Applejack and Lucky were on a train heading to Appleloosa, wearing emerald green vests, boots, and cowcolt hats with golden thread outlining the fabric and with shapes of apples embroidered all over their outfit. She was still flustered and trying to process why she had kissed Lucky. Even though they looked stylish and the atmosphere was exciting, the orange-coated earth pony was worried because she couldn't shake the thought that Lucky had luck powers. She wasn't sure if everything she had witnessed was just a coincidence or if her new friend truly had special abilities.
Despite her initial skepticism, Applejack couldn't shake the thought that Lucky might be right about her cutie mark granting her luck, especially considering her impressive rodeo skills. As the orange-coated mare glanced over, she saw Lucky being bombarded with questions by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. At the same time, her sister Apple Bloom asked, "Do you think your cutie mark gives you good luck?"
"I'm not entirely sure why, but having this edge is rather helpful."
Sweetie Belle took a look over at her flank and then let out an annoyed sigh, “I think that would be a cool cutie mark. Do you think I can get one like that?
Lucky wasn't sure what to do with good luck and asked, "What would you like to do with it?"
"I'm not sure why I should only focus on one thing. Maybe I could try singing or learning crochet. I might even be able to outsmart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon or help my friends find their cutie marks."
Scootaloo threw up her wings and confidently declared, "I'm the one who's going to have a cutie mark in luck, no doubt about it!"
Apple Bloom then clapped her hooves to her cheeks and squealed, "What if we all get cutie marks that bring us good luck!?"
The little filly bounced around excitedly and cried, "That would be amazing! We could do anything we want!"
The brown-coated mare scratched the back of her mane and responded, "I don't think you'll be able to get my cutie mark. Perhaps you'll discover something about yourself if you participate in some rodeo events?"
"Could you teach us? Please!" Apple Bloom asked as she scratched her mane. "We've seen you practice, and you're the best rodeo pony I've ever seen!"
The other two fillies chimed in, "Can you pretty please!?"
Lucky looked somewhat hesitant as she replied, "Well, that's up to Applejack since she's responsible for you."
Applejack wasn't sure Lucky was ready to handle her sister and her friends. Despite her suspicions of the mare, she reluctantly agreed, "Ok, ypu can give them some rodeo practice once we reach Appleloosa. Just make sure to keep an eye on those three."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered together; as Applejack glanced out the window and watched the desert landscape passing by. She wondered if she would uncover more information about Lucky during their visit to Appleloosa.
The train arrived at Appleloosa, and the ponies headed to the rodeo, a massive carrol with numerous obstacles, barrels, and hay towers surrounded by wooden fencing. Within the rodeo, ponies performed many kinds of tricks, with some lassoing, other bucking barrels, or jumping over hurdles. Lucky and Applejack guided the cutie mark crusaders through the crowd of earth ponies who were practicing. Applejack was impressed with the setting as different events were held at various practice areas. While there, they met a butter yellow earth pony stallion wearing a brown cowcolt hat and a vest of the same color. But Applejack winced, seeing that the stallion had a broken leg in a cast, and limped over to greet them. The stallion raised a hoof with a painful smile and greeted her, “Heyya, cousin!”
With a nervous smile, Applejack greeted Braeburn and said, "Hey ya, cus," the orange-coated mare looked at her friend and inquired, "Have ya met my Braeburn before?"
Lucky looked nervous and shook her head "no" with a worried expression; meanwhile, Braeburn seemed somewhat surprised by Lucky's beauty and asked, "Say, what's your name?"
The mare appeared to be feeling uneasy, slowly let out a hoof, and responded, "Uh, my name is Tro- I mean Lucky Horseshoes."
Braeburn was taken aback by what Lucky said and asked, "You wouldn't be related to Trouble Shoes, would you?"
The brown-coated mare became startled, sweat pouring down her forehead as she stuttered, asking, "Trouble Shoes? Who's that?"
The stallion expressed frustration by stomping his hoof and exclaiming, "He's a no good varmint, that's who! It seems he's always hellbent on ruining the rodeo!"
