[Ponyville] Dancing In The Rain

[Puck]

Violet Mischief was on one of her usual walks through town as usual. The young unsupervised filly felt a bit shivery with the chilling in the air. She hoped her cape and hood would keep her warm through whatever nature had in store for her today. A light haze was in the air today as well. It was pleasantly cold for everypony in Ponyville who planned on sitting indoors with a warm drink. For everypony else. Despite the coldness it hadn't seemed to put a damper on her mood a bit, as she skipped along down the road into town with her usually silly grin.

She hoped to find some poor unsuspecting filly or colt to scare with her pranks as usual. A rubber spider in her cape's pocket as well as a few bits in case she felt like going to Sugarcube Corner for a bite to eat later on. As she had made her way to town she noticed a raindrop hit her nose... She looked up and felt another couple more. A couple more sprinkled down and it started to rain. Her silly grin started to bend a bit into a worried expression as she scurried looking for somewhere to stay out of the rain, making her way to town.

[Lucky Breeze]

Just a little more green, aaand... there, perfect! Well... maybe not perfect, but it's definitely an improvement over last time... Lucky Breeze had just added the finishing touches to her painting of Ponyville. It definitely looked more detailed than her previous attempt. Again, it wasn't perfect, but Lucky knew she was getting somewhere. She smiled as she set her brush down in a small bucket of water by her side. She smiled brightly at the painting. But then it began to rain. Oh, how could I have forgotten! I knew they were schedulling a rainstorm, I work at the weather factory...

Lucky quickly grabbed her painting and rushed towards her house, which was thankfully close by. She set it down near the door way and inspected it; the rain had ruined parts of the sky, but Lucky had become good enough to where she could fix those imperfections with little effort. The foal quickly rushed outside to grab the rest of her supplies. She carefully balanced the easel on her back, and carried her water bucket and paint pallete on her back. It didn't take long for her to rush them back home. She simply set them on the floor inside; her parents weren't home so she could organize them later. At the moment, she just wanted to get cleaned off, so she headed back out into the rain to wash the many colors from her white pelt.

As she stood under the gently falling rain, Lucky noticed a pony was coming her way. Though Lucky was intentionally having herself a shower, she figured that this other pony might not enjoy the rain. "H-hey!" she called. "You should come inside. This storm is supposed to get pretty bad..." She motioned her towards her house, but stayed outside to rid the rest of the paint from her still blank flank.

[Zeph]

so refreshing! this was one of those perfect times for Sherbet to take a walk around town. maybe she should bring her cart with her as well! you never know if anypony would buy ice cream today until you try! I certainly would~ Sherb thought as she strapped onto her cart and trotted though her usual route she took.

strange... the streets seem to be a tad empty... why? the multi-colored filly blinked as she reached the other side of Ponyville. maybe there was something she forgot? and then it hit her. a cold, hard rain drop splashed right onto her back. "eek!" she placed the pieces together... a storm was coming, and a big one at that. the filly could use her own ice cream cart as a shelter, but then she would be stuck in there for quite some time. she then saw another strange filly walking through the area, as well as a pegasus signalling her to come in. would Sherbet be allowed to stay as well? one could only hope.

[Cat Napper]

C-cold. Cat's movements were slow and limited, think a reptile losing body heat and being unable to produce more of it's own. One hoof in front of the other, the little pegasus girl walked with her wings and ears pinned close to her body for warmth. The weather was beginning to pick up, a little bit more into a full blown storm and it would be perfect weather for awesome-ing. She hadn't been out much and her wings were itching to fly her some place. She'd be out braving that storm in the most reckless of possible ways if it weren't so gosh darn cold! Teeth chattering, Cat began a feeble attempt to pick up speed and reach town square to find her apartment from there. Her tail swished in quick jerks with her rapid shivering, the droplets of fresh precipitation began to sink into her coat and chill her even further.

Her exhausted eyes scanned the nondescript, gray weather around her and surprisingly she saw another figure braving the rain. A younger filly, what was she doing out? The weather would become severe in only a short time, for anypony less experienced in storms than Cat Napper herself that would be a dangerous feat. She stiffly trotted over to the indigo coated unicorn filly and smiled warmly despite the numbingly cold conditions. "W-weather's not t-too nice today huh? What're y-you doing out here b-b-by yourself? S-shouldn't you be st-staying warm inside like everypony els-s-se?" Her chattering teeth and shivering jaw made it difficult to talk as quick a pace as she'd like to. She said more to herself than the other pony in front of her. "N-not my kind of weather t-to say the l-l-least."

