My little pony: Mexico is magicby Iron McGalleyChaptersArenas Del DesiertoCamino A La Gran Ciudad!Entrada En MexicoltVilla Del PonyLa Aventura Comienza Arenas Del DesiertoVilla Del Pony The farewell party was coming to an end after several hours of partying and goodbyes. Don Cider trotted over to Rosita and hugged her, he was going to miss his daughter, but her happiness was what mattered the most for him. "Are you sure you want to go Rosita?" Don Cider asked as Rosita broke the embrace and started packing her stuff for the journey. "Yeppity! I've always wanted to go to the capital! It will be so much fun!" Rosita looked up from her saddlebags. "Don't worry dad, I'll bring you something when I get back!" Don Cider smiled and hugged his daughter one last time. "Just be careful Rosita." Rosita nodded eagerly and placed her, overly full, saddlebags on her back, then with a wave to the rest of the ponies that had attended the party, pretty much all of the village, she trotted off down the path to the the capital, Arcoiris and Diana where already waiting for her. Don Cider looked at the departing mares as a single tear rolled down his face and disappeared in his thick mustache. "Be careful..." His whisper lost in the wind. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Arena Caliente Desert, an hour after the party "Rock!" "Paper!" "AGH! You win again!" Diana crossed her forelegs as her wings kept her in the air, the furious match of rock, paper, scissors had been going on for a full hour and no clear winner had emerged up until then. "Don't worry Diana, best out of six hundred and forty five?" Rosita smiled happily as her hoof rose up into the air, challenging her opponent to a rematch of the gods. "You're on!" Diana smiled and her hoof shot out in response to the challenge. Hooves shook, sweat ran, blood... um... well, no blood. But they were really concentrated though! Arcoiris had been walking in front of the two mares who were still locked in fierce combat. The cupcake frosting on her wings was still giving her a bad time and she still couldn't fly, but at least she could walk. "Hey not fair! You cheated!" "Did not!" "Did too!" Arcoiris's eye twitched slightly, it was bad enough they had been at it for over an hour, but now they had to start shouting? At least it couldn't get any worse... Right? Several hours passed as the mares crossed the desert, the brutal battle between Rosita and Diana had subsided into a draw, neither mare wanting to continue. Arcoiris looked up to the sky, it was getting dark. "Let's stop here for the night." Arcoiris dropped her saddlebags and started to build a fire. Rosita and Diana collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. "Phew! Finally! I thought my wings would fall off if I didn't rest!" Diana sat down on a broken log and started munching on a muffin, but not before staring at it as if it were a god. "Silly Diana, muffins can't compare to this!" Rosita pulled out a cupcake from her saddlebag, the treat perfectly baked with a crunchy exterior and the softest bread on the inside, the delicious vanilla frosting perfectly sprinkled and molded, a bright succulent cherry on top completed the mirage of sweetness and god-like trance. Diana, however, was not pleased by the statement. "Pffft! My muffin is ten times better than any cupcake!" She crossed her forelegs and glared at the cupcake. "Oh really? Because my cupcake is twenty times better than any muffin!" Rosita glared at the muffin as she held her cupcake above her head. Arcoiris was too tired for any of that nonsense, she wasn't used to walking and her legs ached all over. "Guys, cut it out, they're just bread..." Poor Arcoiris had no idea of what sort of monsters her comment had just released. Silence followed the statement, not the awkward kind of silence you get when you ask a mare out in front of her grandparents while wearing a duck costume. This was an evil kind of silence... Arcoiris had been laying on her back, eyes closed, feeling relaxed. Then the silence hit her. She opened one eye then the other, as she sat up to see what was going on, a chill went down her spine, cold sweat dampened her forehead and fear shook her bones. The pink and the grey mare were looking at her, no, not at her, they were looking into her. Their gazes penetrated deep into her very soul. "Just..." Rosita began. "... bread?" Diana finished. Arcoiris simply sat there, completely terrified as the two mares slowly approached, murder in their eyes. Arcoiris was paralyzed, in her frightened state of mind she prayed to every god and goddess she had ever heard of, all to no avail. Rosita was a few steps away from her while Diana hovered just behind her. "Just bread huh?" The pink pony smiled. "I think we may be able to convince you to think otherwise..." Diana placed her hooves on Arcoiris's shoulders preventing her from moving. Arcoiris then realized what was about to happen, she tried to wriggle free of Diana's hold but she was too tired and the pegasus was stronger than she looked, Rosita got closer until their faces were right in front of the other. "No! Don't do this! I don't wanna hear it! I won't!" Arcoiris covered her ears with her hooves but she heard it anyway. "All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix." Rosita began singing the infamous cupcake song and Diana continued. "Now just take a little something sweet, not sour, a bit of salt, just a pinch." Diana's smile grew as the song progressed. "Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla" Both mares began dancing in front of Arcoiris as Rosita sang the following verse. "Add a little more, and you count to four, and you never get your filla" By now Arcoiris could barely maintain her sanity, the song rang across her brain in the same manner a something rings across something else... Then the chorus followed, Diana and Rosita were lost in their singing and Arcoiris's cries for mercy fell on deaf ears. "Cupcakes -- so sweet and tasty Cupcakes -- don't be too hasty Cupcakes -- cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!" Both mares finished their song with their forelegs waving in the air and enormous smiles on their faces, Arcoiris, however, was not amused. "Do NOT do that again..." She was exhausted just from listening, a headache was developing on the back of her head and the rash in her wings got itchier. Diana and Rosita grinned and sat down beside the fireplace they had built a while back. The following minutes went by relatively peacefully. Until a lasso shot out from nowhere and wrapped itself around Rosita's neck. "What the-!" Rosita was then pulled away by the mysterious rope. "Headshot!" Diana hoof pumped into the air before another lasso wrapped itself around her legs and dragged her off into the darkness. Arcoiris heard her two friends scream, she swiftly took out her six shooter and looked sideways, expecting a third rope to dart out at any moment. Sure enough the lasso emerged from behind a cacti, rushing at full speed towards the rainbow maned pegasus. Arcoiris dodged swiftly and emptied a chamber of her gun in the direction of her attacker. "WHOA!" As the sweet projectile pierced through the cacti and smacked into a rock, a high pitched scream was heard from behind said rock. Arcoiris was slightly puzzled by the sound of her attackers voice, it sounded... Childish... "Get her! She has a gun!" Another voice, now from behind a cacti. Arcoiris turned around again, but she didn't shoot this time, It was a filly's voice. "Who are you? Come out!" Arcoiris tried to fly but the frosting on her wing made it impossible. As she fell to the ground another voice screamed and a little orange filly with purple mane charged at her from the shadow of a large rock. Arcoiris evaded the charging filly and looked in the direction where she had come from, Diana was lying there, struggling to get free of the rope that tied her legs. Arcoiris then turned back at the filly that had tried to attack her, she was running back for another try. She would have evaded the charge again, if not for a small white unicorn. As Arcoiris prepared to move away from the orange filly, she felt something jump on her back. "What the hay?!" Arcoiris tried to move but a sudden pain stopped her as the orange filly smashed, headfirst, into her stomach. She fell on her back and dropped her gun. The now three fillies, a yellow one with a ribbon on her head joined in after Arcoiris fell, all jumped up on her and tried to tie down her legs and wings. "Get off! Get off! Get off!" Arcoiris swung her legs around in an effort to break free of her attackers, to no avail. The fillies were too many, Diana and Rosita kept on trying to free themselves but the knots on the ropes that bound them were too well made. "Stop moving so much!" The small white unicorn complained as she tried to tie down her legs. "Hold her down Dulce! Ah just need some more time to tie down her wings!" The yellow earth pony with the ribbon on her head had slipped a rope behind Arcoiris's wings and was trying to keep her from flailing them. "I got it!" The orange filly then smacked Arcoiris behind her head with a wooden scooter. Arcoiris made what could probably have been the funniest pain face a pony could make before passing out. The orange filly smiled widely, proud of her success. "What?" Speed Devil asked as her two friends stared at her with open mouths. "Why in tha hay would you do that!?" Retoño swung her forelegs in the air as Dulce continued to stare. "Well, she wouldn't stop moving! What was I supposed to do?" "Not that!" "Whatever... Lets just take their stuff and go..." Speed Devil rolled her eyes and walked over to Rosita, who just glared at her while growling menacingly. "Um... Isn't it wrong to steal their things?" Dulce Bella asked fearfully as she glanced at a glaring Diana. "Do ya want ta get your cutie mark or not?" Retoño tried to sound determined but failed, she also didn't like the idea of stealing, it was the same feeling they felt when they tried their hoofs at being reporters, lucky for them the presidente wasn't too angry for the whole cake expropriation story they made up... "Y-yeah... It's the only... Way..." Speed Devil was also wavering by now. They were not bad ponies. Rosita stopped glaring for a second as doubt covered Speed Devil's face. The orange filly was now right in front of Rosita's saddlebags, they were full of stuff and it was her's for the taking. Sweat ran down her forehead as her hoof opened the bag. Dulce and Retoño gasped as their friend did something none of the present ponies thought she would do. Speed Devil closed the saddlebags and untied Rosita. The orange filly sat down and looked at the floor with a sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry..." Tears began to form in her eyes as Rosita stood up. Speed Devil felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up. There, face against the setting sun, portraying a protecting shadow that covered Speed's face, stood Rosita with a forgiving smile. "No prob! Just don't do it again ok?" Rosita smiled and walked off towards Diana who was now smiling as well. Neither mare could hold a grudge for too long and all three fillies apologized a lot. Arcoiris on the other hand... Well, it was a good thing she was unconscious... The three fillies then helped untie Diana and carried Arcoiris back to her sleeping bag. "What are three fillies doing out here in the desert anyway?" Diana asked as she pulled a snoring Arcoiris back to the camp. "Yeah! Shouldn't you three be in school?" Rosita said as she hopped up and down around the unconscious mare, trying to reanimate her. The cutie mark crusaders looked at each other nervously, they couldn't reveal their secret cutie mark mission! They had to think of a cover story quickly! "Um... Vacation!" Dulce was the first to come up with her story. "Field trip!" That was Retoño... "Alien abduction!" Speed waved her hooves in the air for emphasis. Retoño and Dulce facehooved immediately as their friend spoke, there was no way the mares would believe her... "No way!" "What did they look like!?" Rosita and Diana rushed over to the orange filly's side and began questioning her. Retoño and Dulce facehooved once more and then rushed over to Arcoiris to keep her from sliding downhill. Speed, now overwhelmed by the avalanche of questions from the two mares, tried to slowly back away. "Um... Yeah... Four eyes... Sure..." She said as the questions rushed out of the mare's mouths. "Wait! But did they have lasers and, and, and, and?!?" Rosita was ecstatic with curiosity. "How did their muffins look like though?!? Did you see their muffins?!?" Guess who asked this one... The two other fillies giggled as they slowly dragged Arcoiris back to their fireplace and began roasting marshmallows and berries. As the sun came down the questions finally ended and Speed was finally able to take a break, Diana and Rosita collapsed, exhausted from their own interrogation, and the smoke from the fire rose up to the evening sky. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Villa Del Pony Shouts and screams filled the air. Earth ponies rushed to the towns defense, unicorns opened fire from afar raining wave after wave of frosting over the small town's houses. Don Cider stood outside the inn, gun in hoof. "Don Cider! The unicorns are approaching!" An earth pony called out from one of the makeshift barricades they had built. "Hold them off as long as you can! If they get too close," Don Cider's gaze darkened. "Bring out the cannon..." "Si señor!" The earth pony saluted and rushed off to spread the orders. Don Cider pulled out his old cupcake shotgun. "Mi querida Rosita... May our sacrifice give your friends enough time to clear away from the desert..." Placing his old sombrero on his head, Don Cider ran towards the main street to aid in the defense of the town. *** The mastermind of the attack stared ahead towards the battle. "Señorita Valiente, the troops have breached the barricades, and the villagers have holed up inside an inn." A white unicorn with a brown vest and a cowboy hat informed his mistress. "Um... Move the rest of the soldiers around the town... and um... make sure no one leaves... If that's ok with you..." "Yes ma'am!" The unicorn rushed off, his rifle levitating beside him. Aleteo Valiente, Ironic name for her personality, was the leader behind the attack on Villa Del Pony, much to her displeasure. Valiente, as the unicorns referred to her, knew that if any of the villagers left the town and warned the government of Mexicolt about her soldiers being there, she would be in a lot of trouble. You know, the kind of trouble that involves being covered in chocolate cake and frosting... She didn't feel up to the task and the thought of being in command terrified her senseless. "Oh my, all those ponies want me to lead them, they expect me to be a good leader. What if i mess up? Oh, Rareza is going to be so disappointed! Her thoughts swam around in her head filling her with doubt, but Rareza trusted her, that was all she needed for encouragement. Rareza had been her best friend for a long time and she had always supported Valiente and now Rareza needed her help for a small retrieval job, not too hard. Despite what everypony thought about Valiente, she was a very clever pony, clever enough to have been chosen as economic overseer of all the money that ran through Rareza's hooves. She was good with numbers, caring for animals required a lot of math and Valiente had several degrees on the subject, so it was no surprise that Rareza chose her to lead this mission instead of one of the clumsy unicorn thugs she usually sent. And this was an important mission. Arcoiris had stolen something from Rareza and now Valiente was going to bring her to justice, it was the least she could do for a friend. Even if she had to do things she didn't quite like... A loud explosion from the town center caused the poor yellow pegasus to squeak in fear. They had a cannon. *** Don Cider stood outside his inn, several other ponies were with him. The unicorns had taken the streets and were now headed for the town center. Don Cider was not about to let them get closer... *BOOM* The large cannon shot another double chocolate cake at frightening speeds. Several unicorns rushed out of the barricades as soon as the explosion was heard, the large, delicious chocolate projectile smashed into the trenches and sent several unlucky unicorns flying backwards, covered in sweet doom. Don Cider and the remaining villagers continued shooting at the now running unicorns, the cannon was placed on the second floor of the inn so the unicorns couldn't reach it. Everypony ran inside the inn as the unicorns fired another barrage of cupcakes, several cries of surprise were heard as two villagers were reached by the flying desserts. There were only about five left of them and the unicorns just kept on coming. The villagers took cover behind the inn's walls, every now and then a unicorn would play brave and rush out of cover shooting wildly, Doña juliana, Don Cider's neighbor, would just pull out her makeshift cupcake sniper rifle and place a toothache on said unicorn. This kept on going for about thirty minutes, before a chorus of... "I'm out!" "No ammo here!" "Anyone's got anymore frosting?" ...filled the air. It was over, they had fought bravely but it would be pointless to continue the fight, so after firing the cannon a few more times, they surrendered. The unicorns cheered as the earth ponies walked out of the inn, heads low. All villagers were questioned by the leader of the unicorns. "So... um... if it isn't too much trouble mister, could you please tell us were Arcoiris went?" "...no?" "Oh, well sorry for your trouble then..." Most of the interrogations went like this, Valiente was leaving the inn were the prisoners were being held for questioning, when a tall white unicorn with a monocle and a top hat walked up to her and asked in a thick British accent. "Excuse me ma'am, but would you be so kind as to allow me some time with the prisoners?" "Oh, I don't see why you would want that... They don't seem willing to talk..." The unicorn grinned and pulling out a cookie he said in his thick British accent. "I have my ways of making them