Lucky threw a hoof over her mouth and gave a gasp of surprise, then said, "Oh no, I hope you catch him before the rodeo."
Braeburn calmed down a little as he tipped his hat towards her, "I apologize, mam; if you're related to Trouble Shoes, maybe you can reason with him and convince him to leave Appleloosa alone."
"Alright, I'll pass along the message if we cross paths."
"There's no need to fret if you're not a relative. We haven't seen hide or hair of Trouble Shoes for weeks, so there shouldn't be any reason for concern."
Applejack showed a hint of doubt towards Lucky, who seemed unsteady on her feet. She turned to her cousin to help her new friend and asked, "Braeburn, can you tell us how you injured your leg?"
The stallion winced and lifted his broken leg, explaining, "It's just a training accident. I won't be able to participate in the rodeo. I'm sorry, cus. You'll be doing the hay stacking challenge without me."
"Ah jeez cousin, without you, there ain't gonna be any competition," Applejack scoffed.
"I'm confident that you both will do great even without me. Good luck, cuz!"
The mare on the farm looked at him questioningly after he made his statement. However, Braeburn quickly clarified, saying, "I didn't mean it literally!"
The orange-coated mare then turned her attention toward Lucky, who looked embarrassed. She couldn't hold back her suspicions anymore and needed to ask her some questions in private, so she turned towards her cousin and asked, "Braeburn, could you please keep an eye on the young fillies for a moment? I need to have a word with Lucky."
"Sure, can do cus!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly surrounded Braeburn as they bounced around him and bombarded him with questions about the rodeo.
Meanwhile, Applejack discreetly took her friend aside to ensure nopony overheard their conversation and whispered, "Excuse me, I recall you mentionin' that you're from Appleloosa."
Lucky gulped as she nervously replied, "Yes, I was."
"How in the hay have you not heard of this Trouble Shoes, let alone Braeburn!?"
"I am, I swear! I told you I didn't interact with the ponies here that much."
"Is there anything else you need to tell me?" Applejack asked suspiciously, noticing that Lucky was not being truthful.
Lucky paused as if she was going to say something but then looked downward as if she was ashamed, then said, "I should go back to teaching the cutie mark crusaders some rodeo techniques before they drive Braeburn crazy." The brown-coated earth pony hurried off to play with the fillies. Applejack simply looked towards her friend as her suspicions seemed to conclude that Lucky was hiding something and she was lying to her.
Later in the afternoon, Lucky Horseshoes joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders and helped them practice jumping over hurdles. However, the three fillies had difficulty knocking over the hurdles and falling into the dirt. They also attempted to lasso barrels but ended up getting hogtied. Lastly, they tried building a haystack, but it resulted in a huge pile that they all fell into.
Lucky felt uneasy while enjoying sandwiches and cold glasses of milk during a break. Applejack had doubts about the truthfulness of her story. Even during practice with other Appleloosans, they treated her as a stranger, despite her insistence that she was from Appleloosa and had never spoken casually with the other residents. She could sense that her life as Lucky was becoming less convincing. She then looked down at her flank, admiring it and being abit concerned.
"Hey, Lucky, you doing ok?"
The mare noticed that the three fillies were looking at her with concern. She felt sorry for causing them to worry and smiled reassuringly. "There's no need to worry; I'm doing well. I've just been thinking about some things."
She decided to maybe at least talk it over with the fillies and explained, "You see, my cutie mark is giving me these special luck powers, and I think that it could be considered cheating. I'm honestly considering not competing."
Sweetie Belle scratched her mane and said, "Hmm, I'm not sure what I would do in your shoes?"
Scootlaoo shrugged and said, "I don't see why you should feel bad for being lucky."
"I say, who cares!" Apple Bloom chirped in response, "It's great you even have a cutie mark! My friends and I have been trying for years, and we're still blank flanks!"
Lucky turned to see the three fillies beaming at her, and she felt better seeing how much they were looking up to her. "You’re right; I shouldn't be ashamed of my cutie mark. But I'm not sure if Applejack agrees. I think the more we practice, the more she thinks I'm cheating. You think I should bring it up with her before the competition tomorrow?"
