Chapter seven: Lucky's First Flight
When morning came, at 10:00, Lucky and Rainbow both woke up. "Good morning Lucky." Lucky nodded, a little too groggy yet to say anything. Rainbow just smiled and they went to get breakfast. "I have to do weather today. You'll go to Applejack's place. Maybe Fluttershy can teach you flying in my place. She doesn't belong to the weather team, so she'd be free." "Ok Rainbow. When you come back, I'll be flying higher than yesterday. Also, why did Miss Cheerilee make me start school on a Friday?" Rainbow shrugged. "Maybe she was so happy about having a new student coming she wasn't thinking right."
Lucky shrugged as well. After breakfast Rainbow took Lucky to Applejack's. "Applejack!", Lucky said when she saw the orange pony. "Hey Lucky, hey Rainbow. What're y'all up to?" "I have to do the weather today. Mind foalsitting Lucky?" Applejack smiled and nodded, "Of course I can watch the squirt. So, what will the weather be like today?" "It'll be rainy today and tonight, then cloudy with a little bit of rain tomorrow then the next day it'll start clearing up in the afternoon." "Alright, so I'll have her for three days?" Rainbow shook her head. "Only tonight. I'm thinking of having Lucky spending time with the others too, to get more used to them, especially Pinkie."
"I understand. Ok then. See ya tomorrow then Rainbow." "Yup! Bye Lucky, be good for Applejack and I'll see you tomorrow." Lucky grinned, "I will, and bye-bye." Rainbow took off into the sky to meet up with her team. "Well, what should we do?" Lucky shrugged. "I dunno. Where's Applebloom?" "Off with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Why, ya wanna play with them?" Lucky nodded, "Where do they hang out?" "In a tree house just up the acre. It used to be my old tree house, but I passed it on to Applebloom and her friends.", Applejack said as she brought Lucky to the tree house. Lucky was in awe when she saw the tree house. "That place looks really cool."
"Yeah, Applebloom fixed it up. Go on up. They'll let ya in. I'll call fer y'all when it's time fer lunch." Lucky nodded and went up to the tree house and went to the doorway. Applejack went back to the house. "Hello, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom?" After a few seconds a head popped out, then Sweetie Belle came out. "Oh hi Lucky! Come in. How'd you know we were out here?" "Applejack told me." Scootaloo and Applebloom smiled at Lucky when they saw her. "Hi Lucky.", they said. "Hi, um, what are you doing?" "We're trying to figure out what to do today to get our cutie marks.", Sweetie Belle said. Lucky raised an eyebrow. "But don't they come when somepony finds their special talent?"
The three sighed, "We've been told that by Zecora, and by everypony else that we know. Now by a five year old who isn't old enough yet to get her cutie mark, and how did you know anyway?", Applebloom said. "My mama and papa told me one day. I asked what was on their flanks and they told me it was their cutie marks. I asked what they are and they told me and how to get them." "Cool, what was their cutie marks?", Scootaloo asked. "Mama's was a painting brush with an easel. Papa's was a gray cloud with rain. He loved the rain, and he was good at making it rain. It seems he used to live here when he was a small colt. Mama always lived in Fillydelphia, and she loved painting and she was really good at it. She never became famous though. She always did it for fun."
"Wow.", the three of them said. Lucky nodded. "I wanna play though. I have to go to Twilight's later though. After lunch so I can practice more magic. It looks like I'm really good at magic. I was able to pick up and move a bucket full of apples yesterday with magic. Twilight said that it was a bit more of advanced magic than I should of used, but I did it." The crusaders looked impressed. "Does the weight of the bucket make any difference?", Sweetie Belle asked. "Not really. Magic just makes everything easier. I didn't feel how heavy it was, even though I knew it was heavy. It was more of the bigness that was the problem."
Applebloom tilted her head, "Is 'bigness' even a word?" Lucky just shrugged and said, "It is to me." The others grinned, then the four of them went out of the tree house and went to the playground, after telling Applejack where they were going. "When they got there, they saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They all immediately steered clear of the playground and ended up going to Fluttershy's. "Fluttershy, you home?", Lucky asked. They heard a faint, gentle voice. They followed where it was coming from. Out back, where Fluttershy was tending to the field mice.