talk..." "Ok then..." *The following interrogation may contain inappropriate and terrifying content, read at your own risk* Sir Biscuit of trottingham sat on a wooden chair, opposite of the blue stallion in front of him. "So I'm told that you have knowledge of the whereabouts of a certain bandit pegasus, am I correct?" Sir Biscuit sipped from a levitating cup of tea that floated next to him. "Nah-uh, sorry but i dont know about that..." The stallion looked away. "Really? We'll see about that..." Sir Biscuit pulled out the cookie from under his top hat and waved it in front of the stallion before asking in an evil tone of voice. "Do you know what this is?" The stallion was slightly confused. "A cookie?" Sir Biscuit smiled and commenced his torture. "Wrong, what I hold here is nothing more and nothing less than a..." "... Biscuit." "What? No it isn't! That's a cookie!" The stallion took the bait. "Biscuit." "Cookie!" "Biscuit." "COOKIE!" "Biscuit." The procedure continued for almost an hour, in the end, the stallion was no longer able to hold on to his sanity. Sir Biscuit smiled and leaned closer to the defeated pony. "You tell me where the rainbow maned mare went, and you can call it whatever you want..." The stallion's eyes widened, he desperately needed to be proven right about the one thing that mattered to him at the moment, to prove that it was a damn cookie! The stallion explained thoroughly everything he knew about Arcoiris's destination. Sir Biscuit smiled evilly and stood up as soon as he had the information he wanted. "Very well, thank you for your cooperation." Sir Biscuit turned around and trotted over to the door but stopped, tossing the cookie to the table before he left. "Enjoy your..." Pause for dramatic effect, slow motion turning around with evil grin for emphasis. "Biscuit..." Evil laugh and slow exit out of building for added malevolent behavior. The screams of frustration from the stallion filled the air as Sir Biscuit laughed evilly. "IT'S A COOKIE! A COOKIE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Camino A La Gran Ciudad!Arena Caliente Desert The rising sun illuminated the cold sands of the desert, a few snakes slithered across the vast expanse of land as the first rays of daylight crept up on them, cacti loomed over the emptiness of it all like solemn guardians of silence. On top of a small hill, however, not all was as calm and quiet. "What the HAY?!?" Arcoiris shouted as she saw her former attackers standing over her, smiling grandly as they held out a plate full of berries and other dried fruit. "Good morning missus Arcoiris!" Retoño greeted the mare as her two friends nodded enthusiastically. "We made you breakfast!" Dulce announced jumping happily. "Sorry for the smack with the scooter!" Speed apologized happily as if it were no big deal. Arcoiris quickly got to her hooves and backed away from the three fillies glaring menacingly. "The thieves are back! Rosita! Diana! Get the guns!" Arcoiris bellowed while looking for her friends. She didn't notice the look on the little pony's faces as she called them thieves, their eyes watered, their smiles quivered, their cheerful expressions wavered. "We said we were sorry..." Dulce looked down and kicked a small rock with her hoof. Arcoiris was still looking for her friends when a rather soft object hit her in the back of her head, she didn't faint this time though. "Hey! Leave them alone!" Diana stood behind Arcoiris frowning, muffin in hoof. "Yeah! They said they were sorry!" Rosita appeared out of nowhere. "And they made breakfast!" The three fillies perked up as soon as the breakfast was mentioned. "Yup! And it's yummy!" Dulce waved her hooves in the air and nearly fell down. "I want some!" Diana smiled widely and rushed over to the campfire, where several marshmallows were burning and a few hay and cacti tacos were slowly cooking over the fire. "Me too!" Rosita hopped over to the food and ravenously engulfed several of everything at the same time. "Hey! It's for everypony!" The three fillies raced over to the fireplace as well, leaving a confused Arcoiris behind. Arcoiris stood up slowly, and stared ahead at the strange sight before her. The three fillies and the two mares sat around the fireplace, laughing and enjoying their meal. Life had been looking strange for her lately. First she steals a gem from Rareza and, much to her shame, Diana gets blamed on it for several weeks, Arcoiris manages to escape while the confusion is afoot and arranges for Diana to flee to Prance for a few days while Rareza discovers what really happened to her jewel. As soon as Rareza found out that Diana did not break her prized jewel, and that Arcoiris was the actual mastermind behind its theft, she sent half of her thugs after the rainbow maned pegasus, while the other half secured all the bits Arcoiris had made for the last three years she worked with Rareza. Arcoiris didn't care much for that money though, with what the jewel she stole was worth, she could live four lifetimes like royalty! Slowly she stood up and trotted over to the camp fire, as soon as she got close to it all three fillies looked up and met her gaze, Rosita and Diana looked expectantly at their rainbow friend. "I... um..." Arcoiris could not fit the appropriate words into a sentence, eventually she just looked at Rosita and tried to reason with the pink pony. "But they hit me with a scooter!" Rosita just raised an eyebrow. All three fillies continued to stare, waiting for the imminent apology. "Ugh, fine!" Arcoiris sat back and softly muttered. "I'm sorry..." Speed looked at Dulce, who in turn, looked at Retoño. The small ponies all smiled and nodded sharply before rushing over to Arcoiris and giving her a triple bear hug. Arcoiris was knocked on her back as the smiling ponies buried her in hugs and adorability. Their little pony smiles gleaming in the sun. "Ok, ok! Enough of the mushy stuff!" Arcoiris gently pushed off the three ponies and made her way to the snacks. Picking up a few tacos and one or two marshmallows she seated beside Rosita and commenced her feast. All six of them enjoyed a delicious breakfast and resumed their journey once they were done, Rosita insisted that the three fillies tagged along for an adventure and the three friends complied. So there we have it, a band of six brave ponies making their way over to the capital city of that great nation! Little did they know however, that their trip was soon going to get a lot more exciting than they bargained for... 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Mexicolt City, Army Head Quarters Capitan Copo de Nieve stood beside the troops, he was charged with training the recruits. The soldiers wore the regular uniform, dark blue top with golden buttons, white pants, black stripes in an 'X' across the chest with a saddlebag at their backs and a black hat with gold adornments and a red feather on top, their muskets held between their hooves as they stood on two legs. "AIM!" Copo de Nieve shouted, the dozen, or so, soldiers lowered their muskets, aiming at the targets in front of them. "READY!" Copo de Nieve bellowed at his soldiers, the ones closest to him winced at the strength of his voice. "YEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!!" Hooves pressed the triggers and frosting went flying towards the practice targets, some hit their marks but most went astray and collided with the wall behind the targets. Copo de Nieve frowned and trotted behind one of the soldiers who missed his shot. The poor pony was sweating badly, he knew what happened to recruits who failed... They received encouragement. "YOU DID WELL! BUT TRY HARDER NEXT TIME, YEEEEEEAAAAAAH?!" Copo de Nieve let his roar inundate the entire courtyard of the barracks, the poor pony he was reassuring winced in pain as the shout deafened all sounds and filled his poor pony ears. "Yes sir!" He managed to reply softly after several seconds of sheer agony. "GOOD! NOW, RELOAD!" Copo de Nieve smiled and returned to his position, he liked encouraging ponies to do their best, although he didn't quite understand why they made such funny faces when he offered reassurance in his, not loud at all, friendly voice. *** General Juana Gutierrez Manzana watched as her captain trained the new soldiers, she needed those ponies ASAP! News of raids in the north were beginning to spread and political tension between Mexicolt and the United Stables was growing, soon enough war could explode, and if it did, she would need as many trained ponies as she could get. And weapons... The issue of technology had always been a problem for the troops of Mexicolt, they had no lack of brave ponies ready to give their healthy teeth in sacrifice for their country, but they were sorely lacking in modern weaponry, which made Juana's guest of today as important as she was annoying... "So, missus Rareza, what is yer offer?" Juana turned away from the window and looked at the elegant white unicorn standing by the door with a smug smile on her lips. "Why, I intend only to help of course!" Rareza slowly trotted over to a small wooden table in the middle of the room where a few cups of apple cider were served, she sipped from her cup. "Ah' don't believe you're giving this here weapons out of the kindness of yer heart! So what do you want in return?" Juana was getting really annoyed by now, she didn't like this one bit, and she didn't trust this fancy unicorn and her fancy wording. Rareza stared intently at Juana before replying. "Gems, lots of them, safe passage to Prance and this..." Rareza pulled out an envelope from under her dress and tossed it towards Juana. The General of Mexicolt picked up the envelope and opened it, inside it was a drawn picture of a rainbow maned pegasus holding a reddish gleaming gemstone. Juana stifled a small giggle and tried her best to hide a smile. "I fail to see the humor in this..." Rareza glared at Juana. "Oh, Ah'm mighty sorry miss Rareza, I... um... Ah' just didn't think you swung that way is all." Juana smiled apologetically. Rareza's eyes widened and her cheeks turned a fiery red. "Why you little...! THE GEMSTONE! That's what I want! Not the mare!" She hollered angrily at a rather amused Juana. "Oh! That makes more sense... Y'know considering yer attitude..." "What?!" "Nothin!" Juana's eyes darted from side to side rapidly, she wasn't good at lying. "Anyway... You get me that gemstone." Juana giggled as Rareza mentioned the gemstone. "And the weapons are yours..." "Don't you worry your pretty little head, you gimme them guns and I'll give ya your weight in gems!" Juana smiled happily as she extended her hoof out to Rareza. "Make it your weight and I'd be richer than the Duke of Stalliongrad..." Rareza muttered as she shook Juana's hoof. "What was that?" "Nothing!" 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Arena Caliente Desert Aleteo Valiente sat in her small carriage, carried by several unicorns, she had planned on walking, but the unicorns insisted. They had left the small, frosting covered, village of Villa Del Pony behind after several hours of travel, and they were beginning to see the end of the desert on the horizon, there, by the end of the sands, stood the great city of Mexicolt, soon enough they would be received by the army of Mexicolt and allowed inside, or so they had been told by Rareza. The unicorns were shifting nervously as they marched, they were crossing between two large hills and it was the perfect place for an ambush, they levitated their rifles closer to their faces so they could swiftly aim and fire upon anypony foolish enough to attack them. Sir Biscuit looked at the uneasy ponies around him and rolled his eyes, the entire way to Mexicolt was secured and scouted ahead of the main group, so there was nothing to fear. "Calm yourselves ponies! There is nothing to fear!" His thick British accent did little to calm the ponies's nerves. They marched through the desert in complete silence, passing through several cacti and rocks that lay scattered around the scenery. Little did they know, not all of their scouting parties would return... *** "Shh!" Arcoiris hushed her friends as they all hid behind a bush. "Get ready everypony!" Diana nodded and pulled out her gun, aiming it at the nearest unicorn, Arcoiris aimed her's towards, what she thought was, the leader of the unicorns, a large tan one with a very thick mustache and a sombrero, there were at least half a dozen. Arcoiris smirked as she saw Diana's gun, it was slightly smaller than her own trusty six shooter, Diana lowered her head in shame but smiled smugly as she saw Rosita's shotgun slide through the dirt and point at the, unaware, unicorns. Arcoiris rolled her eyes when Rosita's weapon dwarfed her six shooter. "Whatever, It's the way you use it that counts..." Arcoiris set her sights back on her targets. The three mares had been hiding behind that bush for nearly ten minutes, when Diana spotted the approaching unicorns during one of her regular scouting flights, they had told the three little fillies to hide while they had their ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny... Yup, Dat Song... The unicorns were about to leave when they heard a twig snap, all six of them turned around as quickly as they could, shocked expressions on their faces, they raised their rifles as fast as their magic allowed them to. Too late. "Eat some!" Arcoiris shouted before unleashing sweetened destruction on her foes. Diana and Rosita followed suit, wave after wave of frosting went flying straight at the surprised unicorns. One, two, three loud thuds were heard as the projectiles collided with their targets. Three down, three more to go. The remaining unicorns rushed for cover as the three mares followed them with their bullets, Diana rose up in the air and chased after a green unicorn, shooting rapidly. Rosita aimed carefully and sent a cupcake flying at frightening speeds towards the head of a grey unicorn mare. Arcoiris did not bother with accuracy, she was the fastest and that was enough, her six shooter had five empty chambers before you could say 'empty', the tan unicorn with the thick mustache lost his sombrero as the projectiles flew past his head by mere inches. Diana trapped her prey by a cliff and with a well placed shot, unarmed him. Rosita rushed over to the fallen unicorn mare she had just shot, she was unconscious, her horn and forehead completely smeared in cupcake frosting. Arcoiris smiled grandly as her opponent dropped his rifle and surrendered. "Me rindo! Me rindo! No disparen!" The frightened unicorn screamed as Arcoiris lowered her gun, Rosita trotted over to her side and Diana joined them a while later with her own prisoner. Both unicorns were tied up and placed in the middle of the mini battlefield, their fallen comrades laying behind them. "So, who sent you? Who are you working for?..." Arcoiris began just to be- "Where is the president?!" -interrupted by Diana. "Diana! Not now, I'm interrogating them!" Arcoiris pulled Diana from the tail and carried the mare away while Diana made an 'I'm watching you' gesture towards the unicorns. Rosita trotted back towards the place the three fillies had been hiding in to make sure they were safe. *** Sir Biscuit frowned as the patrols he had sent returned, Valiente stood beside him with a worried expression in her face, six unicorns were missing . "Oh my, do you think they may be in trouble Sir Biscuit?" The yellow pegasus asked frightened as the unicorns gathered around them. "I'm afraid it is rather possible they may no longer be able to come back..." Sir Biscuit adjusted his monocle and scanned the surroundings. "Madam Valiente, with your permission, I'd like to send a larger group to locate our missing comrades." "Oh why of course Sir Biscuit, anything you think is necessary to keep them safe." Valiente smiled warmly, she was so very glad Rareza had sent Sir Biscuit to help her with the mission, he always found a way to get things done quickly and was always caring for everypony's safety, he also was a good looking pony to say the least... Valiente hid behind her mane to hide a blush as her thoughts got the better of her. Sir Biscuit, however, was not paying much attention to her, he acted the part of subordinate, but it was rather clear in his mind who was actually in charge of the mission. He quickly organized a dozen ponies into a raiding party and sent them out to find the missing unicorns. "Miss Valiente, whenever you're ready." Sir Biscuit smiled pleasantly and waited for Valiente to give the order. "Thank you Sir Biscuit, let's go everypony." Her soft voice, barely audible, was heard by the nearest unicorns, who started moving, their peers slowly followed and soon enough the whole, rather small, army was on the move. *** General Juana Gutierrez Manzana trotted over to the entrance to the city of Mexicolt, Captain Copo de Nieve followed close behind with a few dozen soldiers behind. The soldiers formed a line outside of the city and stood at attention as their general inspected them. "Well Copo, ya did a mighty fine job with this here recruits! Ah' can barely notice they're new bloods!" Juana smiled widely at her captain, who in turn, saluted sharply. "YEEEAAAH!" Captain Copo de Nieve then fell into position at the left flank of the soldiers and awaited orders. "Alright everypony! Listen up! We've got ourselves in a pretty little mess here! There's some bandit pony galloping her way over ta us, an we are gonna stop her! That clear?" General Juana's orders were met with a loud... "Yes ma'am!" ...from the soldiers and a... "YEEEEAAAAAH!" ...from you know who... Juana and her troops then waited for the bandit mare that was supposed to arrive at any minute. *** Arcoiris, Diana, Rosita and the three little fillies galloped as fast as their hooves could take them, if what the unicorns said was true then they could expect the army of Mexicolt waiting outside the city for them, and worse, Rareza herself was in the city! Things were looking bad for the mares, but they were about to get worse... Just as they went over a small hill between them and the path to the city, they froze in their tracks. "Aw shoot..." Arcoiris cursed under her breath as a small army of unicorns came into view. The unicorns turned around