Sorority Among Thieves

Chapters

Little Lost Filly
Are You My Mummy?
Sawblades
The Bakery Job
The Big Empty Sky
The Only One Left
The Risks Ponies Run
Setting The Stage
Bells and Whistles
Dear Sister
Pegasisters
Step Into My World
Baited and Set
Payday
Prison Break
Sorority
Filly-Murder Most Foul

Little Lost Filly

Accident woke up to the sound of muttered conversation from downstairs. Her little fluffy blue ears perked as she rolled over on her mattress, straining to hear.

“...Yeah, well I’m not going to pay to feed her anymore!” Came a mare’s voice. It was a beautiful high Canterlot accent, and Accident knew it very well indeed. It was her mum! She loved her mum very much, and she was always excited to see her on Visiting Day. Still, it wasn’t anywhere near Saturday, yet.

Perhaps mum’s gotten impatient and couldn’t wait another week to see me! The young filly thought to herself excitedly, struggling out of the tangle of sheets and scampering over to the attic hatch. She put her ear to the floor, listening to the conversation downstairs. She could hardly wait for the moment when her mum pulled the ladder down and came up to see her!

Accident was a very small filly, though she didn’t really know enough ponies her age to assess her relative size. She had a neatly brushed blue coat and a hazel brown mane that she wore in braids. Her most striking feature, however, was her wings. They were far bigger than a pegasus’s wings really ought to be, dragging along the floor even when she tucked them in by her sides. Accident loved her great big wings. She even kept a collection of all of the feathers she’d pulled out every time she’d preened, though her mum and dad didn’t know about it.

Right now, both of them were beating excitedly. Accident was so excited about her mum’s surprise Visiting Day that she couldn’t contain herself. She let out a cheerful little squee, doing an impatient dance on the spot as she struggled to keep her ear to the floor.

“It was your stupid fault for knocking me up!” Mum continued. “You told me you were safe! She’s your responsibility!”

“Mine?” Dad replied. “Neither of us knew that this was going to happen. It’s been five years. Just get the fuck over it and keep sending us money, or grow some balls and sort it out yourself! I’m through taking care of her if it means I have to put up with your weekly fucking rant!”

“You know what?” Mum replied. “I will take care of it myself! One of us has to fucking do it. We agreed when she was born like...well...that.”

Accident could barely contain herself at this point. She bounced up and down a little, lifting off of the ground as her big wings kept fluttering. What was going on was blatantly obvious. Clearly her mum and dad were planning a big party for her, like they’d had last week when she’d turned five years old! They no doubt wanted to make up for forgetting it last year by having an extra-special one today! Both her parents would be there, and maybe some of those other relatives that mum kept telling her about! She was probably going to meet the whole family!

Accident corrected herself as she touched the ceiling of her attic, dropping down onto the floor and trotting over to her special little vanity in the corner. She pulled herself onto her stool and flicked the lamp on, beaming at her reflection. Her bright green eyes were full of barely contained excitement, glowing a little in the half-light. Her shoulders shook with tiny giggles as she began to work on her mane, pulling her scrunchies out and starting to carefully wind strands of hair around each other. After all, she had to look pretty for her mum and anypony else she was bringing over!

The young filly worked feverishly to make herself look as pretty as possible, braiding both her mane and tail before getting to work on her wings. Fortunately it sounded as if her parents had taken their conversation downstairs. That gave her more time to tidy herself up. While she really liked her wings and they were super-useful, they were very difficult to tidy up. Accident could barely reach the outermost feathers, occasionally going so far as to just jam them in her closet door and tug with her wing until the loose ones came out. It didn’t hurt, and she always felt clean and tidy afterwards, so it was worth the extra stress.

Finally, Accident was satisfied with her appearance, giving herself one last look in the mirror. She glanced at her flank, giving a soft little huff of reproach. Surely her relatives wouldn’t mind, though. She was pretty certain that none of them had their cutie marks at her age, though her mum had never told her when she’d gotten hers. Maybe that was a question to ask today!

I wonder how many ponies are in my family! She thought to herself, skipping back over to her bed and tidying it up. I bet it’s dozens! No, hundreds! I’ll have brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts. Oh my gosh, maybe I’ve got a big brother or sister who could teach me how to fly properly! Oooh, or a third cousin twice removed who’s, like, Captain of the Wonderbolts! They’d teach me to fly for sure! Heck, maybe they’d even give me a chance to try out for the team! Mum and dad would be so proud of me!

Accident galloped back to the attic hatch, listening at the floor again. The conversation was louder this time. Maybe mum and dad knew that Accident was smart enough to see through their little “surprise party” bit. She’d always been pretty perceptive, if she did say so herself.

“There’s no way I’m gonna be responsible for that!” Dad said from downstairs. “If you think you could live with it for the rest of your life, fine, but you do it. Leave me out of this!”

Accident nodded sagely. Dad probably wasn’t brilliant at organising party guests. Mum definitely seemed like more the type of pony who’d be good at that sort of thing. She was all prim and proper and took very good care of her appearance.

“It wouldn’t be the first.” Mum replied. “It’s not as hard as you’d think, and it’s necessary. I know that you clearly don’t concern yourself with it, but I’ve got a reputation to think about.”

The young filly nodded again, though there was nopony else in the room. Mum was no doubt working out how to seat all of the guests so that Accident wouldn’t spend her first big party ever with a load of bickering aunts and uncles.

The conversation was over, and Accident heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs onto the landing. She didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping or mum might be disappointed that she didn’t get to surprise Accident herself! Quickly, the young filly backed up, tripping over her overlarge wings as she made her way back to the vanity. She tried her best to contain her giggling as she pretended to be doing her mane.

The attic hatch popped open, the long ladder sliding down onto the landing, and a moment later her mum’s head popped up. She was a unicorn who carried herself with all of the class and grace of the princesses themselves. Her coat was whiter than white, her mane a pastel red, tied up in a bun behind her head. As their eyes met through the vanity mirror, Mum gave a bright friendly smile.

Okay, let’s pretend to be nice and surprised. I don’t wanna spoil anything for her!

“Why, mum! It’s you!” Accident gasped dramatically, turning around and clapping her forehooves to her cheeks. “But it’s not Visiting Day until Saturday! Whatever could you be doing here?”

“Oh, now come on, sweetie. Do I really need an excuse to come and see the most special little filly in the whole wide world?” Mum asked smoothly, clambering up into the attic and beaming down at her daughter.

Accident hopped off of her stool, trotting over to her mother and nuzzling her chest, closing her eyes and smiling wider than ever before. Her cheeks were starting to hurt, but she didn’t care. She knew that whatever her mum had in store for her today would be the best thing that had ever happened to her.

“Awww, come on mum! I know you’re up to something! You can’t fool me!” Accident giggled, putting her forehooves on the unicorn’s chest as she gazed up into her eyes.

“Well…” Mum said reluctantly, not meeting Accident’s gaze. “Okay, you got me. I do have a little surprise planned for you. How would you like to go on a very special trip?” She asked, grinning.

“A trip? Like, outside?” Accident bounced up and down on her hind legs a little, wings fluttering excitedly. “I’d love to! Where are we going?”

“Like I said, it’s a surprise.” Said Mum, tapping her nose with her forehoof and winking. “So you’ve got to wear a blindfold too, okay?”

“A blindfold? Oh, I get it, so the surprise is more surprising!” Accident nodded. “Can I just close my eyes? I won’t peek, I promise!”

“Sure you won’t.” Mum stuck her tongue out, chuckling. “Come on, I want to make sure that this surprise is extra-special for you. Will you do it for me?”

Accident cringed, giving a squeaky little groan of reluctance. “Awwww...sure! But only because it’s for you, all right?” She hugged her mother again, burying her little muzzle in the unicorn’s mane and sighing softly. “But...I’ve gotta tell you a secret first.” She lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure that there were no would-be eavesdroppers present.

“Oh, and what’s that, then?” Mum asked, lowering her head down to her daughter’s level and perking her ears expectantly.

The little filly nuzzled the mare’s cheek, whispering in her ear as if she was about to unveil the megaspell codes. “I love you sooooo much. You’re the best mum in the whole wide world.” She giggled, skipping around the unicorn again before finally straining to stand still and wait.

“Okay, close your eyes, sweetie.” Her mother chuckled, cocking her head as she cast a spell. A little blindfold made of silk appeared in mid-air, wrapping itself around Accident’s eyes. “Now then, can you see?”

“Nuh-uh!” Accident shook her head. It was wrapped around her head pretty tight. “I’m gonna need you to show me the way, though. I can’t see a thing!”

“Good!” Mum smiled, tussling Accident’s mane. “We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, would we?”

“No way! I bet it’s gonna be wonderful! Thank you...in advance, I mean.” She smiled, holding out her hooves and reaching out to the air in front of her for a hug. Her mum rolled her eyes, stepping in front of her little daughter and catching her before she could overbalance.

“There’s no need to thank me, Accident. Now, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Accident nodded. “Oh, wait! Can I hug Scruffy goodbye first? We might be gone a while if it’s what I think it is!”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Mum grinned, her horn flaring as she levitated the little cuddly pony toy onto Accident’s back. “Why don’t you take him with us, so he can keep you company?”

“That’s a great idea! Then I can introduce him to everypony, right?” Accident beamed, nuzzling her favourite cuddly toy and letting him ride on her back as she herself clambered awkwardly on top of her mum.

“That’s right!” Mum said, chuckling. “Now, how about we get going, huh? We don’t want to keep everypony waiting.”

“Yeah! I can’t wait!” Accident jabbed her hind hooves into her mother’s sides, spurring her onward.

“Okay, okay! Calm down, little one. We won’t be long, I promise.” Her mother giggled, descending the stairs and pointedly not making eye contact with Accident’s father. He looked between her and the excited smiling little filly on her back, opening his mouth to speak.

The unicorn rounded on him, giving him a very severe gaze that silenced him before he’d even had a chance to speak. The stallion bowed his head, letting her get on with her business. His hooves were tied. There was nothing more that he could do.

“Hey, be...be safe, okay kid?” He said quietly as the two ponies descended the staircase to the front door.

“I will, dad! Don’t worry! I’m gonna have loads of fun and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, okay?” Accident grinned, turning her head and smiling blindly at her father.

“I’d like that.” He half-whispered, turning tail and walking back to his room with his muzzle inches from the floor.

“Come along, Accident.” Mum said, pulling the front door open and disappearing out into the street. The little filly suppressed the urge to take her blindfold off. She’d never been outside before.

* * *

Accident couldn’t help it. She spread her wings and perked her ears up as high as they could go, letting the wind rush over her as her mother trotted along.

“Everything feels so weird!” She commented. The only sounds to be heard were the gentle clip-clop of her mother’s hooves on the asphalt, interspersed with the distant marching of guards. Accident knew that she was in the middle of the big city, so surely it ought to be louder than this, right? “Hey, where is everypony?”

“You’d better not be peeking, Accident!” Mum said in a sing-song voice. “They’ve probably all gone to bed. It’s night-time, sweetie!”

“Wow! I thought it was kinda quiet!” Accident nodded understandingly. “So this is a special night-time party?”

“Sure is!” Mum replied. “There’ll be lights and ponies to meet and all sorts of wonderful things to do!”

“Oh wow, I can’t wait! Thank you so much for this!” Accident giggled. She sat there atop her mother in quiet excitement before her thought from earlier struck her. “Mum? How did you get your cutie mark? Like, how old were you?”

“Oh, you’re worried about that?” Mum chuckled. She really did have a laugh that could light up the night...or perhaps they were just passing under a lamp-post. “Well, I was about eleven when I got mine. Don’t worry, Accident. You’ll find your special talent someday, but you’ve got to give it time, okay? It’s not a race.”

“Okay, mum. I’ll keep trying to find out what I’m good at, and when I get it I’ll come and show you first, all right?”

“Deal.” Her mother smiled, finally coming to a halt.

Accident glanced around, not daring to remove the blindfold just yet. Not until mum told her to. It felt like they’d been riding for hours. Accident doubted that she’d even recognise this part of the city, and not just because all she’d ever seen of it was what she’d been able to spy out of the window when she’d been allowed downstairs now and then.

“Are we there?” Accident bounced up and down in the saddle, pulling Scruffy off of her back and squeezing him tightly. Maybe in a few seconds everypony was going to jump out and yell “Surprise!”

“We sure are. Now I want you to keep that blindfold on for the time being.” Her mum said cheerily, levitating Accident off of her back and down onto something soft. “I’m just going to head off and get something. Are you going to be okay to stay here for a little while?”

“‘I’ll stay here as long as you need me to! Just don’t make me wait too long, okay?” She giggled, giving her mother one last parting nuzzle. “And don’t forget to give Scruffy a kiss, too!”

Mum laughed quietly, kissing Scruffy on the nose as Accident held the little plushie pony out for her. “Now, will you be a good girl and stay here?”

Accident nodded eagerly. “Promise!”

“Okay then. Take care, sweetie. I won’t be long.” Mum said soothingly, trotting away.

As soon as the sound of her mother’s hoofsteps had faded away, Accident squeezed Scruffy as tightly as she could. “I should’ve done something with you, too. I can’t imagine what everypony’s gonna say when they see how you look.” She said to the plushie accusingly.

After a moment of silence, she rolled her eyes and kissed him on the nose. “No, not me! I love you no matter how scruffy you are! You know that! It’s just...I wanna make a good first impression, you know?”

Accident waited for a very long while, bouncing up and down with excitement as she sat there in silence.

“Hey, do you know what’d be super-cheeky?” She said slyly. “I’m gonna take my blindfold off and see where we are! Maybe I’ll even get a good look at all of the ponies trying to hide so that they can jump out and shout “surprise!” What do you think, Scruffy?” She held the toy up to her ear, biting her lip and nodding. “I know, right? It’s the best plan ever!”

With that, she gently sat Scruffy down next to her, reaching behind her head and undoing the blindfold. It was made of black silk, strong material that stretched a little as Accident tugged on it. Finally, the blindfold slid off her face, wrapping around her neck like a little scarf, and Accident got a wonderful look at…

“Cardboard?” She cocked her head, blinking blearily in the moonlight and glancing around, taking stock of her strange surroundings. She was sitting on a little pillow with Scruffy, surrounded on all sides by four big walls made of cardboard. There was no ceiling, however, and Accident could see the stars twinkling overhead.

“Wow, Scruffy! Do you see that?” She asked, dispelling the confusion in her mind for just a moment. It wasn’t every day you got to see the night sky for the first time. She clutched her little cuddly toy to her chest as she gazed up at the universe with childlike wonder. Today had been a day of firsts for her, more than she could really process all in one go. There were many questions running through her mind, like exactly how her mum had gotten her cutie mark, what she was doing in this big cardboard box, or for that matter where her mum had gone. Accident was feeling the tiniest vestiges of panic, but she knew in her heart that her mum would come back for her any second now. For the time being, she contented herself with looking at the stars and following the passage of the moon across the sky.

* * *

In time, Accident grew more and more impatient, the panic beginning to build up inside her chest like a weight wrapped around her heart. She knew that it wouldn’t be long now. Her mum had been gone so long that the sky was turning red as the moon started to set.

“She’s been gone a long time, Scruffy…” Accident said doubtfully. Wrapping a hoof around the plushie’s head, she made him nod enthusiastically in agreement.

“Maybe we’re supposed to find our way out of here ourselves?” She suggested.

Scruffy nodded again.

“Well, there’s only one way we’re gonna get out of here!” She smiled, spreading her wings as far as they’ll go as she sat Scruffy on her back. “It’s okay! We’ll be out of here and celebrating with the others in no time! Don’t you worry!” She wiggled her flanks, taking a leap at the cardboard wall and bouncing off of it unceremoniously.

“That’s okay, Scruffy. We can keep trying! Besides, if we mess up we’ve got this great pillow to land on!” She said consolingly.

Accident took as much of a run-up as she could get in such a small box, leaping up at the edge again and again with her best friend on her back. The box was too narrow for her to spread her wings to help her, and again and again she slid back down onto the pillow where she landed with a great thud.

Finally, on her thirtieth attempt, her hooves caught the edge of the box. Accident lifted herself over the rim, looking out into the street beyond.

This, she decided, was what being born probably feels like. The transition from blindness to the box, and then this sight...it was like being introduced to the world for the first time.

“Hey, world!” She giggled, waving and nearly slipping back into the box.. “My name’s Accident! Do you wanna be my friend?”

As she peered around at the street where her box lay, her face fell slightly. The road was quiet, devoid of life save for her, and it didn’t look like the sort of neighbourhood where anypony would have a party, even a surprise one.

“Mu...mum?” She ventured nervously. “Are you there?”

Nopony answered her.

“This is a terrible surprise party…” She muttered after a while, holding Scruffy up like a periscope. “Do you see her?”

Accident spread her enormous wings, using them to hold her atop the box as she made Scruffy shake his head mournfully, insofar as a plushie can look sad about anything. Accident looked at him reproachfully. It was almost as if he knew something that she didn’t about the whole situation and wasn’t telling her anything. Maybe he was in on the surprise party, too!

“What secrets are you hiding, Scruffy?” She pouted up at him. “We have ways of making you talk, you know! I can tickle you until you fess up! Don’t think I won’t!”

The plushie didn’t respond, just staring back at her with the quiet contemplative expression of cuddly toys everywhere.

“Awww...you’re right, Scruffy. I couldn’t stay mad at you.” Accident nuzzled his cheek and clutched him tightly to her chest.

As she hugged him, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She was leaning over the edge of the box a little, and caught a glimpse of something written on it in bold black marker. Accident struggled to try and read upside-down, trying not to overbalance herself as she went. She wasn’t bad at reading for a pony her age.