"Hello girls." "Hi Fluttershy. Hey, can ya teach me to fly?", Lucky asked. She turned around when she was done. "Um, sure. I won't fly really high though, only about 4 feet, unless it's something important that I have to fly higher, like feeding the baby birds, or that time during the Best Young Fliers competition Rainbow was in." Lucky just smiled. "That's higher than I can go, but today I'll be trying to reach how high you go. I have to practice." Fluttershy nodded, then took off into the air. When she reached 4 feet, she stopped.
Lucky then stretched out her wings, and flapped them, taking of, and she reached 6 inches and went higher. She went about 2 feet, maybe a little less when her wings started slowing her down, then she started descending. Fluttershy flew downwards. "Very good Lucky. You went about half the height I went. It's a start. How far can you go while flying?" Lucky thought about that. "I dunno." Lucky then starts flapping her wings, slower this time, so she doesn't wear them out anymore. Then she flew from Fluttershy's place to Twilight's, she flew 2 feet in the air. She blinked. "Huh? She then saw Fluttershy and Scootaloo flying towards her, and Sweetie and Applebloom running.
"That was awesome!", the three young fillies said. "That was great Lucky. You did awesome. It seems you're a fast learner." Twilight then came out of her library. "What's happening girls?", she asked. "Lucky just flew from Fluttershy's to here!", Sweetie Belle said excitedly. "She did?", she asked, looking at Lucky in amazement. Lucky nodded. "Fast learner, both in flying and magic. Hmm…. I gotta wonder." "What?", the crusaders, Fluttershy, and Lucky asked. Twilight just shook her head, "When I figure it out, I'll tell you. Well, I guess since you're here, want to practice magic more?"
"Yeah, I wanna learn.", she said, hopping up and down. She really is going back to how she was before the accident in Manehattan happened. Twilight led the ponies inside. "Ok Lucky Fire, since you moved a bucket full of apples, which was bigger than a book, I'll have you try to lift my statue head, then move it. Go on." Lucky nodded, then concentrated on it, her horn glowed, and then the statue. Then she focused on lifting it, and it went up into the air. "Good, now move it to the bottom of the stairs. Not on the stairs, but on the floor in front of them."
Lucky did just that then set it down. "Good. You're getting better. I'm impressed. You know, you remind me of me when I was younger. I was a fast learner too. That's why I'm the Princess' protégé. That and because I'm a talented magic user. I bet you might be too. Ok, more exercises." So later that day, Lucky was thrilled with her practices. She got much better at flying and magic. Now she can pick up and move things. When the 4 fillies arrived back at Applejack's at 11:55 they went inside so Applejack didn't have to call for them. "AJ AJ! Guess what?", Lucky said.
"What is it sugarcube?", Applejack asked. "I am much better at magic and flying now. I can lift and move a lot of things now, watch." Lucky looked around for something to lift and move, then she saw the stack of plates that Applejack had just put on the counter. She concentrated, then her horn lit up and the plates. "Oh do be careful now.", Applejack and Applebloom said. "Don't worry.", Lucky said, then she picked them up with her magic and brought them over to the table then set them down gently on top of the table. Applejack's jaw dropped, and so didn't Granny Smith's and Big Mac's. They both saw that coming into the kitchen for lunch.
"Oh my…. Aren't you the talented alicorn.", Granny said. Lucky just hopped up and down. "I told you it'd be ok Applejack and Applebloom." Sweetie Belle said, "You should also probably show Rarity your magic. She'll be impressed too." Lucky smiled and nodded. So after lunch the crusaders and Lucky went to Rarity's Boutique. "Hey Rarity! Lucky has something she wants to show you.", Sweetie said. After a minute Rarity came downstairs. "Hello girls. What is it you wish to show me Lucky?" "My magic." Rarity tilted her head, "Your magic? Has it gotten better then?"