in perfect synchronization and spotted the six ponies atop of the hill. "Get them!" A voice with a very thick British accent shouted from the crowd, and soon enough, gunfire filled the air. With a startled shriek, Rosita jumped to cover while pulling out her cupcake shotgun, Diana flew up in the air and shot back the unicorns a few times before gliding behind a rock, and Arcoiris had enough time to empty her six chambers on the crowd before being forced to get behind something as well. The three fillies had been hiding behind a thick bush and were completely out of sight. Diana looked behind her shoulder and saw Rosita trying to get a few shots at the unicorns, and Arcoiris who was reloading her six shooter behind a rock, Diana knew she had to do something, but she just didn't know what... "Arcoiris! I'm running out of cupcakes!" Rosita shouted as she sent another cupcake flying. "Hold on a bit! I'm running low too!" Arcoiris looked inside her saddlebag, desperately looking for ammo but found nothing. "Hey guys! I have a plan!" Diana smiled as a light bulb lit up above her head. Tossing the light bulb aside, Diana darted off into the distance, drawing the attention of several unicorns who began to follow. Diana maneuvered around in the sky for a while, the multiple cupcakes and frosting the unicorns shot at her fell to the ground, mere inches away from Rosita and Arcoiris. "Good thinking Diana!" Arcoiris darted away from her hiding spot and started to pick up some of the frosting to reload her gun. "Yeah! You're super smarty-pantsy-brainy!" Rosita giggled as she gathered several cupcakes and stuffed them into her shotgun. Diana landed back behind her rock and, grabbing some ammo for herself, started shooting back at the unicorns. *** Sir Biscuit had taken over control of the battle after Aleteo Valiente fainted from the surprise of the ambush. "Fire! Fire at them I tell you! Blasted ponies aim higher!" Sir Biscuit shouted orders from behind a rock, safety first aye? He had not been expecting Arcoiris to ambush them, especially not since they had number superiority, they did outnumber Arcoiris's band by almost ten to one! However, the ambush had been successful enough, at least four unicorns lay covered in cupcake frosting, groaning in delicious agony as the sweet flavor invaded their taste buds, add the six other unicorns that had disappeared and the other dozen that were on patrol, and you had a very reduced fighting force. With only eight unicorns left, without counting Sir Biscuit and Valiente, their chances of winning were very reduced. They were, after all, facing the fastest shooter in all of the United Stables... *** Juana heard the gunfire a few minutes after it started, she wasted no time in ordering her troops around and getting on the way to battle. It took them around ten minutes to get there, and when they did it was quite a surprising view. On one side of the shootout was the famous bandit, and old acquaintance of Juana's, Arcoiris Veloz, and on the other side, was none other than Sir Biscuit of Trottingham, famous economic and law adviser, presumed to be working with Rareza. Juana stared at the battle taking place for a little while, then she ordered her troops to split up, twelve would surround Arcoiris and her band, while another dozen would do the same to Sir Biscuit's ponies. "Alright Captain Copo! Get em going!" General Juana secured her cowboy hat on her head and raced off with a dozen ponies to circle around Sir Biscuit. "YEEEEEAAAAAH!" Copo de Nieve and his dozen troops raced behind Arcoiris to arrest the three mares. *** Arcoiris had been shooting nonstop for about twenty minutes, she hadn't hit anypony for a while now, but she couldn't let them think they had won! Suddenly though, the shooting stopped. "What in the hay?" Arcoiris lifted her head up and glanced at the field. There were soldiers there, and they were arresting Sir Biscuit and his unicorns. "Hehe, serves him right.." Arcoiris smirked and motioned for the other ones to follow her. She slowly slipped away from the hill and looked back to smile at her friends, when she noticed. They weren't following her. They were nowhere to be seen! "Rosita? Diana? Guys come on, we have to go!" Arcoiris looked around trying to find them. "Aw shoot! Where did they-WHOA!" Something very strong swept her from her hooves and lifted her in the air. "Let me go you-!" She was interrupted by a loud... "YEEEEAAAAH!" Captain Copo de Nieve shouted at the mare, startling her, her two friends were already tied down and guarded by the soldiers. "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, ANYTHING YOU SAY MAY AND WILL BE USED IN COURT AGAINST YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THESE RIGHTS I'M GIVING YOU?" "About the remain silent part... could you please use that?" Arcoiris's brain felt like it exploded every time the huge stallion spoke. "YEEEEEAAAAAAH!" Entrada En MexicoltAfueras de Mexicolt City Arcoiris huffed and kicked angrily at the sand upon which she walked. She was restrained from flying by a rope going around her midsection, and the hoofcuffs made little to improve her current situation. Rosita and Diana were walking behind her, whispering between each other animatedly. The occasional giggle left their mouths despite the worrisome situation, and the mexicoltian soldiers flanking them. Captain Copo de Nieve was marching proudly at the head of the column, looking as proud as anypony can be after capturing one of the most notorious villains this side of the border. "YEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!!!" Arcoiris winced as he let out another excited shout and fluttered his tiny wings around. The soldiers around them replied to their captain in a similar, if not slightly less loud, manner. The little fillies that had been following them around for the past time were nowhere to be seen however, and they were the greatest cause of worry to Arcoiris. The deserts outside of the capital were no place for the little fillies. Not with the incredible number of bandidos, forajidos, and indians that had taken up thieving. It was a country like any other, with problems like most and the same amount of resources to deal with them. The only problem for Mexicolt had always been the politicians, time and again going about with corrupt and unfair dealings. Generals and politicians backing each other up just to betray their friends a moment later. There were very good ponies and kind and welcoming souls in the nation, but their leaders seemed to enjoy blocking such things out. The captain led his soldiers and the prisoners through the desert and towards the large city in the horizon, dust trailing behind them and the sun burning their backs. The retinue followed the path without respite and with determined pace. "Ay, capitan? Como cuanto falta? My hooves hurt..." Copo de Nieve frowned and looked around for a bit. Taking in the area surrounding him and his ponies, Copo de Nieve came to the conclusion that it had been indeed a long walk, and he didn't want to get to the capital with a company of tired stallions. "YEEEEAAAAAH! WE MAKE CAMP!" The soldiers groaned from exhaustion and began to unroll sleeping bags from the saddlebags they carried. Soon enough, a campfire and several tents had been placed orderly for the night. Arcoiris and her friends were herded to a small tent in the middle of the camp and hoofcuffed together. A single brown stallion with a prominent mustache stood guard beside them while the rest of the mexicoltian soldiers began to cook Pozole de nopal over the fire. Rosita sniffed and tried to shake herself free of the ropes, the delicious smell of the food was flooding her nostrils. She glanced up at the burly mustached stallion with big puppy eyes, imploring him to let her have a bite to eat. The stallion shook his mustache and snorted, then looked over the other soldiers before turning back to look at Rosita and shaking his head. Rosita whimpered and pouted, doing her best to look mind numbingly adorable. But the mustached veteran merely ignored her, though it was obvious it wasn't easy. Arcoiris rolled her eyes and turned away from the view of the food, deciding to better look over at the desert, since there was really nothing else to do. The moon was beginning to rise above the horizon, and Arcoiris thought about the President, she was sure she remembered her. Who wouldn't? Fastest shooter in the Stables and northern Mexicolt! Ha! Beat that! Ok, there were a few downsides to holding the title... Mainly the fact that she was a wanted mare in both countries and that both presidents were fighting to get their hooves on her. And the two of them were already quite competitive, always wanting to outdo each other in everything. Ah, the Stables and Mexicolt. Not too different from each other at all, Prance being the closest they had to a third sister when it came to involvement with each other. The prench had been pressing several buttons on both countries for a while. And with Great Britrotnia mixing into the equation, well it was blind luck no war had begun yet! Arcoiris smiled and thought about the mess that the political world was, she'd never understand it all as far as she was concerned. Not that she wanted to understand it, she was content enough with clearing her name in Mexicolt and settling in for a nice and quiet life without having to check the frosting in her gun every once in a while. And now even that much was about to go away! She was a prisoner to the federal troops of Mexicolt and the Rareza would probably beat her to the capital. The presidente would listen to her lies and Arcoiris would find herself in a cell forever... The rainbow maned pegasus sighed and turned back to the campfire. Honestly, she should start to get used to this sort of things... Rosita was sitting beside the soldiers, singing and laughing as they all shared jokes and stories. Even the odd cooking recipe or two were passed from pony to pony. Diana was happily eating her way through a bowl of pozole while the big mustached stallion cheered her on. Arcoiris shook her head and blinked rapidly to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and as soon as she looked again... Voila! Everything was back to normal. Rosita and Diana were hoofcuffed next to her, the mustached stallion was standing guard, and the soldiers looked bored as ever. Arcoiris sighed and closed her eyes, content to know that at least some normalcy had retu- "And then I said! That's not a cupcake! It's a cactus!" Arcoiris' eyelids snapped open as the laughter resumed. The sight before her was once more the dreaded, nonsensical one she had feared. Rosita joking with soldiers, Diana devouring pozole and the mustached stallion cheering. Arcoiris groaned and facepalmed. "Is this some kind of cruel joke?" The night passed without even a hint of sense, and Arcoiris found herself awake in the morning. Rosita and Diana were hoofcuffed next to her, and she lacked the courage to ask what had happened last night. So, without questioning the strange events of before, Arcoiris stood and prepared for another day of marching. The soldiers lifted camp in a few minutes and snacked on a quick breakfast before departing. Copo de Nieve leading the group as they marched onward. The capital was visible and close to their reach, general Manzana was probably already there. Both groups had become separated after the arrests took place, what with Arcoiris' group having been on top of a hill the arrest took a tad longer than it should have. General Manzana was lot harsher on her troops as well, so that meant they probably marched twice as fast and with no rest. The marching group of soldiers and prisoners continued marching for a while longer until they found themselves in front of a small police post just outside of the city, nothing more than a small wooden shed. Copo de Nieve smiled proudly and bellowed as strongly as he could, aiming to grab the attention of whoever was on duty at that moment. "YEEEEAAAAAAH!" The soldiers cringed a tad and the prisoners covered their ears as best as they could, for it was a rather terrifying experience to witness Copo holler at his loudest firsthoof. Imagine their surprise when absolutely nothing happened. No guard, no officer, no soldier appeared from the post. Nothing but silence after the thunderous roar of Capitán Copo de Nieve. It was unnerving, completely terrifying even, not to see at least one pony run forward in a complete daze after the captain's shouts were released. Arcoiris looked at the post with an uneasy feel in her gut. Years of banditry and a life full of danger had taught her a thing or two when it came to strange, abandoned, government buildings. "Capitán? Que hacemos ahora?" A soldier asked nervously, he was a recruit barely given the uniform. Copo de Nieve looked at him and placed hoof under his chin, in deep thought. "Um... Capitán? Why is your hoof under my chin?" Copo shrugged and motioned for two other soldiers, the big mustached one and another, more lanky one to advance. "JUANITO AND PEDRO! GET IN THERE!" The enormous stallion with the mustache nodded slowly and led the lanky one ahead. The uniforms look somewhat hilarious on the pair, for the large stallion seemed to be but one move away from ripping the strained fabric apart while the lanky one seemed to have a uniform three sizes too big for him. The pair trotted forward and stopped in front of the shed, a few steps ahead of Copo and the others. "Pedro, cover me." "Wha-what?! How? With what?" Juanito rolled his eyes and moved ahead, his high caliber frosting musket hanging by his side. His eyes were determined, his hooves were fast and coordinated, his muscles at the ready and nopony had ever seen a more perfect mustache. Pedro gulped loudly and stood on his hind legs, balancing himself with his tail as he had been trained to do. The lanky stallion with a Coltinflas mustache raised his musket and aimed it at the shed. Copo de Nieve looked over the scene with mild worry, the last thing he wanted was a skirmish just outside city limits. The frosting was difficult to clean off of the uniforms as well. Juanito moved towards the shed's door and kicked it open while Pedro shakily aiming his musket in the general direction of the shed. Copo and the others were feeling the tension of the situation, as it would be quite nasty, not to mention sweet, if there were bandits involved. Juanito entered the shed and looked around. There were a few tools and crates laying around, a chair and some newspaper pages strewn throughout the floor. Nothing would have been out of the ordinary if it hadn't been for the large frosting stain on the floor. Juanito frowned and backed out of the shed slowly, making sure he could reach for his musket if needed. He wasn't feeling particularly safe, despite having Pedro outside or maybe because of it. Juanito walked out and held his breath, anticipating the worst. "Hey Juan! Is everything alright?" Pedro called as he aimed his weapon around, his hind legs shaking slightly and sweat running down his brow. His Coltinflas mustache shivering from fright. Juanito half nodded and hurried back to the group with the dire news. Copo de Nieve was troubled, such things were common enough in the outer states, farther south and north. But just outside the capital? It was unheard of! Bandits attacking federal troops right outside the city! But there was little he could do other than swear his soldiers into secrecy and make a mental note to notify it to the general. Copo and his ponies continued forward, going pass the police post and further into city territory. Arcoiris glanced at the shed as they passed it, and noticed the stain on the ground. She frowned. Was that... Was that Prench icing? Copo de Nieve remained troubled for the remainder of the journey, which was about ten or fifteen minutes. Soon enough they found themselves walking the large streets of Mexicolt city! Largest one in all of Amareica, of the world some may argue! "Abran paso! Dejen pasar! Abran camino a tropas federales!" Juanito shouted and hollered over the noise of the crowded sidewalks to make ponies part and allow the group through. Many well dressed ponies passed by, raising their noses up high as the three captured bandidas looked at them. Several more humbly dressed ponies made the sign of the crescent moon, may the all powerful have mercy on the wicked's souls, as Arcoiris, Rosita, and Diana passed by them. Mexicolt was great city, ruled by religion as much as it was by their President. No law would pass if it conflicted with the people's beliefs. The group made their way through the many streets and turns, taking in the whole beauty of the ancient city. The architecture was reminiscent of the cities from the old continent, and yet it was different. The city was as modern as could be, a true metropolis of Amareica. Enormous markets and hundreds of stands stood before gigantic churches and industrial buildings, their owners selling all manner of domestic as well as exotic niceties and necessities. Arcoiris kept a neutral expression through the entire walk, but the look of amazement was still there. Rosita was gaping and staring at the massive size of everything, thousands of ponies of all three races walking about. Even a few diamond dogs and gryphons made their way about the streets in large carriages. Diana was walking calmly, enjoying the sights as much as everypony else. She wondered whether the big city would be a nice place to raise her daughter. Copo de Nieve nodded his greetings to many nobleponies and aristocrats as they walked by. Even a saddle arabian emir! Copo was definitely an important pony to know such affluent figures. The soldiers made their way through the scents and sights of the enormous capital, the many ponies eyeing the soldiers with respect and their prisoners with slight wonder. The ponies of Mexicolt knew who the rainbow maned pegasus was, and they did not know how to react. On one hoof, a great calamity and bandit had been captured and was now under arrest. And on the other, a legend had just died. They looked at their passing and entering of the city prison. They were allowed into the jail without question and the captain locked his catch into a cell. Arcoiris, Rosita, and Diana watched as the iron gate was closed before them, its bars sealing them away from the world and freedom. Arcoiris groaned and slumped down on a makeshift bed while Rosita tried to call out for one of the guards to give her a cupcake. Diana was content enough to sit down and hum a tune to herself. "Da-di-di-da!" Much to Arcoiris' chagrin, the day's strange events were far from over. "Hey! Hey guard! Hey! Hey! Can I have a cupcake? Pretty please?" "Di-di-di-da!" "Come on! I'll be your bestest friend forever!" "Dirit-dira!" "Aww come on! We can have a party! It'll be fun!" Arcoiris felt her eye twitch and her teeth grind against each other as the incessant chattering and singing from her companions only increased. Add to that the screams of a guard going insane and you've got yourself a recipe for- "Gah! