Clover Bloom was not having what one might call the best of days.

She was an orchid, (maybe lavender?) coloured Earth Pony with a bubblegum pink mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was that of a four-leaf clover.

Ironically, she had never been a very lucky Pony. In fact, quite the opposite. When she danced, she'd inevitably trip over her own hooves. When she tried to do something new, she'd consistently make a fool of herself. She was able to skate to some extent, but only with her friends' support.

She was often told that she had three left hooves. Humiliating wasn't adequate to describe it. But for the most part, she took it in stride. "It's just my luck, I guess." became her catchphrase.

However, her marks in school were above average, so there was that. In fact, she loved school. Aside from Phys Ed, none of the things she had to do were athletic or involved luck. She could do that without worrying about making mistakes much. Mollifying, at least, but hardly an ideal situation.

After graduating, she and her friends decided to move to Ponyville. It was about the size of the town they were used to, and the six of them had moved to stay there together. As it happened, Bon Bon (one of their other friends) was living there already, so the decision was a no-brainer, really. With six young mares under one roof, bills were hardly an issue, their ""neighbors"" were pleasant, and often helpful. Starlight and Melody went to start a career together, so make that four young mares under one roof.

Anyway, at the time, after her most recent muck-up -slipping on a dropped cloth and sliding far enough that she got soaked with water. (she was attacked by the puddle. really!) she'd decided to take a walk and see what kind of flowers she could see. And smell, too. That was half of the fun and always helped to relax her.

As she walked along, she made note of the different plants and animals nearby.

"Hmm... wild snapdragons?" she stopped to sniff at some of the herb. After that, she decided that she was feeling peckish and ate one. She sighed in satisfaction. "Mmm. Persimmon, maybe?"

She poured some of her magic into the earth (a trick taught to her by a couple of the locals). That plant would regrow that soon enough.

On she went, noting, smelling -and occasionally eating- the flowers she passed by. She noticed a plant that nopony had mentioned before. The flowers were blue. Vibrantly so.

"I'll have to make a note of that." she said, doing just that. Coming closer, she sniffed at one of the flowers.

It had no smell at all. That startled her momentarily. "Huh. How odd." Selecting a different one, she sniffed again. This one smelled oddly like banana cream pie. "Hmm."

She sniffed all of the flowers, sure enough, each gave a different smell. One of rubber, one of fresh water. One of fizzy water. It was like the plant was toying with her or something.

Given that, she thought that it might not be wise to eat any.

Satisfied immensely, she went to move on. Only to be knocked out of her thoughts as an overpowering stench filled the air. "Bleugh! Smells like rotting wood and... decay?"

Then she heard a growl. Turning swiftly, she came face to face with a Timberwolf.

One eye twitched as she backed away with fear. What she'd read about "local endemic life" started to come to mind. 'Timberwolf; predator; territorial; extremely aggressive; VERY dangerous; Seem to particularly dislike Ponies; Avoid if at all possible!'

Having compiled her thoughts, she bolted, attempting to set a new land speed record while not crashing into any trees. "SOMEPONY HELP MEEEEEEE!!!" she exclaimed as the wooden wolf gave chase.

Unfortunately, she lost track of how far she'd gone off the beaten path. Now she had no idea where she was.

She also remembered that it was mating season for Timberwolves. "Just my luck that I'd pick today of all times!" Clover bemoaned.

At one point, her egress hit a snag. She came to a split pahtway. Her moment of indecision allowed the 'Wolf to catch up, lunging at her. Just as it lunged, she ducked in fear. The wolf overshot and crashed into -and collapsed- a tree, blocking off the left path.

"Welp! That makes the decision easier." With that, she continued to gallop because her life depended on it. The 'Wolf was hot on her heels shortly thereafter, trying time and again to kill her. Yet somehow, whenever the 'Wolf thought it had her, something funny would happen. The Timberwolf would slip or crash into another tree or something,

She would have thought that these things were probably what would happen to HER if anypony. But she chose not to look askance.

As she was close to exiting the forest, another of the ligneous lupines managed to get ahead and block her path.

As she realized this, however, time seemed to slow down for her. Something within told her that she'd need to feint and then go the other way, then kick off of a tree and continue running.

That brought her up short. 'WHAT!? I can't do that! With my level of dex-'

'Just. Do it.'

It would be difficult. It would require perfect timing. But it was possible.

