Chapter 17: Consideration
The talent show finally got here much to Lucky's and the cutie mark crusaders' anticipation, and the mane 6 were all there, front row, watching the show. A lot of foals participated this year. But now it's time for Lucky to go up. She's singing Amazing Grace. Lucky looked over to Miss Cheerilee and Miss Cheerilee started the music.
Lucky came in on time and when the breaks came, she danced a bit to the music, then she started up again when she knew it was time to, and by the time she finished, the audience was amazed. They all then stomped their hooves on the ground and cheered. Lucky smiled and bowed, then went backstage. The CMC were up next. "Great job Lucky.", they said. Sweetie Belle then high hoofed Lucky, then led the other two on stage, they high hoofed Lucky too.
"Hi everypony, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We're switching up our routine this year, I'll be singing, Scootaloo taught the dancing, and Apple Bloom created our outfits. So I hope you enjoy our performance." Sweetie Belle cues Lucky for the music, Lucky turns the music on. Sweetie Belle sings, the other two dance and Lucky does the stage stuff, so all in all things went better this time for the cutie mark crusaders. They were the last ones to go up too, just like last year. So when the performance ended, the audience did the same they did for Lucky.
Miss Cheerilee came out on stage and said, "Well, it seems every performance has been successful tonight. What do you think of that? Well, we'll see how everypony did and who gets what award." (ok... I don't remember the awards, so I will try to make some up I guess...) Best Magic Act, Best Singer, and Best Entertainment Act. "Let's see, Best Magic Act goes to... Snips and Snails, and this time they did much better, great job boys, you improved greatly. Now, Best Singer goes to... Lucky." The mane 6 all cheered loudly, and the cutie mark crusaders as well.
"Ok now, Best Entertainment Act goes to... The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The three fillies looked at each other in excitement, and went up to Miss Cheerilee. She put the medals around their necks. They cheered and went to Lucky, "We finally did something right this time! Maybe... maybe this is what we should do. Do what we do best. Like I'm best in singing and Scootaloo is best at dancing, or even scootering, and Apple Bloom is an awesome designer, though she does make awesome zap apple jam too.", Sweetie Belle told Lucky.
"Ok everypony, that's all we have tonight, let's hear it again for our winners!", Miss Cheerilee said. The audience stomped their hooves and the foals all got off the stage. The mane 6 greeted the 4 fillies back stage. "You girls were awesome! Great job.", Rainbow said. "You two are awesome singers.", Pinkie said to Sweetie Belle and Lucky. "I loved your performance crusaders.", Fluttershy said. "Y'all did great.", Applejack said. "You girls were fantastic.", Twilight said. "You did an excellent job.", Rarity said. "Thanks!", the four little fillies said. "Ok, now how about we all go home huh?", Applejack said.
The little ones nodded, they were tired from their performances. So everypony bid everypony good night and congratulations to the talent show winners and went home to get sleep. One and a half weeks later came Nightmare Night. Lucky dressed up as a cat and Applejack and Rainbow didn't dress up, they just took Lucky and Apple Bloom, who dressed as a rodeo pony, out to gather candy for the Nightmare Moon statue, and they played the annual games too. Lucky wasn't too good at the pumpkin targets, but she didn't do too bad at the spider toss.
By the time it came for the story of Nightmare Moon from Zecora, Lucky was interested. Rainbow and Applejack went with her and Apple Bloom to hear Zecora's story again this year and Princess Luna arrived to hear it as well, although she was going to do her magic and scare the ponies like last year, when things didn't go too well with her trying to be fun. Lucky listened to every word Zecora spoke, and when the time was right, Princess Luna came in and scared all the ponies, then she lost the disguise and Lucky giggled, "Hi Princess Luna!", then bowed. The other ponies all bowed and said hello to the Princess of the night.
"Hello everypony. It's nice to see you again." Lucky for the rest of the night, until she had to go home with Rainbow and Applejack, hung out with Princess Luna. When the family walked home after a fun and exhausting night, they all talked, especially about the story Zecora told and Princess Luna's awesome timing. "I absolutely loved Zecora's story, it was awesome.", Lucky said. "Glad you liked it... Zecora's version is always scary ta me, no matter how many times I hear it.", Applejack said. Lucky giggled. When they arrived back at the house, they all got ready for bed, Lucky and Apple Bloom got out of their costumes and went to bed. Applejack and Rainbow went to bed too, after letting Granny and Big Mac know they're home.