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Don't you guys get it?! We're stuck here now!" Arcoiris sat up and glared, her nostrils flaring as she saw her friends going silent at last. But she could not stop there, no. She had too much frustration boiling inside of her, too many ruined plans and too little hope left. "We are in jail! And now nopony can help us! Rareza will get away with her plans and we'll be stuck here forever!" Diana and Rosita exchanged a look and giggled. Covering their mouths with a hoof to stop themselves from bursting up in laughter. Arcoiris groaned and slumped back in her bed, giving up on the two ponies she shared a cell with. There was no possible way they could understand... "Should we tell her?" "No! Not yet!" Rosita and Diana snickered and giggled as they whispered to each other whichever machinations they had in mind. The two ponies had a small secret and a good idea of what was about to happen in but a few hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Generales, Bandidos y Presidentes Juana Gutierrez Manzana, Rareza Diamantina del Norte, and Presidenta Luna Lopez de Santana sat around a large wooden table, a large map of Mexicolt and the United Stables of Amareica placed in the middle. The presidenta and her general were looking at Rareza as she sipped her tea, not a single hint of worry in her face despite what she had just revealed. You see, information can cost somepony a high price. "How certain art thou?" The presidenta asked as she eyed Rareza suspiciously. One does not simply trust a foreigner on matters of state without proper reassurance that they spoke the truth. Even more so, if the information they gave told of an impending invasion. "Quite a lot I say, and should you truly need to know, my sources have also revealed possible weaknesses you could exploit." Rareza smiled as she set her teacup down, the porcelain making no noise as the telekinetic aura that surrounded it set it down gently on the small plate before her. Rareza was a mare of class, and she showed it with every move and act. "What're these possibilities exactly?" Manzana asked suspiciously and leaned forward a bit, her own cup of tea still full and untouched. "An how in tha world do ya know bout any invasion?" Luna arched an eyebrow and sipped from her own cup, the warm beverage did nothing to calm her mood. There was too much at stake for a simple drink to ease her worries, as it had been but a few days since a small expedition force, presumably from the United Stables, had attacked a small earth pony settlement called Villa del Pony. Tensions were growing between both nations. Rareza put on a distressed face, but whether it was sincere or not, nopony knew. "Oh, well you see, I recently received word that a certain group of forajidas have been on the move... I have reason to believe they are working for your sister, honorable Luna." The presidenta frowned and lowered the cup of tea. "And whatever business might our sister have in our fair nation? And which sources have deemed this information as truthful?" "My sources wish to remain anonymous, but you may already be well acquainted with, Arcoiris Veloz..." Rareza smiled and Luna's eyes narrowed. Arcoiris had run several jobs for the presidency back in the day, but had been recently more inclined to side with their northern neighbors. While this wasn't an act of treason, nor was it punishable in any way, it was sure annoying for the presidenta and the nation. Arcoiris was incredibly renowned for always getting the job done and never switching sides. She was very loyal to her employers as long as the contract remained in effect. And for such reasons, she was a highly valued mercenary for both countries. Luna however, had no reason to believe Arcoiris would try to start a war between countries. War would diminish her chances for neutral jobs, and it might get her on sompepony's bad side. "And what, pray tell, could that mercenary have to do with this ordeal?" Rareza smiled gleefully, not noticing a similar smile in Manzana's face. "Arcoiris is on a mission of espionage of course. She passed through Villa del Pony before it was raided, and now she is leading the United Stable's troops here, to the capital." Luna's frown deepened, her concern growing tenfold. But as she opened her mouth to reply, Manzana responded first. "Oh really? Well, ain't that just dandy! Me an capitán Copo de Nieve just captured Arcoiris and her band o' spies then! Right outside the city. They were fighting a few others, one of which happened to be a tad familiar." Rareza's face paled and her eyes widened a little. The one thing that could have gone wrong, had just gone wrong. Sir Biscuit of Trottingham, the darn British from Britrotnia had been caught! And Aleteo Valiente along with him! Her plan was hanging by a thread, if Luna realized what was actually happening... "Ahem, w-well... You see..." "Would thou be so kind so as to explain this?" "Ah'll be mighty thankful if and when ya tell us why Valiente was there with the darn Britrotnian." Luna and Manzana leaned closer, looking at Rareza menacingly. For the fashionista it was the end, there was no way she could convince them of anything that may have saved her. If they had Valiente then she would confess the whole thing, and Biscuit was by no means a very loyal pony. He would sell the truth for the first ship on its way to Britrotnia or Prance he could find. And so, with sweat pouring from her brow, Rareza finally found the finale to all her schemes, plots for vengeance, and her fashionista career. "Hehe... You wouldn't happen to have anymore tea, would you?" Author's Note Wow, I'm still alive! Yay me! Anyhows, here it is! After a very long wait, the next chapter for this story! Huzza! Villa Del PonyVilla Del Pony Rosita Pie leaned on the counter of the old inn her father owned. She was bored, which was incredibly unusual of Rosita, she was a very energetic pony! However, the lack of excitement in the small frontier town of Villa Del Pony was getting to her. "Rosita! Come over here and help me with the cider!" Her father's voice resounded from the storage room at the back of the building. "Coming!" Rosita immediately sprang up from the counter and ran, as fast as her hooves would take her, to the back of the inn. The inn was one of the largest buildings in all of town, there were several tables and chairs at the front, where the customers would stop by to get their drinks, then there was the large counter, it went from the left side of the building all the way to the stairs at the right. The stairs led to the second floor where Rosita and her father's rooms were. Rosita trotted through the door that led to the storage room with a smile across her face. Her pink mane and coat well kept and clean aside from the odd cider stain or two. "There you are Rosita! Come here and help your old man carry these barrels back to the counter." "Okie-dokie-loki!" Rosita's smile widened as she saw her father, an old pony, around the age of fifty three, he had a small grey beard and mustache, a few wrinkles and the happiest eyes you could ever find in a pony, except for Rosita of course, when it came to being happy she was on a league of her own. Placing the medium sized barrels of apple cider on her back she trotted off happily back to the counter. Humming a tune she had learned as a filly. "La cucaracha! La cucaracha! Blabla bla bla blablabla!" She giggled as she couldn't remember the rest of the song. As she reached the counter a few stallions and fewer mares were beginning to arrive in small groups. Rosita placed the barrels on the counter and happily announced. "The cider's ready everypony!" As the ponies cheered they threw their sombreros into the air, after a hard day of work there was nothing quite like sitting down at the tavern while enjoying a cool glass of cider. As Rosita's father emerged from the storage room several ponies went over to greet the owner of the inn. "Don Pie! How's it been?" A bulky, blue coated earth pony shook Don Cider Pie's hoof amiably as the later smiled. "Oh, you know how it's been Crin Azul, the same old stuff." Don Pie continued to shake hoofs with the other ponies as Rosita served drinks and food to the other costumers. The day was setting outside of the inn, as the sun lowered itself into the horizon the sky was painted red and the sands of the desert surrounding Villa Del Pony took a respite from the burning heat of day, preparing for the cold embrace of the night. Arena Caliente Desert, outskirts of Villa Del Pony. Arcoiris Veloz sped through several cacti trying to avoid the barrage of cupcakes her persecutors shot at her. "You wont catch me!" Arcoiris swerved from side to side dodging and trying to remain in the air as a dozen unicorns gave chase. She was in trouble, an earlier showdown with the fastest shooting unicorn on that side of the desert had left her wings covered in cupcake frosting, and her speed was greatly reduced. "Dang it!" A cupcake flew way too close for comfort. The unicorns were gaining on her, she had to get some ammo for her trusty six shooter if she wanted to escape that mess with her glucose levels normal. The unicorns, chasing her on top of a wagon pulled by earth ponies, raised their guns in unison to give Arcoiris a final shot and her death wish. She was expecting that though. A sharp turn to the right made all unicorns miss their shots, the cupcake frosting flying straight into the sand instead of Arcoiris's back. "Ha! See ya later losers!" Arcoiris stopped and waved at the confused unicorns. What did she mean by that? Arcoiris winced a bit as she saw the wagon fall down a small cliff she had spotted a while ago, the unicorns had been too focused on the chase to see it. "Meh, whatever..." Arcoiris shrugged before darting off in the direction of Villa Del Pony, she had other things to think about, more important than the cacti that spread like a forest at the bottom of the small cliff. Laughing a bit at the pained squeals and cries of the now distant unicorns, Arcoiris sped, as fast as her wings could carry her, towards the silhouette of the town in front of her. As the small town came into view, she took a mental note to visit the bakery to resupply on ammo and cookies. Cookies were an important part in the life of a forajida like her. Period. She landed just outside of town, and pulling her hooded cloak over her head, began walking towards what she thought was an inn. As she opened the small wooden door, she gazed around in search of unwanted company. Spotting nothing more than several exhausted ponies, she removed her hood and trotted over to the counter. "Cider, now." Slamming a hoof against the counter for emphasis, she slipped a few bits over to the pink mare serving the drinks. "Okie-dokie-loki!" Rosita said with a huge smile as she reached under the counter for a flagon of cider. "Thanks." Arcoiris Veloz swiftly drank up the cider leaving only an empty flagon withing seconds. "Ah! Now that's some good stuff! More!" Another hoof slammed against the counter as a few more bits rolled over to Rosita. "Gee stranger, you sure are thirsty! Did you, like, run all the way from the desert or something?" Rosita said as she passed another flagon to Arcoiris. "Heh, you could say that." Arcoiris said in between large swigs from her cider. Rosita's eyes widened. "Ooooh!! Are you a..." She leaned in closer to the rainbow maned pegasus. "A Bandit?" Arcoiris almost choked on her drink. After several coughs she finally looked up at the pink pony. "What do you care?" A look of suspicion flashed across her face as she eyed Rosita warily. "I dont!" Rosita smiled. Perplexed, Arcoiris asked. "Why ask then?" "Why not ask?" Rosita leaned even closer to Arcoiris and her mysterious look unnerved the runaway forajida. "Uhm... I... Uh... Have to go!" Arcoiris smiled awkwardly before disappearing from the counter. "Oh well!" Rosita grinned as she walked back to the barrels to prepare another round for the gathering ponies. As the rainbow maned pegasus recovered from her strange encounter with the pink pony, she began to plan ahead for her journey. "Ok, I'll need ammo, food, water, no scratch that... Cider! Yup! Tons of it! And some books on the Anthropological properties of ancient pony civilization... What? I'll need something to start a campfire!" Her thoughts were interrupted as a gunshot pierced the happy atmosphere of the inn. Arcoiris quickly took cover behind a table and listened. "Very well everypony! We know you have Arcoiris Veloz hidden in this place!" A stallion with a rough sounding voice spoke as the chatter died down. "Wait, we do?" "Shut up!" Another two voices filled the quiet atmosphere. There were at last three of them and Arcoiris didn't have a loaded gun. "So, as i was saying, we do know you have her here, and we are gonna find her! So just make it easy and hand her over!" Silence followed as nopony was sure of how to react. These ruffians were armed and they meant business. A quick peak over the edge of the table revealed to Arcoiris that the three ponies had two guns each, and a cupcake frosting bullet belt in the form of an X across their backs, one of them was a unicorn, the leader she assumed, while the other two were earth ponies. "Not talking? Ok, find her fellas!" The unicorn ordered as his two lackeys started to tear down the place with kicks and gunfire. "STOP!" Arcoiris flinched as the high pitched scream pierced the air. Rosita stood on the counter, nose flaring, eyes wide with fury and determination, both forelegs spread into the air as she stared at the three intruders. "She's right over there!" Rosita finished with a smile as she pointed towards Arcoiris. "Aw come on!" Arcoiris yelled at the pink pony as she facehooved. "Get her!" The unicorn hollered and the two earth ponies aimed their guns at the pegasus. Arcoiris barely had time to dodge the shots as she flew behind another table and, out of instinct, drew out her own six shooter. She aimed it towards the nearest hostile pony, a brown one with a dark blue mane, and pulled the trigger. Nothing. She would have facehooved again, except that the approaching earth ponies kept on shooting. Once more Arcoiris flew away, trying to get behind the counter but a growing stickiness on her left wing caused her to fall and crash into a table. She was hit. The cupcake frosting was smeared all over her injured wing, it was now useless until she could get it cleaned. Backing away from the earth ponies, Arcoiris suddenly stopped as her back hit the wall of the counter. Both ponies approaching fast, guns drawn and ready to shoot. Rosita's mind took a while to understand the situation, but after the strange rainbow maned pegasus was shot her brain finally had a reaction. It was not a nice one. As the brown earth pony with the dark blue mane came closer to Arcoiris, he leveled his gun to her head, a smile twisting his lips. *BOOM* The earth pony was sent flying backwards several feet. A giant frosting stain on his chest, he fell to the floor unconscious. Rosita stood behind the counter, eyes covered by a large sombrero, a chocolate cigarette on her mouth. And a cupcake shotgun on her forelegs. The unicorn and the remaining earth pony had little to no time to react before Rosita Pie shot another cupcake at them, missing by mere inches. The unicorn turned a table over and took cover, his friend however was not as smart. The remaining earth pony, grey coat and silver mane, hurriedly tried to aim his guns at the pink mare, his last mistake... of the day. As his guns started to rise, Don Cider and the rest of the entire inn came to the defense of the beloved Rosita. Gunfire filled the entire tavern as frosting, cupcakes, jam, peanut butter and even chocolate flew across the room towards the unfortunate earth pony. In a matter of seconds, he was covered up to his head in deliciously deadly desserts and frosting. The unicorn darted out the tavern in seconds, his steps closely followed by wave after wave of frosting and cupcakes shot by the villagers of Villa Del Pony. Arcoiris stared at the pink mare with the sombrero and back at the two earth ponies covered in sweetness, her jaw hanging in surprise. Rosita Pie and Don Cider walked over to the rainbow maned pegasus while the rest of the inn returned to their typical drinking and chatting. "Rosita, y esta quien es?" Don Cider spoke as he took a closer look at the pegasus. "I dont know, hey who are you?" Rosita slung her shotgun on her shoulder and held a hoof out for Arcoiris to stand up. "Gee guys, thanks a bunch for helping me out! My name's Arcoiris Veloz." Arcoiris stood on her four legs as she smiled gratefully at the two ponies who saved her. "No prob Arcoiris! I'm Rosita Pie! He's my dad and this is the rest of Villa Del Pony!" Rosita smiled as she addressed the rest of the townsfolk. Several nods and half waves as well as some hat tipping followed the brief introduction. Arcoiris waved back and then sat down on a small stool. "This guys are crazy!" She thought as she closed her eyes. "Awesome!" Meanwhile, on the far north of the frontier between Mexicolt and the United Stables of Amareica, a white unicorn stared at the night sky, her pet cat resting beside her on the couch. "Soon Arcoiris Veloz, soon enough you will pay for the crimes you committed against me..." Her features darkened as the memories returned. "And Fashion!" La Aventura Comienza La Aventura Comienza 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.
