The Work Horse (Working Title)

Chapter 3

Learning to Fly

Toola sat quietly in the center of her bed. Applejack had showed her to her room and then left her to get settled about five minutes ago, saying that she could come down to dinner whenever she felt ready to. As it was, the young mare didn't feel much up to anything. With a heavy sigh, she flopped down on the mattress and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, the sun was shining right through her window into her face. Odd. Hadn't it just been setting when she'd gotten up here?

Someone knocked on her door. "Toola!" Applejack called through the thick, wooden portal. "Sugarcube, it's time to wake up! Breakfast is ready!" Toola blinked and her stomach complained loudly. She clambered out of bed and walked over to the door. Then paused for a moment.

"Applejack," she said, her voice just loud enough to be heard.

"Yeah?"

"Um...how do I open the door?"

In the hall, Applejack stood confused for a moment before remembering that Toola used to be human. Smacking herself in the head with a hoof, she rolled her eyes at her own ridiculousness for not explaining this last night. "There's a spot on the floor you can step on to open it," she called through. "Just to the left of the door." Toola found it and the door popped open easily. Shoving it open the rest of the way with her head, she looked out at Applejack with a blush.

"Did I not come down for dinner?" she asked.

"No, but that's okay," replied the cowpony. "I reckon ye were plum tuckered out what with all the happenin's."

"Y-yeah," Toola said. "I guess I was."

"Well," Applejack said. "It's time for breakfast. Ye ready?"

"Um, hold on," Toola said, disappearing back into her room. When she came back, she was wearing her blue stetson and her bandanna had been straightened. "Okay." Applejack gave the mare a warm smile and then led her downstairs. When they got there, Applejack started.

Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom were at the table as they should be, but Granny Smith was not at her usual place next to Big Macintosh. Rather, she'd moved to sit next to Applebloom. When Applejack looked at her, the old nag looked back innocently. "What? I just felt like a change a scenery. Plus, Applebloom asked if I could sit next to her."

"What? No, I did-mmph!" The young filly was cut off by a hoof to the mouth.

"Yup! Little Applebloom just begged me to sit next to her and what kinda Granny would Ah be if'n Ah didn't oblige the little sprout." Granny Smith smiled real wide, playing the part of a sweet old lady. Applejack raised an eyebrow, but took her seat at the head of the table. Toola blinked, seeing that the only seat left open was the one next to Big Macintosh. She flipped her wings uneasily, having never sat next to a man who wasn't either related to her or a long time, trusted family friend. After a moment, she finally seated herself next to the large stallion.

"Alright, y'all," Applejack said with gusto. "Let's eat!" There was a general consensus of agreement around the table and Toola looked down at her plate. There were two eggs, a glass of orange juice, and two strips of hay-bacon. She glanced around to see how the others ate their meals before finally lifting a hoof and tilting the plate so the food slid to the edge. Then she carefully lifted an egg with her teeth and flicked the food into her mouth, quietly chewing. It was a normal enough egg and she ate both. Finally, she took a bite of the hay-bacon. It was nothing like real bacon, which she'd never taste again, but it was good. She ate both strips and drank her orange juice, fighting back the urge to cry. When she finished her meal, she noticed that Granny Smith had put more food on her plate. Toola smiled sadly and ate that as well, then polished off her juice.

"Toola, can you tell me more about Texas?" Applebloom asked, pushing her newly empty plate aside. Toola blinked at the filly, startled.

"Um," Toola tried to think, sleep and a now full belly clouding her mind. "What have I told you already?"

"Well, you said that you used to work on a ranch and took care of the cows who gave you their milk and that there were flowers everywhere; even in the desert!"

"Oh! Right!" Toola's mind cleared. "Um...well, what do you wanna know?"

"Everything!" The little filly's eyes grew huge as a wide smile spread across her small face.

"Uh," Toola glanced at the people at the table. Both Applejack and Granny Smith seemed interested, too. Big Macintosh was concentrating on the huge pile of food in front of him. "Well...you want your friends to hear, too, right?"

"Well, yeah," Applebloom said, sitting back and calming down enough to look quizzical.

"Why don't you and your friends get together and put together a list of questions you want to ask me," Toola said, feeling smart. "And I'll answer them for you! But I'll only answer five every night and I reserve the right to refuse to answer a question."

"Okay!" Applebloom cheered up. "Applejack, can I go see my friends and tell them? Please?" She looked at her big sister, eyes huge and pleading as she pushed out her lower lip in a pout.

"Well, finish your breakfast and chores and then you can head to school," Applejack said. "You'll see your friends there."