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged uncertain glances while Apple Bloom said, "Although my sister can be stubborn, I'm sure you can maybe talk to her and get her to understand like we do. You're just being yourself and there's nothin' wrong with that."
Lucky stood up, feeling more confident in her motivation to talk to Applejack, and said, "You're right, girls. I'll discuss it with her later tonight. In the meantime, you three can spend time with Braeburn. Meanwhile, Applejack and I gotta go prepare for the hay stacking competition."
The fillies hugged her and cried together, "ok, best of luck!"
Lucky approached Applejack, who greeted her with a sheepish smile and a wave of her hoof. "Hi there! How were the girls? They didn't drive you too crazy, did they?"
The brown-coated mare wanted to say something, but as she stared into Applejack's eyes, she lost herself, felt her confidence waver, and said, "No, they were great! Let's start practicing that hay tower. Gotta make sure we have it down for tomorrow."
Applejack waved a hoof, "Alright then, try to keep up!"
The two earth ponies then raced across the dusty corral towards massive stacks of hay, where they began practicing building a tower of hay together.
Later that evening, after practice, Applejack was trotting through Braeburn's home. In the dark living room, she spotted her cousin had passed out on the couch, snoring rather loudly, leaving Applejack chuckling at the sight. It seemed her cousin had been busy looking after Apple Bloom, and her friend leaving left him exhausted. As Applejack crossed the room during a rainstorm, she wondered where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were. Knowing those three they snuck out to Celestia knows where. She slowly climbed up the stairs and peeked inside Braeburn's bedroom and let out a sigh of relief finding Lucky had tucked the foals in with the three fillies sleeping soundly. The sight was rather sweet, making her feel worse about what she was planning to do. But she needed to know what was happening with Lucky, especially before the rodeo. Applejack decided to make some relaxing cider before confronting her new friend. So she went to her cousin's kitchen and started to boil a pan of hot apple cider. Making cider was rather relaxing and helped take her mind off things. It wasn't long until the air was filled with the sweet smell of spiced apple cider. As Lucky came in, he sniffed the air and asked, "Oh, is that fresh cider?"
Applejack glanced at her friend and, despite her doubts, decided to be welcoming. She then offered, "Sure, I could use a cup after all that practicing. And I'm glad we managed to build such a huge haystack. We never practiced that in Ponyville."
With a nervous giggle, Lucky responded, "I didn't think we would break the world record. I wonder if we can try again tomorrow?"
"I hope things will go well, but I'm not too concerned. I'm confident that with your luck, we're gonna win every blue ribbon tomorrow."
The two soon to be rodeo stars enjoyed a peaceful moment in the kitchen while the rain pattered against the window, lightning flashed, and thunder roared outside. They sipped on warm cider and savored the calm atmosphere.
Looking out at the rain hitting against the window pane Lucky was the first to speak. "I can't believe we made it back before the rainstorm!"
“Yeah, guess ya know we were lucky.”
She then looked up from her drink and asked, "Are you comfortable with my luck powers?"
Applejack nodded slowly, sensing her conflicting emotions about Lucky's powers. She then stated, "I just gotta be honest. I have strong feelings for you."
Her friend looked up from her drink and squeaked, “Yes?”
Applejack sighed deeply, knowing full well she was going to break Lucky's heart, and confessed, "I also have to just say for the record, I didn't want to kiss you, but I did it anyway as if I was forced against my will."
“And what are you implying?"
The orange coated mare nervously sipped her cider before mustering up the courage to share her thoughts. "I've noticed that everything always seems to go perfectly for you during practice. It's almost like you have some kind of good luck power," she remarked.
"I…I’ve been trying to tell you I wasn’t lying. But is that ok with you?"
After finishing her cider, Applejack placed her mug down and said, "I believe there's more than what meets the eye, and I don't mean to offend you, but I think you've been lying to me."
