Lucky Horseshoes

by Foal Star

Chapter Five: The Rodeo

The next morning came rather quickly, with the sun shining over the massive corral where the rodeo was taking place. The ponies are all setting up for events, with the first being the hurdle race. Lucky and Applejack were getting ready at the starting line with a group of other rodeo ponies. Lucky looked over at the rest of the ponies and saw how they were all rather serious and felt a little out of place. He still had this sense that, at any moment, he was going to trip over one of those hurdles and cause a crash for the rest of the competitors. Looking over to see that the farm mare was rather distant, seeing that they still hadn’t spoken since last night and how things were left. It was clear that the farm mare wanted to distance herself from him, but that was fine; he didn’t care. After the rodeo, everypony in Appleloosa will be in love with him, and he can find new friends who accept him. In fact, today, he would stop thinking of himself as that clumsy oaf Trouble Shoes. Today, he will be reborn as Lucky Horseshoes! The former stallion turned away to face the oncoming obstacles, trying to maintain his focus on the competition.

The announcer then proclaimed, “For the day's first event, we have the hurdle race! You will be jumping over the obstacles in pairs. For every hurdle hit, you'll have a ten-second penalty added to your overall time, so please keep that in mind! Now, first, let’s introduce our first pair; the twin sisters Sandy and Dusty, who have gotten the blue ribbon for nearly every event they've entered. It's the Dust Devils!

Two identical-looking mares with sand-colored coats trotted out onto the course, waving their hooves in the air with smiles on their faces. They then approached the starting line, where the mares bowed their bodies, preparing with their long tails flapping in the breeze as they readied themselves to start the race. Lucky watched as the pair went to the first shot down the lane with dozens of Appfleloosans in the stands cheering them on. The mare was amazed, watching the two clearing each wooden fence with ease like it was nothing. But then, as they neared the end of the race, one of the mares clipped the last hurdle and collided into the dirt. Her twin instantly stopped and went to help her sister up onto her hooves, then assisted her in crossing the finish line.

“Oh dear, it seems that one of the Dust Devils got a ten-second penalty, but they got a minute and thirty seconds even with the penalty! well done!”

There was then a round of applause with cheers and cowponies throwing their hats in the air. Lucky watched, being a bit surprised that the two made such a fatal error, and wondered if her bad luck had rubbed off on them but continued to watch as the next pair of ponies came forward. Then, two stocky muscle-built stallions, a red-coated one and a blue one sporting matching cowcolt hats and scarves, as the announcer proclaimed, "Next up is the toughest stallion couple in Appleloosa! Red Bull and his husband, Babe! They're rough and tough! But we know them as our very own Charging Bulls'' The two muscular ponies continued their trot down the lane, waving their hooves in the air as they did so.

This time, as the two started their charge across the lane, they suddenly tripped over each other at the start of the race, colliding headfirst into the fence. The two were stunned by the fall, but they continued jumping over each obstacle together, doing their best to make up for lost time. As they finished the race, the announcer shouted, “Despite the nasty start! They got to the end with a personal record of two minutes flat! Well done!”

There was another round of applause as the next pair came to the starting position; an orange-coated mare with a firey mane and bright yellow eyes trotted alongside her husband; a dark purple-coated stallion with an orange mane and silver eyes came out to the course as the announcer proclaimed, “Here comes one of the most famous duos who ever graced this corral, Mrs. Sunrise alongside her loving husband, Sunset. They might not always win, but they're always to see. But this couple goes by Sunset Love!" Their entrance came with another round of applause as they started running things out, being able to clear nearly every hurdle, making out halfway through, and were disqualified. The same thing happened over and over again, with Lucky realizing that something was off with the pair of ponies constantly messing up. It was like watching himself back before he took the dip into that reversal pool.

Then it was his turn as he and Applejack came to the starting line; when the countdown ended, the two burst off through the lane, clearing each fence post with ease. Despite the two still at odds, they still worked well, passing each hurdle, and it wasn't just luck; they were both athletic and seemed to be in sync with each other. They eventually reached the end with the announcer shouting, “Unbelievable, we have a new Appleloosa record! Thirty seconds!”