"Aww," Applebloom pouted.

"Now, finish your breakfast, Applebloom," Granny Smith. "The faster you finish, the sooner you can see your friends!" Applebloom perked up a little at that and got back to work, eating the food Granny Smith had added to her plate before excusing herself from the table to do her chores.

As the little filly dashed from the dining room, Toola pushed her plate aside and stood up. "Ah'll be outside if ye need me," she said.

"Oh, wait up," Applejack said, finishing her food as well. "Ah'll come with ye," she spoke as she rose from to table to join Toola. "Ah can give ye chores to do in what Rainbowdash gets here."

"Okay," Toola said and they quietly left the room. Big Macintosh lifted his head from his plate, watching as Toola left the room. Granny Smith cackled. He promptly dropped his head back to his plate, blushing furiously.

--

Toola had been wandering around the orchard, tossing fallen apples into a barrel to be used as fertilizer next year, when Rainbowdash found her. "Hey!" the tom-mare called, landing next to the mare. Toola looked up at the brightly colored pony and blinked.

"Um, hey," she answered. "I just finished this section. Can you wait while I take this barrel back?"

"Sure!" the pony's gravelly voice was cheerful and she gave the ex-human a smile. She turned and walked beside the mare as they headed for the heap behind the barn where all rotten apples were thrown. "So! How do you like being a pony so far?" Toola was quiet as she thought about it. But Rainbowdash was as impatient as always. "Cause, personally, I don't think I could handle being turned into something else. I mean, I'm Rainbowdash! Fastest pegasus in all of Equestria!" She paused to spread her legs and paw a hoof into the dirt, dropping her head like she was a bull. She jumped back to normal and started walking again. "And you were just this two-legged thing. Didn't look very fast at all. How did you get around?"

"Horseback," Toola said. "Back home, horses weren't like here. They were smart, sure, just not intelligent. So we would ride on their backs to get around. None of them had wings or horse, of course, but they were plenty enough for us."

"So, you rode horses?" Rainbowdash asked incredulously. "That's...okay, I guess. I mean, it was a different place, right?"

"Very different; you have no idea," Toola said as they reached the barn. She shrugged off the harness that held the barrels to her sides and toppled the wooden crates so the bad apples tumbled out onto the pile. "Okay, done," she said turning to Rainbowdash.

"Great!" The pony cried. "Follow me and we can get started!" Rainbowdash turned and took off into the sky. Toola shook her head and followed the mare from the ground, keeping an eye on the trail of rainbow colored air the pegasus inexplicably left behind her when she flew.

Finally, she reached the other end and found herself at the top of a steep cliff. Rainbowdash was waiting impatiently at the edge of it. When Toola came up to her, the mare exploded with a burst of startling energy. "Oh, come on, now! You're gonna hafta be faster then that if you wanna learn how to fly!"

Toola blinked, then glared at the girl. "I just turned into a pony yesterday," she snapped. "Excuse me if I'm still getting used to this body."

"Ugh," Rainbowdash grumbled. "I'm gonna hafta train you up before I can teach you how to fly." She shook her head, then said, "Alright! It's gonna be just like Junior Speedsters Camp! So, repeat after me:

Junior Speedsters are our lives,

Sky-bound soars and daring dives

Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,

To some day be the very best!"

Toola stared at the mare. The rolled her eyes and repeated the chant without nearly as much gusto as the cyan-coloured mare. "Oh, come on! More enthusiasm! Do it again!"

Rainbowdash made Toola repeat the chant over and over again until she was satisfied.

"Mmm, it'll do for now. But we'll have to work on that later. For now, let's get you flying! But in order to learn how to fly, you gotta learn how to run!"

"Junior Speedsters Camp was for ponies like me

Who wanted to fly with the best of us

But now those days are past and I am totally free

Free of the ground and free to soar the skies

"But now a friend is on the ground

She doesn't know how to fly

But she's lucky I'm around

And I can get her in the sky

"Junior Speedsters are our lives,

Sky-bound soars and daring dives

Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,

To some day be the very best!

"I'll get you off the ground

If it's the last thing that I do

Soon you'll fly circles around

Fluttershy and Scootaloo!"

Fluttershy and Scootaloo: "HEY!"

"Junior Speedsters are our lives,

Sky-bound soars and daring dives

Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,

To some day be the very best!"

"That was weird," Toola remarked. "I feel like we just skipped two weeks worth of training."

"Eh, you learn not to question it."