Cat Napper was unusually sensitive to the cold, she had been ever since she was a young foal learning to flutter her wings. Even if this weather wasn't considered cold by Ponyville standards, she could still sense the sudden decrease in temperature. And she didn't like it. One thing the normally tolerant pegasus filly couldn't stand was cold weather. She'd been out today hearing that a storm was scheduled but was caught offguard by the rapid decline in heat that accompanied it. Swishing her tail irritably, she thought to herself how convenient it would've been if the weather ponies decided to include the cold in their report so she'd know ahead of time.

[Puck]

"It's gonna get worse?" Violet asked surprised. Her cape and hood dotted with dark spots from the rain slowly getting more and more damp. Violet sighed, "Darn, I'm far from my house too! I'm gonna get soaked to the bone If I stay out here any longer." She said rearing on her hind-legs for a moment and tried to shake off more rain from her cape. To her misfortune in the midst of her shaking her precious rubber spider slipped out of her pocket landing in the wet grass.

With a faint *squeeaa* she heard it had it the ground and looked down, "Oh no! Skitters!" She scooped up the squeaky rubber spider looking rather sad and wiped the grass and rainwater off of the toy. She frowned rather sadly and patted it's head before putting it back in her pocket. "Hey is there anywhere nearby I can stay in to wait the rain out?" she said a disappointed. "I live on the outskirts of Ponyville, and I don't think I'll be able to get back if the rain gets worse... Hey how do you know it's going to anyway?"

Violet looked over noticing two other ponies she wasn't familiar with out in this weather. "Uh-oh... Looks like I'm not the only one caught out here either."

[Lucky Breeze]

"I uh... I volunteer at the weather factory. And I kinda helped make this storm..." she mumbled. "A-anyways, it doesn't matter, you should come inside." Just as Lucky spoke those words, two more ponies came towards them. She couldn't possibly invite all of them into her home... could she? But then again, she couldn't turn them away. Lucky wondered what her parents would think, if they saw who she had invited into their home. But it was unsafe outside, and she didn't have a choice. "Y-you should all come inside," she said, and she opened the door and waved them in. She quickly hid her new painting behind the door way and moved her painting supplies towards the end of the room. She felt nervous with all these older ponies around. Not to mention that they were strangers. But Lucky Breeze viewed this as an opportunity to help her become less reserved... hopefully it wouldn't backfire.

[Zeph]

"oh oh oh! thanks a lot!" Sherbet tiptoed towards the entrance of the house. she did not want to get her hooves wet, cause then she would have to clean the to walk in. it would be so rude if she dirtied this pony's home. "ugh... silly rain. why can't you just go away? and it was such a refreshing day too!" the earth pony groaned as she watched the drops increase. they didn't have much time.

Sherbet would have already walked inside if it wasn't for one teeny problem: her ice cream cart. now she simply regretted taking it with her. "umm...you wouldn't have enough room in there for this baby, would you?" the pony asks, giving her cart a light kick to highight what she was referring to.

[Puck]

Violet shuffled inside akwardly with the others. She didn't really even know the Pegasus that had just invited her and the others inside but preferred it over being drenched outside. She looked around the interior of the room and thanked Lucky, "Umm thanks...! Hey what's your name anyways? It's a bit strange being in somepony's home I don't even know." She extended a hoof in greeting, "My name's Violet, well Violet Mischief but Violet's shorter."

She looked down at her hoof realizing it was soaked and covered in mud and grass... She wiped it off on the ends of her cape, "Eh... Maybe we shouldn't shake on It... Heh..." she looked back worried she had trailed mud in with her... "Umm... Oops. Sorry If I made a mess...!" she tried looking sincere grinning hoping that that Lucky wouldn't be too mad.

She flipped back her hood, "So you helped make this storm at a weather... Factory...?" clearly her lack of knowledge on Pegasi and there hand in weather was little to nothing.

She suddenly remembered something, "Gasp! SKITTERS!" Violet quickly reached into her wet cape's pocket taking her toy spider out and sat him on her head like a hat to dry off.

She looked over at Sherbet's cart, "Oooh, neato cart! what's in it?"

