Stroke of Luck

by Gboyd

Chapter 5: The Arrival

'They say the past always comes back to bite us. And they're right.... If we let it. ' - Anonymous

Twilight dropped the quill, her hand throbbing. She could her blood pulsing through her fingers after all the writing she'd done. Twilight took a deep breath and rolled up the scroll.

The throne room doors closed, startling Twilight. She shrieked, the parchment falling to the floor.

"Sorry," Spike briefly apologized. He took a few steps into the room and hopped up into his little throne beside hers. Twilight sighed in relief and gave him a small smile.

"That's alright," she assured. "Guess I'm was just so focused and... " Twilight yawned. Spike looked on with an amused expression.

"And tired?" he finished. Twilight giggled. "You know me too well."

There was a moment of silence, filled by Twilight's pen scratching. Spike gazed at the gold table, not really seeing. Gradually, his head began to droop, along with soft snores.

Twilight, hearing this, glanced up and caught his head with her wings. Spike continued to snore, causing his caretaker to chuckle.

An hour later, with the stars high in the sky, Twilight was walking down the crystalline hallways, a tuckered dragon tangled up on her wings, snoring like a freight train. The sound made Twilight smile and shake her head.

When she had gotten up, Spike had refused to let go of her wing, forcing her to carry him awkwardly down the hall. Twilight laughed softly again at the thought. "And he says he's a big dragon," she whispered to herself. After tucking Spike in, Twilight made her way down the hall, ready to turn in.

She closed her chamber door and locked the handle. A sharp sound split the night, causing Twilight to charge her hands with and whip around to face the intruder.

"Who?" Owliulicious hooted, cocking her head in confusion. Twilight relaxed her guard. "Oh, it's just you." She stretched again, and made her way to the bathroom.

After doing her night routine, Twilight walked back to her bed under the cover of darkness, and let sleep take her over.

***

The bumpy, uneven carriage ride glided into Ponyville around half-past one the next afternoon. Thatched roof houses, young people milling about in the square, and the gold and burgundy color theme the town possess just gave off a welcoming atmosphere. Well, to most people.

Lily and her family descended from the carriage, with her mother gushing on and on about, 'just how cute this town is!', 'what rustic charm!' and, 'Oh I wish we had visited it years ago!' Lily rolled her eyes for what seemed the millionth time today. Honestly, it was so cheesy she wasn't whether her mother was sincere or not. And really, what was there to say about this dirt street attached mud houses that they called a town? The answer? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This 'town' is more of a setback than Appleloosa is, and that's really saying something!

Lily picked up her ballet flat and shook it in disgust. The main highway wasn't even paved! Were they in the wilderness or civilization? And the princess lived here? Please. Either this was some kind of cruel prank, or her parents had lost their minds.

Before she could make another move, a rainbow blur rocketed into her side and continued going until Lily ended up in... A mud puddle. She froze, feeling the cold sludge seep through her expensive silks. Her ballet flats were forever damaged! She screamed in rage.

"How DARE you!?" she shrieked at the rainbow blur, who was hovering just above her head. Lily groaned and slowly picked herself up off the ground. She could feel the eye of every citizen on her, and even heard a few snickers, which only increased her anger. Cheeks crimson, Lily stomped a foot, sending mud everywhere. Yet at this point, she no longer cared.

"WELL!?" She demanded, holding out her arms. "Clean me up!"

The rainbow blur hesitated, then darted forward. Lily squeaked in fear as the air around her slowly funneled upwards, changing colors and lifting up the mud. Lily sighed in relief as the rainbow blur finished. Lily paused. Something wasn't right. A pale, orange lock of hair bounced off her cheek, frizzed out and puffy. Lily froze. Her hair..... She let out a ear-splitting scream, causing Rainbow to clap her hands over her ears.

Rainbow peered at the mud-civered teen through bleary eyes, ears still ringing from the girl's sheer pitch. It should made illegal that one's voice is able to go that high. Rainbow fluttered as close as she dared, for fear her would longer work after this. She offered a hand to help her up, but the girl slapped her hand with an angry cry. Rainbow gritted her teeth. She wasted too much time on this.

"My hair.....! " the girl wailed. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of.... " Leave the dramatics to her. In fact, Rainbow could help her greatly on her way. Her concerned expression slowly morphed into a face of mischief. With a flap of her wings, she sent the brat right back into the puddle with a breeze and flew off; heart and mind in another direction, leaving enraged screams to echo behind her.

Rainbow flew on, shaking her head, trying to get rid of the ringing. "Good riddance," she muttered.
A shout tinged with a country accent slowed her flight, and she looked down to see Applejack, who tipped her Stetson in greeting. Applejack's freckled face was pinched with worry. Rainbow felt a stab of panic and fluttered down closer.

"Something wrong with the preparations, AJ?"

The farm girl shook her blond locks. "Nope. But somethin's ticklin' yer throat. Ye look ya swallowed a lemon and got dropped into a herd a swine." Rainbow snorted.

"You could say that again," came the reply. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

Rainbow kicked a foot, beginning to grow sheepish. "Aw, nothing. I just ran into some Canterlot big-shot, and I may have..... Sent her into a mud puddle?"

Applejack decended into giggles, causing Rainbow to laugh along.
"Although I dunno who's worse off-her ruined hair and clothes, or my still-ringing ears." As if to prove her point, she rubbed her ears. Applejack gave a sympathetic nod.

"Where'ya headed off to in a such a hurry?"

Rainbow glanced off to the side. "Answers."

Applejack gave another nod. "I'm actually headed there myself. Care to give me a lift?"

Rainbow smiled. "Sure." She dropped lower, wrapped her arms around Applejack's torso and flew off. Applejack tightened her hold by grabbing onto Rainbow's arms. The act caused Rainbow to smile again. She always loved holding her friends like this.

"Well looky there," Applejack said, startling Rainbow. She looked up, only to see their other friends headed in the same direction.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rainbow cheered. She increased her speed, carrying a panicked Applejack.

None of them saw the mud covered silliouhette behind them, eyeing the rainbow figure with something close to hatred.

Author's Note:

Just to be clear to everyone, in this universe, everything will nearly be the same as it is in the show--except for one thing: this story was in development before season 9 was aired. Also, to identify races, (in case anyone has questions) those with wings will be called pegasii, those possessing magic will be called unicorns, and those without either will be called children of the earth, or earthlings. Okay? Okay. Now, onward to the story!

Comments

[Dark Rose 777]

Looks good so far, I caught couple mistakes, but they didn't bother me . I have a feeling Lily is going to show up a lot more often in the future.