Clover gulped.

As things returned to normal speed, she made a pass at going left, which the Wolf tried for, but then she immediately rolled through the attack, coming to the other side. The Wolf nipped at her hooves, but she avoided that, took three steps up the trunk of a tree, backflipped and came down with all four hooves on the Timberwolf's head, just as the first one undershot, landing on the other Wolf and launching Clover forward.

Again, being thankful for the opportunity, she made her escape, two dazed and confused piles of wood behind her. She didn't stop running until she was well into Ponyville's safe zone. Oddly, she didn't stumble at all.

As she came to a stop, panting for breath, her legs wobbled before she collapsed from the exertion.

One of her friends was nearby, who trotted up to Clover's side. This was Sweetheart;

She was a white Earth Pony with a fuchsia mane and tail; Cutie Mark of a large pink heart surrounded by smaller golden ones.

Sweetheart was, of course, concerned about her friend. "Clover! Are you alright?"

Clover smiled, tiredly. Finally, a face that she was glad to see. "I-I-I'm okay. Sweetheart. Th-thanks for asking." she tried to get up, but her legs started wobbling again. The combination of exhaustion and the adrenaline rush dying down, she was barely able to stand. Fortunately, Sweetheart was quick to support her.

"Easy there, Clover. What happened?"

"Well, I was walking through the forest, checking out the flowers. You know that always makes me feel at peace."

"Yeah. But there's more than that, I'm sure."

"Well, I think I lost track of where I was going and... wandered into the Everfree forest. I got chased out by a couple of the... locals."

"Locals?"

"Timberwolves, specifically. I barely escaped with my life! I just kept running until I got to here. I couldn't run any further."

"However do you end up in such situations, Clover?"

"It's just my luck, I guess." Clover said, looking downcast.

Sweetheart snorted lightly. "Don't say that. You managed to get out of that situation unscathed."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Sweetheart. It just... hasn't been the best of days for me."

"You know, you should relax and let loose a bit. Fortunately," she said, adding emphasis to the last word, "We've been invited to a party that's happening soon. We were never told what for, though.

From nearby there was a gasp. In an instant, a certain pink mare was standing before them.

Clover was startled enough that she couldn't think of what to say.. "Uh..."

"Oh. We never met before, did we? *Ahem* Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! My right hock was tingly and my ears were floppy, so that could only meeeean: You're new in town and that meant that I needed to throw a party for you because i do that for EVERYPONY when they move in, which reminds meee..."

From out of seemingly nowhere, she pulled in a strange musical-looking device. As she was about to start it up, a voice rang out from behind (and slightly above) the two other Earth mares. "Pinkie? They look kind of tired out. Think you can forgo the Welcome Wagon this time?"

"What? Are you sure, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie called upward.

Clover and Sweetheart looked up too, seeing a blue Pegasus lying on a cloud "Positive. It looks like that one especially has had a rough day." she said, pointing at Clover. "Maybe some cake would help? Like at the party?"

"Great idea, RD!" Pinkie said, before she was gone, leaving a puff of dust in her shape.

Sweetheart poked at it curiously, and the dust cloud exploded into confetti.

Rainbow Dash snickered. "Ponyville Rule 1: It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it. Others have tried to figure her out; all have failed."

"We'll remember that." Sweetheart said, still staring in the direction that Pinkie went.

The newcomer backflipped off of the cloud she was on, kicked it to disperse it and did a three-point landing, also producing a small amount of electricity that spread across the cobblestones (about half a meter in all directions). "Name's Rainbow Dash. Nice ta meetcha."

Clover winced. "I hear that's really hard on the carpus."

Rainbow Dash waved that off. "Naaaah. Pegasi are tough as rocks."

A new voice said, "Jus' 'bout as smart, too."

Clover and Sweetheart had to stifle a snicker at that, as Rainbow Dash glared at the new newcomer.

"Ap-ple-jack! You know that isn't fair to say. We all have our strong suits, after all."

"Sorry, Rarity. And Ah was just pullin' yer leg, Dash. No hard feelins'?" Applejack said, offering one hoof.

Rainbow Dash smiled and bumped hooves with the orange mare. "I was just playing at being offended. Besides, I know a few Pegasi who are practically all muscle and no brain, so..."