[Cat Napper]

Cat blinked in surprise at the little pegasus foal's offer to let them come into her home. Such a sweet offer, but she couldn't possibly say yes. How would her parents react to having an unknown teenage filly hanging around? The rain began to pick up and Cat's shiver's sped up with it. But she couldn't say no either. Her own home wasn't too far away but the stiffness in her joints brought up by the cold would make the trip that much longer.

"Sweetie th-that's very nice of ya to do that but.." Cat looked at the pegasus foal who'd just shown her such hospitality. She looked far too young to be living on her own, that's for sure. "Y-you sure your parents'd be alright with strangers in your home?" The filly was beginning to get a grip on her speech as warmth quickly spread through her moist coat when she entered the foal's home. Now that she felt much cozier, Cat stretched her wings and kicked the mud off of her hooves before walking in and settling her small body to occupy a spot as she dried off. Feeling much better than before, Cat Napper felt less willing to head back outside. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to stay put for a little while. "You've got quite a bit of company here, kid." She said looking at the two other ponies the foal had invited in. One seemed stumped at trying to fit her ice cream cart in. "That's so generous of you to offer your ho-OOOOHGOSH!" Cat Napper jolted and scooted away from the violet filly she'd spoken to before entering. An enormous black spider rested on her head, giving the artist pegasus a chill of fear down her spine. She subconsciously raised her wings defensively over her eyes. Please don't let it touch me. She pleaded within her mind. Pleasepleaseplease Celestia don't let it near me..!"

[Puck]

Completely distracted by her questions she had asked Lucky she looked over by Cat Napper who was clearly startled by Skitters. She giggled, "Let who touch you? This little guy? He's absolutely harmless~!" Her horn glowed as she made the little spider float in front of Cat and made it flip and wiggle around as it made silly squeaking noises~!

Violet's horn grew a tab bit brighter as the toy spider wiggled it's rubbery front arms in greeting and bowed like a gentlemen as she made him do so, like a marionette without strings. Giggling she grabbed skitters with her mouth and tossed him onto her back. "Hehe! See? Harmless." Violet giggled to herself wondering if Cat Napper knew it was a toy or not...

[Cat Napper]

A squeak of shock slipped past Cat Napper's lips as the unicorn levitated her pet directly in front of her face. Her tail shot straight out and she backed away, face growing pale. Scraping her legs against the ground in a frantic attempt to scoot herself as far against the wall as possible, her gray eyes unintentionally raised and met the beastly thing straight on. "GAHH! Getitawaygetitawaykillitkillitkillit.." She wanted to look away but couldn't bring herself to part her gaze from the black, vile.. oddly flexible arms. Arachnid arms aren't jointed to move like that she reminded herself. It was then that a very, very humiliating revelation crossed into her mind. With a red hot flush of embarrassment, Cat Napper realized that it wasn't a living creature. Her brows furrowed as she exclaimed her displeasure. "Th-that was not funny! It-" She cut herself off with a clear of her throat. Manners, Cat. Manners. She was in someone else's home after all. "..i-it's a very convincing.. rubber spider.." She mumbled quickly, rubbing a forehoof awkwardly behind her head with a nervously forced giggle. The pegasus blushed a deep scarlet beneath her fur and in her mind cursed herself for such irrational behavior.

Knowing Cat, she would now proceed to try and cover up her mistake with something else. But as of right now her mind was blanking. She kept silent and made a vow to keep herself as unnoticeable as possible until the storm cleared up.

[Puck]

Violet patted Skitters, his little wiggly legs bobbing with each pat, "Convincing isn't he? He's just a darling." She outstretched a hoof as apology, "Sorry If he spooked you a little too much. Just couldn't resist the opportunity. I'm Violet, and you are?" She asked the strange flushed looking pegasus whom Violet felt a bit bad for scaring so badly. Despite feeling bad, as usual a wide grin stretched across her face and a few giggles slipped out despite her best efforts to contain them.

[Cat Napper]

Being a poor sport wasn't high on Cat's list of things to do. Not ever. She gave a little laugh while trying to stop herself from her excessive flushing. Yup, she was tricked alright, and pretty good at that!