“Filly...free...to...good...home…” She frowned, glancing across at Scruffy. “Um...that doesn’t sound right. I’ve already got a good home! Mum must be super-confused if...she...thinks...that...oh…”

Accident fell silent as the things she’d overheard back at the house came back to her. Her mother’s comments, the blindfolding, her dad being so quiet that day. Events were starting to fall into place, painting a new picture for Accident.

She didn’t like it.

“Mum?” She called out, louder this time. Perhaps she could still be reasoned with. “Mum? I’m not meant to be in this box! There’s been some kind of mistake!”

Only silence answered her. Accident whirled round in her box, frantically looking for her.

“Mum?” She cried out, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back panicked tears. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry! I’ll do better next time, I promise! I just wanna go home now. Please take me home!”

Once more, nopony answered her, least of all her mother. Accident knew somewhere deep in her body that her mum was long gone, but she wasn’t willing to admit it just yet.

“Mum? Please!” She sniffled, turning to her little stuffed buddy with confusion and panic. “I don’t get it, Scruffy. Didn’t I tell her I love her enough? Was I supposed to do it more? Why didn’t she tell me what I was doing wrong? Why can’t I go home? I wanna go home…” She embraced her only friend in the world as tightly as she could, shaking with quiet sniffling sobs.

“What did I do wrong?” She whispered softly. “If I was being a bad filly, why didn’t she tell me? Was this because I was sick a couple months back? I didn’t get her sick too, did I?”

The young pony raised herself up, flapping her wings experimentally. “Mum? This isn’t funny anymore! I’m kinda getting scared! I don’t wanna go to a new home! I wanna go back to my old one! I’ll be good! I promise I’ll be good…” She bowed her head when nopony answered yet again, openly crying now. “Anypony? Please! There’s...there’s been a mistake! I’m...I’m lost!”

Accident wiped her tears away as she lowered her head, looking down at Scruffy with a shaky little smile.

“It’s okay, Scruffy. There’s no need to be scared. Somepony’ll come and help us out sooner or later. You’ll see.”

* * *

As the sun rose over Canterlot, ponies began making their way to work, going about their daily business as they had done for years. Accident’s ears perked as the first few ponies came clip-clopping down the street towards her. She struggled to scale the inside of her box again, holding herself up by her wings as she waved desperately at them.

“Um...hello? I’m kind of in a lot of trouble. I can’t find my mum, and...hey!” She pouted as the first few commuters practically galloped past, not even stopping to make eye contact with her.

“It’s okay, Scruffy. I’m sure that those ponies were just busy, that’s all.” Accident shrugged. “Besides, there’s loads of ponies in this city! I bet one of them’ll talk to us!”

She beamed at another group of approaching ponies. This time it was a gaggle of mares, gossiping about who-knows-what. Accident listened in, and though she didn’t exactly know what “colt-cuddling” meant, she was sure that it must be pretty funny since the lot of them were laughing. They seemed like friendly ponies!

“Excuse me? Ladies?” She squeaked, waving both of her forehooves like a stranded sailor and nearly slipping back into her box. “I kinda really need help! My mum’s missing and she was meant to come back for me but she didn’t and I’ve gotta get home before anypony worries about me and…and...oh…” She sighed as they too passed her by, not even looking at her. Accident lay her head down on her crossed forelegs.

“I guess colt-cuddling must be more interesting than fillies.” She said quietly.

For the longest time, Accident sat there in quiet contemplation, before her ears perked again. There was a rumbling noise, like an approaching stampede, and it was getting closer. The young filly raised her head, peering down the street curiously.

“Wow, that’s a lot of ponies!” She smiled, her wings fluttering excitedly as she caught sight of the horde of morning commuters. “I bet there’s at least one of them who’ll stop and say hi!” She giggled excitedly. “We’re gonna make some new friends, Scruffy! Okay, big smiles. We don’t wanna look really sad or lonely otherwise nopony’ll wanna talk to us.”

Balancing Scruffy on her shoulders so that he could peek over her head, Accident waved her hooves again. “Hey everypony! My name’s Accident! I’m kinda in a bit of trouble. Can one of you help?” She called out to the crowd of heedless stallions and mares. As the first of them passed her, she found her voice drowned out by their chattering, reduced to flailing her hooves and trying to make herself heard over the noise.

“Sir, could you help me? Oh, that’s okay, you’re busy…” She glanced around. “Ma’am, can you help…? Okay then…” She looked down at the words written on her box, frowning. “Come on, guys! It even says free filly! I’m housebroken and everything, and I’ll keep real quiet if you want me to! Could somepony please...just...help me…?” She trailed off, wide-eyed with fear and confusion as everyone went about their business, ignoring her without exception. One of them even bumped into her box, unbalancing Accident and sending her tumbling back onto the pillow with a grunt. Fortunately, Scruffy broke her fall.

“Sorry Scruffy. I’ll make it up to you when I can get you some bandages, I promise.” She muttered, giving the plushie a little cuddle and staring out of the box again. The noises from beyond the cardboard cell changed from general banter and gossip to the thunder of armoured hooves. A guard’s whistle pierced the relative peace of the Canterlot morning.

Guards! They’ll help me! That’s what they’re supposed to do, right? Accident leapt up and down, trying to make herself as obvious as possible. Maybe if they saw her, they’d be able to return her to her mum! She was probably worried sick about Accident by now.

“All right lads, spread out and find her! She can’t have gotten far!” Came an authoritative voice from just beyond the box. “Regroup in five minutes, and if you find her, send up a flare. Got it?”

“Yes sir!” Came some other voices, speaking in unison.

“You hear that, Scruffy? They must be looking for me!” Accident squee’d, redoubling her efforts to get out of the box so that the guards could see. After all, even though it did say “free filly to good home” on her box, some ponies were just really bad a hide and seek, and Accident really wanted someone to find her. Anypony.

As she hauled herself up again, she looked around and saw a group of monstrous stallions dispersed throughout the crowd. The nearest one was a snow-white stallion, a unicorn with a blond mane and tail. He kind of reminded Accident of her mum!

“Excuse me!” She called, reaching out to tug on his tail. “Mister Guard, sir? Were you looking for me, by any chance? I’m in a whole lot of trouble! Could you please help me? I’m kinda lost, and…”

“There she is!” He barked, galloping off into the crowd in pursuit of some unseen criminal. Accident, whose hoof had been just inches from the guard’s tail, slumped back and sighed.

“We were close that time!” She smiled softly at Scruffy. “We almost got him to turn around!”

She tried again and again, waving to every passing pony she could pick out of the crowd and begging them for help. She tried to fluff herself up as much as possible to make herself extra-cuddly in the hope that somepony would stop just to give her a sympathetic hug. She’d never had too many hugs, but she really needed one now.

Finally, the crowds thinned as rush hour ended, and Accident gave a frustrated whinny. “Why doesn’t anypony like fillies?” she asked aloud.

Once again, only silence answered her. Accident couldn’t even enjoy seeing the sun for the first time, nor the blue sky overhead. She felt panicked and stressed. The noise, the apathy of the world around her, the questions that burned so hotly in her mind that they were in danger of setting her skull on fire.

“Why did mum go away, Scruffy? Why’d she leave me here? Why won’t anypony talk to me?”

She sat there in silence as the biggest question of all, the one that encapsulated all the others, loomed over her like a monolith.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Accident looked into Scruffy’s eyes as if expecting him to spring to life and give her the answers she needed. She was confused, scared and lonely, and this time not even Scruffy’s kind smile and fluffy little body was making her feel any better.

Maybe I’m just not trying hard enough… Accident thought to herself. I mean, these are busy ponies, right? Maybe I’ve gotta show them that I’m not gonna get in the way! They’ll take me in for sure if they know I’m not gonna be a bother, and then maybe they can take me back to my mum and dad when they’ve got the time!

Accident smiled again, scampering to the top of the box again and poking her muzzle out. She scanned the street, spying only a few ponies trotting down the sidewalk now. It was pretty slim pickings, but perhaps with fewer distractions one of them would stop and talk to her!

“Sir? Wanna help out a filly? I give really great hugs and I eat all my vegetables and everything!” Accident offered, flapping her wings with a certain desperation. “I’m free, too! I won’t cost anypony anything, I promise!”

The stallion, like everypony else, ignored her. To be fair, he was on the other side of the street. Perhaps he hadn’t heard her!

“EXCUSE ME! SIR?” Accident called out. She didn’t really like raising her voice, but he seemed to be the only pony around at the moment, and there were an awful lot of dark clouds in the sky that had her worried. She was suddenly very keen to get taken in, just for a little while.

A little droplet of water struck her head and she let out a squeak. That was far colder than she’d expected it to be. She’d never been rained on before, but Accident had already decided that she didn’t like it.

“Ooh, look Scruffy! There’s another one! Ma’am! MA’AM! Want to help out a filly? I’ve lost my mum and I’ve got big huggy wings! I’ll totally trade you a lifetime supply of hugs if you help me find her!” She pleaded with the passing mare, who did give her a passing glance as she went by.

“Please?” Accident smiled hopefully, tucking her hooves up under her chin.

The mare certainly looked sad, but she shook her head and muttered something that sounded vaguely apologetic before hurrying on her way. More raindrops hit the street around Accident as the clouds grew ever thicker.

Accident’s face fell again as the mare disappeared around a corner. The filly sighed quietly.

“It’s kinda hard to keep smiling and say you’d make somepony’s life real special when nopony likes you…” She curled up on the pillow, hugging Scruffy tightly and letting her wings splay out by her sides. There was really nothing she could do until somepony took the time to look into the box and see her for themselves. Her hooves and wings were tired from her holding onto the edge of the box for the better part of the day. Besides, right now curling up was just about the only thing she could do to stop herself from being struck by the rain.

“I wanna go home…” She muttered, squeaking and whimpering as each droplet landed on her coat and feathers. The rain grew heavier and heavier over time, and all Accident could do was tuck Scruffy under her wing so that he wouldn’t get wet. She needed him to be okay. She’d lost everything else today.

* * *

Eventually the heavens opened up fully, a veritable storm engulfing the city. Water poured from the sky in torrents, soaking the cardboard of Accident’s box and letting the ink run. Lightning struck overhead, lighting up the world as it arced from the clouds to the city’s tallest towers. Accident curled up tighter, shuddering with every deafening rumble of thunder that followed. She was shivering now, cold and soaking wet with nopony to go home to and no idea where she was.

She let out a tiny, squeaky little sneeze. If she stayed out here for much longer, she’d catch a cold!

“Come on, Scruffy...we probably oughtta get out of here and find somewhere to hide until the rain stops.” She muttered dully, tucking her best friend under her wing and pawing at the melting cardboard experimentally. It was as soaking wet as she was, bending with ease at her touch, and as soon as Accident gave it one good push, the cardboard wall came away completely. She took only a moment to look around at the empty street one more time before trotting off down the street. Her own hooves made a wet slapping sound against the concrete, not yet big enough to produce the clip-clop noise that all the grown-ups made when they walked.

Of course, part of it was probably that she kept standing in puddles and each step she took sent her wings slapping against the ground. Even her best efforts couldn’t force them back up by her sides, and eventually Accident just gave up, letting them drag along behind her like oversized sleeves. Her primary feathers ran through every puddle she came across, even if she made the special effort to try and hop over them. Her wings were simply too big for the rest of her body.

“Are you okay, Scruffy?” Accident asked quietly, before sneezing again. “Oh, that’s good! Well, I’m kinda having trouble feeling my legs because I’m so cold, but I’m okay too! It’s kinda like an adventure!”

As she rounded a corner into an alleyway, she trod in another puddle, misstepping and flopping over onto her face with a splash.

“Eep! I...I kinda wish that this was one of those adventures that ended with hot chocolate and a big warm toasty fire, though…” She spluttered, picking Scruffy up out of the puddle and squeezing him. Water poured off of both of them as she shuffled under an outcrop, glancing into the network of alleyways that she’d just entered. It looked like an absolute labyrinth, winding pathways between tall buildings that led into a world that Accident had never known before. Still, perhaps somewhere in that maze was a pony who could help her.

“Are you lost, little one?” Came a voice from nearby.

Accident gave a tiny little squeak, pushing her wet mane out of her face as she looked around with wide eyes. “He...hello?” She challenged, shivering like mad from the cold and the damp.

Out of the slowly darkening alley stepped a stallion with purple and gold armour, a unicorn like her mother. Accident had read enough books to know the Captain of the Royal Guard when she saw him. She very nearly collapsed with relief.

“Come on, how can I help you out, kid?” He smiled politely, sitting down next to her.

“Well...I’m really lost and I can’t find my...my mu...mum…” Accident sniffled, wiping her little muzzle on her forehoof and bowing her head. “I got put in this box and left there and mum hasn’t come back and I’ve had the scariest saddest day ever because I’ve been calling out to everypony to adopt me or take me back home to see my mum but all of them ignored me and you’re the first pony I’ve talked to who’s even acted like I exist…” She trailed off, taking a deep breath and sniffling pathetically.

“Awww, you poor thing.” The unicorn tutted, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Well hey, I think I can help you. What if you come back home with me and I’ll take good care of you until we can find your parents? How does that sound?”

Accident cocked her head. “But...but I read that you shouldn’t go home with anypony except your mum, even if you are a guard. Can’t...can’t I stay at the barracks or something until mum comes to collect me? She’s probably worried sick…”

“But we’ll have so much fun at my house.” The stallion insisted, shuffling closer to her. “Trust me, you’ll be totally fine and safe and we’ll have all sorts of games to play. Don’t you worry.”

“I...I guess that sounds good…” Accident nodded. “Will there be other ponies there? I bet a lot of little foals get lost in this city. Nopony ever seems to pay attention to them.”

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” He nodded, sidestepping Accident’s question and rubbing her shoulder with his heavy armoured forehoof. “You know, it’s that sort of thing that I joined the guard to put a stop to. I really don’t like it when ponies get abandoned with no one to turn to.”

“Oh, I didn’t get abandoned! Mum just lost me, that’s all!” Accident nodded. The more she said that, the better it made her feel.

“Sure she did.” The unicorn nodded sagely, flashing her a little smile. “Hey, my name’s Titus. What’s yours?”

“Whi...Accident.” She smiled back tentatively. That stallion was massive, bigger than anypony that Accident had seen before, and even though he was smiling as warmly as possible, there was something about him that was unsettling to her. Scary.

“Well, Accident,” Titus chuckled, tapping a hoof against his chin pensively, “I’ll make you a deal. If you come home with me, I’ll help you find your mother tomorrow, okay?”

“Can’t...can’t you do it now?” Accident asked, cocking her head. “I mean, she can’t have gone far, and I really miss her and I bet she misses me, too…”

“Well yes, but there’s an awful lot of paperwork to take care of, first.” Titus sighed irritably. “However, I’m sure you’d be able to keep me company while I get through all of that, right?”

Accident took a step back. It was incredibly weird, but in spite of her huggy and trusting nature, there was something about this stallion that was making her feel uneasy. Well, not even uneasy. Downright scared.

Why’s he looking at me that way?

“I’ve...I’ve gotta go now…” She said after a moment of silence. “Sorry for wasting your time, Mister Captain Titus, sir.”

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” His horn flashed, picking the filly up and holding her in midair. “What kind of guard would I be if I let you wander off on your own?”

“Well, not a very good one, but…” Accident struggled, holding onto Scruffy as she twisted and turned in the air, trying to work herself free of the telekinetic spell holding her in place.

“Exactly.” Titus nodded. “Now you just come back with me and you won’t have to worry about a thing, okay?”

“Well...I...don’t really want to.” Accident said quietly. “I’ll be okay on my own, Mister Captain, sir. I’ll find somewhere to sleep and get dried off. I don’t wanna intrude…”

“Nonsense! You wouldn’t be intruding! Now come along, we’d better go before you get in any more trouble!” Titus waved a hoof dismissively, getting up and starting to trot away with Accident in tow.

“Um...no…please...I...I don’t wanna go with you…” She said louder as panic began to set in.

“You don’t have a choice, Accident! You’re coming with me!” Titus growled, squeezing her harder. “And I’d be a little more grateful if I were you. Like you said yourself, I’m the first pony who’s noticed you since you got left out here.”

“I didn’t…get left...could you let me go, please? You’re kind of hurting me…” Accident squirmed and wriggled in the air, trying to beat her wings for all the good it did her. This was so wrong. Everything about Titus gave Accient frightened goosebumps, and she tried her best to escape as a very real fear sank in. There was something wrong with him, and she didn’t want to wait until they got back to his house to find out what.

“Captain Titus, sir!” Came a familiar voice. It was the same high Canterlot guard from earlier, hooves kicking up water as he galloped towards his ranking officer. Titus started, dropping Accident into a puddle and clearing his throat.

“Yes, Stronghooves?” He answered authoritatively.

“She’s gone again, sir. I’ve had my ponies combing the district for hours and there’s no sign of her.”

“What? She gave us the slip again?” Titus facehoofed. “Fine...get everypony back to their regular patrol routes. We’ll catch her next time, okay?”

Who “she” was was of no concern to Accident in that moment. She merely crept away as quietly as she could as the two stallions talked, tucking Scruffy under her wing again. Only once she’d disappeared deeper into the network of alleys did she start galloping as fast as she possibly could. What mattered to her in that moment wasn’t the numbness of her body or how sick she was feeling. All that mattered was getting away from that guard. He really did give her the heebie-jeebies.

* * *

Accident splashed through puddles and jinked left and right to avoid running headlong into walls. In this place, the roofs overlapped and plunged the world into Shadow. She didn’t even know if she was still outside anymore, darting through ancient marketplaces, long-forgotten pathways and secret passages that made up the city’s underbelly. Another time, it may have occurred to Accident that she was probably walking a path that ponies hadn’t walked for centuries, but not right now. Right now all she cared about was getting as far away from him as possible.