Just then, three more mares stepped onto the scene. Bright Eyes (who was a cyan coated unicorn, wearing red framed glasses; she had an orange mane/tail, Cutie Mark of a checklist(1)) and Patch (who was a beige Earth Pony with a red mane/tail, with a Cutie Mark of a clothing patch). With them was a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane.

"Bright Eyes! Patch!" Sweetheart greeted, "Who's this, with you?"

Patch was the one to answer. "Oh, this is Fluttershy. We were on the way to this party that we'd heard about and met up with her along the way. She REALLY knows a lot about animals!"

Applejack chuckled. "Heh. Looks like the gang's all here."

"Except for Twilight." Rainbow Dash put in. "Where the hay is that mare?"

"Knowin' her, with her nose in a book. Mebbe sleepin'. Or both."

Everypony chuckled at that.

"Anyway," Sweetheart began, "We have a party to get to, don't we?"

All were in agreement and they went for Sugarcube Corner.

Upon entering the building, they could see that it was dark. Suddenly a light went on. "SURPRIIIISE!" a chorus of Ponies said in unison.

Pinkie was the first to greet them. "Were you surprised?"

Bright Eyes rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, it kind of isn't much of a surprise party if everypony already knows about it. Startled, sure, but not surprised."

Clover mumbled, tiredly, "I was kind of surprised."

The mares looked around the room. It was festooned with party decorations, a long table held all sorts of confections, piled high on large plates. Also set up were a few games, like Pin the Tail on the Pony, Bingo and darts, among others.

An exclamation mark appeared over Pinkie's head. "Oh! Free drinks too. What'll it be?"

Patch was the first to answer. "Maybe... a strawberry shake?"

Bright Eyes nodded. "Plum for me."

"Hmm... Apple?" Sweetheart put in.

"Is there anything minty?" Clover asked.

"Strawberry, plum, apple and mint chocolate shakes, ooooon the way!" And with that, the pink mare was gone, leaving another dust cloud. When Patch poked it, it too exploded into confetti.

Clover said, "I'm sensing a running gag." rolling her eyes.

Shortly thereafter, Clover was relating her tale to her friends. As she mentioned the plants that she saw, Bright Eyes took a book on the local wildlife out of her saddlebag.."I knew this would be useful." she said, proudly. As Clover mentioned each plant she encountered, Bright Eyes helpfully flipped to the entry on that plant. When she came to a certain entry, however...

"Poison... Joke?" Clover queried. "I saw those too. Each of the flowers smelled different. Like it was toying with me, or something."

"Did you eat any of them?" Sweetheart asked.

"Nah, I got the feeling that they wouldn't taste very good anyway. But after that, I was attacked by a Timberwolf. I ran as fast as I could... and it kept overshooting me."

"However did you get out of that mess?"

"I was getting to that. That's the strange part. When I was about to leave the forest, another Wolf blocked my path! But something told me that if I feinted, rolled, ran up a tree and backflipped, I could survive. I think I gave the Wolf a serious headache too."

All four snickered at this, as Pinkie refilled their glasses (which they made sure to thank her for).

"How did you manage THAT?" Patch asked.

Clover looked downcast. "I don't know."

"I think it's your Joke." Bright Eyes opined, taking another sip.

"Huh?" the three other mares queried in unison.

"Look at this;" Bright Eyes flipped back to the entry on Poison Joke. ""Poison Joke isn't considered dangerous, but is still worth avoiding due to the multitude of effects it can have upon the victim. Mainly, the overall effect is that an ironic effect will happen to someone, depending on the person. Something with blue spots appearing on the victim's body, if the affected trait is physical." I think your Joke is beneficial to you instead of detrimental. Your luck and grace have improved immensely."

"Really?" Clover asked, warily.

Just then, somepony who was juggling lost control of all of the balls. Suddenly, they were flying toward Clover! 'Just my luck; Is there a target on me?!!' she thought. Oddly, though, she managed to catch all of the balls, one by one. She was able to juggle six balls at once for ten seconds, before tossing them back to the juggler who had dropped them. He caught all except for one, which landed squarely on his head.

"See? It also seems to bring misfortune to those who wrong you. Maybe tomorrow we'll run some tests."

For the nonce, they decided to enjoy the party. Relaxing first; Science could wait.

Unnoticed by anyone was that her Cutie Mark had shifted from a four-leaf clover to a six-leaf clover, with a blue stem and outline.

Author's Note

1: A little different from the original.