Cat Napper tossed her mane out of her eyes in an attempt to distract her embarrassment while responding to Violet. "It's alright, and I'm sorry too. As an artist I should been able to tell the difference between rubber and real spiders." She lifted a pair of orange goggles from around her neck and strapped them over her eyes. All details became much more clear, and the spider was quite obviously a fraud now with her enhanced vision. "My eyes aren't what they used to be, but that's what these are for." She chuckled softly at the sound of herself saying that. She was only sixteen, she was making sound like she was forty! Quietly she added. "I just needa start usin' em is all." Back to her quickly slopped together speech, anypony who knew Cat could tell she was quickly relaxing as always. "I'm Cat Napper. You can call me Kitty Cat, Cat, Cheetah, whatever you prefer. I got quite a few nicknames earned. I sleep 16 hours a day, just like a cat." She gave a humorous grin and set her forehooves neatly down in front of her in a very feline pose. She cocked her head slightly to the side in habit as she always did when asking questions, her goofy smile still spread over her face. "Nice to meetcha. Who are you?"

[Lucky Breeze]

Lucky Breeze raised a brow at the multi-colored pony as she asked if her cart could be brought in from the rain. "Oh, uhm, I don't know... wait, is that ice cream? Pft, yeah! Bring it in!" Lucky said excitedly. She then turned to face the purple one. "I'm Lucky Breeze," she replied shyly. There was something about her that made Lucky a bit wary. Not to mention the spider; even though it was fake, it still freaked her out.

Lucky finally faced the other pony who had entered her home. "Oh, it's okay... uhm, I couldn't possibly leave you out there in the rain. My parents would understand." I hope... Hopefully, the storm would only last a couple of hours. Then again, the young pegasus was glad to have some company, even if they weren't her age.

After the four of them had made their way into the house, Lucky stood in front of them and spoke up as best she could. "So uhm... I'm Lucky Breeze. Luckily... hehe... my home was nearby. So you're welcome to stay for a while... just uhm, be careful? I guess... sorry, I'm not used to having guests. But it's nice to meet all of you..." she said. Lucky closed the front door, and realized that her painting was still hidden behind it. She grabbed it and stuffed it, as well as her other painting supplies, into a nearby closet. She made her way over towards the rest of the group and sat nearby. She felt a bit out of place... but at least there was ice cream! Hopefully the brightly colored pony would let her have some.

[Zeph]

"oh! thankie!~" Sherbet grinned as she trotted in with her large cart. hopefully, it wouldn't make that much of a mess if she left it in a nearby corner of the room. nodding to Violet and Lucky, she responded. "yup! this cart if full of my homemade ice cream! I was just taking my usual route through town, but the streets were empty. apparently, not all ponies like ice cream on a cool day. go figure." the pony shrugged as she unstrapped herself from her cart.

as she walked towards the other ponies, she noticed the floating spider squeaking and dancing in front of cat. "eek!...huh?" a second glimpse of the arachnid would confirm it to be but a simple squeaky toy. this caused sherbet to giggle. "hehe, nice spider ya got! you certainly fooled me!" she smiled at violet before turning towards lucky. "I wanna thank you for letting me-um us, in your house. my name's Sherbet Sorbet, but feel free to call me Sherbet!"

[Puck]

Violet looked over to Sherbet, "Hehe, thanks." She grinned looking at Sktters, "So you made the ice-cream yourself? That's awesome! That sounds like it'd be hard to do... Then Again I don't know how ice-cream is made." Violet looked over to the window with her hooves and face pressed against the glass looking at the downpour outside, "I wonder how long this rain will last, I hope it doesn't keep us here all night. I don't think Cat's parent's or mine would be happy with me being here unannounced." she said sounding serious for a change.

She looked over to Cat, "So how long do you think it will be? You sound like you know a lot about this storm than the rest of us, Miss Goggles~!" she said again with a slight chuckle cutting her seriousness short just as it started.

[Cat Napper]

Cat smiled warmly at the little pegasus foal, Lucky Breeze was her name. "That's really nice of ya Lucky. I hope we're not gonna be a bother at all." She shifted into a more comfortable sitting position and flicked her tail over her legs like a blanket. "Nice to meet all of ya. Ice cream probably gets you a nice income huh Sherbert?" She inquired. A bit of home made ice cream is never a bad thing, though right now Cat felt like a warm snack would suit her better. She thought about her parents when Violet mentioned them. Ah, those two worked at the weather factory full time. They were probably worried about their little daughter Cat Napper when the storm was scheduled for Ponyville. "My mum and dad live in Cloudsdale. I'm in charge of myself so I won't be in trouble." Giving a laugh at Violet's comment, Cat adjusted her goggles straighter over her eyes to see the gleeful face of her new unicorn friend.