"Yes, so better that I can pick up and move things around. Before lunch I just used my magic to pick up a stack of plates and moved them from the counter to the table. This was at Applejack's." Rarity did indeed look impressed. "Wow, good for you dear. Can you do that with one of my mannequins? Or even a roll of fabric?" "Probably." Lucky then went upstairs, everypony followed her. Lucky looked around and decided on a mannequin. Her horn and the mannequin glowed, then the mannequin went up into the air and moved to in front of Rarity.
"Oh my. Very well done Lucky." Lucky grinned and put the mannequin back. "Bravo I do say, bravo." Lucky bowed and said, "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.", then she giggled and so did the others. When Lucky and the crusaders left, it started raining. They started running back to Applejack's. When they got back, they got dried off by Applejack. They were soaked when they got back. "I guess Rainbow and the weather team got started by the looks of ya four." They all nodded. "Well then, wanna play a board game then? It looks like it's too rainy out to play."
"Sure…", said all four of them. "Aw now, come on. It ain't that bad. Let's see here.", Applejack said as she went to where they keep the board games. The little fillies sit and watch, then look at each other. "Aha, here." Applejack pulled out a game that Lucky knew very well. She smiled, "I know that game. Mama and papa used to play it with me all the time." Applejack smiled in return. "Is that so? That's really cool. So ya know the rules then?" Lucky shook her head. "It's been a while. I don't remember much of them." Applejack nodded in understanding. Then she explained the rules.
When she was done, the five of them started playing. When dinner came, Applebloom was winning, then Applejack, then Sweetie Belle, then Lucky Fire, then Scootaloo. "Aw man. I can't believe I'm losing.", Scoot said. "Aw, don't worry. Hey, I'm right behind you…. Or should I say ahead of you…. But not by much though. Who knows, maybe you'll catch up." Scoot smiled a small smile, "Thanks Lucky." Lucky just nodded. They continued playing after dinner, then it came close to bedtime.
"Alright everypony. Time to get ready for bed.", Applejack said, putting away the game. When they ended Applebloom won, then Applejack, Sweetie, Scoot, then Lucky. "See Scooter, I told you that you'd probably catch up." The crusaders looked at Lucky oddly. "Scooter?", they all asked. Lucky tilted her head. "You don't call her that? And you don't get called that?" They all shook their heads. Lucky grinned, "Well, starting from now on that'll be my nickname for you Scooter." Scooter thought about that. "That actually sounds cool. Neat! I like it."
Lucky was happy to hear that. Maybe Ponyville wasn't all bad like she thought after all. They got ushered out of the living room by Applejack and they got ready for bed. Lucky actually said she'd sleep in Applebloom's room with the crusaders. Applejack smiled, "Well, alright then. Just don't stay up all night now. Y'all need yer rest. You're only little fillies after all. Aaaaand y'all got school tomorrow. You're lucky I agreed to this, and to Sweetie, you're lucky your sister agreed. Normally we don't have sleepovers on school nights Lucky, but seein' as you're new, and just starting to make friends, we let them stay here the night so you can get to know them better. Now, lights out and I don't want to hear any talkin', or it's in I come and separatin' y'all. Y'hear?"
"Yes.", they said. "Good. Night." "Good night Applejack.", chorused the four young fillies. Applejack turned out the light and they all got settled, but none of them wanted to sleep yet. "Lucky, you up?" "Yeah, you Sweetie?" "Yes, and what about you Scootaloo?" "Uh-huh. Hey Lucky, why did you give me that nickname anyway?" "Because I thought you'd already be called that and also, I thought it was cute." Silence. "Scooter?", Lucky asked, wondering if she fell asleep. "Do not call me cute. I want to be cool, like Rainbow Dash." "You are, I'm just saying the nickname's cute." "It's still calling me cute though." "Whatever." Applebloom and Sweetie giggled quietly.
"What's so funny?", Scootaloo and Lucky asked while whispering, as they all have been since they started talking after the light went out. "Nothin'.", they both said. "Ok then….", Lucky said. Somepony yawned. It was Applebloom. That started a chain yawn. "Applebloom.", the other three complained. Applebloom just grinned, though nopony could see her in the dark. After a while of whispering and giggling quietly, they all fell asleep. Too soon it felt like to them they were being woken up by Applejack. "Girls, get up.", they could hear her say. They groaned in unison. Applejack chuckled.