Arenas Del DesiertoVilla Del Pony The farewell party was coming to an end after several hours of partying and goodbyes. Don Cider trotted over to Rosita and hugged her, he was going to miss his daughter, but her happiness was what mattered the most for him. "Are you sure you want to go Rosita?" Don Cider asked as Rosita broke the embrace and started packing her stuff for the journey. "Yeppity! I've always wanted to go to the capital! It will be so much fun!" Rosita looked up from her saddlebags. "Don't worry dad, I'll bring you something when I get back!" Don Cider smiled and hugged his daughter one last time. "Just be careful Rosita." Rosita nodded eagerly and placed her, overly full, saddlebags on her back, then with a wave to the rest of the ponies that had attended the party, pretty much all of the village, she trotted off down the path to the the capital, Arcoiris and Diana where already waiting for her. Don Cider looked at the departing mares as a single tear rolled down his face and disappeared in his thick mustache. "Be careful..." His whisper lost in the wind. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Arena Caliente Desert, an hour after the party "Rock!" "Paper!" "AGH! You win again!" Diana crossed her forelegs as her wings kept her in the air, the furious match of rock, paper, scissors had been going on for a full hour and no clear winner had emerged up until then. "Don't worry Diana, best out of six hundred and forty five?" Rosita smiled happily as her hoof rose up into the air, challenging her opponent to a rematch of the gods. "You're on!" Diana smiled and her hoof shot out in response to the challenge. Hooves shook, sweat ran, blood... um... well, no blood. But they were really concentrated though! Arcoiris had been walking in front of the two mares who were still locked in fierce combat. The cupcake frosting on her wings was still giving her a bad time and she still couldn't fly, but at least she could walk. "Hey not fair! You cheated!" "Did not!" "Did too!" Arcoiris's eye twitched slightly, it was bad enough they had been at it for over an hour, but now they had to start shouting? At least it couldn't get any worse... Right? Several hours passed as the mares crossed the desert, the brutal battle between Rosita and Diana had subsided into a draw, neither mare wanting to continue. Arcoiris looked up to the sky, it was getting dark. "Let's stop here for the night." Arcoiris dropped her saddlebags and started to build a fire. Rosita and Diana collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. "Phew! Finally! I thought my wings would fall off if I didn't rest!" Diana sat down on a broken log and started munching on a muffin, but not before staring at it as if it were a god. "Silly Diana, muffins can't compare to this!" Rosita pulled out a cupcake from her saddlebag, the treat perfectly baked with a crunchy exterior and the softest bread on the inside, the delicious vanilla frosting perfectly sprinkled and molded, a bright succulent cherry on top completed the mirage of sweetness and god-like trance. Diana, however, was not pleased by the statement. "Pffft! My muffin is ten times better than any cupcake!" She crossed her forelegs and glared at the cupcake. "Oh really? Because my cupcake is twenty times better than any muffin!" Rosita glared at the muffin as she held her cupcake above her head. Arcoiris was too tired for any of that nonsense, she wasn't used to walking and her legs ached all over. "Guys, cut it out, they're just bread..." Poor Arcoiris had no idea of what sort of monsters her comment had just released. Silence followed the statement, not the awkward kind of silence you get when you ask a mare out in front of her grandparents while wearing a duck costume. This was an evil kind of silence... Arcoiris had been laying on her back, eyes closed, feeling relaxed. Then the silence hit her. She opened one eye then the other, as she sat up to see what was going on, a chill went down her spine, cold sweat dampened her forehead and fear shook her bones. The pink and the grey mare were looking at her, no, not at her, they were looking into her. Their gazes penetrated deep into her very soul. "Just..." Rosita began. "... bread?" Diana finished. Arcoiris simply sat there, completely terrified as the two mares slowly approached, murder in their eyes. Arcoiris was paralyzed, in her frightened state of mind she prayed to every god and goddess she had ever heard of, all to no avail. Rosita was a few steps away from her while Diana hovered just behind her. "Just bread huh?" The pink pony smiled. "I think we may be able to convince you to think otherwise..." Diana placed her hooves on Arcoiris's shoulders preventing her from moving. Arcoiris then realized what was about to happen, she tried to wriggle free of Diana's hold but she was too tired and the pegasus was stronger than she looked, Rosita got closer until their faces were right in front of the other. "No! Don't do this! I don't wanna hear it! I won't!" Arcoiris covered her ears with her hooves but she heard it anyway. "All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix." Rosita began singing the infamous cupcake song and Diana continued. "Now just take a little something sweet, not sour, a bit of salt, just a pinch." Diana's smile grew as the song progressed. "Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla" Both mares began dancing in front of Arcoiris as Rosita sang the following verse. "Add a little more, and you count to four, and you never get your filla" By now Arcoiris could barely maintain her sanity, the song rang across her brain in the same manner a something rings across something else... Then the chorus followed, Diana and Rosita were lost in their singing and Arcoiris's cries for mercy fell on deaf ears. "Cupcakes -- so sweet and tasty Cupcakes -- don't be too hasty Cupcakes -- cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!" Both mares finished their song with their forelegs waving in the air and enormous smiles on their faces, Arcoiris, however, was not amused. "Do NOT do that again..." She was exhausted just from listening, a headache was developing on the back of her head and the rash in her wings got itchier. Diana and Rosita grinned and sat down beside the fireplace they had built a while back. The following minutes went by relatively peacefully. Until a lasso shot out from nowhere and wrapped itself around Rosita's neck. "What the-!" Rosita was then pulled away by the mysterious rope. "Headshot!" Diana hoof pumped into the air before another lasso wrapped itself around her legs and dragged her off into the darkness. Arcoiris heard her two friends scream, she swiftly took out her six shooter and looked sideways, expecting a third rope to dart out at any moment. Sure enough the lasso emerged from behind a cacti, rushing at full speed towards the rainbow maned pegasus. Arcoiris dodged swiftly and emptied a chamber of her gun in the direction of her attacker. "WHOA!" As the sweet projectile pierced through the cacti and smacked into a rock, a high pitched scream was heard from behind said rock. Arcoiris was slightly puzzled by the sound of her attackers voice, it sounded... Childish... "Get her! She has a gun!" Another voice, now from behind a cacti. Arcoiris turned around again, but she didn't shoot this time, It was a filly's voice. "Who are you? Come out!" Arcoiris tried to fly but the frosting on her wing made it impossible. As she fell to the ground another voice screamed and a little orange filly with purple mane charged at her from the shadow of a large rock. Arcoiris evaded the charging filly and looked in the direction where she had come from, Diana was lying there, struggling to get free of the rope that tied her legs. Arcoiris then turned back at the filly that had tried to attack her, she was running back for another try. She would have evaded the charge again, if not for a small white unicorn. As Arcoiris prepared to move away from the orange filly, she felt something jump on her back. "What the hay?!" Arcoiris tried to move but a sudden pain stopped her as the orange filly smashed, headfirst, into her stomach. She fell on her back and dropped her gun. The now three fillies, a yellow one with a ribbon on her head joined in after Arcoiris fell, all jumped up on her and tried to tie down her legs and wings. "Get off! Get off! Get off!" Arcoiris swung her legs around in an effort to break free of her attackers, to no avail. The fillies were too many, Diana and Rosita kept on trying to free themselves but the knots on the ropes that bound them were too well made. "Stop moving so much!" The small white unicorn complained as she tried to tie down her legs. "Hold her down Dulce! Ah just need some more time to tie down her wings!" The yellow earth pony with the ribbon on her head had slipped a rope behind Arcoiris's wings and was trying to keep her from flailing them. "I got it!" The orange filly then smacked Arcoiris behind her head with a wooden scooter. Arcoiris made what could probably have been the funniest pain face a pony could make before passing out. The orange filly smiled widely, proud of her success. "What?" Speed Devil asked as her two friends stared at her with open mouths. "Why in tha hay would you do that!?" Retoño swung her forelegs in the air as Dulce continued to stare. "Well, she wouldn't stop moving! What was I supposed to do?" "Not that!" "Whatever... Lets just take their stuff and go..." Speed Devil rolled her eyes and walked over to Rosita, who just glared at her while growling menacingly. "Um... Isn't it wrong to steal their things?" Dulce Bella asked fearfully as she glanced at a glaring Diana. "Do ya want ta get your cutie mark or not?" Retoño tried to sound determined but failed, she also didn't like the idea of stealing, it was the same feeling they felt when they tried their hoofs at being reporters, lucky for them the presidente wasn't too angry for the whole cake expropriation story they made up... "Y-yeah... It's the only... Way..." Speed Devil was also wavering by now. They were not bad ponies. Rosita stopped glaring for a second as doubt covered Speed Devil's face. The orange filly was now right in front of Rosita's saddlebags, they were full of stuff and it was her's for the taking. Sweat ran down her forehead as her hoof opened the bag. Dulce and Retoño gasped as their friend did something none of the present ponies thought she would do. Speed Devil closed the saddlebags and untied Rosita. The orange filly sat down and looked at the floor with a sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry..." Tears began to form in her eyes as Rosita stood up. Speed Devil felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up. There, face against the setting sun, portraying a protecting shadow that covered Speed's face, stood Rosita with a forgiving smile. "No prob! Just don't do it again ok?" Rosita smiled and walked off towards Diana who was now smiling as well. Neither mare could hold a grudge for too long and all three fillies apologized a lot. Arcoiris on the other hand... Well, it was a good thing she was unconscious... The three fillies then helped untie Diana and carried Arcoiris back to her sleeping bag. "What are three fillies doing out here in the desert anyway?" Diana asked as she pulled a snoring Arcoiris back to the camp. "Yeah! Shouldn't you three be in school?" Rosita said as she hopped up and down around the unconscious mare, trying to reanimate her. The cutie mark crusaders looked at each other nervously, they couldn't reveal their secret cutie mark mission! They had to think of a cover story quickly! "Um... Vacation!" Dulce was the first to come up with her story. "Field trip!" That was Retoño... "Alien abduction!" Speed waved her hooves in the air for emphasis. Retoño and Dulce facehooved immediately as their friend spoke, there was no way the mares would believe her... "No way!" "What did they look like!?" Rosita and Diana rushed over to the orange filly's side and began questioning her. Retoño and Dulce facehooved once more and then rushed over to Arcoiris to keep her from sliding downhill. Speed, now overwhelmed by the avalanche of questions from the two mares, tried to slowly back away. "Um... Yeah... Four eyes... Sure..." She said as the questions rushed out of the mare's mouths. "Wait! But did they have lasers and, and, and, and?!?" Rosita was ecstatic with curiosity. "How did their muffins look like though?!? Did you see their muffins?!?" Guess who asked this one... The two other fillies giggled as they slowly dragged Arcoiris back to their fireplace and began roasting marshmallows and berries. As the sun came down the questions finally ended and Speed was finally able to take a break, Diana and Rosita collapsed, exhausted from their own interrogation, and the smoke from the fire rose up to the evening sky. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Villa Del Pony Shouts and screams filled the air. Earth ponies rushed to the towns defense, unicorns opened fire from afar raining wave after wave of frosting over the small town's houses. Don Cider stood outside the inn, gun in hoof. "Don Cider! The unicorns are approaching!" An earth pony called out from one of the makeshift barricades they had built. "Hold them off as long as you can! If they get too close," Don Cider's gaze darkened. "Bring out the cannon..." "Si señor!" The earth pony saluted and rushed off to spread the orders. Don Cider pulled out his old cupcake shotgun. "Mi querida Rosita... May our sacrifice give your friends enough time to clear away from the desert..." Placing his old sombrero on his head, Don Cider ran towards the main street to aid in the defense of the town. *** The mastermind of the attack stared ahead towards the battle. "Señorita Valiente, the troops have breached the barricades, and the villagers have holed up inside an inn." A white unicorn with a brown vest and a cowboy hat informed his mistress. "Um... Move the rest of the soldiers around the town... and um... make sure no one leaves... If that's ok with you..." "Yes ma'am!" The unicorn rushed off, his rifle levitating beside him. Aleteo Valiente, Ironic name for her personality, was the leader behind the attack on Villa Del Pony, much to her displeasure. Valiente, as the unicorns referred to her, knew that if any of the villagers left the town and warned the government of Mexicolt about her soldiers being there, she would be in a lot of trouble. You know, the kind of trouble that involves being covered in chocolate cake and frosting... She didn't feel up to the task and the thought of being in command terrified her senseless. "Oh my, all those ponies want me to lead them, they expect me to be a good leader. What if i mess up? Oh, Rareza is going to be so disappointed! Her thoughts swam around in her head filling her with doubt, but Rareza trusted her, that was all she needed for encouragement. Rareza had been her best friend for a long time and she had always supported Valiente and now Rareza needed her help for a small retrieval job, not too hard. Despite what everypony thought about Valiente, she was a very clever pony, clever enough to have been chosen as economic overseer of all the money that ran through Rareza's hooves. She was good with numbers, caring for animals required a lot of math and Valiente had several degrees on the subject, so it was no surprise that Rareza chose her to lead this mission instead of one of the clumsy unicorn thugs she usually sent. And this was an important mission. Arcoiris had stolen something from Rareza and now Valiente was going to bring her to justice, it was the least she could do for a friend. Even if she had to do things she didn't quite like... A loud explosion from the town center caused the poor yellow pegasus to squeak in fear. They had a cannon. *** Don Cider stood outside his inn, several other ponies were with him. The unicorns had taken the streets and were now headed for the town center. Don Cider was not about to let them get closer... *BOOM* The large cannon shot another double chocolate cake at frightening speeds. Several unicorns rushed out of the barricades as soon as the explosion was heard, the large, delicious chocolate projectile smashed into the trenches and sent several unlucky unicorns flying backwards, covered in sweet doom. Don Cider and the remaining villagers continued shooting at the now running unicorns, the cannon was placed on the second floor of the inn so the unicorns couldn't reach it. Everypony ran inside the inn as the unicorns fired another barrage of cupcakes, several cries of surprise were heard as two villagers were reached by the flying desserts. There were only about five left of them and the unicorns just kept on coming. The villagers took cover behind the inn's walls, every now and then a unicorn would play brave and rush out of cover shooting wildly, Doña juliana, Don Cider's neighbor, would just pull out her makeshift cupcake sniper rifle and place a toothache on said unicorn. This kept on going for about thirty minutes, before a chorus of... "I'm out!" "No ammo here!" "Anyone's got anymore frosting?" ...filled the air. It was over, they had fought bravely but it would be pointless to continue the fight, so after firing the cannon a few more times, they surrendered. The unicorns cheered as the earth ponies walked out of the inn, heads low. All villagers were questioned by the leader of the unicorns. "So... um... if it isn't too much trouble mister, could you please tell us were Arcoiris went?" "...no?" "Oh, well sorry for your trouble then..." Most of the interrogations went like this, Valiente was leaving the inn were the prisoners were being held for questioning, when a tall white unicorn with a monocle and a top hat walked up to her and asked in a thick British accent. "Excuse me ma'am, but would you be so kind as to allow me some time with the prisoners?" "Oh, I don't see why you would want that... They don't seem willing to talk..." The unicorn grinned and pulling out a cookie he said in his thick British accent. "I have my ways of making them talk..." "Ok then..." *The following interrogation may contain inappropriate