"Mum sent me a letter a bit ago sayin' it'll be pretty severe. I don't quite remember how long she said it'd last.." She scratched her chin with a forehoof as she dug through her memories unsuccessfully. "All I know is she was very concerned about my 'reckless storm-flying habit.' Oh, parents." Cat rolled her eyes and giggled again.

She did miss them a lot, but getting a break from those worry worts was pretty refreshing even she had to admit. "It's gonna be a big one that's fer sure." A low rumble of thunder supported her statement, and Cat perked her ears with an awed look on her face. Her wings opened and fanned very slightly as she got the urge to race out into the storm. But then she reminded herself, too cold. Her wings folded immediately upon remembering the cold. Oh, why couldn't it be a warm summer storm? Cat's ears drooped slightly in disappointment.

[Lucky Breeze]

Lucky Breeze eyed the ice cream anxiously. She couldn't help it; her parents didn't allow her to have too many sweets. "Oh, you're welcome, Sherbert," she replied meekly. She smiled just slightly. It took a lot for Lucky to open up to other ponies, but these ones were seemed nice enough, and Lucky certainly considered herself a good judge of character. When Violet called Cat 'Miss Goggles', Lucky just had to giggle.

Lucky spoke up after Cat was done talking. "Oh, I think... it's supposed to last into the late night. My parents are on clean-up duty tonight to get rid of the clouds. They uh... they told me to go to bed early tonight. I'm not allowed to stay up too late..." Lucky said. It wasn't her fault that her parents sheltered her so. Due to the bullies she had in flight school, they moved from Cloudsdale to Ponyville. Lucky understood why they kept her on the straight and narrow, but she still wished she could live a normal life.

"I guess, uhm... since you're all here though, I'll stay up to make sure... n-nothing happens. N-not that you ponies would do anything bad! Th-that came out wrong..." Lucky said, and she shuffled her hooves shyly. "Well, while you're here... would you like anything to eat or drink? I don't think my parents would be too thrilled with you eating all our food... but, I'm a growing gal, they'll understand," she said with a giggle.

[Puck]

Violet sat down making herself comfortable cuddling Skitters, now comfortable and a bit dryer than earlier sitting in the warm house. She looked over at Lucky's comment wondering how long it had been since she had eaten that day but didn't feel right asking for food from a stranger so she kept quiet. She noticed Lucky's comment on "Not being able to stay up late" and found it odd, "You can't stay up late?" she asked puzzled. She wrapped herself up in her cape like a coat, "I love being up late, It's so pretty outside at night, and quiet~!" she remembered her late-night trips she made, sneaking out when her parent's were asleep or away crawling out her bedroom window into town. Stalking around looking for anypony out late to scare. She giggled, "Ponies are way easier to spook at night. It's fun. They act the same way they say they do in scary stories, hehe!"

[Lucky Breeze]

Lucky Breeze smiled at Violet. "Oh, I like it too! It's just... my parents treat me like a younger foal, even though I'm quite a ways through school. But I still don't have my cutie mark, so..." Lucky paused and spaced out for a moment. When Vi mentioned spooking other ponies in the dark, the pegasus giggled nervously. "Just... don't scare me, okay?" she pleaded, although she trusted the other pony based on her first impressions. She may have looked a bit spooky, but seemed incredibly friendly. Lucky smiled, knowing she had no regrets of letting these ponies into her home.

The pegasus yawned, but covered her muzzle with her hooves to hide it. She was tired, yes, and her parents would want her in bed at this hour. But there was something about these other ponies; Lucky felt very comfortable around them. And while her parents had their rules, the little one was growing up. She would have to make her own rules eventually. With her new friends- yes, friends- it made the task much less daunting.

[Cat Napper]

Cat Napper folded her wings tightly against her back and smiled to the little group around her. Violet was very lively, she'd keep an eye on this one else she'd get in trouble in the blink of an eye. "I stay up as late as I want usually, livin' on my own. I don't try to stay up too late, though I get so wrapped up in my art sometimes I can't help it." She giggled at herself, always one to get the job done day or night. "So Violet, you seem a bit too young to be wanderin' around at night." The filly asked shifting her gaze to the little purple unicorn. "Do your parents know about that?"