Accident had never run so fast in her life, tripping over her massive wings again and again. She wasn’t used to travelling at a full gallop, especially with those things dragging along underneath her, and she didn’t even have the energy to spread them. On one horrible occasion, she tripped over her right wing, tumbling head over hooves and hitting her head on a stone wall. There was a sickening crack and Accident felt something warm running down her forehead. She shook her head, dazed.

“This is...worst day ever…” She panted, holding Scruffy up to what little light was filtering between the roofs. The sun seemed to have long since gone down. “I wish mum was here...I miss her so much...if I ever get to see her again...I promise...I’ll be good forever…I’ll never...never make noise again...I’ll just cuddle her every day…”

As Accident got to her hooves again, she found herself unbalanced, disoriented by the blow to her head. Now she was blinking through the rain, her blood and her own tears, trying her best to see the path ahead through the dark maze. Walls loomed up around her on all sides. It felt like she was in a prison, too numb, waterlogged and in pain to even try galloping anymore. Still Accident forged onwards, staggering slightly with each step as a very special kind of exhaustion came over her. It beckoned her towards a land of slumber that Accident, even at her young age, realised that she would not awaken from, and she defied it for as long as she could. Still, there was a blackness gnawing at the periphery of her vision. She was running out of time.

Rounding one last corner, Accident staggered out into a much wider alley, wide enough that the roofs no longer overlapped. As the rain kept pouring down on her, washing some of the blood away, Accident’s vision cleared a little and she was able to take in her surroundings. The buildings that flanked her were houses, albeit derelict and shattered ones in various states of disrepair. Perhaps, once upon a time, this had been a little street where a lot of ponies lived together. At the end of the short road lay a cul-de-sac, surrounded by terraced brick houses. All of them had their lights out, long-since abandoned by owners who probably weren’t even alive anymore. All of them, that is, save one.

“Look, Scruffy…” Accident mumbled, raising her wing just a little so that her best friend could see the light, too. “Maybe...whoever lives in there...can help us…”

She tried her best to pick up speed, managing a shaky unbalanced trot. It was so difficult to keep her wings out from under her hooves, but Accident knew that if she fell over now, there’d be no getting up again. This was her last chance at getting help.

Against all the odds, Accident made it to the front porch, setting Scruffy down by her side and letting her wings splay out. She was still dripping as the rain poured around her, unable to feel anything beyond the dull ache in her forehead where she’d struck the wall.

“Hello?” She croaked, raising a shivering little forehoof and tapping on the door. It was no use. Both her voice and her quiet knocking was drowned out by the roar of the pouring rain around her. The darkness was clouding her vision, making everything appear strangely incorporeal and distant. She could barely even hear the rain anymore. Even if somepony did come to the door, she most likely wouldn’t see them or hear them.

“Please...help...me…” She whispered.

And with that, her legs finally gave out, sending her headfirst into the door with a loud thud. Accident was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

* * *

Inside the house, a little red and white pegasus perked her ears as something struck her door.

“What the fuck was that?” Asked Sky.

Are You My Mummy?

The first thing that Accident’s mind registered was the pain she felt. Her head, wings and legs all ached from the previous night, and as the young filly recalled it, she let out a pained little whine, trying to spread her wings a little.

They were wrapped in something. Odd. Accident frowned in her sleep as she realised that they weren’t responding to her attempts to move them, almost as if she was tucked up under some blankets.

But that can’t be right… She thought to herself. I was outside...it was raining...I’m still wet and everything…

She didn’t want to open her eyes just yet, merely laying there and taking in the sensations. It was almost like a fun little guessing game, and Accident loved guessing games! This was going to be pretty fun!

Okay...um...am I back at home with mum? Accident thought to herself, grinning a little. Oooh, I bet I am! Mum must have found me and brought me home, so now everything can go back to normal! I bet that if I open my eyes, the very next thing I’m gonna see is my mummy with a bowl of hot soup to make me feel better!

Accident was so excited that she couldn’t even resist. With a tiny little squee, she cracked one eye open just a little, taking in her surroundings.

The first thing she noticed as the blurriness died away was that this was most certainly not her house, much less her attic. She lay in a living room that was in desperate need of some refurbishment, with paint peeling off the plaster of the walls and ceiling. An old lamp hung off the wall by sheer force of will, nonetheless casting a warm light across the little room. The ancient windows rattled as another gust of wind struck them, the rainstorm outside still as loud and strong as ever. Though Accident felt a little frightened and didn’t know where she was, it was at least better than being out there.

The filly’s ears perked as she heard a crackling sound from across the room. Cracking her other eye open, she blinked in the dim light, smiling again as she spotted the lit fireplace. It sat beneath a mantlepiece that bore all manner of interesting curios. Old clocks and wooden toys, a little model horse, a few very precious stones indeed, and in the centre of the mantle sat a photo, too distant to make out properly.

Accident blinked a couple of times to try and focus her vision, growling softly with all the reluctance of a little filly who has to get up in the morning, and as her vision returned fully she spotted her. There stood a short white pony with a messy red mane and tail, prodding the fire with a poker. She had her back to Accident, muttering under her breath about something. She almost sounded like…

“Mu...mum?” Accident ventured, blinking a few more times to bring the whole room into focus. It was bare beyond what she had initially seen, with nothing else of note but an empty picture frame on the wall.

The mare’s ears perked, and she looked around with concern etched into her face. She had a look on her face like her mum did when Accident mentioned learning to fly, a kind of shocked expression like she’d been given the world’s worst surprise party.

“Erm…sorry?” The mare asked, shuffling her hooves awkwardly. Her mane’s braided just like Accident’s! She had to be her mother! It was her who’d taught the young filly to do her mane up like that in the first place!

“You’re my mum, right?” Accident insisted, stretching in her swaddle as best she could. “You’ve gotta be! Where did you find me? I ran a super long way and I got lost and then there was this crazy guard who wanted to take me home with him but he gave me the heebie-jeebies and…”

“Whoa! Whoa! Hold up!” The mare started, holding her hooves up in the air and backing up. “I’m not your mum, kid. Trust me, I’d know if I was!”

“But you look like my mum!” Accident grinned slyly. “Are you sure you’re not my mummy playing a trick on me?” She groaned as she struggled against her soft blankety bindings, defying the numb pain she felt in her forehead where she’d struck it earlier that night. Her mum was here, she was okay, they were back together again and she’d even sprouted wings! As far as Accident was concerned, this officially made up for everything that had happened that day.

“Yep! Pretty sure!” The mare squeaked, backing up a little more until her flanks were pressed against the wall. Her tail started to flick from side to side. She’s obviously lying. Accident’s far too smart for a trick like that to work on her!

“But you look like her and you sound like her...you don’t smell like her…” Accident frowned, sniffing the air as she pulled free of her blankets and shuffled over to the retreating pony. “But that’s okay! I know you are anyway! I knew you’d come back for me!”

“Now, hang on!” The pony yelped. She opened her mouth to say something else, probably another denial or something, but she seemed a little distracted all of a sudden. The mare’s ears perked as she heard a sizzling behind her. She glanced behind herself and - with an incredibly girly squeal - she leapt away from the fireplace, taking her burning tail in her hooves and frantically blowing it out. Whisper exploded into squeaky giggles, clapping her forehooves together with excitement. This pony is funny!

“Mum?” She asked politely, once the pony finished blowing out her own smoking tail.

“Oh Luna, what?” The mare groaned, backing away towards the kitchen now.

“Did you grow those wings just so you could teach me to fly? Was that the big surprise you had planned for me?”

“Okay, I dunno why you think I’m your mum, but…”

“But you are my mum!” Accident insisted, nodding. She kept trotting after the reversing mare even though she tripped over her wings a couple of times. It didn’t matter. Even though her body ached and her head stung horribly, her mum was here and everything was going to be okay. Anything was better than being stuck in that box.

Fatally, the mare missed the doorway to the kitchen, bumping into the wall. In the time it took her to readjust her course, Accident caught up to her and embraced her foreleg.

“Don’t think you can fool me.” She whispered, closing her eyes and nuzzling the pony’s hoof. “You’re definitely my mummy. I can tell.”

The mare stood stock-still for a time, regarding Accident with the air of a zookeeper being accosted by a tiger who hadn’t had his morning coffee.

“Um...look, kid...what...what’s your name, anyway?” She said diplomatically.

“Mum, don’t be silly! You know who I am! My name’s Accident, you silly pony!” Accident giggled, rubbing her wet cheek against the pony’s hoof, almost purring as she leaned into her. “I’m so happy to see you again…”

The mare froze in place, not apparently certain how to proceed. She looked so uncertain, so unused to Accident’s affection, that she couldn’t help but look up at the elder pony with concern.

“Um...mum? Are you okay?” Accident asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

This isn’t right...mum’s always been so happy to see me. What’s wrong? Is she sad? Does she not like that my mane doesn’t look nice anymore?

“Look, kid...I dunno who your mother is, but it’s not me…” The pony said, cocking her head and looking supremely apologetic. “I don’t know where she is...but you’ve got the wrong pony. I’ve never...never had a filly…”

Accident frowned. This didn’t make a lick of sense. She looked like her mother and she was taking care of her and everything! What was the problem?

“I...don’t understand…” Accident shook her head. “You’ve gotta be my mum! She has red hair and a white coat, and a cutie mark just like yours, only hers is gold and yours is black, and...and…”

“I’m sorry...Accident, was it?” The pony sighed, her ears flicking back against her head. “I...don’t have a family.”

“You do! You’ve got a daughter! It’s me!” Accident beamed, hopping up and down on the spot insistently. “Come on, mum! Stop playing around...pl..please?” Her smile wavered a little. Something was very wrong indeed.

“Look, kid, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not your mother! I’ve never had a kid! Look at me! I’m way too young!” She backed up a little more, visibly panicked. Whisper let go of her hoof, looking her up and down.

The mare looked to be in her early teens, not an awful lot older than Accident herself. She wasn’t much bigger than the young filly, and she had a look of abject terror on her face. Must be the storm outside. Accident remembered a time when she’d been super-scared of thunder, too.

“But you’ve gotta be…” She asked, confused. “I mean, you’re her! You’re my mummy! You’ve gotta be…” Her wet fluffy little ears flopped back against her head as she shuffled closer. “Nopony else would’ve taken me in…”

“I’m...sorry, kid…” The pony closed her eyes, turning her head away. “I’m not your mum...I’m really sorry…”

Accident sat down, although it’s perhaps fairer to say that her back legs collapsed from underneath her, leaving her sitting in a very odd position indeed. She was horror-struck, having so much difficulty processing that this wasn’t her mother after all. She’d spent all day waiting and all night looking, been so badly hurt while she’d run from those guards, and after all that she still hadn’t found her mum.

This really has been the worst day ever… Accident thought to herself. She didn’t know this pony, and she knew that it was rude to cry in front of someone you didn’t know, but she couldn’t help herself. Her big green eyes filled up with tears, her legs shaking as they started to drip onto the dusty wooden floor.

“Oh Luna, what now?” The pony groaned, clearly not used to young ponies getting upset in her presence. “No, please...don’t do that…”

Accident’s shoulders shook as she began to sob quietly, tears running down her cheeks and dripping onto the floor as she processed exactly what had happened over the past twenty-four hours. Her mum still remained lost and probably worried sick about her, she had no idea where she was or who this pony could possibly be. It was scary, wrong. She’d never expected adventures to be as unpleasant and cold and rainy and lonely and sad as this.

“I want my muuuuuuum….” Accident sobbed quietly. “I don’t wanna b...be lonely...I want…I want a hug...and I wanna see my family again…and...nopony even talked to me today...even though I did my mane up and everything…”

The white pony sat up, looking at her uneasily. “Um...well...er...don’t cry, kid...it’s okay...I’m sure a load of ponies like you. I mean, I talked to you today, right? That’s gotta count for something?” She smiled with more than a little hint of desperation.

“But…I don’t even know who you are, and...and my mum’s still missing…and I wanna see her again...I really really miss her…”

The pony frowned, extending and retracting a hoof time and again, unsure about whether fillies responded well to being petted. She was clearly completely out of her element here, with no idea of how to console a crying little foal, and Accident couldn’t stop herself from sobbing her little heart out. It had all gone so very very wrong, the best day of her life turning into something horrible, scary. All that Accident wanted right now was to see her mum, to go home and hug her and be tucked into bed. Heck, she wouldn’t even mind if her dad did it.

The teenager’s ears flicked and swivelled as she desperately tried to work out how best to approach this situation, and finally she dashed out of the room into the kitchen. There was a godawful racket from back there as she turned the place inside out in search of something. Accident was taken aback, drying her tears for a time and cocking her head in confusion. She couldn’t stop sniffling and snuffling as she listened to the pony work, one of her little fluffy ears flopping down.

What in Equestria is she doing in there?

Accident was debating going in after her when the pony finally emerged again, setting down a little bucket in front of the little filly and sitting back awkwardly.

“Look, kid…” The pony said quietly, nudging the bucket towards her with her nose. “It kinda looks like you’ve had a bad night, and I get that it’s pretty hard for you and that you want your mum, but...I dunno, maybe this’ll make you feel a little better?”

Accident shuffled closer, gazing into the bucket suspiciously. She didn’t believe that there was anything in there that could make her feel better, not when she was missing her mum so much, but she had to che…

Ohmygoshcookies!

Accident’s wings fluttered excitedly and a little smile formed on her face. They weren’t her favourite cookies, of course, but there were lots of them and she loved cookies very much indeed. Taking one in her hoof, the young filly nibbled on it experimentally. She had to make sure that they weren’t oatmeal raisin. Those biscuits were the work of Tirek himself.

Chocolate chip! Oh my goodness! Accident let out a tiny little squee as she stuffed the whole cookie into her mouth. They’d always been a special birthday treat, and now Accident had been given cookies for no reason at all! She still didn’t know who this mare was, but she sure was nice!

“Mmmph mmph…” Accident murmured, smiling up at the pony gratefully and trying to speak through the cookie in her mouth. Her little ears perked up again as she wiped her eyes on her wing.

The pony returned the smile, tussling Accident’s mane and kissing her between the ears. “You’re welcome.” She giggled, apparently fluent enough in Cookie to know what Accident had been trying to say. “Hey, are you gonna be okay, kid?”

“Mmph…” Accident rolled her eyes, swallowing the cookie and taking another in hoof. “I...I think so…” She had a bucket full of cookies, after all. While that would only take her so far, for the time being Accident had business to attend to. Delicious, chocolate-chipped business. “Um...what’s your name, miss?”

“I’m Sky.” The pony replied, laying down and crossing her forelegs with a nervous little smile. “I...well..I live here. So...erm...why the heck did you think I was your mum?”

“Becaummmph mmmph mmmph…” Accident grunted, stuffing another cookie into her mouth.

“Er...wanna run that by me again?” Sky chuckled, perking her ears attentively.

“ ‘orry…” The little filly swallowed again, giggling. “Well, my mummy looks just like you, except she’s a unicorn and you’re a pegasus, and your cutie marks are different colours, but she still looks a whole lot like you!”

“She does, huh?” Sky asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling softly. “Well, she sounds like a pretty sexy mare. How’d you lose her?”

“Um…” Accident frowned, not entirely sure what the word “sexy” was meant to mean. “Well, she was taking me to this party, and I was blindfolded, and I got left in a box while she went off to get my cousins and brothers and sisters, and she must’ve gotten lost, and...and...I went looking for her and I got lost…” Her face fell again as she stuffed another cookie into her mouth. These were the tastiest cookies ever, and not just because there were a lot of them.

Well, that was a big part of why they were so good.

“O...oh…” Sky’s ears splayed back as she frowned. “Um...I’m...I’m sorry, kid…”

“Sorry? Why are you sorry! I’ve got cookies!” Accident beamed, fluttering her wings again. “I love cookies! How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” Sky shrugged, lowering her head down onto her forehooves. “Um...so...I was thinking…”

“Mmmph?”

“Finish your cookie, kid.”

“Mmmphkay.”

“I was just thinking that maybe...if you wanted me to...I could help you find your mum? I mean, it’s a bit late out and there’s a lot of ponies out there that I wouldn’t wanna run into, but...I guess I could make the time…”

“You’d do that for me?” Accident squeaked, nearly upturning the bucket of cookies as she leapt to her hooves. “Oh my goodness! You’re, like, the second nicest mare I’ve ever met!”

“Second nicest?” Sky cocked her head, taken aback.

“Yeah!” Accident giggled, hopping over to the mare and wrapping her forehooves and wings around her. “I mean, my mum’s the nicest, but she’s my mum, and...well...you’re really nice, too...you took care of me and you brought me cookies...nopony else has ever done that before…”

“Yeah, well you were getting blood all over my porch.” Sky smiled. “I had to do something...besides, I’ve never seen anypony bump their head that badly before. I’m surprised you were only out for that long.”

“How...how long was I asleep for?”

“I dunno, a couple of hours?” Sky shrugged noncommittally. “I patched you up, but I might take you down to this great doctor I know tomorrow, just so he can give you a look over. I don’t wanna see you get infected or anything.”

“Well, okay…” Accident nodded. “But then we’ve gotta go and find mum, okay? I don’t want her to get worried about me, and I’ll have been gone for two straight days!”

Sky sighed, scratching the giggling filly behind the ears. “Sure, kid. We’ll find your mother right after that, okay?”

“Okay…” Accident sighed quietly, burying her head under Sky’s wing. It was much softer than a normal wing, as if Sky had never lost her filly down. It was warm and soft, like she was being hugged by a little white adolescent pillow. “Um...Sky?”

“Ye...yeah?”

“Where’d you get all of the cookies?” Accident grinned, poking her head up through Sky’s feathers and smiling attentively.

“Well, erm...I...er...got them legally, if that’s what you mean…” Sky stuttered.

“Legally?”

“You don’t know that word?”

“Nope!” Accident shook her head, enthralled. “What does it mean?”

“Erm...oh, it means “in the most boring possible way.”” Sky chuckled to herself.