~skipping to December (only because I really don't think they have a pony version of thanksgiving .)~
It's now weeks before Hearth's warming, and Rainbow and Applejack are together in Twilight's library. They wanted somewhere quiet to talk. After 2 months of thinking and debating, they're starting to talk more about actually adopting Lucky as their own little filly. They found out where in the world, literally, adoption was, and it's in an eastern country. While they're talking, Lucky's with Twilight.
~with Applejack and Rainbow~
"Ok Applejack, we know we want to have Lucky as our own, and it's been shown for like, ever, so... we'll have to talk to Princess Celestia about it, for her to make some legal forms so it's official." Applejack nodded in agreement, "I agree, I mean, like you said before, we already take care of her and definitely treat her as if she were our own bitty filly, so why not adopt her? It kinda wouldn't make sense if we didn't, y'know what I'm sayin'?" Rainbow nodded, understanding exactly what her marefriend was saying.
"Alright then, when do ya think we should see the Princess?", Applejack asked. Rainbow thought, "Is Spike still here? Spike?" A minute later they saw Spike coming down the stairs. "Yes? I was cleaning up there. I could hear every word you said." Rainbow and Applejack grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, but I have an idea, do you think you could send the Princess a letter, asking if she'd be able to clear a time for Applejack and I on her busy schedule to see her?" Spike smiled, "Sure, I'll get a quill and paper and write whatever you need me to say on it." So, Spike gets what he needs to write the letter. Rainbow gives him the words to put down.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
This is Rainbow Dash and Applejack, we want to see you about something important, well, to us it is. We want to talk to you about Lucky Fire. We will not bring her with us, because we don't want her finding out yet about what we'd like to do for her. We'll announce it on Hearth's Warming Day, it will be her gift from us, her two parental figures. If you so kindly reply back to us ASAP, we'd really appreciate it.
From,
Rainbow Dash"
"That sounds great Rainbow, now, could ya send it please Spike?" Spike nodded, then sent it with his fire. "There, on its way." Rainbow and Applejack both say, "Thanks."
~with Lucky and Twilight~
"I can't wait for the Hearth's Warming Eve play, it'll be so much fun. Hey, you'll be in it too, with the others, right Twilight?" Twilight nodded, "We will have the same parts as last year. The Princess said we did so well that she wants us to come back. Hmm... maybe you could make a small appearance as somepony's filly... oh wait. Unfortunately you can't because of you being a rare alicorn. Aw, I'm sorry Lucky, maybe that's why the Princess didn't ask you to participate." Lucky shrugged. "Eh, it's ok. I know I'm different than the other ponies, and I'm ok with it. Hehe, that's what Derpy told me once, actually, when I first met her."
"Wow, Derpy is good with words. Maybe I should talk to her sometime, like, sit down and have a good long conversation with her, I bet she'd have something interesting to say." Lucky nodded, "She's a lot of fun to be with." Twilight smiled. "I'm glad. You like being with the cutie mark crusaders as well?" Lucky nodded again. "I love hanging out with them. They're funny." Twilight giggled. Then she saw Derpy flying over them, "Oh, it's Derpy, hey Derpy! Wanna come hang out with us?" Derpy looked down and smiled.
"Hi Twilight Sparkle, hi Lucky Fire! Sure!", she flew down to them and sat next to Lucky. "How's it goin'? What's up Twilight?" Twilight smiled at Derpy. "Nothing really. Just talking with Lucky. Seems you two are good friends from what she's telling me." Derpy nodded. "We're bestest friends, we like playing." "Good, glad you two have fun together."
~back with AJ and Rainbow~
Spike reads the letter that Princess Celestia sent back 10 minutes after they sent theirs to her.
"Dear Rainbow and Applejack,
I cleared Friday for you both. I hope that would be ok with you two, and don't worry about Lucky finding out your 'plan', I'll keep quiet about it. I'll see you both on Friday.