[Puck]

Violet looked over at CatNapper thinking about what she said... She had remembered her parents said they'd be out of town for a day most since they had to go out on another delivery... They had quite alot of fabrics to deliver, much more than usual so she knew they'd be gone long enough for her to get home before they knew....

"I'm sure they don't know. I do this alot, I don't get in trouble unless I get caught, hehe! Or get hurt, which was why I don't spend much of my time outside at the Everfree Forest or other dangerous places unless I know I'm gonna be safe." She giggled at the memories she had of playing around in the forest, the Everfree Forest had the coolest bugs~! And all those cute little spiders with such interesting patterns, she remembered looking for spiders to draw their patterns as designs for her capes she made.

Afterwards she replied to Lucky, "I'll make sure not to scare you~! You're not a bad pony. I usually only scare people when they're bad, like when I catch ponies trying to bully others, I usually get them for that, Hehe~! Or just for fun, I don't usually mean to scare others that bad." She said frowning a bit, she remembered her few *scares gone too far* and felt a sting in her tummy of guilt... "I'm not that bad... I mean I do kinda feel bad when I do scare somepony more than I meant to... I usually do just for fun."

[Lucky Breeze]

Lucky's ears perked as soon as she heard Cat talk about her art. The young foal smiled excitedly. "You're an artist? I am too! Well, I try to be... it's just that my cutie mark hasn't shown up yet, and I figured it would by now. Oh well... at least it's something I enjoy," she said. Lucky glanced quickly up at the painting just above the fireplace; it was one she had painted when she was younger, of her family's home in Cloudsdale. It was a little rough, but at least a pony could make out what it was. She nervously pointed it out to Cat and smiled. "See?"

Lucky giggled at Violet, and smiled brightly at her comments. "Oh, I know you're not a bad pony, Violet. You might look a little uhm... scary, but you're fun to be around." Lucky paused and shuffled her hooves in front of her in a timid manner. "Oh, you... you'd scare bullies? That's so brave of you... I uh... I used to have a bully problem in Cloudsdale. It got so bad that my parents decided to pull me from flight school. So we moved here to Ponyville... and you know what? I'm kind of glad we did," Lucky said, smiling at the ponies who shared her company.

[Puck]

The little violet unicorn sat comfortably, nested in her still somewhat damp, but much drier cape and felt a bit more safe around the other ponies knowing they didn't think too badly of her. She yawned a bit and admired Lucky's painting... She had never seen Cloudsdale herself so she thought it was quite beautiful being an earth-bound unicorn.

"That's a really beautiful painting... So you're from Cloudsdale? Like that place in your painting huh...?" She said smilingly, "It looks like a great place, minus the bullies you mentioned. But I'm glad you're not there anymore if they were bothering you."

She looked more at the painting, she was clearly impressed, "Heh, I wish I was able to do stuff like this, I can't draw or paint at all!" she would have mentioned she was great at coloring but felt a bit embarrassed to still be coloring at her age...

"I can stitch little patterns and pictures into cloth sorta... Not as well on paper with that kind of design and stuff though..." she gestured showing the little spiderweb patch inner portion of her cape the pocket, it was a very silvery color that probably shined in the light but Violet wasn't the kind of pony to be out in direct sunlight too long.

[Cat Napper]

Cat brightened up a bit as Lucky showed her the painting she'd made of her Cloudsdale home. Always fantastic to have another artist in the making! "Looks great Lucky! You seem to have a talent for art." The painting as of course a bit rough, but for a foal the age Lucky was it was pretty impressive. "So you're from Cloudsdale too huh? If y'ask me that town's a bit too much hustle and bustle." Cat almost wanted to facehoof at the mention of flight school and bullying. "Good grief, you too?" Cat's lips pulled back in as close to a snarl as a pony could get. "I just muscled my way outta flight school. Cloudsdale's got a real bullying issue. Y'now I didn't get my cutie mark until fairly recently?" The filly rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Jeez, if I had a bit every time I heard the term 'blank flank' I'd be runnin' this town." She smiled warmly at Lucky and added on. "You're better than anypony who needs to bully to make themselves feel good, just remember that sweetie." That was the truth, and the very truth that kept the little filly going through year after year until graduation from flight school.