“Did you see that we didn’t just win? We broke the record!” Lucky squealed as she bounced up and down in excitement. Applejack took a hoof to her brow, wiped the sweat, and said, “Yeah, guess so…”

She looked down, seeming to be rather distraught about something. Lucky wondered what her friend could be thinking but kept her tongue as she didn’t want to anger her and keep their focus on the next event.

---

The next event was the barrel tossing contest, with the pyramids of barrels set up and ready. With piles of barrels about a hundred meters away with a few lassos set up.

“Now we come to the barrel tossing competition! The pairs of ponies will each have a chance to toss one barrel at their stack; the group that knocks the most down wins!”

Lucky got rather excited as this is one of her favorite rodeo events and watched with anticipation.

The twin sisters were up first, and they started lassoing and throwing their barrels, but they both ended up missing their marks and having their barrels smashed on the ground around the giant stack of barrels.

The two stallions both took their lassos and started to gain a lot of momentum. They ended up slamming their barrels into the tower successfully. Still, the tower only slightly wobbled, with only a couple of the barrels falling and crashing onto the ground around it. They were stunned, seeing they tossed their barrels with all their might, and they both looked rather confused.

The announcer then let out a laugh,” That was a mighty good throw, but it seems that the Charging Bulls were unable to put a dent in their tower. We shall see our next competitor's fare.”

The couple's team, "Sunset Love," then came to take their place, followed by light applause from the stands.

“Here comes Sunset Love; let's see if they can fare better than our last competitors!”

The couple then took up their lassos and started to swing them in a spiral around their heads, but the two then suddenly ended up accidentally hogtying each other, and they were now on the ground, tied up around each other. It didn’t take long for the two started to make out and kissing each other. There were a lot of dawwws from the crowd, and the announcer exclaimed, “Well…uh, didn’t expect that. Hopefully, Team Ponyville can steal the show!”

Lucky and Applejack both went towards their tower, took their positions, picked up their lassos, latched their projectile barrels, and sent them flying through the air and colliding them against their tower, knocking over every barrel. They looked to see that the entire stack was gone, and they had a perfect score; the only thing left of their tower was shattered pieces of wood and iron. The two mares were stunned, with Lucky even being somewhat surprised at how well they did. Then the stands erupted with thunderous applause, with ponies cheering as the announcer exclaimed, “Another perfect record and another blue ribbon taken by Team Ponyville! The duo from Ponyville is destroying the competition today! I can’t wait to see what these two mares can pull off next!”

Lucky was throwing her hooves in the air and waving at the crowd with a smile, soaking up the praise. She turned to see Applejack being bashful but gently waving a hoof as well.

The group of rodeo ponies were then escorted to the area where they set up the barrel weaving contest. This looked rather similar to the previous track, but this course had barrels set up as if on a chessboard.

“Ok, folks! This is the last event for our team events! Barrel weaving! Our competitors will have to weave through each set of barrels to the finish line, but if they hit a barrel, there will be a ten-second penalty! If they fail to weave through a single pair of barrels, they will be disqualified. Let’s see how our teams do!”

The twin sisters, the “Dust Devil” twins who rushed out of their gate with the two, seemed determined not to mess up this time. But they were constantly knocking into each other, and by the end, the announcer exclaimed, “There were a few bumps, but it seems the Dust Devils got a solid two minutes and thirty seconds! Well done!”

Up next, the Bulls came forward and charged through the barrels, with the two ending up smashing a few with the announcer shouting, “It seems the Charging Bulls have destroyed some of the barrels and will be disqualified!”

The two stomped off, grumbling under their breaths, and team “Sunset Love” then came forward and out of the gate the couple ended up just giving each other a peck on the cheek as they crossed and weaved through the barrels they didn’t hit any, but they were taking their sweet time. As they crossed the finish line, the announcer proclaimed, “It looks like our love birds got a solid five minutes, not the greatest time, but it seems they’re abit distracted. Let’s see how Team Ponyville does.”