“Oh...that sounds kinda dull…” Accident pouted. “So where’d you get the cookies?”

“I dunno...cookie factory?”

“Co...cookie factory? What’s that?” Accident sat down, flicking her tail from side to side as she listened intently.

“Oh, it’s, like, a place where they make hundreds of cookies…like, a whole lot of…”

“OH MY GOODNESS IT EXISTS?” Accident squealed, bouncing up and down on the spot and propping herself up on Sky’s chest by her fluffy little forehooves. “THERE’S A COOKIE FACTORY AND THEY MAKE COOKIES THERE AND THERE’S HUNDREDS OF THEM?” Her voice was so squeaky by this point that she’d almost transcended audible sound.

“Uh...yeah! Lots!” Sky nodded, leaning away from the excited filly. “Is...is that okay?”

Accident glanced around to make sure that nopony was listening before beckoning to Sky, her face growing dark. “I have a terrible secret.” She muttered conspiratorially. “Only my most trusted friends can know it. Only, you, mum and Scruffy are allowed to hear it, got it?”

“Um...sure…” Sky nodded, leaning in and perking her ear.

Accident took Sky’s ear between her forehooves, leaning closer as her eyes searched the room for eavesdroppers who would sell her secrets to Chrysalis. When she was finally satisfied that there were no changeling spies about, she finally let slip her darkest little secret.

“Someday...I’d love to get a hug from a cookie. Like, a giant one, all warm and fresh out of the oven.” She said quietly. “It’s my lifelong dream!”

As Accident pulled away, her lip was quivering and concern was etched into her face. “Um...you won’t tell anypony, will you?” She added.

Sky put a hoof to her lips, smiling softly. “I promise I’ll never tell another pony. Cross my heart.”

“Okay…” Accident smiled again, nuzzling her way under Sky’s chin and hugging her again. “Thanks, Sky. You’re a really nice pony...I’m sorry I bled all over your porch.”

“That’s okay, kid...you couldn’t help it.” Sky chuckled, spreading her wings and wrapping them around the young filly. “Hey, how about you go back to sleep? You still look kinda messed up and you probably had a pretty big day today.”

“Silly Sky! I’m not sleepy at all!” Accident rolled her eyes, giving Sky’s chest a friendly poke. “If I was, I’d be yawning!”

“Damn. Thought I had you there.” Sky giggled quietly, reaching down under her wing and retrieving Scruffy. “You sure this guy can’t convince you to change your mind?”

“Oh my gosh, Scruffy!” Accident yelped, snatching the little plushie pony out of Sky’s hooves and clutching him tight. “You saved him, too?”

“Sure did, and I’m pretty sure that he wants you to go to bed.” Sky nodded. She cleared her throat, putting on a rather silly voice and nudging the plushie a couple of times. “Goodness me, Accident! Sky sure knows what she’s talking about! It must be time for bed!”

Accident narrowed her eyes at Sky, raising a single accusing hoof and booping her on the nose. “HA! You thought you could trick me, didn’t you? Well, you can’t! Scruffy has an Irish accent! Everypony knows that!” She sat back, snuggling her little plushie and closing her eyes. “His name’s Scruffy Seamus O’Huggable, and he doesn’t like it when ponies do his talking for him.”

Sky rolled onto her back, kicking her hooves in the air in frustration. “Ugh...fine, what does Scruffy want to do, then?”

“Oh, he...erm…” Accident frowned, sticking her tongue out as she perked her ears up to listen to Scruffy. Looping a wing around the little plushie, she bobbed and nodded his head a couple of times as she listened. “He’s tired. He wants to go to sleep now.” She concluded, giving Sky a cheerful little squee.

Sky tucked her head under her wings, groaning. “Fi...fine! Well, goodnight then, and…”

“Wait!”

“What now?” Sky asked, peeking through her feathers.

“Um...I know we’ve just met...and...and maybe you’re busy or you’ve got visitors coming over later or something, but...but…” Accident shuffled her hooves uncomfortably. “Can...can I sleep with you tonight? It’s just that I’m kinda...this place is new, and scary...and I’ve never slept over at another pony’s house before...and...and…”

Sky held up a hoof to silence her, rolling onto her front again. “Come on, kid.” She said quietly, cringing a little. “Hop on my back and...yeah, whatever. You can bunk with me tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” Accident nodded, tucking Scruffy under her wing and hopping onto Sky’s back with a little grunt. She was just a little pudgy, straining for a moment to get onto the pony’s back, but Accident managed to get her front half over Sky nonetheless, relaxing as the elder pegasus got to her hooves and carefully clambered up the stairs. The little filly glanced around curiously at the bare walls and chipped paint, frowning just a little. This house was a real fixer-upper!

“Is this your house?” Accident asked, as Sky reached the top of the stairs and began trotting down an upstairs hallway.

“Yep.” She replied simply, her head drooping down from pure fatigue. Fillies were surprisingly draining.

“How many ponies live here with you?” Accident grinned, staring as they passed a row of identical old doors. “I bet you can fit your whole family in here!”

“One.” Sky replied quietly, tucking her wings in by her sides.

“One whole family? I bet you could fit two in this place, or even three if you squeezed!” Accident giggled with a little squee.

“Nah, not a whole family.” Sky chuckled quietly, as the two of them made their way into a bedroom at the end of the hallway. Her bed looked like a great many mattresses had been stitched together. As Accident looked around, taking in every last little feature of the room, she spotted a closet, a bedside table with a couple of photos on it, a chest of drawers in the corner and...one big pony-shaped imprint in the bed.

“You mean...you’re all alone?” She asked quietly. “Does your mum come to see you on Visiting Day?”

“Erm...no…” Sky shook her head, laying down on the bed and shifting her weight so that Accident slid off of her back. “She...doesn’t exactly know I live here.”

“Ooooh, so this is like a secret clubhouse?” Accident nodded. “I’ve always wanted a secret clubhouse! How many ponies meet here?”

“Well, I dunno…” Sky shrugged, as she tucked her head under her wing. “It’s a pretty exclusive club, and this is one great hideout…”

“Ooooh, how exclusive?” Accident bounced up and down on the bed, poking Sky on the nose through her feathers. “Come on, tell me! I wanna know! Like, five friends! Oooh, what about two friends?”

“I’m not gonna tell you…” Sky muttered. “Fewer ponies than that, though. It’s super-exclusive.”

“Wooooow, that sounds awesome!” Accident beamed. “What kind of club is it, huh?”

“It’s...erm...it’s a club specifically for ponies who like me.” Sky muttered, trying to force her head further under her wing.

“You have a fan club?” Accident gasped, clapping her hooves over her mouth in happy surprise. “Can I join? It’s not too exclusive for me, right? I mean, I’m in the super-secret hideout, so does that mean I’m part of the club?”

“Uh...you wanna be part of…the Sky fan club?” She asked, peeking out through her primaries at the tiny filly.

“Yahuh!” Accident nodded. “You saved me, Miss Sky! I’m your biggest fan ever!”

Sky raised her wing, regarding Accident with a cautious, tired gaze for the longest time. Finally, she let out a near-inaudible sigh. “I guess you are…” She said simply, covering her head again. “Welcome to the club, kid.”

“Oh my goodness! Um, is there something I’ve gotta do? What’s my first task? Do I have to make a pledge?” Accident got to her hooves, bouncing up and down excitedly.

“Uh...yeah...the first thing you’ve gotta do is go to sleep. It’s part of the secret initiation ritual thing…” Sky muttered dully.

Accident stopped bouncing, still shivering excitedly as she nodded. She’d never been in a club before, and this was the best one ever! Of course, it was the only one ever as far as she was concerned, but Sky let her in just like that! She must have seen all kinds of potential in that little filly, and just the thought of it left Accident beaming with pride.

Oooh, I’d better get to sleep! I don’t want Sky to change her mind! She’s gotta know that I’m gonna be the best club member ever! Maybe she’ll even let me meet the others before I go home! She thought to herself. Accident crept around behind Sky and nuzzled her way under the pony’s wing, bumping her head out from under it with her fluffy little snout. Once the filly was completely wrapped in downy softness, she rolled onto her back, leaving her hooves dangling in the air.

Sky was staring at her, perplexed. She’d never shared a bed with a filly before, and she most certainly hadn’t expected to have been evicted from under her own wing tonight.

“Miss Sky?”

“Yeah?” She answered tiredly, head flopping down onto a pillow.

“Can you show me what a cookie factory looks like?”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“Does that mean yes?”

“Sure, whatever.”

The two ponies lay there in silence for a little while longer.

“Miss Sky?”

”What?”

“Thank you for making me feel better...and for giving me cookies...and...and for keeping my super-special secret...and letting me into your exclusive club…”

Sky sighed again, rolling onto her side and wrapping Accident in her forehooves. “Don’t mention it, kid. Now, are you finally gonna go to sle…?”

Sky started as she heard the tiniest little squeaky noise from beneath her feathers, something between a snore and a whinny. Sky raised her wing slightly, peeking underneath to see if it wasn’t just her mind playing tricks on her.

Sure enough, Accident was curled up, forehooves wrapped around Sky’s midsection with her muzzle buried in her chest fluff. The tiny filly snored softly in Sky’s reluctant embrace, a serene smile on her face as she snuggled in closer.

Placing her wing back over Accident to keep her warm, Sky leaned down and nuzzled her between her ears.

“Goodnight, kid.”

“Goodnight, Miss Sky.”

Sawblades

Accident sniffled and fidgeted in Sky’s grip, making tiny whimpering noises before her eyes finally flickered open.

Oooh, what a nice bedroom! She thought to herself, peeking out through her blanket of pony feathers and taking in her surroundings.

The room was still very nearly pitch-black, but Accident was used to the dark. She’d had a lot of days living in her attic where the power went out and she’d been left in total darkness from morning until night. It wasn’t a big deal, really. Scruffy always kept her company and protected her from whatever was out there. Accident actually felt pretty unafraid, all things considered.

This pony is crushing me! She thought to herself after a while. She must really love hugs! I wonder if anypony else in this really exclusive club hugs her this tightly!

Accident lay there in silence for a while with a great big smile on her face, before starting to fidget again.

Okay, this is kind of starting to hurt, now… She frowned to herself, wriggling out of the pony’s grip and gasping for breath.

Accident shook her flanks and flapped her wings a couple of times to get some feeling back into her limbs, squeaking quietly and looking down at the sleeping mare. Sky kicked out with her legs, fidgeting herself as her sleep grew more and more restless. Accident backed away a little, whimpering with fright.

“Oh no!” She half-whispered, nudging Sky’s nose with her hoof. “Miss Sky? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just getting crushed! That’s all!”

Despite her apology, Sky didn’t stop fidgeting or groaning in her sleep, and Accident felt panic begin to creep in.

“No! No! Don’t cry! It’s okay! Um...Scruffy can hug you! He really doesn’t mind if you hug him too tightly! He loves super-tight hugs!”

Pulling Scruffy off of her back, she tucked him under Sky’s hooves in her place, and the little pony fell silent, a tiny little smile on her face as she clutched him tightly in her sleep.

“See?” She patted Sky’s cheek with a little squee. “He likes you, even if you did get his accent wrong! Don’t worry, he always keeps me company when I’m having nightmares.”

As Sky rested soundly again, Accident perked her ears, glancing around. The room was alarmingly bare, with only a single little black book on her bedside table. Taking extra-special care to not step on Sky’s head, Accident crept across the bed and picked the book up. With her eyes shining bright green in the darkness, the little pony flipped the book open and read the first page.

PROPERTY OF SKY RUNNER

Accident bit her lip. This was super-cheeky! It’s Sky’s diary, obviously a massive treasure trove of secrets all tucked away in a little book that she’d never want anypony to see. What stallions she liked, how she liked to do her mane, who her best friends were.

Maybe she wants to get hugged by a cookie someday, too! Accident beamed excitedly, mere moments away from delving further into the book and laying bare all of Sky’s secrets.

But...but she asked me nicely for me to tell her my super-secret secret! She thought to herself, hesitating. It’d be mean of me to just look at hers without asking her nicely…

Putting the book back, Accident sat down on her haunches, blowing her untidy mane out of her face with a little huff. Her head still ached from the events of the previous night, and she was compelled to search this big new house by pure curiosity. Sky wouldn’t mind, right?

With one last glance at the sleepy pony, Accident hopped off of the bed and trotted over to the door, venturing out into the dark corridor. There were so many doors in this hallway, so many different rooms to explore! What kind of incredible secrets did she have in this awesome clubhouse?

Accident paused as she glanced around at the corridor. It almost looked as if a dividing wall between two houses had been knocked down in order to give Sky more space for her awesome clubhouse. That was pretty inventive!

There’s probably all sorts of awesome codebooks and secret passages, and...and I bet there’s uniforms! Maybe Miss Sky will teach me how to do the super-secret hoofshake! There’d better be a hoofshake. It’s not a real secret club if there isn’t one!

She flicked her tail from side to side irritably as she ran into her first obstacle - a door with the handle just a little too high up for her to reach. Accident approached it, licking her lips as she wiggled her flanks. With a little hop and a rather lopsided beat of her overlarge wings, she hopped up and pulled the door handle down.

“I’m so clever!” She squeaked, pushing the door open and skipping inside. She skidded to a halt as she came face to face with a big pony silhouette.

“Eeep!” Accident whimpered, backing away a little and bowing her head. “Um...sorry mister...I was just looking around, and...and…”

She paused when the silhouette didn’t move, simply standing there and gazing directly at the door. Accident cocked her head, approaching it with a curious gaze.

“Um...hello?” She asked, tapping it on the head.

Oooh, it’s made of wood! Why would Miss Sky have a little wooden pony in her clubhouse? This looks like a job for Detective Accident!

The young filly hopped up and down on the spot, her hooves finally catching a pull-switch dangling from the ceiling. Taking it in her mouth, she gave it a little tug and turned on the light.

“Wooooow…” She whispered, curling her tail around her and cocking her head.

Before her stood a Sky-sized mannequin, clad in light grey leather armour and a matching cloak. The hood was drawn up over its head with two little holes for the pony’s ears to stick out, and most damningly of all, there was a black burglar’s mask over its empty eyes. There was an old worn bow in the corner, along with a rack of darts, sacks and other sundries.

Accident backed away from the mannequin, her ears flattening against her head. She couldn’t reverse all of the way out, tripping over her own wings and tumbling head over hooves onto her back.

Oh my goodness, she’s a criminal! Accident thought to herself, leaping to her hooves and galloping back to Sky’s room with her wings out. She had a lot of questions that she had to ask.

Clambering onto Sky’s bed again, Accident grabbed a pillow and started beating the mare over the head, grunting as she put her back and her wings into making this the most one-sided grumpy pillow fight ever.

“Wha...oof...what?” Sky yelped, rolling onto her back and holding her forehooves up to shield her face.

Accident drew herself up to her full unimpressive height, brandishing the pillow like a duellist’s glove. She gave Sky her angriest grumpiest filly-face, pouting furiously.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, missy!”

* * *

Accident peeked out from Sky’s saddlebag, watching as chimneys and rooftops rushed by. Sky’s cloak whipped around the two of them as the teenaged mare galloped across the rooftops, flapping her wings once in a while for the really high jumps.

“So...you’re a burglar? Like, a real-life super-duper no-faking-at-all burglar?” Acciden called out.

“Sure am!” Sky replied, skidding down a rooftop and leaping across the road to another building. “I’m not just a burglar, though. I’m the best burglar in Canterlot.”

“You are?” Accident squeaked excitedly. “Wow! Have the guards ever caught you?”

“Once or twice.” Sky admitted, flapping her underpowered wings a couple of times to carry them across another street. “Still, I’m free, aren’t I? There’s no prison that can hold me, kid!”

Accident gave a little squee, perking her ears. It was one thing to be in the presence of a wanted criminal, but the best burglar in the city? That was a privilege.

“I bet you’ve been on a whole load of adventures!” She smiled, holding on for dear life as Sky bounded up onto a cloud, launching herself into the air and beating her wings again.

“You’ve got no idea, kid.” Sky chuckled, blowing her mane out of her eyes and pulling her hood up. “I’ve done stuff that most ponies wouldn’t dream of, seen stuff that the Princesses don’t know about, stolen stuff that’s worth more than a tricked-out carriage. It’s pretty awesome work, even though the pay’s not always great.”

“Is it fun?”

“Fun? You kidding me? Of course it’s fun!” Sky’s hooves clattered on roof tiles as she alighted atop a different house, pulling her saddlebag flap open for Accident to get out. “You don’t get an experience like this by stacking shelves or filing stuff all day! Your outfit doesn’t look as cool, either.’

Accident hopped out of the saddlebag, her hooves clattering on the tiles as she gazed in wonder at her surroundings.

The two of them stood atop a tall tower not far from the palace, the whole of Canterlot laid out in front of them in the daylight. Down below, scores of ponies wove in and out of one another through a network of twisting streets to go about their daily business. Overhead, countless pegasi and griffons took flight or hopped from cloud to cloud to visit their friends. To Accident, who had never before left her little attic, the sight of the city was at the same time daunting and fascinating. Though she held onto Sky’s foreleg with all of her might, the young filly couldn’t help but stare.

“Like it?” Sky grinned down at her.

“It’s so...big…” Accident gasped, clutching the mare’s hoof a little tighter for fear of tumbling off of the roof.

“If I had a bit for every time I’ve said that…” Sky muttered.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” The mare beamed innocently. “Now, how about you and I go to visit the doctor to get that bump looked at?”

“Can a burglar go to a normal doctor?” Accident asked. As she cocked her head, one of her little blue ears flopped down.

“Nah, we’ve gotta go to a special burglar doctor. Trust me, you’ll like this guy. He’s the nicest stallion in the city.” Sky chuckled, trotting to the edge of the roof and glancing over the side of the building.

“What’s his name?”

“Sawblades!”