"Hey there sleepy heads. It's time ta get up fer school." They all got out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Breakfast was already on the table. After they ate, they got ready for school. Lucky paused. They were all going out of the door. "Um…. I think I forgot my saddlebags and Rainbow forgot to remind me….. Who can go up and get my bags?" Scooter just shook her head and said, "I can't fly high either. It's also too late to ask Fluttershy." "Darn it!", Lucky said, stomping her hoof on the ground. Then she starts thinking.
"Maybe I can try to fly up. I already can go 2 feet in the air." "Lucky, if you can go up as high as Rainbow's cloud home, you'd be a miracle. Or just a very talented/gifted alicorn.", Applejack said. "It's worth a shot ain't it? I need my school stuff." Applejack just sighed and said, "Give it a try, but I really don't think you'll be able to go that high already. You just said the highest you can go is 2 feet." Lucky went ahead, she could see the school. She then made up her mind.
She started flapping, higher she went. 2 feet, 4 feet, higher, higher. Her eyes were closed, she wanted to prove Applejack wrong. She wanted them to see she could do it. She looked up, her home was getting closer, but her wings were burning from going that high, no, from flapping for so long to go that high. She couldn't take the burn, but she pushed through it, she could actually hear cheering from ponies below. When she reached the platform to the cloud home, she collapsed from the stress her wings took, which affected her body, small as she is.
Literally collapsed. 30 minutes later, "Lucky….. Lucky!" She started waking up, then she saw a light blue blurred object. "Mama?", she said. She heard chuckling. "No, it's Rainbow Dash." Lucky blinked, her vision started becoming clearer. "Rainbow?" "Yeah. Know where you are?" Lucky shook her head. "You're home. My question is, why are you home when you should be in school?" Lucky then hopped to her feet and sprinted into the house to find her saddlebags. "School! I almost forgot!" Rainbow shook her head. 'What am I going to do with this filly?', she thought to herself.
Lucky then came back out with her school things, she went up to Rainbow. "I gotta go to school, and how did I get up here?" Rainbow looked surprised. "You flew up here. You struggled a whole bunch, but you pushed through and made it. Took you about a good 10 to maybe 20 minutes the most to get up here. Then you passed out from the stress. Kid, you gotta go slow. Otherwise you'll get hurt." "Sorry Rainbow, but I really needed my school bags." Rainbow nodded in understanding. "Come on. Hop on. I'll give you a lift to school."
Lucky got on Rainbow's back, then Rainbow took Lucky to school. As they touched down, Applejack and all the school ponies, except Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, went over to them. Miss Cheerilee seemed thrilled. "Oh my stars, Lucky you actually flew up to Rainbow's house! How could you manage it?" Lucky got off Rainbow's back and said, "I couldn't. I had to push and push, it started hurting really badly, but I didn't pay attention to it and when I got to the step to Rainbow's, I passed out."
"Well, that's still an amazing feat. You wouldn't have been able to go all the way up there until you were at least 9 or 10 years old." Lucky's ears went down. "Really?" Rainbow, Applejack, and Miss Cheerilee nodded. "Wow… um, so I'm special? I'm somepony who's ahead of what they're supposed to be doing at my age? I'm talented, or gifted, or…. or… a miracle?" "Well, you're certainly something.", Miss Cheerilee said. "I can't believe you did it Lucky. You proved me wrong." Rainbow gave Applejack a look. "Did you two make a bet or something?" She then gave Lucky the same look she gave Applejack.
Both Applejack and Lucky shook their heads. Applejack explained the situation. "Oh, well still, it was egging her on." "I'm mighty sorry Rainbow. Can ya forgive me?" Rainbow grinned, "Sure. I forgive you." "Thanks, and now. My little fillies, I do believe it's time fer school. Miss Cheerilee has been delayed enough. Sorry Miss Cheerilee." Miss Cheerilee just smiled. "Oh it's nothing Applejack. It is good of her to get her bags though. She'd have needed them today. Ok class. Let's go inside before it starts sprinkling." So, her and all the class go inside the school, Lucky as well. She waved bye to Rainbow and Applejack before going. They grinned and waved back. They were proud of her first flight.