'll see how long the judge wants you locked away!" angered the guards. The holiday was, once again, going downhill, as she was dragged away in tears to the Spanish court. Never mind the vacation; this was Fluttershy''s first time to ever be convicted of something.