and terrifying content, read at your own risk* Sir Biscuit of trottingham sat on a wooden chair, opposite of the blue stallion in front of him. "So I'm told that you have knowledge of the whereabouts of a certain bandit pegasus, am I correct?" Sir Biscuit sipped from a levitating cup of tea that floated next to him. "Nah-uh, sorry but i dont know about that..." The stallion looked away. "Really? We'll see about that..." Sir Biscuit pulled out the cookie from under his top hat and waved it in front of the stallion before asking in an evil tone of voice. "Do you know what this is?" The stallion was slightly confused. "A cookie?" Sir Biscuit smiled and commenced his torture. "Wrong, what I hold here is nothing more and nothing less than a..." "... Biscuit." "What? No it isn't! That's a cookie!" The stallion took the bait. "Biscuit." "Cookie!" "Biscuit." "COOKIE!" "Biscuit." The procedure continued for almost an hour, in the end, the stallion was no longer able to hold on to his sanity. Sir Biscuit smiled and leaned closer to the defeated pony. "You tell me where the rainbow maned mare went, and you can call it whatever you want..." The stallion's eyes widened, he desperately needed to be proven right about the one thing that mattered to him at the moment, to prove that it was a damn cookie! The stallion explained thoroughly everything he knew about Arcoiris's destination. Sir Biscuit smiled evilly and stood up as soon as he had the information he wanted. "Very well, thank you for your cooperation." Sir Biscuit turned around and trotted over to the door but stopped, tossing the cookie to the table before he left. "Enjoy your..." Pause for dramatic effect, slow motion turning around with evil grin for emphasis. "Biscuit..." Evil laugh and slow exit out of building for added malevolent behavior. The screams of frustration from the stallion filled the air as Sir Biscuit laughed evilly. "IT'S A COOKIE! A COOKIE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Camino A La Gran Ciudad!Arena Caliente Desert The rising sun illuminated the cold sands of the desert, a few snakes slithered across the vast expanse of land as the first rays of daylight crept up on them, cacti loomed over the emptiness of it all like solemn guardians of silence. On top of a small hill, however, not all was as calm and quiet. "What the HAY?!?" Arcoiris shouted as she saw her former attackers standing over her, smiling grandly as they held out a plate full of berries and other dried fruit. "Good morning missus Arcoiris!" Retoño greeted the mare as her two friends nodded enthusiastically. "We made you breakfast!" Dulce announced jumping happily. "Sorry for the smack with the scooter!" Speed apologized happily as if it were no big deal. Arcoiris quickly got to her hooves and backed away from the three fillies glaring menacingly. "The thieves are back! Rosita! Diana! Get the guns!" Arcoiris bellowed while looking for her friends. She didn't notice the look on the little pony's faces as she called them thieves, their eyes watered, their smiles quivered, their cheerful expressions wavered. "We said we were sorry..." Dulce looked down and kicked a small rock with her hoof. Arcoiris was still looking for her friends when a rather soft object hit her in the back of her head, she didn't faint this time though. "Hey! Leave them alone!" Diana stood behind Arcoiris frowning, muffin in hoof. "Yeah! They said they were sorry!" Rosita appeared out of nowhere. "And they made breakfast!" The three fillies perked up as soon as the breakfast was mentioned. "Yup! And it's yummy!" Dulce waved her hooves in the air and nearly fell down. "I want some!" Diana smiled widely and rushed over to the campfire, where several marshmallows were burning and a few hay and cacti tacos were slowly cooking over the fire. "Me too!" Rosita hopped over to the food and ravenously engulfed several of everything at the same time. "Hey! It's for everypony!" The three fillies raced over to the fireplace as well, leaving a confused Arcoiris behind. Arcoiris stood up slowly, and stared ahead at the strange sight before her. The three fillies and the two mares sat around the fireplace, laughing and enjoying their meal. Life had been looking strange for her lately. First she steals a gem from Rareza and, much to her shame, Diana gets blamed on it for several weeks, Arcoiris manages to escape while the confusion is afoot and arranges for Diana to flee to Prance for a few days while Rareza discovers what really happened to her jewel. As soon as Rareza found out that Diana did not break her prized jewel, and that Arcoiris was the actual mastermind behind its theft, she sent half of her thugs after the rainbow maned pegasus, while the other half secured all the bits Arcoiris had made for the last three years she worked with Rareza. Arcoiris didn't care much for that money though, with what the jewel she stole was worth, she could live four lifetimes like royalty! Slowly she stood up and trotted over to the camp fire, as soon as she got close to it all three fillies looked up and met her gaze, Rosita and Diana looked expectantly at their rainbow friend. "I... um..." Arcoiris could not fit the appropriate words into a sentence, eventually she just looked at Rosita and tried to reason with the pink pony. "But they hit me with a scooter!" Rosita just raised an eyebrow. All three fillies continued to stare, waiting for the imminent apology. "Ugh, fine!" Arcoiris sat back and softly muttered. "I'm sorry..." Speed looked at Dulce, who in turn, looked at Retoño. The small ponies all smiled and nodded sharply before rushing over to Arcoiris and giving her a triple bear hug. Arcoiris was knocked on her back as the smiling ponies buried her in hugs and adorability. Their little pony smiles gleaming in the sun. "Ok, ok! Enough of the mushy stuff!" Arcoiris gently pushed off the three ponies and made her way to the snacks. Picking up a few tacos and one or two marshmallows she seated beside Rosita and commenced her feast. All six of them enjoyed a delicious breakfast and resumed their journey once they were done, Rosita insisted that the three fillies tagged along for an adventure and the three friends complied. So there we have it, a band of six brave ponies making their way over to the capital city of that great nation! Little did they know however, that their trip was soon going to get a lot more exciting than they bargained for... 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Mexicolt City, Army Head Quarters Capitan Copo de Nieve stood beside the troops, he was charged with training the recruits. The soldiers wore the regular uniform, dark blue top with golden buttons, white pants, black stripes in an 'X' across the chest with a saddlebag at their backs and a black hat with gold adornments and a red feather on top, their muskets held between their hooves as they stood on two legs. "AIM!" Copo de Nieve shouted, the dozen, or so, soldiers lowered their muskets, aiming at the targets in front of them. "READY!" Copo de Nieve bellowed at his soldiers, the ones closest to him winced at the strength of his voice. "YEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!!" Hooves pressed the triggers and frosting went flying towards the practice targets, some hit their marks but most went astray and collided with the wall behind the targets. Copo de Nieve frowned and trotted behind one of the soldiers who missed his shot. The poor pony was sweating badly, he knew what happened to recruits who failed... They received encouragement. "YOU DID WELL! BUT TRY HARDER NEXT TIME, YEEEEEEAAAAAAH?!" Copo de Nieve let his roar inundate the entire courtyard of the barracks, the poor pony he was reassuring winced in pain as the shout deafened all sounds and filled his poor pony ears. "Yes sir!" He managed to reply softly after several seconds of sheer agony. "GOOD! NOW, RELOAD!" Copo de Nieve smiled and returned to his position, he liked encouraging ponies to do their best, although he didn't quite understand why they made such funny faces when he offered reassurance in his, not loud at all, friendly voice. *** General Juana Gutierrez Manzana watched as her captain trained the new soldiers, she needed those ponies ASAP! News of raids in the north were beginning to spread and political tension between Mexicolt and the United Stables was growing, soon enough war could explode, and if it did, she would need as many trained ponies as she could get. And weapons... The issue of technology had always been a problem for the troops of Mexicolt, they had no lack of brave ponies ready to give their healthy teeth in sacrifice for their country, but they were sorely lacking in modern weaponry, which made Juana's guest of today as important as she was annoying... "So, missus Rareza, what is yer offer?" Juana turned away from the window and looked at the elegant white unicorn standing by the door with a smug smile on her lips. "Why, I intend only to help of course!" Rareza slowly trotted over to a small wooden table in the middle of the room where a few cups of apple cider were served, she sipped from her cup. "Ah' don't believe you're giving this here weapons out of the kindness of yer heart! So what do you want in return?" Juana was getting really annoyed by now, she didn't like this one bit, and she didn't trust this fancy unicorn and her fancy wording. Rareza stared intently at Juana before replying. "Gems, lots of them, safe passage to Prance and this..." Rareza pulled out an envelope from under her dress and tossed it towards Juana. The General of Mexicolt picked up the envelope and opened it, inside it was a drawn picture of a rainbow maned pegasus holding a reddish gleaming gemstone. Juana stifled a small giggle and tried her best to hide a smile. "I fail to see the humor in this..." Rareza glared at Juana. "Oh, Ah'm mighty sorry miss Rareza, I... um... Ah' just didn't think you swung that way is all." Juana smiled apologetically. Rareza's eyes widened and her cheeks turned a fiery red. "Why you little...! THE GEMSTONE! That's what I want! Not the mare!" She hollered angrily at a rather amused Juana. "Oh! That makes more sense... Y'know considering yer attitude..." "What?!" "Nothin!" Juana's eyes darted from side to side rapidly, she wasn't good at lying. "Anyway... You get me that gemstone." Juana giggled as Rareza mentioned the gemstone. "And the weapons are yours..." "Don't you worry your pretty little head, you gimme them guns and I'll give ya your weight in gems!" Juana smiled happily as she extended her hoof out to Rareza. "Make it your weight and I'd be richer than the Duke of Stalliongrad..." Rareza muttered as she shook Juana's hoof. "What was that?" "Nothing!" 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Arena Caliente Desert Aleteo Valiente sat in her small carriage, carried by several unicorns, she had planned on walking, but the unicorns insisted. They had left the small, frosting covered, village of Villa Del Pony behind after several hours of travel, and they were beginning to see the end of the desert on the horizon, there, by the end of the sands, stood the great city of Mexicolt, soon enough they would be received by the army of Mexicolt and allowed inside, or so they had been told by Rareza. The unicorns were shifting nervously as they marched, they were crossing between two large hills and it was the perfect place for an ambush, they levitated their rifles closer to their faces so they could swiftly aim and fire upon anypony foolish enough to attack them. Sir Biscuit looked at the uneasy ponies around him and rolled his eyes, the entire way to Mexicolt was secured and scouted ahead of the main group, so there was nothing to fear. "Calm yourselves ponies! There is nothing to fear!" His thick British accent did little to calm the ponies's nerves. They marched through the desert in complete silence, passing through several cacti and rocks that lay scattered around the scenery. Little did they know, not all of their scouting parties would return... *** "Shh!" Arcoiris hushed her friends as they all hid behind a bush. "Get ready everypony!" Diana nodded and pulled out her gun, aiming it at the nearest unicorn, Arcoiris aimed her's towards, what she thought was, the leader of the unicorns, a large tan one with a very thick mustache and a sombrero, there were at least half a dozen. Arcoiris smirked as she saw Diana's gun, it was slightly smaller than her own trusty six shooter, Diana lowered her head in shame but smiled smugly as she saw Rosita's shotgun slide through the dirt and point at the, unaware, unicorns. Arcoiris rolled her eyes when Rosita's weapon dwarfed her six shooter. "Whatever, It's the way you use it that counts..." Arcoiris set her sights back on her targets. The three mares had been hiding behind that bush for nearly ten minutes, when Diana spotted the approaching unicorns during one of her regular scouting flights, they had told the three little fillies to hide while they had their ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny... Yup, Dat Song... The unicorns were about to leave when they heard a twig snap, all six of them turned around as quickly as they could, shocked expressions on their faces, they raised their rifles as fast as their magic allowed them to. Too late. "Eat some!" Arcoiris shouted before unleashing sweetened destruction on her foes. Diana and Rosita followed suit, wave after wave of frosting went flying straight at the surprised unicorns. One, two, three loud thuds were heard as the projectiles collided with their targets. Three down, three more to go. The remaining unicorns rushed for cover as the three mares followed them with their bullets, Diana rose up in the air and chased after a green unicorn, shooting rapidly. Rosita aimed carefully and sent a cupcake flying at frightening speeds towards the head of a grey unicorn mare. Arcoiris did not bother with accuracy, she was the fastest and that was enough, her six shooter had five empty chambers before you could say 'empty', the tan unicorn with the thick mustache lost his sombrero as the projectiles flew past his head by mere inches. Diana trapped her prey by a cliff and with a well placed shot, unarmed him. Rosita rushed over to the fallen unicorn mare she had just shot, she was unconscious, her horn and forehead completely smeared in cupcake frosting. Arcoiris smiled grandly as her opponent dropped his rifle and surrendered. "Me rindo! Me rindo! No disparen!" The frightened unicorn screamed as Arcoiris lowered her gun, Rosita trotted over to her side and Diana joined them a while later with her own prisoner. Both unicorns were tied up and placed in the middle of the mini battlefield, their fallen comrades laying behind them. "So, who sent you? Who are you working for?..." Arcoiris began just to be- "Where is the president?!" -interrupted by Diana. "Diana! Not now, I'm interrogating them!" Arcoiris pulled Diana from the tail and carried the mare away while Diana made an 'I'm watching you' gesture towards the unicorns. Rosita trotted back towards the place the three fillies had been hiding in to make sure they were safe. *** Sir Biscuit frowned as the patrols he had sent returned, Valiente stood beside him with a worried expression in her face, six unicorns were missing . "Oh my, do you think they may be in trouble Sir Biscuit?" The yellow pegasus asked frightened as the unicorns gathered around them. "I'm afraid it is rather possible they may no longer be able to come back..." Sir Biscuit adjusted his monocle and scanned the surroundings. "Madam Valiente, with your permission, I'd like to send a larger group to locate our missing comrades." "Oh why of course Sir Biscuit, anything you think is necessary to keep them safe." Valiente smiled warmly, she was so very glad Rareza had sent Sir Biscuit to help her with the mission, he always found a way to get things done quickly and was always caring for everypony's safety, he also was a good looking pony to say the least... Valiente hid behind her mane to hide a blush as her thoughts got the better of her. Sir Biscuit, however, was not paying much attention to her, he acted the part of subordinate, but it was rather clear in his mind who was actually in charge of the mission. He quickly organized a dozen ponies into a raiding party and sent them out to find the missing unicorns. "Miss Valiente, whenever you're ready." Sir Biscuit smiled pleasantly and waited for Valiente to give the order. "Thank you Sir Biscuit, let's go everypony." Her soft voice, barely audible, was heard by the nearest unicorns, who started moving, their peers slowly followed and soon enough the whole, rather small, army was on the move. *** General Juana Gutierrez Manzana trotted over to the entrance to the city of Mexicolt, Captain Copo de Nieve followed close behind with a few dozen soldiers behind. The soldiers formed a line outside of the city and stood at attention as their general inspected them. "Well Copo, ya did a mighty fine job with this here recruits! Ah' can barely notice they're new bloods!" Juana smiled widely at her captain, who in turn, saluted sharply. "YEEEAAAH!" Captain Copo de Nieve then fell into position at the left flank of the soldiers and awaited orders. "Alright everypony! Listen up! We've got ourselves in a pretty little mess here! There's some bandit pony galloping her way over ta us, an we are gonna stop her! That clear?" General Juana's orders were met with a loud... "Yes ma'am!" ...from the soldiers and a... "YEEEEAAAAAH!" ...from you know who... Juana and her troops then waited for the bandit mare that was supposed to arrive at any minute. *** Arcoiris, Diana, Rosita and the three little fillies galloped as fast as their hooves could take them, if what the unicorns said was true then they could expect the army of Mexicolt waiting outside the city for them, and worse, Rareza herself was in the city! Things were looking bad for the mares, but they were about to get worse... Just as they went over a small hill between them and the path to the city, they froze in their tracks. "Aw shoot..." Arcoiris cursed under her breath as a small army of unicorns came into view. The unicorns turned around in perfect synchronization and spotted the six ponies atop of the hill. "Get