Princess Celestia"
The two mares looked happy. "Great, thanks again Spike.", Applejack said. "No problem." Rainbow thanked him and then went to get Lucky, hopefully she's studying her magic with Twilight. When they found them, they were talking with Derpy. "Twilight, Lucky, Derpy!", Rainbow called out. They looked toward Rainbow and Applejack. "Mama Applejack, Rainbow-mama!", Lucky said happily. "Are you done talking about important things?" They nodded, then Applejack asked, "Didja practice yer magic?"
Lucky nodded, "I can manipulate many things at once now finally. I'll have to show you when we get to Twilight's. I want to use books for my demonstration." Rainbow blinked. "Where did you learn those big words a 5 year old shouldn't know the meaning of yet? Wait, don't tell me... Twilight?" Lucky grinned and nodded. "Of course, why did I ask?" Lucky, Twilight, and Derpy giggled and Applejack chuckled.
So, the five ponies went to the library and Lucky demonstrated her skills. She practiced for 2 months... almost, to do that, and now she can do it perfectly. She grabbed 10 books with her magic and opened them one by one and closed them together with her magic. Applejack's, Rainbow's, and Derpy's jaws dropped. They were very impressed. "Holy guacamole! That was awesome Lucky!", Spike said, he was there already, still in the library part where Rainbow and Applejack left him. Lucky grinned and put the books back where they were.
"Hmm... now we can start with trying to use something with magic, like try to sweep and mop and do household chores. Dish washing too, that's using many things at once." Lucky looked at Twilight, not really happy about chores. "Chores are bad enough even without magic." Twilight shook her head grinning, "Actually, using magic makes it easier, because doing that stuff with your hooves is challenging, but using magic, makes it a whole lot easier. Although I say magic makes things easier, it shouldn't mean that you should use it to do everything, because that means you're being too dependable on magic, and magic doesn't solve all your problems."
"That's what mama told me all the time. Now you're saying it too... it's like mama's still here." Twilight smiled gently at that, then said, "But it's the truth. You can't depend on magic for everything." Lucky nodded, telling Twilight she understands what Twilight's saying. "Oh, and Twilight, I've thought about it, whether I'd become Princess or not and I decided, since Princess Celestia said I wouldn't be going away from here, and that she would make it that everypony in Ponyville only bowed quickly and not bug me or anything like that, I've decided to become Princess. I think it might be interesting. Though... what would I be Princess of? What city?"
Twilight shrugged. "Probably either Ponyville, where you live, or Fillydelphia, where you originated or was born from." Lucky nodded slowly. "But... Ponyville is too small, and besides, isn't Princess Celestia basically Princess of here as well as Canterlot?" "Well... I dunno actually. She is Princess of Equestria, and Cadence is the Princess of... oops, I mean, Queen of another town... I think you could be Princess for here... well actually, now that I think about it, we have a mayor, so I don't think you could be Princess for here. You might just be Princess for Fillydelphia. You'd just be living here, but I don't think that would make sense because how can you be Princess of Fillydelphia if you live here? Ugh, this is too confusing."
Lucky was starting to get dizzy with everything that was being said. Princess of where is the biggest question and boy is it ever hard to answer. Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other, they didn't look too happy, but they were thinking. They sighed, then looked at Lucky. "We have an appointment with Princess Celestia, do ya want ta come with us Lucky? Twilight, will you come too so that ya can keep her occupied after you two ask Princess Celestia yer questions?", Applejack asked. They both nodded their heads. "What about me?", Derpy asked. "Sorry Derpy, you're going to have to sit this one out. It's family business. Maybe next time ok?", Rainbow said.
Derpy nodded. After Lucky became friends with Derpy, Rainbow has treated her like a normal pony, and as a friend as well. "Thanks for understanding.", Rainbow said. Derpy grinned. So when Friday came, the four ponies went to Canterlot. Rainbow sat next to Applejack, of course, so Lucky sat next to Twilight. Then all of a sudden, out of the blue, Lucky said, "Aunt Twilight, I saw you teleport once, can you teach me?" The older mares just about fell off their seats, well, Rainbow actually did. Applejack chuckled, and helped her back up.
"'Aunt Twilight'? Where did you get that from? And not funny Applejack, I could have hurt a wing, or both.", Rainbow said. "Well, you two did tell me you all think of each other as sisters, so I thought if I called you both mama, then I could call the others Aunt. Except Apple Bloom, obviously. She's like, two years older than me. She's too close to my age. Sweetie Belle too... never gonna call her Aunt either for the same reason." Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow looked at each other. "Well... she's right. We did tell her that once, actually, back in October.", Rainbow said.