Meanwhile, Lucky and Applejack both came forward; they gave each other a nod then they readied themselves. When the announcer shouted, “Go!” they were able to run together as a perfect pair, dodging and weaving through the barrels seamlessly. It wasn’t long until the pair of earth ponies made it to the finish line once more, with the announcer shouting, “Once again, team Ponyville scores the win and a new Appleloosa record!”

The crowd went wild with cheers flooding out from the stands and shouting their names, “Applejack!” and “Lucky!” over and over; the mare’s eyes went wide. She was blown away by this praise, and it felt like everything he had wanted since when he was a colt. But turning to see The farm mare looking downtrodden, she turned to him and asked, “Before the hay stacking can we talk?”

“Sure!”

The two then went to a secluded spot near the carrol, and there Applejack said, “Look, Lucky, don’t you see whatever that pool’s magic is doing? Look at our competitors, for crying out loud!"

She pointed a hoof down to the other teams and saw how wounded they were.

Lucky looked over at the wounded ponies and winced, seeing how they had bandages all over them. She couldn't help but feel bad as their state reminded her of when she was still Trouble Shoes and couldn't help but see that maybe her old bad luck might be rubbing off onto them and said, "I know what you're sayin', but we've gotten this far already; can't we just finish the rodeo?"

“Look, I know you want to win, but this has gotten too far, and I think it’s about time maybe we quit…”

Lucky couldn’t help but scoff, “Are you going back on your word? You said you would stick with me until after the rodeo.”

“I’m not. I don't want to, but we're cheating.”

Lucky pointed to the other competitors and snapped, “Their injuries have nothing to do with me.”

Applejack started to get frustrated and shouted, “It has everything to do with you! This isn’t about anyone but you! You're putting your own wants in front of everyone, including me!”

Lucky paused, seeing that Applejack may have a point, but she wanted to finish the hay stacking challenge, then said, “c…can we at least finish the rodeo? Then, after we're done, we'll talk more about this.”

“And you’ll at least consider what I've been saying?"

Lucky let out a sigh. She was still having mixed feelings about what Applejack was saying and said, “Look, I’ll think about what you said. For now, let’s just finish the hay-stacking competition.”

"Alright then, let's do some haystackin," Applejack replied as she and her friend headed to the giant haystacks. They went and started to create their hay tower, and they started to continue to stack them on top of each other. The pair had a strong start with the crowds as they continued to cheer them on as the tower went higher and higher, with the pyramid of hay now coming to a single stack with the top waving with a strong breeze threatening to fall. But Lucky and Applejack continued to grow the stack, with each new bale of hay breaking their original record and going even further than the measuring stick.

“Unbelievable! This has to be the greatest haystack I’ve ever seen!”

Lucky was nearly exhausted, with sweat dripping from her brow. She looked down to face Applejack, who looked even worse than her. “Hey, it’s tall enough; let’s get back down. We both could use a break.”

Applejack gave a tired nod as she looked exhausted; then she suddenly fell from the top, and the crowd gasped in shock. Everypony watched as the mare fell towards the ground below. Without thinking, Lucky dove towards her, grasping her and dragging a hoof through a bale of hay, yelping in pain as the full weight of Applejack onto one hoof. She was breathing heavily and grunting as she hoisted Applejack over her shoulders and then slowly climbed down from the tower. When she reached the base of the tower, she was heaving with long, deep breaths but could see the crowds cheering and chanting her name as the announcer continued, “Not only has Team Ponyville broken nearly every record and won every team event, but Lucky just saved Applejack's life! Fillies and Gentelcolts, this has to be the greatest rodeo duo I’ve ever seen!”

A massive gold trophy was then given to Lucky, who hoisted it up into the air as another round of applause, and it was cathartic and overwhelming. This was something she had only ever dreamed of, and she waved a hoof at the crowd, taking in the praise. It didn't take long for Applejack to get up and follow suit, waving a hoof as well, as she helped keep the trophy as high up as she could to make sure everypony in the stands could see. They stayed like that until the chanting and applause died off. Then the two heard their stomachs growling, and they began to trot off to the town's local saloon, the "Salt Block," for a well-deserved lunch.