“That doesn’t sound very nice…” Accident said doubtfully.

“I know, but I guess ponies don’t exactly get to choose their names. I mean, could you think of anything to call yourself besides Accident? I mean, it’s kind of a crap name, no offence.”

Accident frowned. “Well, it’s not the best name ever, but it’s mine…”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Sky added, pulling Accident onto her back and dropping down to street level. “We’ve gotta come up with a burglar name for you!”

“A burglar name?” Accident asked. “What’s that?”

“Well, it’s a name you have so that nopony thinks you’re you! It’s like a disguise, or...I dunno, a secret codename!” Sky shrugged. “Besides, if you’re gonna hang with me, you’ve gotta have something awesome, edgy, like...I dunno…”

“Hexagon!” Accident giggled, sliding off of Sky’s back and tottering along next to her.

“Nah…” Sky chuckled. “Something like, I dunno, Nightwing! Nah, that’s too edgy…”

“Buttercup!”

“Not edgy enough.” Sky shook her head.

Accident trotted along in the mare’s shadow as she walked, dragging those huge wings of hers behind her like a restless spirit’s heavy chains. She kept her focus on Sky’s face for a time before glancing back down at the pony silhouette on the ground.

Accident let Sky get a little ground on her, trotting behind the mare and occasionally batting at her tail. There’s something about the way it flicked from side to side that made Accident want to catch it. However, as she reached out to grab Sky’s tail, the mare flicked it just out of reach, trotting a little faster and glancing at Accident as if she was something weird, abnormal.

Clearly it’s a test to see if I’ve got what it takes to hang out with a pony as awesome as her! Accident thought to herself. Oh, I’ll show her!

Accident came to a halt, wiggling her flanks a little and licking her lips as she concentrated as best she could. Finally, she made a giant leap, grabbing Sky’s tail in her soft hooves and hugging it as tightly as possible.

“Um...kid?”

“Yeah?”

“What exactly are you doing?” Sky asked, perplexed.

“Hugging your tail.” Accident shrugged, squeezing it as tightly as she could manage and beaming up at the elder pony.

“Okay, first thing…” Sky sighed, blowing her mane out of her face. “Don’t do that. Second thing, don’t do that. Third thing, doing stuff like that can get me in a whole load of trouble...so don’t do that.”

“Why’s that?” Accident asked, tilting her head.

Sky raised her tail, sending Accident sliding onto her back with an excited little giggle.

“Kid...you see that guy over there?” She frowned, directing Accident’s attention to a stallion in bright gold armour.

“Yeah! That’s a guard!”

“Yeah, well guards are pretty dangerous ponies.” Sky nodded, putting a hoof up to her lips to silence the little filly. “If you draw attention to me, I could get in a whole lot of trouble.”

“But you haven’t gotten caught that many times, have you?” Accident smiled brightly.

“No, because I’m good at sneaking and running, plus…” Sky drew herself up to her full, rather unimpressive height. “I’m awesome.”

“Can I be awesome, too?” Accident cocked her head, bouncing up and down on her flanks.

Sky bit her lip as she examined the filly critically.

“Well…” She said slowly, with a certain reluctance to her voice. Accident shuffled closer, tucking her forehooves up under her chin and batting her eyelashes.

“Pleeeeeeease?” She pleaded. “I could be a totally super-sneaky burglar if you just gave me a chance!”

Sky looked into those great big filly eyes and her heart melted. She couldn’t help but smile as she rolled her eyes, bucking back a little to unseat Accident and send her into a giggling fit.

“Fine.” She conceded. “But if you’re gonna run with me, you’ve gotta play by my rules. That means doing everything I tell you to do, okay?”

“Yahuh!” Accident nodded brightly. “I’ll be the best burglar ever, Miss Sky! You’ll see!”

“Yeah...but look, this is just until I can get you back to your mum, okay?”

“Okay, and then I’ll get to show her all of the super-duper tricks I’ve learned, right?” Accident giggled.

“That’s right, and I’m sure she’ll love them.” Sky winked. “But first we’re gonna make sure you didn’t crack your head open too badly. Reckon you can handle that?”

“Is it my first mission?”

“Sure! We’ll call it your first mission. So you’ve gotta make sure you don’t attract any attention from the guards, follow me, and whatever you do, be as sneaky as you can be, okay?”

“Okay, Miss Sky!” Accident nodded briskly, before hurriedly stuffing a hoof in her mouth. “I mean...um...okay, Miss Sky!” She whispered, giggling mischievously.

“That’s the stuff!” Sky snickered. “Now come on, walk this way.”

As she snuck carefully past the guard, Accident followed in perfect step, emulating Sky’s gait as best she can. Those huge wings made it pretty difficult for her to walk properly, constantly threatening to find their way under her hooves and trip her up, and no matter how much Accident tried she couldn’t get them to tuck back up by her sides again. They’d always slumped down next to her for as long as she could remember.

Nevertheless, Accident couldn’t help but squee happily as she managed to settle into Sky’s pace, sneaking quietly along behind her.

“Miss Sky?” She whispered excitedly.

“Hmm?”

“I’m doing it! See? I told you I’d be an awesome burglar just like you!”

“Well, you sure showed me.” Sky sighed patiently, blowing her mane out of her eyes. “You’re ready to graduate. Here’s your complimentary burglar’s mask and a free all-expenses-paid trip to the cookie factory.”

“Whoa…” Accident’s mouth formed a little “o” shape as her eyes opened wide. “A real live cookie factory? You’re actually gonna take me to one?”

Sky fatally chose not to answer, making a noncommittal mumbling sound as she led Accident down a rather inconspicuous alleyway. At the end sat an equally inconspicuous manhole cover.

“Oooh, is this a secret passage?” Accident asked, bumping into Sky’s hind leg as the mare came to a stop.

“Er...yeah, actually.” Sky chuckled, giving the manhole cover a kick with her forehoof. It slid aside, revealing a little wooden ladder descending into some kind of tunnel. Accident peered into it, looking for monsters or traps or other sundries that so often occupied passages like this. She’d read all about them.

“So what’s down there?” She asked, as Sky hopped down the ladder.

“The doctor!” Sky chuckled, her voice echoing throughout the catacombs as she held out her forehooves for Accident. “Come on, hop down!”

“This seems like a weird place for a doctor…” Accident said suspiciously, wiggling her flanks and hopping down into Sky’s forehooves.

“Exactly! That’s why the guards don’t think to look here! Get it?” Sky winked, setting the filly down on her hooves and trotting deeper into the catacombs.

“Ooooh, so it’s a secret doctor, right?” Accident nodded, cantering to try and catch up to Sky.

“Yeah. This is a doctor who treats all kinds of ponies. Burglars, assassins, wanted criminals and everything in between.” Sky shrugged. “He wouldn’t exactly be thrilled about the guards coming in to pay him a visit or most of his patients would get arrested!”

“That makes sense.” Accident nodded sagely. “So it’s a super-secret doctor? Do I have to do a super-secret sneaky walk so nopony sees me?”

“Well, Sawblades is probably gonna want to be able to see you, just to make sure you didn’t knock your brains out.” Sky snickered, stopping at a crossroads in the tunnels before taking a right. She trotted down a dark tunnel that was only half-lit by oil lanterns set into the walls. Accident tumbled over her own wings as she tried to keep up, landing on her back with a thump.

“You’re really not used to those wings, are you?” Sky observed, her voice echoing around the tunnel.

“Um...well...not really…” Accident admitted, rolling back onto her hooves and shaking the muck out of her mane. “I’ve...kinda lived in a room my whole life…”

“So you can’t fly either, I guess?” Sky raised an eyebrow.

“Nope…but I’d love to learn how! I bet I’d be super-speedy!” Accident giggled, hopping up and down on the spot. “I’ll be the speediest pony in all of Equestria, just you wait and see!”

“Heh…” Sky muttered, nuzzling Accident affectionately. “So your mum never took you out flying or anything?”

“Nope!” Accident shook her head, smiling brightly. “Mum always kept me locked up in my attic. I sometimes asked why I couldn’t go outside and play with all the other ponies, and she said it’s because of my name!”

Sky froze, frowning. “Wait...um...what did she say exactly?”

“She said I’m an accident and that’s why I couldn’t go outside!” Accident nodded briskly. “She was probably afraid that I’d trip over my wings and hurt myself. I do that a whole bunch!”

“I...guess you do…” Sky said, her ears flopping back against her red mane.

“Miss Sky?”

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Accident asked with concern. She placed a hoof on Sky’s, looking up at her with sad green eyes. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“Um...no...no, I’m not, kid.” Sky said quietly. “Hey, did...did your mum ever give you...you know...hugs?”

“Yep! She said I was the best hugging pony in the whole wide world!” Accident beamed. “She didn’t want hugs too often, though. I guess she wanted to keep them special. If I gave her hugs all the time, they’d stop being as nice, right?”

“Yeah, I...I guess so…” Sky cocked her head, a weird look on her face. “Erm...kid?”

“Yes, Miss Sky?”

“If you ever want a hug from me...I...I guess I could give you on...oof!” Sky started, before rolling onto her back as she was tackled by a ballistic filly.

“You give great hugs!” Accident nodded confidently, wrapping those huge wings around Sky and nuzzling her chest. “They’re extra-squeezy and soft and you hug me way tighter than mum does! Are you sure you’re not her in a clever disguise?”

“Pretty sure, yeah.” Sky muttered, putting her hooves around Accident as well and closing her eyes. Accident cocked her head. Sky was squeezing her pretty tightly, but not too tightly.

“You’re really good at hugging…” Accident observed as Sky finally let her go, sitting the filly on her back and heading down the tunnel again. “I bet your fan club hugs you all the time!”

“Yeah...erm…about that…” Sky chuckled. “Oh, look at that, we’re here!”

The two of them stood before a giant metal door with a little viewing slit built into it. It was huge, fortified and covered in spikes.

“That…doesn’t look like a doctor’s office.” Accident said doubtfully.

“It’s not supposed to.” Sky shrugged, stepping forward and knocking on it. “Oi! Sawblades!”

The clang of Sky’s padded hoof on the door echoed throughout the tunnel for a time before fading into silence.

“Maybe...maybe he’s not home?” Accident ventured hopefully, hiding behind Sky’s mane and peeking out.

“Oh, come on kid, don’t worry about it. Sawblades is harmless!” Sky giggled. “Don’t be such a scaredy-flanks!”

“ ‘m not a scaredy-flanks…” Accident muttered grumpily, as Sky knocked on the door again.

This time, the viewing slit opened, revealing a pair of mismatched eyes glaring back at the two little ponies. Whatever’s behind that door, it’s tall.

“Yeah?” It grunted.

“I found a filly, Sawblades!” Sky beamed back. “She’s managed to bust her head open, but she came and found my hideout and she was cold and wet...I don’t suppose you could have a look at her?” She lifted the struggling little pony off of her back, holding her up for Sawblades to see.

“Hmmm...sure...why not?” Sawblades grunted, closing the slit and leaving the two ponies in silence.

After another moment, there came a godawful clanking sound from beyond the door as Sawblades undid the locks, pulling the door open with a grating screech. Accident hid her head behind her little forehooves, only one eye peeking out from between them. To her surprise, the pony who stood before her was not the thuggish butcher she’d envisaged. Rather, he was a sweet earth pony in his late teens, only a little older than Sky. He smiled softly at the scared little filly, cocking his head as he looked her over.

“Where the hell did you find this, Sky?” He said. For somepony who’d been so crude and grumpy-sounding before, Sawblades was softly spoken and kind, regarding Accident with curiosity and a compassion she’d never expected out of any doctor, let alone this one. “What’s your name, little one?”

“A...Accident…” The filly whispered, raising her head to peek over her hooves at him. “Um...are...are you Sawblades?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I am.” The doctor nodded. “Come on into my office, you two. I’ll give you a look over and make sure that your clock’s still ticking.” With a flourish, the earth pony made an about-turn and retreated further into his clinic. Sky and Accident exchanged a glance, following him inside.

“You’re lucky it’s a slow day.” Sawblades said conversationally, trotting through the empty waiting room and into the office at the back. “The guard’s been cracking down on burglars something fierce. Little Nightshade came in with a broken wing yesterday. It’s pretty dangerous out there.”

“Why are the guards suddenly so interested in burglars?” Sky cocked her head, sitting Accident on her back and following him into his office. It was every bit as broken and dreary as a clinic built into the sewers would be, with cracked walls and little decor, but it was serviceable.

“Dunno. Word is that it’s got something to do with some new lieutenant they hired on. Guy hates burglars, and he’s been working with Captain Titus to try and catch every last one of them.”

“Huh, that explains why the patrols have been getting tougher to run from.” Sky whistled, setting the filly down on an examination table. “It’s probably some newbie who got robbed once and decided he’s got an origin story. I give him a week.”

Sawblades nodded, putting on his glasses and approaching the examination table. “Have you ever been to the doctor’s before, sweetheart?” He asked kindly.

Accident shook her head, tucking her forehooves up under her chin. “N...no sir…”

“Okay, well this is gonna be pretty new to you, but I’m just going to have a look at that bump on your head to make sure that you haven’t suffered anything permanent, okay?”

“Okay, Doctor Sawblades…” Accident nodded guardedly. “Um...what does “permanent” mean?”

“Oh, erm...forever.” Sawblades waved a hoof dismissively, taking hold of her head and unwrapping the bandages that Sky had woven around it. “Hmmm...bit of a nasty bump, here...you weren’t doing anything naughty, were you?”

“No sir...I was just running from a really scary guard...and...and I tripped on my wing…” Accident held her huge wings up as if to emphasise her point. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Nopony’s blaming you.” Sawblades beamed. “Accidents happen, of course. Those wings are pretty huge, though. Were you born with them that big?”

“They’ve been big for as long as I can remember! Mum says it’s because of my name!” Accident nodded. “They’re soft and perfect for hugging!”

“They sure are.” Sawblades stepped back, smiling. “Well, I don’t see anything wrong with her. No permanent damage or any significant bleeding. Just keep an eye on her and give me a shout if anything else happens, okay?” He addressed Sky, before finally turning back to Accident. “Now, since you’ve been so well-behaved, I think you’ve earned a treat. How would you like a lollipop?”

“A...lollipop?” Accident cocked her head. “What’s that?”

“It’s a sweet little thing on a stick that…” Sawblades froze on his way to the bowl. It might have been because he was trying to explain the concept of a lollipop in a way that didn’t make it sound phallic...or it might be because the bowl was empty.

“Um...where did…?” He muttered, confused.

“Oh, were those lollipops in that bowl?” Accident grinned. “Sky just took every last one when you weren’t looking!”

Sawblades rounded on Sky, glaring at her sternly.

“Oh, come on!” Sky beamed with a little squee. “Would I do a thing like that?”

“They’re in her saddlebag!” Accident cried out, giggling.

Sawblades darted forward before Sky could stop him, flipping open her bag and looking at the delicious candy stash within. “I don’t know…” He chuckled. ”Would a burglar steal from somepony?”

“Um...okay...look…” Sky backed away. “I...I can explain!”

“Oh, you can, can you?” Sawblades smiled knowingly. “Go on, then. Explain it. I’m waiting.”

“Er...kid?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s time for your second lesson...now we’re gonna learn about something called “running away.””

The Bakery Job

“Miss Sky?”

“Yeah, kid?” Sky replied, looking back at the little filly in her saddlebag.

“Do you remember what you promised me?” Accident asked, a bright little smile on her face.

“Oh Luna…” Sky groaned. “No, kid. I don’t. What did I promise you?”

“You promised me you’d take me to see a real-live cookie factory, remember? All expenses paid!” Accident nodded briskly, resting her forehooves on the rim of the bag.

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t!” Sky tried hopefully.

“You did, Miss Sky! I have a witness!” Accident growled, rummaging in her saddlebag and producing Scruffy.

“I’m pretty sure Scruffy’ll speak in my defence.” Sky nodded confidently, trotting a little faster.

“I dunno about that, Miss Sky! Scruffy, what do you say?”

Accident leaned down, perking her ears and listening close to the silent little plushie as she bobbed and nodded its head. “He says you’re a lying cheeky monkey and you totally promised that you’d take me to see a cookie factory.”

“Damn it, Scruffy! Why did you have to sell me out like that?” Sky skidded to a halt, cringing.

“You promised.” Accident said with a certain finality, crossing her forehooves and clutching Scruffy tight. “You said you’d do it. You promised.”

“But...I…”

“Were you telling me a lie?” Accident said accusingly. “Miss Sky, you know lying is wrong, right?”

“So’s stealing. Never stopped me before.” Sky shrugged.

“But...you promised…” Accident pouted, her eyes widening as she teared up. This made absolutely no sense. Sky had told her she’d take her to a cookie factory - twice, in fact! Why would she be going back on it now?

Sky looked back at the filly in her saddlebag, and stared into the eyes of the world’s saddest pony. Accident was heartbroken, eyes welling up with tears.

“That’s not going to work!” Sky said stoically. “I’ve already had you try this on me, and it’s not gonna work again! Besides, I’m not allowed in the cookie factory anymore after that thing with the stallion and the vat full of cookie dough.”

“But...Sky…” Accident whimpered, placing a shaking little hoof on Sky’s shoulder. “You promised.”

Sky looked away, shivering with fright at the sight of such a desperately sad little filly.

“My mummy lost me, I got a really bad bump to the head and now I don’t get to go to the cookie factory?”

The mare cringed, hiding her face behind her hooves to avoid Accident’s damning gaze. She mumbled something incomprehensible, muffled by her own padded hooves.

“It’s okay, Miss Sky...I understand…” Accident nodded, sighing. “You’re probably too super-busy to take me there. Mum’s busy a lot, too…”

Sky frowned, evidently feeling like the world’s worst pony by that point, and did the unthinkable. She peeked out from between her hooves.