"Haha, I'll bet the others will be just as surprised as we were when she calls them Aunt too.", Twilight said. The others grinned and nodded. When they got off the train after it came to a full stop, they saw Princess Celestia. By now, Lucky can fly farther and farther than she could in October, and she can fly 22 feet in the air. Ten more than last time. So this time she's able to fly to where they need to go, which is 20 feet in the air. Celestia was warned about Lucky coming when Rainbow and Applejack decided to bring her so that her question can be answered in person. (. ~.~ . :/ XD I dunno! 'answered in pony' don't sound right... so i'm stickin' with 'in person' for this context dammit lmao)
"Ok, let's answer Lucky's question first. You wanted to know what city or town you'd be Princess of right?" Lucky nodded. "Well... since Ponyville has a mayor, which is like a Princess or a Prince, I don't think Ponyville needs a Princess. Or maybe... yes, maybe Ponyville could have a Princess. The mayor could be like your advisor, which basically is a helper. So if or when something comes to you, you can bring it to the mayor and have her help you with whatever you need help with. She'll be your royal advisor."
Lucky smiled a big smile then nodded, "Ok, that sounds really good. We can tell the mayor tomorrow when we get back to Ponyville, then when will I become Princess officially?" Princess Celestia said, "Well then, how about tomorrow? All of Equestria might be here or they might see it on tv or hear it on the radio. You'll be famous Lucky Fire. You'll be known around the world. Are you ready for that?" Lucky gulped, then got a determined look on her face. "Yes Princess Celestia, I am ready for that and I have my friends to help me if I truly am not or show that I'm not ready. They will help me through everything that I need help with."
Princess Celestia smiled, "Good, I'm glad you have such good friends Lucky." Lucky then smiled, "Me too. I dunno what I'd do without them, or where I'd be without them." Princess then excused Twilight and Lucky so that she could get down to business with Applejack and Rainbow. The three of them made sure the two were gone so that they could talk. "Ok, so. We want to adopt Lucky as our own little filly. We've thought it over carefully over the two months and we decided, since we already treat her as on of our own anyways, we might as well adopt her. Besides, we even take care of her very well and we do everything we need to do to keep her healthy, and if she ever got sick, we'd nurture her back to health again.", Rainbow said.
"Yup, and also, she sees us as her own parents too, she even calls me Mama Applejack and she calls Rainbow Dash, Rainbow-mama, so that there proves and tells ya that we'd be cut out fer this thing. She loves us as parents and we love her as our own filly. Princess, what I, well we, want ta ask ya now is, do ya have any adoption papers in yer archives? Is there any adoption papers on file fer ponies like us ta fill out if ever need be?" Princess Celestia thought about that, trying to remember if she's ever seen anything like that. "Honestly, I have no idea, but we can go and look. Come on. Twilight's probably showing Lucky around. We'll be safe." So the two followed Celestia into the archives of the palace.
The three of them look everywhere, everything they get out is put back right away so that there is no mess to clean up and reorganize. After what seemed forever, and probably was, Celestia found it. "Oh here it is. It was under the Just in Case files. Files for if they aren't really needed right now, such as the adoption stuff, in which this adoption stuff came from that one eastern country, just in case." Rainbow and Applejack grinned. "Where we go to do the legal/official stuff?", Applejack asked. "In my office. Follow me." So they both followed her to her office, then they all sat down and looked over the papers.
"Wow, that's quite a bit.", Rainbow said when they finished reading through the packet, which took quite a bit. Twilight and Lucky came in when Celestia was about to ask them if they're absolutely a hundred percent sure they were up to this. "There you guys are, you've been gone forever it seems like, what'cha been doing?", Lucky asked. "Important stuff that older mares can only see and talk about. We still need to do some stuff a little bit. Want to go to the library and find a book to read while you wait?", Rainbow asked. "Sure... Come on Aunt Twilight, can you read me a book? Will you three find us when you're done?"