them!" A voice with a very thick British accent shouted from the crowd, and soon enough, gunfire filled the air. With a startled shriek, Rosita jumped to cover while pulling out her cupcake shotgun, Diana flew up in the air and shot back the unicorns a few times before gliding behind a rock, and Arcoiris had enough time to empty her six chambers on the crowd before being forced to get behind something as well. The three fillies had been hiding behind a thick bush and were completely out of sight. Diana looked behind her shoulder and saw Rosita trying to get a few shots at the unicorns, and Arcoiris who was reloading her six shooter behind a rock, Diana knew she had to do something, but she just didn't know what... "Arcoiris! I'm running out of cupcakes!" Rosita shouted as she sent another cupcake flying. "Hold on a bit! I'm running low too!" Arcoiris looked inside her saddlebag, desperately looking for ammo but found nothing. "Hey guys! I have a plan!" Diana smiled as a light bulb lit up above her head. Tossing the light bulb aside, Diana darted off into the distance, drawing the attention of several unicorns who began to follow. Diana maneuvered around in the sky for a while, the multiple cupcakes and frosting the unicorns shot at her fell to the ground, mere inches away from Rosita and Arcoiris. "Good thinking Diana!" Arcoiris darted away from her hiding spot and started to pick up some of the frosting to reload her gun. "Yeah! You're super smarty-pantsy-brainy!" Rosita giggled as she gathered several cupcakes and stuffed them into her shotgun. Diana landed back behind her rock and, grabbing some ammo for herself, started shooting back at the unicorns. *** Sir Biscuit had taken over control of the battle after Aleteo Valiente fainted from the surprise of the ambush. "Fire! Fire at them I tell you! Blasted ponies aim higher!" Sir Biscuit shouted orders from behind a rock, safety first aye? He had not been expecting Arcoiris to ambush them, especially not since they had number superiority, they did outnumber Arcoiris's band by almost ten to one! However, the ambush had been successful enough, at least four unicorns lay covered in cupcake frosting, groaning in delicious agony as the sweet flavor invaded their taste buds, add the six other unicorns that had disappeared and the other dozen that were on patrol, and you had a very reduced fighting force. With only eight unicorns left, without counting Sir Biscuit and Valiente, their chances of winning were very reduced. They were, after all, facing the fastest shooter in all of the United Stables... *** Juana heard the gunfire a few minutes after it started, she wasted no time in ordering her troops around and getting on the way to battle. It took them around ten minutes to get there, and when they did it was quite a surprising view. On one side of the shootout was the famous bandit, and old acquaintance of Juana's, Arcoiris Veloz, and on the other side, was none other than Sir Biscuit of Trottingham, famous economic and law adviser, presumed to be working with Rareza. Juana stared at the battle taking place for a little while, then she ordered her troops to split up, twelve would surround Arcoiris and her band, while another dozen would do the same to Sir Biscuit's ponies. "Alright Captain Copo! Get em going!" General Juana secured her cowboy hat on her head and raced off with a dozen ponies to circle around Sir Biscuit. "YEEEEEAAAAAH!" Copo de Nieve and his dozen troops raced behind Arcoiris to arrest the three mares. *** Arcoiris had been shooting nonstop for about twenty minutes, she hadn't hit anypony for a while now, but she couldn't let them think they had won! Suddenly though, the shooting stopped. "What in the hay?" Arcoiris lifted her head up and glanced at the field. There were soldiers there, and they were arresting Sir Biscuit and his unicorns. "Hehe, serves him right.." Arcoiris smirked and motioned for the other ones to follow her. She slowly slipped away from the hill and looked back to smile at her friends, when she noticed. They weren't following her. They were nowhere to be seen! "Rosita? Diana? Guys come on, we have to go!" Arcoiris looked around trying to find them. "Aw shoot! Where did they-WHOA!" Something very strong swept her from her hooves and lifted her in the air. "Let me go you-!" She was interrupted by a loud... "YEEEEAAAAH!" Captain Copo de Nieve shouted at the mare, startling her, her two friends were already tied down and guarded by the soldiers. "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, ANYTHING YOU SAY MAY AND WILL BE USED IN COURT AGAINST YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THESE RIGHTS I'M GIVING YOU?" "About the remain silent part... could you please use that?" Arcoiris's brain felt like it exploded every time the huge stallion spoke. "YEEEEEAAAAAAH!"
Entrada En MexicoltAfueras de Mexicolt City Arcoiris huffed and kicked angrily at the sand upon which she walked. She was restrained from flying by a rope going around her midsection, and the hoofcuffs made little to improve her current situation. Rosita and Diana were walking behind her, whispering between each other animatedly. The occasional giggle left their mouths despite the worrisome situation, and the mexicoltian soldiers flanking them. Captain Copo de Nieve was marching proudly at the head of the column, looking as proud as anypony can be after capturing one of the most notorious villains this side of the border. "YEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!!!" Arcoiris winced as he let out another excited shout and fluttered his tiny wings around. The soldiers around them replied to their captain in a similar, if not slightly less loud, manner. The little fillies that had been following them around for the past time were nowhere to be seen however, and they were the greatest cause of worry to Arcoiris. The deserts outside of the capital were no place for the little fillies. Not with the incredible number of bandidos, forajidos, and indians that had taken up thieving. It was a country like any other, with problems like most and the same amount of resources to deal with them. The only problem for Mexicolt had always been the politicians, time and again going about with corrupt and unfair dealings. Generals and politicians backing each other up just to betray their friends a moment later. There were very good ponies and kind and welcoming souls in the nation, but their leaders seemed to enjoy blocking such things out. The captain led his soldiers and the prisoners through the desert and towards the large city in the horizon, dust trailing behind them and the sun burning their backs. The retinue followed the path without respite and with determined pace. "Ay, capitan? Como cuanto falta? My hooves hurt..." Copo de Nieve frowned and looked around for a bit. Taking in the area surrounding him and his ponies, Copo de Nieve came to the conclusion that it had been indeed a long walk, and he didn't want to get to the capital with a company of tired stallions. "YEEEEAAAAAH! WE MAKE CAMP!" The soldiers groaned from exhaustion and began to unroll sleeping bags from the saddlebags they carried. Soon enough, a campfire and several tents had been placed orderly for the night. Arcoiris and her friends were herded to a small tent in the middle of the camp and hoofcuffed together. A single brown stallion with a prominent mustache stood guard beside them while the rest of the mexicoltian soldiers began to cook Pozole de nopal over the fire. Rosita sniffed and tried to shake herself free of the ropes, the delicious smell of the food was flooding her nostrils. She glanced up at the burly mustached stallion with big puppy eyes, imploring him to let her have a bite to eat. The stallion shook his mustache and snorted, then looked over the other soldiers before turning back to look at Rosita and shaking his head. Rosita whimpered and pouted, doing her best to look mind numbingly adorable. But the mustached veteran merely ignored her, though it was obvious it wasn't easy. Arcoiris rolled her eyes and turned away from the view of the food, deciding to better look over at the desert, since there was really nothing else to do. The moon was beginning to rise above the horizon, and Arcoiris thought about the President, she was sure she remembered her. Who wouldn't? Fastest shooter in the Stables and northern Mexicolt! Ha! Beat that! Ok, there were a few downsides to holding the title... Mainly the fact that she was a wanted mare in both countries and that both presidents were fighting to get their hooves on her. And the two of them were already quite competitive, always wanting to outdo each other in everything. Ah, the Stables and Mexicolt. Not too different from each other at all, Prance being the closest they had to a third sister when it came to involvement with each other. The prench had been pressing several buttons on both countries for a while. And with Great Britrotnia mixing into the equation, well it was blind luck no war had begun yet! Arcoiris smiled and thought about the mess that the political world was, she'd never understand it all as far as she was concerned. Not that she wanted to understand it, she was content enough with clearing her name in Mexicolt and settling in for a nice and quiet life without having to check the frosting in her gun every once in a while. And now even that much was about to go away! She was a prisoner to the federal troops of Mexicolt and the Rareza would probably beat her to the capital. The presidente would listen to her lies and Arcoiris would find herself in a cell forever... The rainbow maned pegasus sighed and turned back to the campfire. Honestly, she should start to get used to this sort of things... Rosita was sitting beside the soldiers, singing and laughing as they all shared jokes and stories. Even the odd cooking recipe or two were passed from pony to pony. Diana was happily eating her way through a bowl of pozole while the big mustached stallion cheered her on. Arcoiris shook her head and blinked rapidly to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and as soon as she looked again... Voila! Everything was back to normal. Rosita and Diana were hoofcuffed next to her, the mustached stallion was standing guard, and the soldiers looked bored as ever. Arcoiris sighed and closed her eyes, content to know that at least some normalcy had retu- "And then I said! That's not a cupcake! It's a cactus!" Arcoiris' eyelids snapped open as the laughter resumed. The sight before her was once more the dreaded, nonsensical one she had feared. Rosita joking with soldiers, Diana devouring pozole and the mustached stallion cheering. Arcoiris groaned and facepalmed. "Is this some kind of cruel joke?" The night passed without even a hint of sense, and Arcoiris found herself awake in the morning. Rosita and Diana were hoofcuffed next to her, and she lacked the courage to ask what had happened last night. So, without questioning the strange events of before, Arcoiris stood and prepared for another day of marching. The soldiers lifted camp in a few minutes and snacked on a quick breakfast before departing. Copo de Nieve leading the group as they marched onward. The capital was visible and close to their reach, general Manzana was probably already there. Both groups had become separated after the arrests took place, what with Arcoiris' group having been on top of a hill the arrest took a tad longer than it should have. General Manzana was lot harsher on her troops as well, so that meant they probably marched twice as fast and with no rest. The marching group of soldiers and prisoners continued marching for a while longer until they found themselves in front of a small police post just outside of the city, nothing more than a small wooden shed. Copo de Nieve smiled proudly and bellowed as strongly as he could, aiming to grab the attention of whoever was on duty at that moment. "YEEEEAAAAAAH!" The soldiers cringed a tad and the prisoners covered their ears as best as they could, for it was a rather terrifying experience to witness Copo holler at his loudest firsthoof. Imagine their surprise when absolutely nothing happened. No guard, no officer, no soldier appeared from the post. Nothing but silence after the thunderous roar of Capitán Copo de Nieve. It was unnerving, completely terrifying even, not to see at least one pony run forward in a complete daze after the captain's shouts were released. Arcoiris looked at the post with an uneasy feel in her gut. Years of banditry and a life full of danger had taught her a thing or two when it came to strange, abandoned, government buildings. "Capitán? Que hacemos ahora?" A soldier asked nervously, he was a recruit barely given the uniform. Copo de Nieve looked at him and placed hoof under his chin, in deep thought. "Um... Capitán? Why is your hoof under my chin?" Copo shrugged and motioned for two other soldiers, the big mustached one and another, more lanky one to advance. "JUANITO AND PEDRO! GET IN THERE!" The enormous stallion with the mustache nodded slowly and led the lanky one ahead. The uniforms look somewhat hilarious on the pair, for the large stallion seemed to be but one move away from ripping the strained fabric apart while the lanky one seemed to have a uniform three sizes too big for him. The pair trotted forward and stopped in front of the shed, a few steps ahead of Copo and the others. "Pedro, cover me." "Wha-what?! How? With what?" Juanito rolled his eyes and moved ahead, his high caliber frosting musket hanging by his side. His eyes were determined, his hooves were fast and coordinated, his muscles at the ready and nopony had ever seen a more perfect mustache. Pedro gulped loudly and stood on his hind legs, balancing himself with his tail as he had been trained to do. The lanky stallion with a Coltinflas mustache raised his musket and aimed it at the shed. Copo de Nieve looked over the scene with mild worry, the last thing he wanted was a skirmish just outside city limits. The frosting was difficult to clean off of the uniforms as well. Juanito moved towards the shed's door and kicked it open while Pedro shakily aiming his musket in the general direction of the shed. Copo and the others were feeling the tension of the situation, as it would be quite nasty, not to mention sweet, if there were bandits involved. Juanito entered the shed and looked around. There were a few tools and crates laying around, a chair and some newspaper pages strewn throughout the floor. Nothing would have been out of the ordinary if it hadn't been for the large frosting stain on the floor. Juanito frowned and backed out of the shed slowly, making sure he could reach for his musket if needed. He wasn't feeling particularly safe, despite having Pedro outside or maybe because of it. Juanito walked out and held his breath, anticipating the worst. "Hey Juan! Is everything alright?" Pedro called as he aimed his weapon around, his hind legs shaking slightly and sweat running down his brow. His Coltinflas mustache shivering from fright. Juanito half nodded and hurried back to the group with the dire news. Copo de Nieve was troubled, such things were common enough in the outer states, farther south and north. But just outside the capital? It was unheard of! Bandits attacking federal troops right outside the city! But there was little he could do other than swear his soldiers into secrecy and make a mental note to notify it to the general. Copo and his ponies continued forward, going pass the police post and further into city territory. Arcoiris glanced at the shed as they passed it, and noticed the stain on the ground. She frowned. Was that... Was that Prench icing? Copo de Nieve remained troubled for the remainder of the journey, which was about ten or fifteen minutes. Soon enough they found themselves walking the large streets of Mexicolt city! Largest one in all of Amareica, of the world some may argue! "Abran paso! Dejen pasar! Abran camino a tropas federales!" Juanito shouted and hollered over the noise of the crowded sidewalks to make ponies part and allow the group through. Many well dressed ponies passed by, raising their noses up high as the three captured bandidas looked at them. Several more humbly dressed ponies made the sign of the crescent moon, may the all powerful have mercy on the wicked's souls, as Arcoiris, Rosita, and Diana passed by them. Mexicolt was great city, ruled by religion as much as it was by their President. No law would pass if it conflicted with the people's beliefs. The group made their way through the many streets and turns, taking in the whole beauty of the ancient city. The architecture was reminiscent of the cities from the old continent, and yet it was different. The city was as modern as could be, a true metropolis of Amareica. Enormous markets and hundreds of stands stood before gigantic churches and industrial buildings, their owners selling all manner of domestic as well as exotic niceties and necessities. Arcoiris kept a neutral expression through the entire walk, but the look of amazement was still there. Rosita was gaping and staring at the massive size of everything, thousands of ponies of all three races walking about. Even a few diamond dogs and gryphons made their way about the streets in large carriages. Diana was walking calmly, enjoying the sights as much as everypony else. She wondered whether the big city would be a nice place to raise her daughter. Copo de Nieve nodded his greetings to many nobleponies and aristocrats as they walked by. Even a saddle arabian emir! Copo was definitely an important pony to know such affluent figures. The soldiers made their way through the scents and sights of the enormous capital, the many ponies eyeing the soldiers with respect and their prisoners with slight wonder. The ponies of Mexicolt knew who the rainbow maned pegasus was, and they did not know how to react. On one hoof, a great calamity and bandit had been captured and was now under arrest. And on the other, a legend had just died. They looked at their passing and entering of the city prison. They were allowed into the jail without question and the captain locked his catch into a cell. Arcoiris, Rosita, and Diana watched as the iron gate was closed before them, its bars sealing them away from the world and freedom. Arcoiris groaned and slumped down on a makeshift bed while Rosita tried to call out for one of the guards to give her a cupcake. Diana was content enough to sit down and hum a tune to herself. "Da-di-di-da!" Much to Arcoiris' chagrin, the day's strange events were far from over. "Hey! Hey guard! Hey! Hey! Can I have a cupcake? Pretty please?" "Di-di-di-da!" "Come on! I'll be your bestest friend forever!" "Dirit-dira!" "Aww come on! We can have a party! It'll be fun!" Arcoiris felt her eye twitch and her teeth grind against each other as the incessant chattering and singing from her companions only increased. Add to that the screams of a guard going insane and you've got yourself a recipe for- "Gah! