Connie threw back her head and laughed. “You’ll be telling me that this old thing is your granny’s horseshoe next!” She pointed her hoof at an ancient horseshoe on the ground. “Anyone want a throw? Whoever gets it the farthest wins the game.”
Stardust wrinkled her nose. “Eew! I’m not touching that.”
Something stirred in Pippa’s mind. “Can I see?” she asked, holding out her hand for the horseshoe.
Connie passed it to her. Pippa’s heart thumped with excitement as she examined the green-tinted shoe.
“Careful,” said Captain Rascal. “Hold it with the two ends pointing upward or else the luck will run out.”
“Thanks.” Pippa righted the horseshoe and handed it back to Connie. “I thought it might be the unlucky horseshoe,” she explained. “But it feels quite normal. The green stuff is moss, not magic.”
“But the pot of gold did belong to my granny,” Captain Rascal insisted. “I can prove it. Her initials are engraved on the bottom.” He tipped the pot over. “There, CS. Captain Scallywag.”
“Please, can we have it back?” Stardust gave Connie a winning smile.
Connie almost fell over, laughing. “Whatever for? Don’t you have everything you need at the royal castle?”
“It’s not for me.” Stardust’s ears turned pink. She quickly explained how they needed to find the unlucky horseshoe to return Chevalia’s stolen luck and find the gold to pay Divine, to stop her from stealing their luck again.
When she’d finished, Connie let out a relieved sigh. “You don’t need gold to keep your luck. You need attitude!”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me tell you a story.” Connie beckoned for everyone to come closer.
Pippa, Stardust, and the pirate ponies shuffled forward, eager to hear Connie’s tale. Pippa was squashed between Captain Rascal and Stardust, but Connie had started and she didn’t dare move for fear of missing anything.
“A long time ago, when I was a youngster, I came from a faraway place inhabited by humans and where ponies were kept as pets.”
A gasp rippled among the pirate ponies.
Connie nodded. “It’s true. Many of those humans were good people.” She smiled at Pippa, who flushed. “Sadly, my human was young and selfish. It wasn’t long before she tired of me. Her visits became less frequent. Often she forgot to feed me, and she never brushed me or cleaned my hooves. But I never stopped hoping that one day my luck would change and I’d find a better life. And one day my luck did change. There was a storm that ended in a rainbow. Shortly after the rainbow appeared, a kind-looking girl with long black hair came to my field. She was shocked at how thin and dirty I was. When my human arrived on a shiny new bike, she asked to swap me for the kind girl’s lucky-gold-coin necklace. It was obvious that the necklace was special to this girl, but my owner took the necklace and cycled away. It was the last time I ever saw her. The kind girl patted me and promised that she’d give me food and shelter. Then she went away.”
Connie’s eyes misted at the memory. “I didn’t have to wait long. Soon after, a beautiful silver, winged pony flew over my field. She hovered in front of me as she told me all about Chevalia, a magical place where every horse had plenty to eat and a warm stable to sleep in. She said she’d come to take me there, and she rubbed her nose against mine. Poof! In a puff of glittery gold smoke, suddenly, I had wings too. I flew away with the pony.”
Connie paused. “We were nearing Chevalia when we flew over Hoofishbofin. Someone was playing music and it seemed to call out to me. I couldn’t stop myself. I flew down and the moment my hooves hit the ground, my wings disappeared. I didn’t mind. I fell in love with Hoofishbofin immediately after I landed. The ponies were so welcoming and there was plenty to eat. I joined a band and now, all these years later, I’ve formed my own band.” Connie paused to wipe a tear from her eye. “Here’s the thing. I had terrible luck but then it suddenly got much better. You can’t steal someone else’s luck, but you can help your own along. If you work hard and believe in yourself, then the good luck will eventually find you.”
As Connie fell silent, Captain Rascal clapped and everyone joined in. Pippa clapped the loudest. She felt like she was about to burst.
“That girl was my aunt,” she said breathlessly. “Aunt Maeve told me exactly the same story. As a girl she followed a rainbow until it led to you. She was so upset at how uncared for you were that she swapped you for her necklace. She needed a rope to lead you home and went to get one, but when she returned you were gone. No one believed her story. Her parents thought she’d made it up.”
“Really!” Connie snorted, her brown eyes widening. “She never sent the flying horse then! Oh my goodness, the poor girl. She must have felt so unlucky.”
“She didn’t! Whenever Aunt Maeve feels unlucky now, she remembers how hungry and lonely you were and it reminds her that things aren’t so bad after all.”
“Your aunt’s a special person. I would love to meet her again to say thank you.” Connie sniffed. “You can take our pot of gold if you must, but promise me that you won’t give it to Divine. The gold won’t change your luck. Only you, the ponies of Chevalia, can do that!”
Captain Rascal picked a gold coin out of the pot and slipped it in his pocket. “Something to remember Captain Scallywag by.” He gave Connie a cheeky grin. “You keep the pot. I doubt the gold will bring Divine happiness. Shiver me timbers, pirates. All aboard The Jolly Horseshoe for a lucky journey to mainland Chevalia.”
The pirates cheered but Stardust still looked worried. Behind a hoof, she whispered to Pippa, “I’d feel much happier if we could find the unlucky horseshoe. What if the bad magic stops us from finding any luck ever again?”
“It won’t,” said Pippa bravely. She crossed her fingers and hoped that she was right.