The three nodded, though Celestia was stunned when Lucky called Twilight 'Aunt Twilight'. Lucky giggled at Princess Celestia and left with Twilight. "When in Equestria did she start calling Twilight that?" Applejack chuckled lightly, "Since our train ride here." Princess Celestia shook her head, amazed, then started asking, "Ok, you're both absolutely sure, positively sure, one hundred percent sure?" They nodded. "Ok, well... you'll immediately be entitled to money for foster care and the official adoption, though it's only one filly, you won't get too much. Just enough to cover expenses. She has medical insurance to cover doctor's visits right?" Applejack nodded.
"Alright then, so no need for that although after so many years you have to renew it, just to let you know. Look on the back of her card to see when it needs to be renewed when you get back home." She crossed that off of the papers. "So, you get enough to pay for the house costs, right? You obviously make enough money from your farm's produce and stuff, right?" Applejack nodded, "Yes we do and seein' as we grow food, we already grow our own food, so we don't really need money fer food fer the six of us. We grow plenty fer everypony and ourselves. So, we cover medical expenses and food expenses already.
"Rainbow as well gets good money through bein' the supervisor, or main boss of the weather team, so with both of us makin' awesome paychecks, we don't need any help. What else?" Princess Celestia looked throughout the whole thing again. "That's actually about it. Help with house expenses, which you have covered with the business your family runs, medical expenses, which Lucky has insurance to cover, and food expenses, which with the kind of business your family has, is no problem. As well as Rainbow's job. I do believe that covers it all." The two nodded. "We can cross off everything you don't need for help with expenses, which is basically everything. So now you both have to sign wherever I 'x'ed it and give your information so that we know how to reach you and where to reach you if need be. So, I'll let you two fill this out."
Rainbow and Applejack looked it through, and signed/filled out wherever they needed to fill out. "Whew, ok. Done.", Rainbow said. "Finally.", Applejack said. Princess Celestia just smiled, took the papers, and looked them over. "Very good girls. I do believe you are now officially Lucky's mamas. Now, you said you'd tell her at Hearth's Warming, what a nice gift to Lucky. You two really do treat her as one of your own, and I'm proud. You two are great mamas in my opinion. Keep up the good work. Especially you Rainbow in teaching her to fly. She's gotten much better." They smiled and said thanks. Princess dismissed them and went to put the papers in their own file in the archives.
Applejack and Rainbow went to find Lucky and Twilight in the library. They found them by the window, Lucky was sleeping at Twilight's side. Twilight was laying down on her tummy, front legs out in front of her, Lucky was snuggled into Twilight, Lucky's head on Twilight's front legs. They smiled gently at the sight. "Man, do I ever wish I could capture that moment to keep forever. That is so cute.", Rainbow whispered. Applejack nodded in agreement. Applejack went up to Lucky and gently nudged her, "Lucky, kiddo, it's time ta wake up. We gotta catch the train back ta Ponyville."
They had left Ponyville on the 3 o'clock train earlier, now they're leaving on the 7:00 train, like they did when the Las Pegasus Princess was here. Lucky groaned, "Mama? Huh?" The three smiled. "Hey, c'mon. Let's go.", Rainbow said, then picked Lucky up by the scruff of her neck and put her on Applejack's back so she could lay on Applejack's back. Lucky protested at leaving her comfy spot, but when she was put on Applejack's back, she was content again. She fell back asleep and then the three of them got back to Ponyville.
Rainbow and Applejack were in the middle bunk with Lucky between them, Twilight was across from them on the other middle bunk across the aisle. They all slept and when they got into the station, the others all greeted them. They knew about the visit to the Princess and they wanted to know how it went, even if it was about midnight, they were too excited. "So, how did it go?", Rarity asked. "It went... very well.", Twilight said while yawning. Lucky was on Rainbow's back this time. "You all look so tired. How about we all go to my house at Sugar Cube Corner. It's closest.", Pinkie said. They all agreed to that.
Rainbow put Lucky on Pinkie's bed, and the rest of them just laid on the floor, well, except Rainbow, because Lucky won't be happy if she knew Rainbow at least wasn't right there next to her. Later that day brought partly cloudy skies and a chilly afternoon, everypony paid a visit to the mayor to let her know of Lucky's upcoming position of Princess of Ponyville and the mayor's position as mayor/advisor to the Princess in the afternoon, late afternoon, about 2-ish. The mayor was thrilled about that. They were happy to hear that, so they left for Canterlot ASAP.