Accident sighed, slumping down over the side of the bag with silent tears running down her face. She clutched Scruffy close to her chest as she sniffled, looking for all the world like the most heartbroken, sad little pony in all of Equestria. To be fair, she probably was.

“Nnngh…” Sky mumbled. “Fi...fine…”

“Fi...fine? What’s fine?” Accident sniffed, wiping her eyes on her enormous wing.

“I...I guess we could go to the cookie factory…” Sky sighed resignedly.

“Tonight?”

“Will it make you stop crying?”

“Yahuh!”

“Then sure…” Sky slumped, defeated. “Just...please...please stop crying...I can’t take it…”

Accident bounced up and down in her saddlebag, squealing with excitement. “Oh my gosh we’re going to a cookie factory and it’s gonna be awesome and I bet there’s gonna be a giant cookie there and everything!”

“Yeah…” Sky chuckled tiredly, pulling her hooves away as soon as she was certain that the crying had stopped. “Just a few things, okay?”

“What? What do I have to do?” Accident nodded briskly, cocking her head and letting one of her ears flop down. Obviously this was very important information and she needed to pay extra-special close attention.

“Right...first, we’ve gotta go in after dark. Like I said, I’m not allowed in there anymore.” Sky huffed, getting back onto all four hooves. “Second...we’re gonna have to conceal your identity or you’re gonna be in a whole heap of trouble with your mum when she finds out what you’ve been up to.”

Sky’s eyes drifted down to Accident’s silk blindfold, still wrapped around the filly’s neck like a scarf. It was jet black, the better to rob Accident of her eyesight a couple of nights ago, and Sky couldn’t help but grin. It’d be perfect.

“Hold that thought.” She grinned, spreading her wings and taking off.

* * *

Accident beamed at her reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t had time to fix her mane up since before her mother came to visit, and it hung freely around her shoulders, messy and unkempt as ever.

I’ll have to fix that… Accident thought critically to herself, as Sky worked carefully around the back of her head, knotting her blindfold into place. Two eyeholes had been cut into it, letting Accident see out. It looked for all the world like a burglar’s mask wrought of silk.

“How do I look?” She squeaked, after a while.

“Like a really scary burglar.” Sky smiled back, pulling away and examining her critically. “Now...there’s just one more thing you need...oh! Hang on!” She trotted away, giggling with all of the glee of a pony giving her best friend a makeover.

Accident craned her neck as Sky rummaged in a little chest of drawers. What on earth could that big silly pony be doing over there? She already looked like a super-scary burglar! Sky must be getting something super special.

After a moment, the elder pony returned with a light grey bundle of cloth, flicking it out and fastening it around Accident’s shoulders. It was a little cloak, just big enough for a filly!

“There.” Sky said proudly, pulling the hood up over Accident’s head. “Can’t exactly do anything about the wings, but besides that you look like one awesome little burglar.”

“So if somepony sees me, they’ll know it’s me?” Accident asked, wiggling her head so that her ears could pop out of the ear-holes in the hood.

“Yeah. They’ll be able to tell who you are by your wings, but don’t worry, nopony’s gonna see us.” Sky winked. “I’m a professional, remember?”

“Yeah, you’re the best burglar in Canterlot, right Miss Sky?” Accident nodded, turning around and bumping her muzzle against Sky’s foreleg affectionately.

“That’s right.” Sky nodded. “Course, I’m only good at making myself disappear. I can keep you safe and hidden, but you’ve gotta follow my instructions and do whatever I tell you, okay?”

“Okay, Miss Sky.” Accident smiled eagerly. “I’ll be the best burglar ever! You saw how well I was sneaking earlier, right?”

“No, I didn’t.” Sky rolled her eyes, smiling. “You were far too sneaky for me. I didn’t even know you were there.”

“Ha! See? I can do this!” Accident giggled. “So...um...whose cloak is this, anyway?”

“Well...it’s kinda...mine…” Sky shrugged, scratching the back of her head. “It got a little small for me, but hey, it suits you just fine!”

“This is yours?” Accident gasped, looking down at the dusty old cloak with surprise. It was strange. Sky seemed like one of those ponies who’d been this age forever. It was unthinkable that she’d once been a filly, too...let alone a filly burglar.

“Sure is. You take care of it, okay? This’ll be your first job as a burglar so you don’t wanna lose your cloak or get found out.” Sky smiled, tussling Accident’s mane.

“Okay! I can totally do that!”

“Second thing…” Sky went on, biting her lip. “You’ve gotta keep your voice down when we’re on a job. If you go squeaking or shouting or anything, you can get in a whole load of trouble or attract the guards, and believe me, you don’t wanna get caught by the guards.”

“Will they tell my mum that I was doing burglar stuff?” Accident asked worriedly.

“Yeah, and then they lock you up in a room with nothing to do and they don’t let you out for ages.” Sky growled. “But don’t worry, you’re gonna be perfectly fine as long as you stick with me. Now, we just have to come up with a proper name for you…”

“I’ve got a name, though!” Accident frowned. “It’s Accident! That’s what my mum’s always called me!”

Sky cringed, finally shaking her head and trotting towards the door. “No, I mean, a secret code name that I can call you by when we’re on a job together. It’s...part of being in the club. You get a super-secret name that you go by when you’re on a job.”

Accident frowned as she followed along in Sky’s wake, giggling quietly as she hopped into Sky’s shadow again and again, trying to catch it.

“So it’s gotta be edgy, right?” Accident asked. “What does edgy mean, anyway?”

“Oh, you know, awesome, cool, something that says ‘don’t mess with me.’” Sky frowned, flicking her tail out of the way as Accident threatened to pounce on that, too.

“Hmmm…” The filly thought carefully, standing stock still for a time. Her ears flicked idly back as she wondered just what kind of burglar codename would best suit her. Obviously Sky didn’t seem to think that Accident was a very good name at all. Every time Accident had uttered it, it seemed that Sky’s smile faltered a little, almost as if she was sad to hear it. The young pony frowned, glancing to the floor, then back up to Sky, then back to the floor again.

“Can I be called Shadow?” She asked after a time.

“Shadow?” Sky asked, sitting down and cocking her head. “I mean...er...sure. That’s an okay name, I guess…”

“I chose it because...um…” Accident shuffled further under Sky’s own silhouette. “Because a shadow’s something that’s right next to you all the time, no matter where you are or what day it is, and that’s what I’m gonna do! Stick right by your side and be as quiet as a mouse!” Accident sat down, letting out an excited little squee.

“Shadow…” Sky muttered under her breath, impressed at the young filly’s logic. “You know, when you say it like that, it actually sounds like a pretty damn awesome name.” She got to her hooves, unable to suppress an excited grin of her own. “Well okay then, Shadow. You ready to go?”

“Yahuh!” Accident nodded, standing at Sky’s side and striking the same pose as the elder pony. “I’ll be the best shadow ever! Just you wait and see!”

Sky giggled, taking the little pony under her wing and trotting out into the dusk light. “Come on then, kid. Let’s go steal us some cookies.”

* * *

“Sky?”

“Yeah, Shadow?” Sky whispered, as they reached the perimeter fence.

“You never really explained why you’re banned from the cookie factory.” Accident scratched her head, curious. “You mentioned a stallion and a vat of cookie dough…”

“Oh...erm...that…” Sky blushed. “Well...you see, it was...er...kinda complicated. We got into a fight...and we started wrestling, and we ended up in the cookie dough vat...when they found us they fished us out with swimming pool nets and we were both covered…”

“Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you blushing? That sounds like an awesome fight!” Accident giggled, nudging her shoulder. “Did you win in the end?”

“Erm…” Sky muttered, biting her lip. “I guess you could say it was a tie. I got thrown out of the cookie factory and told not to come back, though. I guess he won in the end.”

“Was he a guard?”

“No...not exactly…” Sky mumbled, shuffling her hooves awkwardly. “He was the tour guide...um, anyway, you ready for this?”

“Sure a…” Accident began, before stopping and letting her mouth hang open, horror-struck. “Wait, I forgot Scruffy!”

“That’s okay, sweetie. He said he’d guard the house from intruders and rival burglars.” Sky winked. “He’s a really good friend.”

“He sure is.” Accident nodded. “So how do we get inside?”

Sky looked up at the towering pink factory, little brickwork chimneys atop its roof exhaling puffs of black smoke into the night sky.

“See those little cones of torchlight?”

“Yeah?”

“Guards.” Sky muttered, starting to scale the perimeter fence. “Come on, kid. Hop in my saddlebag. We’ll sneak past them. Once we’re inside we ought to be okay. I don’t think there’s much they’re defending in there.”

Accident wiggled her flanks, hopping up into Sky’s saddlebag and closing the lid over her head. She left herself a little so as to peek out, however. Besides, her wings didn’t fit in there properly, so the flap wouldn’t close. Sky waited for her to get comfortable in her saddlebag before scaling the perimeter fence and hopping down onto the factory grounds. Her soft padded hooves made nearly no noise as she touched down, and Accident couldn’t help but be impressed. This mare’s good.

Sky lowered herself close to the ground, spreading her wings to take some of the weight off of her hooves. Licking her lips in concentration, she began to creep forward, her hooves making no noise against the ground as she ducked and weaved around cover. Accident was transfixed, watching the elder pony do her work like only a professional can.

“You’re really good at this.” She whispered encouragingly, as Sky splayed herself against a wall, pushing one of the ground floor windows open.

“Thanks.” Sky smiled, fluttering her wings quietly so as to clamber through the open window without leaving hoof marks. Moving slowly and deliberately, Sky shut the window behind her and looked out over the factory floor.

“Well, Shadow...this is what you came here to see, right?” She whispered, hoisting the filly out of her saddlebag and setting her down on the concrete factory floor.

Accident blinked, looking up at the most incredible array of machines, vats and assembly lines she’d ever seen. Though the monsters sat at ease for now, Accident was awestruck by just how many different contraptions were dedicated to making her favourite food ever. Her eyes drifted down through the factory workings, following the labyrinthine network of conveyors and little ramps, until finally…

“Wooooow…” She breathed. “Look at all of those boxes of cookies! Do you think there’s a real live giant hugging cookie somewhere in here?”

Sky frowned pensively for a while, her face lighting up after a while with the air of a pony who has an idea. “You know what? I bet there is.” She nodded. “If I know anything about giant hugging cookies, they usually hide at the top of the factory to make sure that only the most dedicated ponies can find them!”

“I bet I can find one!” Accident hopped up and down excitedly, galloping off up the stairs.

Accident’s head still ached from the bruising she’d taken the night before, but she couldn’t care less at this point. The same day as she’d told Sky her secret, she’d been allowed to come to this wonderful, fantastic sweet little factory. She found herself reaching onto the dormant conveyor belt from time to time, selecting a cookie and tasting it for herself before tucking it under her wing for later. As Accident wove her way up the stairs, the space under her wing got more and more crowded, until finally she left a trail of cookie crumbs behind her wherever she went.

“Hmmm…” She muttered critically, glancing around. “This isn’t gonna work...I need something that can hold a whole load of cookies, like a saddlebag, or...oooh!” She started. Hanging on the wall before her was a sizeable sack, emblazoned with the factory logo. It was perfect.

“If I fill this whooole sack up with cookies, I can bring mum a “sorry for getting lost” present!” Accident giggled, hopping on the spot until she finally managed to unhook the sack and empty the cookies into it. As the young filly partook of more and more cookies, the bag got more and more full. Finally, Accident found herself at the very top of the factory, just a few metres shy of the roof, with a bag that was just about full.

“Okay...this is where Sky said the giant hugging cookie would be.” Accident let go of the bag, pacing quietly around the huge machines and brushing past switches, levers and buttons. “Hello? Um...Mr or Mrs Giant Hugging Cookie? My name’s Acci...Shadow...my name’s Shadow, but it’s my super-secret codename so don’t be fooled!” She giggled. “Um...I was looking for you because it’s always been my life-long dream to get hugged by a great big cookie. Don’t worry, I’m not sick or anything, and I give great hugs! Wanna try one on?” She glanced around hopefully, her ears flopping down as her pleas were met by weighty silence.

“I don’t get it…” She whispered, leaning on a nearby button and sighing. There was a noise that sounded an awful lot like screaming from downstairs, but Accident paid it no heed, fixated instead on the decided lack of plus-size cookies taking her up on her offer. “It’s not like I give bad hugs or anything. I give great hugs! Any cookie who got to hug me would be a lucky cookie!” She sighed again, dejected. “Did Sky lie to me about this, too? I mean, she lied to me about coming here, but that was just because she was banned forever. I mean, there’s not even a good reason for her to lie to me about this…is there?”

Pulling her hood up again, Accident relinquished the pressure on the button, trotting downstairs again and dragging her bag along behind her. Perhaps she’d made a mistake, or gone the wrong way, or…

“Sky?”

“I can explain!”

“You didn’t start wrestling ponies again, did you?”

“No.” Sky glared accusingly. ”Somepony must have turned on the conveyor belt…”

Accident took another moment to examine the scene. Sky was indeed odd. Somehow, and Accident couldn’t for the life of her imagine how, Sky had managed to bake herself into what looked like a huge blob of cookie dough. Only her head and hooves were sticking out of it, and she looked very grumpy indeed.

“Oh...erm...sorry…” Accident chuckled. “Er...I didn’t find any giant cookies up there. Are you sure they’re meant to be at the top of the factory? The big huggy ones?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute! Now help me get out of here!” Sky squeaked, flailing her hooves uselessly.

“I thought you said you could escape anything.” Accident said accusingly, her eyes narrowing. “Were you telling me another lie, Sky?”

“What? No! I’ve just never been baked into a fucking cookie before!” Sky protested. “Now come on, stop kidding around and help me out!”

“No.” Accident glared, sitting down next to the bag. “You’ve gotta prove you weren’t trying to tell me a lie. You’ve gotta escape that big evil cookie all by yourself!”

“You can’t be serio…” Sky started, meeting Accident’s very serious pouty gaze and sighing. “Fine...I didn’t lie, but I haven’t always gotten out of everything myself. Sometimes I need help, okay?”

“So sometimes other ponies have to come and save you?” Accident cocked her head. “Like a princess?”

“Yeah, sometimes other ponies have to...no, not like a princess! I’m nothing like a princess!” Sky shook her head. “Does this look like a princessy thing to do?”

Accident shuffled closer, grinning victoriously. “You are too! You are too like a princess, and you’ve gotta admit it otherwise I’m not gonna help you out of this mess!” She was relatively certain that this was a very cheeky thing to do indeed, and that it would get her in a lot of trouble later on down the line, but Sky needed to admit it. It’d be adorable.

“What? You can’t be...you can’t…” Sky blustered, looking down at her doughy prison in resignation. “Ugh...fine. What do you want me to say exactly?”

“Say “I’m a pretty little princess and sometimes I need rescuing!”” Accident giggled, booping Sky’s nose with her little forehoof. “If you say it, I super-duper swear that I’ll let you out!”

“Fi...fine…” Sky muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m...a...pre….”

“That’s cheating! You just trailed off!” Accident huffed, crossing her forelegs and sticking her nose up at the ceiling. “You’ve gotta say it properly!”

“Wasn’t my fault if you weren’t listening.” Sky huffed back, sticking her tongue out at the young pony.

“Put that tongue away, missy!” Accident growled in her most commanding little voice, promptly pushing Sky’s tongue back into her mouth with her hoof. “Now come on! Say it properly or you’re gonna be trapped there for a loooong time!”

“Fine! Fine!” Sky wiggled her hooves uselessly again, laying back and going bright red. “I’m...I’m a pretty little princess and sometimes I need rescuing…”

“There, was that so hard?” Accident giggled, getting to her hooves and trying to find something to help Sky out of her predicament. “So how did you manage to do that, anyway?”

“I was trying to…” Sky began, before falling silent. “Never mind what I was trying to do. It...didn’t work exactly like I’d planned it to, okay?”

“That’s okay, Sky. I have all sorts of great ideas and sometimes none of them go to plan!” Accident came trotting back, dragging a crowbar along behind her and resting it atop the great big clump of cookie batter encasing Sky.

“Erm...was this one of them?” Sky asked, her ears splaying back as Accident raised the heavy piece of metal over her head.

“I guess we’re gonna find out!” Accident giggled, bringing the crowbar down on top of Sky.

With an almighty crack, the metal bar shattered the solid dough trapping the elder pegasus, allowing her to finally shake herself free. Hopping off of the conveyor belt and shaking herself off, Sky rounded on Accident, her face a mixture of rage, confusion and...relief?

“What made you think going at it with a crowbar was a good idea?”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Accident shrugged, looking up at Sky with concern. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No...no, I’m okay.” Sky sighed. “We should probably get out of here, though. I think we made a whole ton of noise back there and it’s only a matter of time before the guards come running.”

“Okay, then!” Accident grabbed the huge sack of cookies, hoisting them into one of Sky’s saddlebags before lowering herself into the other.

“You’ve been busy, huh?” Sky chuckled, trotting back towards the window.

“They’re for mum, for when I get home!” Accident nodded. “They’re a “sorry I got lost” present! Do you think she’ll like them?”

Sky cringed, refusing to meet Accident’s gaze.

“Um...Sky?”

“Yeah…” Sky said finally. “I think she’s gonna love them to bits. She’s lucky to have a kid like you. But...for now, what say you and I head back to the hideout?”

Accident tucked herself into Sky’s saddlebag, nodding excitedly.

“Okay, Miss Sky. Let’s go back home.”

* * *

The wooden door to the hideout fell off of its hinges as Sky pushed it, landing on the ground with a loud slam.

“Damn…” Sky muttered. “Eeeh, whatever. I’ll replace it tomorrow. For now, how about some hot chocolate?”

“Wow, cookies and hot chocolate in one day?” Accident cocked her head, enthralled.