Her partner was now gulping down her mug of cider with a worried expression on her face as Applejack looked at her intently, as she felt it necessary to uncover what she had been concealing, and said, "It seems like you aren't being honest with me. You claimed to be from Appleoloosa, yet no one there knows you. Also, you mentioned Trouble Shoes but said you don't know anything about him."
The brown coated mare winced but seemed to hold her tongue and whispered, "I can explain, but it may not be something you want to hear."
Applejack raised her head and spoke firmly, "If you can't be honest with me, I don't think we can work together as rodeo partners."
The brown coated mare covered her eyes with her hooves and said while crying, "Ok, I'll confess...I...I'm Trouble Shoes!"
Applejack’s eyes widened, surprised by the revelation, and cried, “Wait, you're who!?”
Lucky sat down heavily on the chair opposite, looking defeated. She then peered up and asked, "Do you like stories?"
“Well, I guess...is it a long one?”
Lucky chuckled and expressed disappointment, "I wasn't lucky this time. I was hoping you would say no." Then, she started her tale, "My real name was Trouble Shoes; since I was a colt, I always dreamed of becoming a rodeo star, but despite my best efforts, I always ended up making a fool of myself due to my clumsiness."
After taking a sip of cider, Applejack was taken aback by this revelation and asked, "Hold on, you were a stallion?"
Lucky sighed nervously while brushing her mane and responded, "Yes, I'll explain that in abit."
After finishing her cider, Applejack replied, "Alright, please go on."
Lucky let out a sigh and started her tale. "As a young colt, I once went to try out for the rodeo myself. As I went about doing a lasso routine, it seemed everything was going smoothly."
She then looked back towards her rump and swished her tail rather angrily. "But then my cutie mark appeared - an upside-down horseshoe. Not long after that, I ended up wearing a barrel and became a laughingstock in front of the judges."
Lucky paused in her story, seeming to shudder from her memory, then continued, "Despite the humiliation and my dreams of being a rodeo star dashed, I continued to attend rodeos. But somehow, my clumsiness always seemed to cause trouble, resulting in the Appleloosa rodeo being shut down every year."
The mare then turned back to Applejack looking right at her green eyes and comtinued her tale."So a few weeks ago, I learned about a mystical pool in the Everfree Forest that could change my life. So I did what any other pony in my situation would. I took a dip." She then threw a hoof over her chest and finished, "That's how I Good for nothing Trouble Shoes ended up as the luckiest mare south of Sweet Apple Acres!"
Applejack was stunned at the story seeing that everything was starting to make sense. With Lucky's strange behavior and her luck powers and exclaimed, "So the pool of reversal changed not only your cutie mark but also your gender. Now things are making a lot of sense!"
Lucky's friend appeared anxious but eventually admitted, "Yes, I wasn't to happy either seeing how I was turned into a mare." The brown-coated mare checked her flank once more and continued, "But without this new cutie mark, I wouldn't have a chance of becoming a rodeo star."
Applejack finished her cider and got up slowly from her chair. Although she was grateful that Lucky had finally told her the truth, she needed to express her thoughts and said, "I understand you despised your past life and wanted to change things, but this isn't you. I fear that you're gonna hurt yourself or others. You should go to this magic pool and return to your old self."
"I understand that I lied to you, and I feel terrible about it," said the former stallion, shaking her head. "But, I can't go back to being a good-for-nothing Trouble Shoes."
After listening to Trouble Shoes, Applejack got up, and said, "Listen, I get why you wanted to change your life, but this isn't who you are. I promise to compete with you tomorrow and will keep who you really are a secret. But until you change back to who you were before, I don't think we can be partners no more...and probably not even friends."
As the farm mare then turned to face Lucky who now had tears streaming down her friend's cheeks. Applejack felt remorseful but remained resolute in her decision. In response, Lucky rose up from the table and exclaimed, "Fine! We'll compete together, and after that, I'll just stay in Appleloosa!" The former stallion stormed off to the spare bedroom upstairs and slammed the door. Applejack winced at the sound of the door and looked up with a somber expression, feeling a pang of guilt in her gut, wondering if she was making the right decision.