--

Toola was flopped out on the grass by the cliff. They'd trained all day to day with Rainbowdash making her do wing-ups and wind sprints, which were different from home since the mare made Toola run against a strong gust of wind produced by the cyan pegasus herself. Two weeks worth of training and Toola still hadn't gotten off the ground yet. Staring at her charcoal coloured hooves, Toola felt herself loosing hope. Standing up again, she looked over at where Rainbowdash was staring at her clipboard.

"Dash, I don't think I'll ever fly," the white mare remarked. "Maybe we should just give up."

"Give up? Give up?! GIVE UP?!" Rainbowdash leaped into the air, indignant. "Are you crazy! No way am I letting you give up! You're so close to flying!

"I haven't even gotten off the ground, Dash," Toola said. "Face it. I'll never fly." She slumped down and pawed at the ground idly with a heavy sigh.

She'd learned a lot since coming here. With Twilight, she'd learned what everypony learns in Elementary School; history, mostly since she already had a handle on math, science, and English (although, here, it was called Equestrian). Toola was getting a handle on being a pony. Apple Bucking season was well underway and while she couldn't help with the bucking this year, she could sort the bad apples from the good ones. But she'd never be able to fly. Sighing heavily, she climbed to her feet. "I have to finish my chores, Dash. I'll see you tomorrow." Rainbowdash looked sad and a little hurt, but didn't stop the snowy pegasus.

As she quietly walked home, a piercing scream rent the air. Her head jerked up and Toola saw Applebloom and Scootaloo, but Sweetie Belle wasn't with them. No, there she was! Halfway down the cliff and clinging to a branch. There was a sharp crack. Toola never moved so fast in her life. One moment, she was standing still, the next she was gripping Sweetie Belle in her forelegs and setting her down next to her friends.

"Are you three crazy!?" Toola cried. "What are you doing so close to the ledge?! Do you have any idea how much danger you were in?!" Sweetie Belle was curled up on the ground crying, Applebloom and Scootaloo crowded close to her, shaking. Toola was panting heavily with fear and exertion. "You could have died!"

"We-we were just trying to be rock climbers!" Scootaloo cried, eyes watery.

"Rock-ROCK CLIMBERS!?" Toola shouted. "You CAN'T be rock climbers! You're too little!" She paused for breath just as Rainbowdash raced over to see what the commotion was about, the rest of the mane six following.

"What happened?" asked Rarity. Then she noticed her little sister was in tears. "Sweetie?"

"She fell off the cliff," Toola said, trying to calm down.

"What? Sweetie Belle, what were you doing?!"

Finally, Sweetie managed to stop sobbing. "We wanted to be Cutie Mark Crusader Rock Climbers," the little filly sniffed.

"Sweetie!" Rarity looked appalled and terrified. "No! That is NOT your special gift at all!" Rarity raced forward and pulled her little sister into her arms, clinging to the little filly for all she was worth.

"I'm gonna throw up and faint at the same time," Toola said. "I've never moved so fast in my entire life."

"No kidding," Rainbowdash said, hiding a smile behind a hoof. "You've never been flying either."

Toola blinked at the mare. "What are you talking abou-" she looked down. The cliff ledge was three feet in front of her and she was hovering just level with Rarity and Applejack, who'd come to see if Applebloom was okay. Directly beneath her was 50 feet worth of open air, craggy rocks at the bottom. She blinked. Then. "HOLY SMOKES!" She was flying! For a moment, she lost her balance, but quickly regained it again as Rainbowdash flitted to her side to steady the pegasus. Filled with excitement, Toola shot upward into the clouds and raced around in circles before coming back down to the others.

When she got back, Rarity and Applejack were scolding Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Scootaloo stood off to one side, looking sad. Toola tilted her head and fluttered over to the little filly. "Scoots, where are you foster-parents?" The orange and purple pony shrugged. Toola frowned. "Well, just because they aren't here doesn't mean you get out of the scott free." The filly blinked. "For standing so close to the edge, no cutie mark crusading for a week and I'm taking your scooter for the duration."

"What!" Scootaloo looked horrified. "But how will we find our cutie marks!"

"Just like everyone else does," replied the pegasus. "With time and patience." Toola looked at the filly sternly. "Now, come here so I can hold you." She scooped the surprised filly close. "Sweet Celestia, I thought you three would get hurt." She nuzzled Scootaloo's messy purple haircut. Scootaloo was startled, the simply buried her face into Toola's mane.

"I'm sorry," said the little filly. "We didn't think we'd get hurt. We'll be more careful, we promise."

"Good," said Toola. "I don't know what I'd do if any of you got hurt." She squeezed Scootaloo. "But you're still grounded."

"Aw!"