“Sure! Anything for a burglar who’s just had her first big heist, even if she was pretty cheeky about it.” Sky chuckled, hoisting Accident and her bag of cookies out of her saddlebags. “You did great, Shadow. I’d even say you’ve got a knack for this sort of thing, but your mum probably wouldn’t like that.”

“Thanks, Miss Sky. I learned from the best burglar ever!” Accident shuffled her hooves, blushing bashfully. “Even if she is a little princess who needs to be rescued sometimes.”

Sky bowed her head irritably. “Yeah...well...I’m gonna go put the kettle on. You find a place to stash those cookies, okay?”

And with that, Sky retreated with haste into the kitchen, leaving Accident sitting there with a slightly oversized bag of cookies. The little filly started to drag the bag around, looking for a decent place to store them until it was time to go home.

“I hope that’s tomorrow…” She whispered to Scruffy. “I’ve had a lot of fun with Miss Sky, but I suppose I’ll have to go back to my mum and say sorry for getting lost. She must be pretty worried by now.”

Scruffy said nothing, sat on a nearby armchair with the demeanour of a wife asking Accident just what time of night she called this. Insofar as plushies can have a demeanour, anyway.

Accident sighed, glancing into the bag once more before carrying on her search. This time, however, something within the bag caught her eye.

“Is that...a double-peanut butter and chocolate chip gingerbread cookie?” She gasped, her eyes going wide with amazement as the delicious bounty nestled amidst the lesser tasty treats. That was Accident’s absolute favourite kind of cookie ever, and it was right there, within hoof’s reach.

“Mum...probably wouldn’t mind if I took just one little cookie…” Accident said slowly, reaching into the bag to claim her well-earned prize. To her horror, all she managed to do was poke it deeper into the bag.

“Okay...maybe…maybe this isn’t a job for hooves…” Accident muttered, withdrawing her foreleg and sticking her head in in its place. The room was abuzz with tiny little munching noises and squeaks of frustration as Accident did her best to catch the elusive cookie, pushing the bag around with her head to try and shift the interfering baked goods that kept getting between her and her quarry. This was actually surprisingly frustrating.

Finally, however, Accident’s perseverance paid off, and she caught the little biscuit in her mouth, munching on it gleefully. It was at this moment of greatest triumph, as Accident attempted to pull her head back out of the bag, that she realised that the unthinkable had happened. Her head was stuck.

“Uh oh…” She mumbled. The sound of approaching hoofsteps suggested that Sky was on her way back into the room. Whatever would she say if she caught Accident chowing down on the cookies she’d collected specifically for her mother? Accident needed a plan, and fast.

Sky burst into the living room with two mugs of hot cocoa, her smile turning to a look of deepest confusion as she took in the scene before her. There stood a filly with a cookie bag on her head, leaning against a couch and doing her absolute best to look nonchalant.

“Kid?” Sky said quietly.

“Ye…*munch*...yes, Miss Sky?”

“Are you eating all of the cookies yourself?”

“Um…*munch*...n...noooo…” Accident tried, as innocently as possible.

Sky stared at her for a while longer, placing the hot chocolate at Accident’s hooves and rolling her eyes. “You’re impossible.” She huffed, trotting back out of the room and leaving the filly to get herself out of that mess.

Accident would never suspect it because of the bag on her head obscuring her vision, but as Sky trotted out of the room, she smiled a smile unlike any she’d ever had before. This filly was funny.

The Big Empty Sky

A little white mare clad in a light grey cloak spread her wings, taking off in silence. Her weak wings, still encumbered by filly down, carried her up into the clouds with pathetic little flaps. Her legs propelled her upwards faster than her wings ever could, and in time she tucked them back by her sides completely.

Unbeknownst to her, a little filly with huge wings followed her every step, even going so far as to move her legs in time with the elder pony. Hopping up onto the clouds was particularly difficult for poor Accident, but in time she found herself able to use the clouds’ own springy texture to her advantage, following behind Sky with great big hops and weak little wing beats.

“Where do you think she’s going, Scruffy?” Accident whispered to her little cuddly toy, mounted on her back like a rider with his forehooves tied around her neck.

“I know!” She giggled quietly after a while. “It’s gotta be a super-secret mission! I bet if I can sneak along behind her she’ll be so impressed!”

Accident put her hoof up to her lips to shush Scruffy as Sky alighted atop the highest cloud she could reach, looking around. Slipping her burglar’s mask on to conceal her identity, the filly peeked up over the cloud layer at the elder pony, tail flicking from side to side excitedly.

“Sssh...Scruffy...I don’t know what she’s doing, so stop asking!” Accident huffed, tucking her ears back to make herself less noticeable. As she watched, Sky lay down atop the cloud with a little sigh, looking out over the city pensively.

“Ugh...I’m a fucking idiot…” Sky muttered, lowering her head down onto her forehooves. “Come on, Sky. Stop messing around. You’ve gotta stop putting off taking her back to her mum. This is getting silly, now.”

Accident cocked her head, perking her ears up to better listen to Sky.

“Why would Miss Sky think that things are getting silly?” She whispered to Scruffy. When the stuffed toy failed to give her a straight answer, she frowned, listening on.

Sky flapped her wings irritably. “Who does she think she is, coming into my life like that? Telling me she loves me...unbelievable…” Sky growled grumpily, rolling onto her back and looking up at the stars. “I don’t need ponies in my life. I don’t need anypony in my life. I’ve done just fine on my own.”

“I...thought she had a fan club…” Accident whispered, confused. Scruffy flopped over forwards onto her head, and she let out a little gasp. “Scruffy, you’re right! She must’ve been telling fibs! Then...what does she have?”

Sky stared up at the moon for the longest time in peaceful silence, and for a while Accident assumed that she’d drifted off to sleep. After a while, however, Sky started to whisper something under her breath. Exchanging a glance with her best friend in the whole wide world, Accident clambered closer to the mare, straining her ears to try and listen more closely.

Is she singing?

Accident lay down, tucking her wings in and listening carefully. Sky’s voice was soft and breathy, a hair’s breadth above a whisper.

“When I was little, mum and dad threw me out on the street,
And I learned that day that ponies aren't all friendly, kind or sweet.
They were apathetic giants, couldn't bring themselves to care
for the tiny little filly who was lost, alone and scared.
I tried to find a mum and dad to give me a new home
but everypony seemed to have a child of their own.
It's a bit late now to tell me that some foal is gonna help
Since I got kicked out I'm doing fine relying on myself.”

Sky took a soft breath, opening her eyes and peering at her own forehooves.

“I've got the darkness, skills, a cloak, and what more do I need
I'll be okay with just the shadows and me.”

As the mare rolled onto her front again, Accident crouched down lower, eyes wide with terror as she took in Sky’s song. She sang it mournfully, slowly, her voice full of compassion and sadness that sounded truly foreign to Accident.

She sounds just like mum when she’s sad...but there’s something so weird about Miss Sky…

Accident followed Sky as she got to her hooves, building in confidence and volume as she hopped from cloud to cloud.

”I'm smarter, faster, hotter than any guard you'd care to name
And there's no one, mare or stallion, who can beat me at this game.
I'm a burglar, a criminal, that girl you love to hate.
There's nothing about me but my plot ponies appreciate.
That little kid, she likes me, but she's just young and confused.
She reminds me of myself when I was little, weak, abused.
I don't need that kind of drama in my life and nor does she.
I'll be okay with just the shadows and me.”

Sky fell silent, apparently unable to sing anymore. Accident wasn’t an expert on this sort of thing, but something told her that Sky was trying to do her best not to cry.

“Why would she be trying not to cry?” Accident asked, sitting down as Sky dropped off of the cloud. “Isn’t she happy? Why would she tell me that she had a fan club and it was super-exclusive? Why did she lie to me, Scruffy?”

She pulled the plushie pony off of her back, looking him in the eye as she tried to divine answers from his expressionless face. Wiggling his ears and nodding his head for him, Accident frowned understandingly.

“So you’re telling me that Sky’s been lonely for a really long time, and there’s nopony in the whole world who loves her?” She asked.

Nod.

“That’s horrible!” Accident squeaked. “We’ve gotta help her! I couldn’t imagine how sad it must be to be thrown out in the cold dark street with nopony to love you.”

Slinging the stuffed pony over her back, Accident leapt off of the cloud too, bounding down onto street level and trotting along behind Sky as she made her way down winding alleys and empty streets. It felt for all the world like it had done when Accident had been left in that box a couple of nights ago, but at least now she could walk and follow a particular pony, a pony she knew for a fact cared for her.

I’m sure she was just lying about that part about not wanting me… Accident thought to herself, smiling as she followed that bobbing red tail across what felt like half the city. She’ll love living with me! In fact, I bet I can convince mum to let her stay with us! She can live in my attic and we can go on super-secret missions together every night! She snickered at the thought of all of the fun they could have, how Sky to train her to be a burglar, take her on adventures, even teach her to fly!

Accident cocked her head as Sky approached a very large house indeed, banging on the front door.

“MUM! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT RIGHT THIS FUCKING MINUTE BEFORE I WAKE UP THE NEIGHBOURS!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. Accident recoiled, hiding in the bushes across the street and wrapping her tail around herself. She’d never heard Sky this angry before.

After a time, a white unicorn mare answered the door, staring Sky down with a look of utter contempt. Accident fluttered her wings excitedly.

“Mum!” She squeaked quietly, squeezing Scruffy tight and smiling brightly. “She found her, Scruffy! She promised she would!”

“I thought I told you never to come back here.” Mum growled, making to close the door.

“Yeah, about that.” Sky glared back, sticking her forehoof over the threshold to jam it open. “Guess what came wandering up to my place a few nights ago, bleeding, soggy and scared out of her fucking mind?”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, dear.”

“Don’t bullshit me, bitch. I know she’s your filly. Only a vapid little bitch like you would call your kid “Accident.””

“She really doesn’t like my name, Scruffy…” Accident frowned. “Why does she hate it so much? It’s my name!”

Mum shook her head, her horn lighting up. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Sky. She’s not my filly. Trust me, one freak of nature was bad enough.” Her eyes drifted to Sky’s downy wings, disappointment etched on her face.

“But...I am her filly!” Accident whimpered, stepping out of the bush and creeping towards the house. “Mum…?”

“What, you think lighting up that big bony dipstick is gonna scare me off?” Sky huffed. “Accident’s your kid, mum! You’re not gonna hide this from me, so why don’t you just grow some balls and admit that you couldn’t keep your legs together?”

“Fine!” Mum stamped her hoof, butting heads with Sky. “She’s mine! I kept her locked in an attic for five years so nopony would find out, but you just had to go shouting in front of the neighbours, didn’t you?” Her horn flashed, blowing a chunk of the footpath in her front yard to pieces. “Are you happy now?”

“NO!” Sky screamed back, jumping aside to avoid the debris. “I’M NOT HAPPY! WHAT THE FUCK MAKES YOU THINK IT’S OKAY TO KICK HER OUT LIKE THAT? SHE’S A FUCKING KID!”

Accident paused, standing in the middle of the road and watching the exchange with wide eyes. None of this made any sense to her. Mum had always told her that she was locked in that attic to keep her safe and easy to find in case she needed a great big filly hug!

“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT HER!” Mum screeched, charging her horn again. “I DIDN’T WANT YOU, I DON’T WANT HER! YOU’RE FREAKS, BOTH OF YOU! YOU MUST’VE AFFECTED HER SOMEHOW! THAT’S WHY HER WINGS TURNED OUT SO...SO...FUCKED-UP!”

Accident sat down on her haunches, choking back tears. “But...mum...always said my wings were pretty and made me special…”

“So you’re not gonna take her back, I guess?” Sky rolled her eyes, getting ready to dive out of the way when the next spell flew.

“No.” Mum snarled, levelling her horn at the adolescent pegasus again. “I was hoping she’d be picked up by a family that would raise her better than I could, but it seems that she got stuck with you, instead.”

Accident felt like she was melting into the ground. The weight of the things she’d heard bore down on her, the poor filly’s heart dropping into her stomach. She was blinded by tears, whimpering and shivering with the most horrific, upsetting realisation that she’d ever experienced.

My mum doesn’t love me...she doesn’t even want me…

With the smallest of tiny little sniffles, Accident struggled to get to her shaking hooves, taking one hopeful look back at the house to see if her mum would spot her and change her mind. It was a longshot, but maybe if she saw how sad she’d made her daughter…

Mum caught her eye for just a moment, the two ponies spotting each other from halfway across the dark street. She gave her daughter a venomous look before turning her attention back to Sky to continue the argument.

It started as a little sensation at the back of Accident’s head as she shuffled away, her enormous wings dragging along behind her. A kind of compound feeling, loneliness, disorientation and mind-crushing sadness assaulting her all at once. The horrible cocktail of emotions spread throughout her body like wildfire, her wings weighing her down as her legs threatened to collapse. This was, without question, the worst day of Accident’s life, and under the incredible sadness, her great big heart snapped like a twig.

As she walked off in no direction in particular, Accident’s tears started to fall freely, leaving a little trail of droplets on the cobblestones behind her.

* * *

“Oh, come on, I’d take much better care of her than you ever fucking did! I mean, seriously, Visiting Day?”

“Yeah, I’m sure you could.” Sky’s mother rolled her eyes, tapping her hoof. “Tell me, do you even know where that precious little foal is right now?”

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Sky growled. “She’s asleep in my bed, thanks very much for caring!”

“Oh yeah? Then who was that who just went wandering off towards the marketplace?” The elder mare grinned triumphantly. “Face it, Sky. You’re a terrible daughter and an even worse mother. Just dump the kid at an orphanage and let it go.”

Sky froze in place, momentarily disarmed. “Er...come again?”

“I said, you’re a terrible…”

“No, I meant the thing before that.” Sky blinked, staring blankly at her mother.

“What, the “kid running off” part?”

“Yeah.”

The two mares stood there in silence for a time, before her mother finally lifted a hoof, pointing off towards the marketplace.

“Er...thanks.” Sky mumbled, trotting off after Accident. “BUT THIS PROVES NOTHING!” She added hurriedly.

And with that, she turned her back on her mother, galloping off in search of the young filly.

* * *

Accident couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d walked off, or even where she was walking to. All that mattered was that she keep walking. That struck her as being somehow important.

“Why did she throw me away, Scruffy?” Accident asked quietly, sniffling as she made her way round a corner. “I thought she loved me...she always said that she loved me…”

So absorbed was the filly in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice as her wing slipped under her hooves. She trod on it, getting it well and truly entangled with her legs and sending her tumbling head over hooves down a flight of stone steps. She squeaked and squealed as stabbing pain shot through her body with each impact. This time, Scruffy did little to soften the blows, and when she finally hit the ground and struck something that cut out her momentum, the poor filly’s body was bruised and bloodied. Her wings splayed pathetically out on either side of her as she stared into the sky, trying to work out what she’d run into.

A few moments later, something struck her head, blinding her for a moment. Accident blinked, shaking her head and taking a closer look at the solid object she’d run into.

“A fruit cart?” She muttered. “What’s this doing here?”

She tried to roll over and get up when a second projectile struck her, forcing her back down onto the ground again. Accident looked around, spotting a bright orange mango rolling away across the cobblestones.

“What the…?”

Before Accident could react, however, another mango fell off of the cart, then another. Her impact had clearly upset something, awakening the mangoes from their dormancy to prey on the flesh of the adorable. As she tried to scooch away, more and more of the predatory fruit bounced off of the cart onto her, striking her head and her bruised body. After the first six or seven of them, Accident simply couldn’t stand up anymore, allowing herself to be covered in her entirety by the evil predatory fruit.

“Please don’t eat me…” She pleaded with the mangoes, trying to scoot away from underneath them. No use. She was completely covered with no way out.

I guess this is the worst day ever… She mused, closing her eyes and sobbing silently.

The Only One Left

Sky took the stairs three at a time, forgetting for one vital moment that she had working wings. Her hoof caught on one of the stone steps, sending her rolling down the staircase and slamming into the mango cart next to Accident.

“Bollocks.” Sky muttered, looking up at her legs as she lay against the side of the little cart. “Fucking gravity…”

The little white pony huffed grumpily, shaking her head and staring up at the sky. Stars twinkled overhead, though she wasn’t sure whether that was the night sky beyond or simply stars dancing in front of her eyes. She gave a little grumpy groan, rolling onto her front and pulling herself to her hooves.

“Halp!” Came a tiny little squeak from beneath a pile of nearby mangoes.

“Wait, what?” Sky asked, cocking her head. She’d certainly hit the cart hard enough to knock some of the produce loose, sure, but she was at least relatively certain that they weren’t sentient.

“They’re gonna kill meeee!” Came the squeaky little voice again.

“What the…?” Sky muttered, trotting closer and pulling some of the mangoes aside and peering under the pile. She’d scarcely cast two aside when a little filly with enormous wings burst out, wrapping her hooves around Sky’s foreleg and holding on for dear life.

“You saved me!” Accident squealed, on the edge of tears. Her whimpers of pure terror died away over time as she nuzzled Sky’s fur. “They were evil and they were gonna eat me and they were all over me and I couldn’t get them off and you saved me!”

“Wait...the mangoes were...evil?” Sky said slowly, glancing from Accident to the discarded fruit with concern. “They don’t look evil.”

“That’s how they trick you! They lure you in with promises of juicy sticky fun and then they get you!” Accident raised her head, looking up at Sky as if the elder mare was a little bit dim for not knowing this. Obviously it was common knowledge.

“Uh...huh…” Sky bit her lip, picking up a mango in her free hoof and holding it up to the moonlight. “So what would happen if I took a bite of this thing right this second?”

“It’ll take a bite out of you!” Accident replied, eyes widening at the mad mare’s frankly suicidal gesture.

“I’m sure it won’t.” Sky grinned evilly, lifting it to her lips. She took a moment to glance down at the filly. Accident gazed up at her with two terrified green eyes, shaking her head in a silent plea to not put that carnivorous monster so close to her jugular vein.