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Don't you guys get it?! We're stuck here now!" Arcoiris sat up and glared, her nostrils flaring as she saw her friends going silent at last. But she could not stop there, no. She had too much frustration boiling inside of her, too many ruined plans and too little hope left. "We are in jail! And now nopony can help us! Rareza will get away with her plans and we'll be stuck here forever!" Diana and Rosita exchanged a look and giggled. Covering their mouths with a hoof to stop themselves from bursting up in laughter. Arcoiris groaned and slumped back in her bed, giving up on the two ponies she shared a cell with. There was no possible way they could understand... "Should we tell her?" "No! Not yet!" Rosita and Diana snickered and giggled as they whispered to each other whichever machinations they had in mind. The two ponies had a small secret and a good idea of what was about to happen in but a few hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Generales, Bandidos y Presidentes Juana Gutierrez Manzana, Rareza Diamantina del Norte, and Presidenta Luna Lopez de Santana sat around a large wooden table, a large map of Mexicolt and the United Stables of Amareica placed in the middle. The presidenta and her general were looking at Rareza as she sipped her tea, not a single hint of worry in her face despite what she had just revealed. You see, information can cost somepony a high price. "How certain art thou?" The presidenta asked as she eyed Rareza suspiciously. One does not simply trust a foreigner on matters of state without proper reassurance that they spoke the truth. Even more so, if the information they gave told of an impending invasion. "Quite a lot I say, and should you truly need to know, my sources have also revealed possible weaknesses you could exploit." Rareza smiled as she set her teacup down, the porcelain making no noise as the telekinetic aura that surrounded it set it down gently on the small plate before her. Rareza was a mare of class, and she showed it with every move and act. "What're these possibilities exactly?" Manzana asked suspiciously and leaned forward a bit, her own cup of tea still full and untouched. "An how in tha world do ya know bout any invasion?" Luna arched an eyebrow and sipped from her own cup, the warm beverage did nothing to calm her mood. There was too much at stake for a simple drink to ease her worries, as it had been but a few days since a small expedition force, presumably from the United Stables, had attacked a small earth pony settlement called Villa del Pony. Tensions were growing between both nations. Rareza put on a distressed face, but whether it was sincere or not, nopony knew. "Oh, well you see, I recently received word that a certain group of forajidas have been on the move... I have reason to believe they are working for your sister, honorable Luna." The presidenta frowned and lowered the cup of tea. "And whatever business might our sister have in our fair nation? And which sources have deemed this information as truthful?" "My sources wish to remain anonymous, but you may already be well acquainted with, Arcoiris Veloz..." Rareza smiled and Luna's eyes narrowed. Arcoiris had run several jobs for the presidency back in the day, but had been recently more inclined to side with their northern neighbors. While this wasn't an act of treason, nor was it punishable in any way, it was sure annoying for the presidenta and the nation. Arcoiris was incredibly renowned for always getting the job done and never switching sides. She was very loyal to her employers as long as the contract remained in effect. And for such reasons, she was a highly valued mercenary for both countries. Luna however, had no reason to believe Arcoiris would try to start a war between countries. War would diminish her chances for neutral jobs, and it might get her on sompepony's bad side. "And what, pray tell, could that mercenary have to do with this ordeal?" Rareza smiled gleefully, not noticing a similar smile in Manzana's face. "Arcoiris is on a mission of espionage of course. She passed through Villa del Pony before it was raided, and now she is leading the United Stable's troops here, to the capital." Luna's frown deepened, her concern growing tenfold. But as she opened her mouth to reply, Manzana responded first. "Oh really? Well, ain't that just dandy! Me an capitán Copo de Nieve just captured Arcoiris and her band o' spies then! Right outside the city. They were fighting a few others, one of which happened to be a tad familiar." Rareza's face paled and her eyes widened a little. The one thing that could have gone wrong, had just gone wrong. Sir Biscuit of Trottingham, the darn British from Britrotnia had been caught! And Aleteo Valiente along with him! Her plan was hanging by a thread, if Luna realized what was actually happening... "Ahem, w-well... You see..." "Would thou be so kind so as to explain this?" "Ah'll be mighty thankful if and when ya tell us why Valiente was there with the darn Britrotnian." Luna and Manzana leaned closer, looking at Rareza menacingly. For the fashionista it was the end, there was no way she could convince them of anything that may have saved her. If they had Valiente then she would confess the whole thing, and Biscuit was by no means a very loyal pony. He would sell the truth for the first ship on its way to Britrotnia or Prance he could find. And so, with sweat pouring from her brow, Rareza finally found the finale to all her schemes, plots for vengeance, and her fashionista career. "Hehe... You wouldn't happen to have anymore tea, would you?" Author's Note Wow, I'm still alive! Yay me! Anyhows, here it is! After a very long wait, the next chapter for this story! Huzza!
Villa Del PonyVilla Del Pony Rosita Pie leaned on the counter of the old inn her father owned. She was bored, which was incredibly unusual of Rosita, she was a very energetic pony! However, the lack of excitement in the small frontier town of Villa Del Pony was getting to her. "Rosita! Come over here and help me with the cider!" Her father's voice resounded from the storage room at the back of the building. "Coming!" Rosita immediately sprang up from the counter and ran, as fast as her hooves would take her, to the back of the inn. The inn was one of the largest buildings in all of town, there were several tables and chairs at the front, where the customers would stop by to get their drinks, then there was the large counter, it went from the left side of the building all the way to the stairs at the right. The stairs led to the second floor where Rosita and her father's rooms were. Rosita trotted through the door that led to the storage room with a smile across her face. Her pink mane and coat well kept and clean aside from the odd cider stain or two. "There you are Rosita! Come here and help your old man carry these barrels back to the counter." "Okie-dokie-loki!" Rosita's smile widened as she saw her father, an old pony, around the age of fifty three, he had a small grey beard and mustache, a few wrinkles and the happiest eyes you could ever find in a pony, except for Rosita of course, when it came to being happy she was on a league of her own. Placing the medium sized barrels of apple cider on her back she trotted off happily back to the counter. Humming a tune she had learned as a filly. "La cucaracha! La cucaracha! Blabla bla bla blablabla!" She giggled as she couldn't remember the rest of the song. As she reached the counter a few stallions and fewer mares were beginning to arrive in small groups. Rosita placed the barrels on the counter and happily announced. "The cider's ready everypony!" As the ponies cheered they threw their sombreros into the air, after a hard day of work there was nothing quite like sitting down at the tavern while enjoying a cool glass of cider. As Rosita's father emerged from the storage room several ponies went over to greet the owner of the inn. "Don Pie! How's it been?" A bulky, blue coated earth pony shook Don Cider Pie's hoof amiably as the later smiled. "Oh, you know how it's been Crin Azul, the same old stuff." Don Pie continued to shake hoofs with the other ponies as Rosita served drinks and food to the other costumers. The day was setting outside of the inn, as the sun lowered itself into the horizon the sky was painted red and the sands of the desert surrounding Villa Del Pony took a respite from the burning heat of day, preparing for the cold embrace of the night. Arena Caliente Desert, outskirts of Villa Del Pony. Arcoiris Veloz sped through several cacti trying to avoid the barrage of cupcakes her persecutors shot at her. "You wont catch me!" Arcoiris swerved from side to side dodging and trying to remain in the air as a dozen unicorns gave chase. She was in trouble, an earlier showdown with the fastest shooting unicorn on that side of the desert had left her wings covered in cupcake frosting, and her speed was greatly reduced. "Dang it!" A cupcake flew way too close for comfort. The unicorns were gaining on her, she had to get some ammo for her trusty six shooter if she wanted to escape that mess with her glucose levels normal. The unicorns, chasing her on top of a wagon pulled by earth ponies, raised their guns in unison to give Arcoiris a final shot and her death wish. She was expecting that though. A sharp turn to the right made all unicorns miss their shots, the cupcake frosting flying straight into the sand instead of Arcoiris's back. "Ha! See ya later losers!" Arcoiris stopped and waved at the confused unicorns. What did she mean by that? Arcoiris winced a bit as she saw the wagon fall down a small cliff she had spotted a while ago, the unicorns had been too focused on the chase to see it. "Meh, whatever..." Arcoiris shrugged before darting off in the direction of Villa Del Pony, she had other things to think about, more important than the cacti that spread like a forest at the bottom of the small cliff. Laughing a bit at the pained squeals and cries of the now distant unicorns, Arcoiris sped, as fast as her wings could carry her, towards the silhouette of the town in front of her. As the small town came into view, she took a mental note to visit the bakery to resupply on ammo and cookies. Cookies were an important part in the life of a forajida like her. Period. She landed just outside of town, and pulling her hooded cloak over her head, began walking towards what she thought was an inn. As she opened the small wooden door, she gazed around in search of unwanted company. Spotting nothing more than several exhausted ponies, she removed her hood and trotted over to the counter. "Cider, now." Slamming a hoof against the counter for emphasis, she slipped a few bits over to the pink mare serving the drinks. "Okie-dokie-loki!" Rosita said with a huge smile as she reached under the counter for a flagon of cider. "Thanks." Arcoiris Veloz swiftly drank up the cider leaving only an empty flagon withing seconds. "Ah! Now that's some good stuff! More!" Another hoof slammed against the counter as a few more bits rolled over to Rosita. "Gee stranger, you sure are thirsty! Did you, like, run all the way from the desert or something?" Rosita said as she passed another flagon to Arcoiris. "Heh, you could say that." Arcoiris said in between large swigs from her cider. Rosita's eyes widened. "Ooooh!! Are you a..." She leaned in closer to the rainbow maned pegasus. "A Bandit?" Arcoiris almost choked on her drink. After several coughs she finally looked up at the pink pony. "What do you care?" A look of suspicion flashed across her face as she eyed Rosita warily. "I dont!" Rosita smiled. Perplexed, Arcoiris asked. "Why ask then?" "Why not ask?" Rosita leaned even closer to Arcoiris and her mysterious look unnerved the runaway forajida. "Uhm... I... Uh... Have to go!" Arcoiris smiled awkwardly before disappearing from the counter. "Oh well!" Rosita grinned as she walked back to the barrels to prepare another round for the gathering ponies. As the rainbow maned pegasus recovered from her strange encounter with the pink pony, she began to plan ahead for her journey. "Ok, I'll need ammo, food, water, no scratch that... Cider! Yup! Tons of it! And some books on the Anthropological properties of ancient pony civilization... What? I'll need something to start a campfire!" Her thoughts were interrupted as a gunshot pierced the happy atmosphere of the inn. Arcoiris quickly took cover behind a table and listened. "Very well everypony! We know you have Arcoiris Veloz hidden in this place!" A stallion with a rough sounding voice spoke as the chatter died down. "Wait, we do?" "Shut up!" Another two voices filled the quiet atmosphere. There were at last three of them and Arcoiris didn't have a loaded gun. "So, as i was saying, we do know you have her here, and we are gonna find her! So just make it easy and hand her over!" Silence followed as nopony was sure of how to react. These ruffians were armed and they meant business. A quick peak over the edge of the table revealed to Arcoiris that the three ponies had two guns each, and a cupcake frosting bullet belt in the form of an X across their backs, one of them was a unicorn, the leader she assumed, while the other two were earth ponies. "Not talking? Ok, find her fellas!" The unicorn ordered as his two lackeys started to tear down the place with kicks and gunfire. "STOP!" Arcoiris flinched as the high pitched scream pierced the air. Rosita stood on the counter, nose flaring, eyes wide with fury and determination, both forelegs spread into the air as she stared at the three intruders. "She's right over there!" Rosita finished with a smile as she pointed towards Arcoiris. "Aw come on!" Arcoiris yelled at the pink pony as she facehooved. "Get her!" The unicorn hollered and the two earth ponies aimed their guns at the pegasus. Arcoiris barely had time to dodge the shots as she flew behind another table and, out of instinct, drew out her own six shooter. She aimed it towards the nearest hostile pony, a brown one with a dark blue mane, and pulled the trigger. Nothing. She would have facehooved again, except that the approaching earth ponies kept on shooting. Once more Arcoiris flew away, trying to get behind the counter but a growing stickiness on her left wing caused her to fall and crash into a table. She was hit. The cupcake frosting was smeared all over her injured wing, it was now useless until she could get it cleaned. Backing away from the earth ponies, Arcoiris suddenly stopped as her back hit the wall of the counter. Both ponies approaching fast, guns drawn and ready to shoot. Rosita's mind took a while to understand the situation, but after the strange rainbow maned pegasus was shot her brain finally had a reaction. It was not a nice one. As the brown earth pony with the dark blue mane came closer to Arcoiris, he leveled his gun to her head, a smile twisting his lips. *BOOM* The earth pony was sent flying backwards several feet. A giant frosting stain on his chest, he fell to the floor unconscious. Rosita stood behind the counter, eyes covered by a large sombrero, a chocolate cigarette on her mouth. And a cupcake shotgun on her forelegs. The unicorn and the remaining earth pony had little to no time to react before Rosita Pie shot another cupcake at them, missing by mere inches. The unicorn turned a table over and took cover, his friend however was not as smart. The remaining earth pony, grey coat and silver mane, hurriedly tried to aim his guns at the pink mare, his last mistake... of the day. As his guns started to rise, Don Cider and the rest of the entire inn came to the defense of the beloved Rosita. Gunfire filled the entire tavern as frosting, cupcakes, jam, peanut butter and even chocolate flew across the room towards the unfortunate earth pony. In a matter of seconds, he was covered up to his head in deliciously deadly desserts and frosting. The unicorn darted out the tavern in seconds, his steps closely followed by wave after wave of frosting and cupcakes shot by the villagers of Villa Del Pony. Arcoiris stared at the pink mare with the sombrero and back at the two earth ponies covered in sweetness, her jaw hanging in surprise. Rosita Pie and Don Cider walked over to the rainbow maned pegasus while the rest of the inn returned to their typical drinking and chatting. "Rosita, y esta quien es?" Don Cider spoke as he took a closer look at the pegasus. "I dont know, hey who are you?" Rosita slung her shotgun on her shoulder and held a hoof out for Arcoiris to stand up. "Gee guys, thanks a bunch for helping me out! My name's Arcoiris Veloz." Arcoiris stood on her four legs as she smiled gratefully at the two ponies who saved her. "No prob Arcoiris! I'm Rosita Pie! He's my dad and this is the rest of Villa Del Pony!" Rosita smiled as she addressed the rest of the townsfolk. Several nods and half waves as well as some hat tipping followed the brief introduction. Arcoiris waved back and then sat down on a small stool. "This guys are crazy!" She thought as she closed her eyes. "Awesome!" Meanwhile, on the far north of the frontier between Mexicolt and the United Stables of Amareica, a white unicorn stared at the night sky, her pet cat resting beside her on the couch. "Soon Arcoiris Veloz, soon enough you will pay for the crimes you committed against me..." Her features darkened as the memories returned. "And Fashion!"
La Aventura Comienza La Aventura Comienza 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.