---

Later that day, the two were at “Salt Block,” a rustic bar filled with a bunch of local Appleloosans. Lucky and Applejack were sitting in a booth with the two, scarfing down dandelion sandwiches while drinking down massive mugs of cold apple cider and sharing a block of salt. Applejack was still looking worse than herself, with eyes drooping and overall fatigue and slightly drunk. She must’ve licked half the block of salt and drank down two full pints of Apple Cider with their massive gold trophy towering over them covered with blue ribbon. Despite her state, Applejack was swinging her mug of cider about and chanting, “We won! Ponyville won! Wait until the big rodeo in Canterlot! We’re gonna get a hundred blue ribbons!”

Lucky could see some of the other patrons and the bartender eyeing them and whispered, “Hey, calm down, we don’t want to be kicked out.”

Applejack took another swig from her drink, then threw a hoof and cried, “Nah, they won’t kick us out, not as long as you're around!”

“I don’t think my luck powers will save us from ponies getting pissed at us.”

“Of course, they will. You saved my life, after all. If they can do that, they can do anything.”

Lucky leaned back in her chair, eyeing her friend as she asked, “So…you like them now? I thought you hated them.”

Applejack lowered her head with her hat covering her face as she whispered, “I was wrong.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I…I wouldn’t be here without you, and I just gotta say I was wrong for trying to make you become something you hate. Maybe I have issues with your luck powers, but that doesn't excuse how I acted last night.” She then looked over at the trophy and said, “But this was the first time I've ever won this many blue ribbons…heck, the first time I've ever won a blue ribbon at any rodeo."

“Soooo, you're taking back what you said last night?”

Applejack licked the salt brick a few times, took another swig of her cider, then said, “Well, like I said before, I still have my misgivings bout your luck powers, but yeah, I take back what I said.”

“And we’re still friends even if I decide I'll stay this way?”

“Yeah…you can even stay with me at Sweet Apple Acres if ya like?"

Lucky eyed, Applejack, still not completely buying what she said, then asked, “Is this the salt and cider talking? Why would you suddenly change your mind?”

“Because I just told ya you saved my life.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And I saw how winning made ya happy, and I don't think it'll be right taking that away from ya," She then looked up at Lucky and got rather serious as she said, “But you gotta promise me you will look into this life-swapping pond some more with Twilight. I still think we caused trouble for those other teams; it ain’t right.”

“Of course!? I can do that…look; I get you're worried that we cheated. I saw that the other teams were performing horribly as well,” Lucky looked back at her cutie mark again and said, “Maybe you have a point that this goes beyond just having good luck…if my old bad luck is rubbing off on other ponies I'll try to find a way to stop it.”

“You will?”

Lucky looked up and stared at Applejack and said, “I promise when we go back to Ponyville, I'll tell Twilight the truth about me and look into what’s going on.”

The orange-coated earth pony staring back smiled with a nod, then said, “And uh, maybe this is the salt and cider talking, but um…ya know…last time we kissed, it was super awkward, and maybe it was your luck powers making me feel giddy…but you wana try again?”

Lucky leaned in and kissed her on the lips, then asked, “How was that?”

Applejack was speechless, but then a smirk grew on her face as she said, “That's the best you can do?”

The orange-coated mare leaned in, and they started to make out a little. Then they both got up, leaving the bar carrying the trophy between their back. Once they were out on the dusty roads of Appleloosa, they found the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Braeburn outside waiting for them. They all started to congratulate the victors and led them back to Braebrun’s house to throw a massive celebration!

Comments

[Phetiamwantip]

I’m glad Applejack forgives her, and I can’t wait to see Lucky is going to participate in the Iron Pony competition with Rainbow Dash. I wanna see how great those two will do. Take everything you can from what people say. Keep going and stick to your instincts. And what your soul tells you to do, use that.

Also, I calmed myself down and never stressed myself about editing.

Here’s a song that will make you rise up. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/y7dy9z-jTxM

[Skrepka]

Thanks for the chapter.

[hmaf43]

There is always a third option of completely remove the cutie mark.