Sky looked down at the filly incredulously, before a very evil idea indeed began to form in her mind. Letting Accident go, she started jerking the mango erratically, her own eyes widening as she started flailing.

“Oh no, it’s got me!” Sky wailed, flopping onto her back. Accident backed right up, clapping her hooves over her muzzle in horror.

“Nooooo! Sky! Don’t let it eat you!” Accident squeaked. “Oh my goodness! Should I go get the guards?”

“No!” Sky yelped melodramatically, miming a rather convincing mango attack. “It’s too late for me, Shadow! Get away before they get you too!”

Accident backed away a little more, jumping as her flanks bumped into another nearby cart. She bit her lip as she stared at the ridiculous scene unfolding before her, shaking with fright. The events of the last few hours flashed through her mind in an instant, from listening to Sky sing her little heart out to the confrontation with Mum, and her complete rejection of the little filly.

Sky’s in trouble… She thought to herself, gulping and closing her eyes as she squealed the sweetest little battle-cry in the history of Equestria. She launched herself right into the fray, not aware that there was not, in fact, a real fray to charge into. With an angry little squeak, she batted the mango out of Sky’s hooves before leaping atop it, bringing both of her forehooves down on top of it in blind filly-fury. Mango juice went everywhere, splattering both of them and coaxing a slightly psychotic laugh from the victorious filly.

“Wow, kid. You’ve got some serious balls.” Sky commented, rolling onto her side and wiping her eyes.

“Balls?” Accident asked, perplexed.

“Er...that just means you’re brave is all.” Sky said hurriedly. “I thought you were really scared of those things!”

“I was...I am!” Accident nodded. “But…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re…” The filly whispered, her face falling. “You’re all I’ve got left. Well, you and Scruffy, but...yeah…”

Sky froze, looking her over and biting her lip. “You don’t know that. Your mum might still want you…”

“No.” She insisted quietly. “I heard the conversation you had with...with mum...and she doesn’t want me anymore...she doesn’t want her own...her own daughter…”

Accident sniffled and groaned, snuffling her way closer to Sky and finally letting out everything she’d been feeling as the full weight of what had happened tonight hit her. Her own mother, a pony she’d loved and behaved herself for, a pony who’d taught her to read and talk, didn’t want her anymore. Accident knew nothing of how a filly like her could affect a high-class pony’s image, what a mutant pegasus could look like as the child of pure-blood unicorns. Her simplistic understanding of the world, her belief in a mother’s love for her foal, completely failed her.

Sky’s ears splayed back, realising that this time there was no false hope for her to get Accident to cling to, nothing to hold off the realisation that she’d been abandoned because she was unloved, that there wasn’t a pony in the world to care for her. No wonder that little filly clung so tightly to her foreleg.

“Hey...sweetie…” Sky whispered, putting a forehoof around Accident’s shoulders and drawing her closer. “Look...I’m not good at the whole 'pep talk' thing, but you know what?”

“Wh...what?” Accident asked softly, nuzzling her way under Sky’s wing.

“Your mum’s missing out on something great.” Sky smiled. “You’re a great filly, kid. You’re curious, you’re sweet and kind and loving and anypony would be lucky to have you in their life. I know that doesn’t bring your mum back, but...you know what? Screw her! If she’s too blind to see it, that’s her loss.”

Accident nodded weakly, tucking her head ever further under Sky’s wing and pressing her cheek against the mare’s ribcage. “I...I did my best...I always wanted to be the best little pony I ever could be…”

“I know you did, but…” Sky bit her lip. “Sha...Accident...not all ponies in the world are good. There are some bad ones as well. There are ponies who don’t accept us for who we are, who wish we were something different. Ponies whose love is conditional. We...we don’t need ponies like that in our lives.”

“But...but it’s my mum…” Accident sniffled.

“Yeah, and just because she’s your mum doesn’t mean that she’s not an asshole. A lot of ponies can be bad, sweetie.” Sky choked, pulling Accident closer. “But it’s okay. That doesn’t change who you are. You’re a sweet soft little pony who gives the best hugs in Equestria.”

“I...I do?” Accident asked, not even shaking with tears anymore.

“Damn right.” Sky nodded. “I’ve never had hugs as good as yours before I met you, and I’ve been around the block, believe me.”

“You mean...I…?” Accident began, but Sky squeezed her just a little bit tighter to silence her.

“Yeah, kid. Best hugs ever. You heard it here first.” Sky grinned. “Hey, you know something? I know exactly how you feel. Remember when I told you I didn’t really talk to my mum anymore?”

Accident nodded, ears poking up through Sky’s feathers as she listened.

“Well...that’s kind of...half the truth.” Sky explained. “When I was a filly...about your age…my mum and dad got real mad at me because I skipped school. They threw me out on the street and left me to fend for myself.”

“Yeah...I know…” Accident whispered guiltily. “I...kinda followed you when you went for a walk tonight. I heard your song. I heard...everything.”

“Oh…” Sky muttered. “Well...yeah...the point is that I wished and wished with all of my might that somepony would come along and tell me that everything would be okay, that they’d give me a hug and make me feel better.”

“And...did they?”

“No.” The mare sighed, shaking her head. “Nopony ever came to help make me feel better. I was alone for a long time...until I met you.”

“I thought you had a fan club!” Accident protested, pulling away a little to fix Sky with an accusing, tearful gaze.

“Er...I do!” Sky nodded. “And it’s super-exclusive! Like, there’s only a few extra-special ponies who are allowed into it!”

”How exclusive?” Accident asked.

“Er...well...there’s...me and you.” Sky admitted, slumping a little. “That’s...that’s all.”

“So you mean...you’re all alone, too?”

Sky looked away. That was all the answer Accident needed.

The two ponies sat there in silence for a time, enjoying each other’s warmth as they embraced.

“Sky?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Does...does it stop hurting after a while?” Accident whispered.

Sky thought about it for what felt like an eternity, not saying anything. She kept herself pressed against Accident’s chest, rubbing her back with her padded forehoof.

“Yeah...it does.” She answered eventually.

“When?”

Sky bit her lip, defying the very cheesiness of the sentence taking shape in her head.

“Well...it stopped hurting when...when you showed up at my door.” She said slowly.

“I...made it go away?” Accident asked.

“Yeah, kid.” Sky nodded. “You...you’re the first pony I’ve met who gave me a second glance. The only thing I’ve ever been good for is robbing ponies and...well...I’ll tell you when you’re older.” She chuckled. “The point is, no one ever liked me. I’m a burglar. Ponies don’t like me. That’s...kinda not what I’m for.”

“Well I like you.” Accident assured her, giving Sky a little kiss on the muzzle. “I get to see you every day! I only got to see mum once a week!”

“Yeah, Visiting Day...you said…” Sky nodded. “Well...you know...maybe it wouldn’t hurt to keep you around for a little bit longer...you know...just to make sure you’re all better and everything…”

“Yeah…” Accident nodded. “And maybe you and me could play together...and...and we’d still be friends even after I have to go, right?”

“Of course.” Sky nodded. “I’ll always be your friend, kid. You’re alright.”

“Good…” Accident nodded. “I’d like that. I’ve...never had a friend before…”

“Yeah?” Sky smiled, giving the filly a friendly squeeze. “Well, neither have I. Guess what? You get to be my first friend ever, and that makes you my best friend ever.”

“Wow!” Accident beamed. “Does that mean I get something super-special?”

“Sure does.” Sky chuckled. “It means you get to live with me until you can find your own family, and it means you get to sleep in a nice warm bed every night. Oh, and you get...full hugging privileges.”

“Silly Sky, I already had full hugging privileges!” Accident giggled. “I’m gonna squeeze the stuffing out of you for being such a nice pony!”

The two little ponies both grinned happy grins as they hugged each other tightly. Accident was true to her word, making a pretty conscious effort to hug the air out of Sky’s lungs. With little squeaks and whimpers, Accident attempted to hug Sky as tightly as she possibly could, to somehow embrace that mare so tightly that their family trees would intertwine.

“Sky?” She said after a while.

“Yeah?”

“I’m stuck.” Accident said. “That mango juice was really sticky.”

“Yeah, sweetie.” Sky nodded. “I’m stuck, too.”

Another silence, only broken when Accident began to giggle. With her squeaky little filly voice, it sounded more like a happy, high-pitched neigh than anything else.

Sky’s mouth twitched a couple of times as she held the filly close, before she too descended into a giggling fit.

“We’re...we’re so screwed!” Sky snickered, trying to push Accident off of her.

“Well, it could be worse!” Accident laughed as well. “I’m stuck to the cuddliest pony in the whole world!”

“That’d...be...you…” Sky grunted, pushing Accident as hard as she could in a vain effort to get her off.

“Eep! You really...eee...think I’m...eep...cud...cuddly?” Accident squeaked as she pulled against their sticky fur.

“The...eeee...cuddliest!” Sky whimpered, finally pushing the filly off of her with a loud tearing noise.

“What...what was that?” Accident panted.

Sky looked from the filly to her own chest, cringing. “Damn it…”

Accident followed Sky’s sightline, first glancing down at her own coat. She seemed to have an awful lot of white fur stuck to it. Sky herself seemed to be missing an awful lot of her chest fur all of a sudden.

“Erm...sorry…” Accident apologised, peeling a few strands of fur off of her coat and pressing them against Sky’s bald spot. “These...these are yours…”

“Yeah…” Sky nodded. “Look...you keep ‘em. They look better on you anyway.”

As Accident smiled up at her, the two of them were distracted by a nearby shouting.

“My mangoes!” Came a cry from a few stalls over.

“Oh, shit…” Sky muttered. “What the fuck’s he doing up at this hour? Come on kid, we’ve gotta go…”

“In a minute…” Accident held up a hoof to silence the elder pony, trotting in the direction of the voice. “OH, AND YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S BEEN SELLING EVIL MURDER DEATH-FRUIT, ARE YOU?”

She froze in place as a stallion in spectacles came galloping towards her, skidding to a halt and glaring down at the poor little filly.

“What the hell are you on about?” He asked, cocking his head.

“Your fruit tried to eat me!” Accident yelled, stamping her hoof irritably. “Do you have any idea what kind of day I’ve had today?”

“Shadow…” Sky muttered, but Accident ignored her.

“Kid, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but mangoes are pretty harmless.” The salespony huffed. “Where the hell do you get these crazy ideas, anyway?”

“They tried to eat me!” Accident repeated, as if he were a little bit simple. “I’m onto you! I know you’re part of the con...con…”

“...conspiracy…” Sky added dully.

“Yeah, that!” Accident nodded. “You’re trying to sell this stuff to all of the little ponies in Equestria so that they can eat them alive! I know what you’re up to, mister!”

“Done?” Sky asked.

Accident pouted at the bemused shopkeeper, making wild “I’m watching you” gestures with her hoof before turning and making her way back to the little white mare.

“Yeah...I’m done…” She growled with uncharacteristic savagery.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not pulling any evil crap, sweetie.” Sky chuckled, opening her saddlebag and letting Accident hop in.

The filly crossed her forehooves, blowing a raspberry at the mango salespony. The stallion blew a raspberry back, adjusting his glasses.

“Sky! Did you see that?” Accident gasped. “He’s evil! He’s rude and evil! Give him a smack!”

“Kid, I’m not gonna give him a smack!” Sky rolled her eyes, trotting away. “And don’t use my real name, either. If someone hears you…”

“Sky?” Came a slightly louder male voice from in front of them.

The mare came to a halt, looking up at a huge unicorn stallion in bright gold armour. His bright white fur stood out against the night. He cocked his head, looking down at the little burglars with a pair of shining blue eyes. Sky’s eyes.

“Oh, shit.” Sky muttered. “It’s my brother.”

The Risks Ponies Run

“Sky...you’re...alive?” The stallion asked, cocking his head. “I mean, you are Sky Runner, right?”

“Yeah…” Sky nodded. “Yeah, I’m alive. No thanks to you.”

“You’re really going to bring that up, after all this time?” The unicorn persisted. “You’re alive. That’s what matters…” He took a step forward, reaching out to touch her. Sky recoiled warily.

“Telling Shady where I was hiding kinda ended up being a big deal.” Sky snarled, pulling away. “Come on, Hoovesie. Don’t act like it was nothing.”

“I made a mistake, Sky. Mum and dad tricked me. They told me terrible things about you. They told me you’d spoken about me behind my back, stolen, stabbed ponies in their sleep...they told me everything they wanted me to believe and I bought it. I was just a stupid teenager…”

“Congratulations.” Sky snorted. “You’ve graduated into a stupid adult, too. You know I’d never have done any of that shit.”

“Sky, please. Watch your language. There’s a foal present.” He glanced down at Accident, frowning. “And what’s your name, kid?”

“My name’s Acci…” Accident began, exchanging a look with Sky before hurriedly correcting herself. “Shadow. My name’s Shadow. I’m Sky’s best friend in the whole wide world! I’m her only friend in the whole wide world!” She beamed, completely failing to see the gravity of the situation.

“You know, Sky...you could have just come and found me.” Stronghooves sighed. “I’d have been there for you. You didn’t have to go around stealing fillies.”

“I didn’t steal her…” Sky began, but the stallion’s horn flared, picking Accident up and hoisting her out of Sky’s saddlebag by magic.

“Weee!” Accident giggled, flapping her oversized wings as the pony drew her closer, inspecting her.

“Ooooh, you’re huge!” Accident beamed. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Lieutenant Stronghooves of the Royal Guard.” The stallion smiled. “And I’m Sky’s big brother. She used to love me.”

“Used to.” Sky added. “He’s a dumb-shit stallion who left me all alone when the rest of my family kicked me out, and he sold me out to a bunch of ponies who wanted me dead.”

“Wow...that was really mean of you, Stronghooves.” Accident frowned, giving the enormous stallion a cursory bat around the nose with her hoof. “You’d better apologise to Sky right this minute! She could’ve been really badly hurt!”

“I was.” Sky grumbled. “Come on, kid. We’d better get out of here before he fucks somepony’s life up even more.”

“What makes you think you’re leaving?” Stronghooves asked, eyes widening. “You can’t leave! I’ve just found out that you lived! That’s amazing! I didn’t think…”

“Didn’t think I’d be this pissed off when I saw you again? I bet.” Sky spat. “You just hoped I’d drop dead after you kicked my ass to the curb.”

Accident’s gaze jumped between the two ponies, the look of blind fury on Sky’s face, the expression of incredible guilt and fear on Stronghooves’s.

“Face it, Hoovesie.” Sky said acidly. “You’re just pissed because you never thought you’d have to explain yourself. You thought I’d died.”

“They...told me you had died.” Stronghooves said quietly. “I caught Shady and his kid...they told me...told me that you’d stopped moving, stopped crying...that you weren’t breathing anymore and that’s why they got up and left…”

“Yeah, well, here I am.” Sky shrugged, pulling Accident out of Stronghooves’s magical grip and dropping her back into her saddlebag with a happy squeak. “Those two bullshitted you and you were relieved because you damn well wanted me to be dead after what you did.”

“Sky...wait...come on…” Stronghooves shook his head, grabbing her tail by magic and pulling her towards him. “Don’t run away. I’ve got a lot to explain, a lot to fix...I want to know what happened to you over all these years, what turned you into...well...this.” He gestured at her with a hoof, gaze falling on her burglar’s cloak and mask in particular.

“Because even after what you did to me, I’m not gonna spend my life begging or selling my body. You wanna know why I steal shit? Ask mum and dad.” Sky growled, flicking her tail out of his grip and trotting away.

Both mares squeaked with fright as Stronghooves teleported in front of them in a flash of blue light.

“I’m not going to give up that easily, Sky.” He said stoically. “And I’m relatively certain that you stole that foal, too.”

“I didn’t steal her!” Sky protested, glancing around in an effort to find a way out of the marketplace. “She...she found me…”

“Yeah?” Stronghooves sighed, turning his attention to Accident. “Hey...Shadow, right?...where’s your mother?”

“Oh, she’s…” Accident began happily, before the memory of what had happened this evening struck her like a ton of bricks. Her ears flopped down and she gave a sad sigh, retreating under Sky’s saddlebag flap with only her forehooves poking out. “I...I don’t have a mum anymore...she doesn’t love me anymore…”

Stronghooves took a step forward as Sky began to slowly retreat. “Your mother’s...gone? What does she look like? Perhaps I can talk some sense into her…”

“She...she looks just like Sky...but…but she’s a unicorn...and she’s got golden horseshoes as her cutie mark instead of black ones...and...and she pretended...pretended she loved me...she’s the first pony I ever...ever hugged…” Accident sniffled softly, drawing her fluffy hooves in and curling up into a ball.

Stronghooves stared at the bulging saddlebag for a time before looking up at Sky accusingly.

“Really?” He frowned, brow furrowing. “Look, Sky, it’s one thing to have a problem with our parents and me, but brainwashing a filly’s just wrong.”

“She’s not brainwashed, dumbass!” Sky growled. “She’s mum’s kid! That tarted-up bitch threw this poor kid out and she came to find me!”

Stronghooves held a hoof up, horn flaring again. “Brainwashing fillies is wrong.” He said again. “Mum never had any other kids…”

“That you know of…” Sky muttered, eyes falling on a nearby alleyway.

“...and this pony can’t possibly be hers.” He finished, ignoring her. “Look, Sky, fight your own battles. If you want to say something to one of us, do it yourself! Don’t go whining to fillies who don’t know any better and filling their head with lies!”

“It’s clear you don’t believe me.” Sky huffed, shoulders slumping. “She’s mum’s kid, and she’s gone through the same shit I have...well, apart from the bullshit you pulled with Shady and Nightshade. I’m not filling her head with lies. She doesn’t know shit about what happened to me.”

Stronghooves ground his teeth, horn flaring so brightly that both ponies’ faces were illuminated bright blue.

“I’ll say again.” He growled himself. “If you have a problem with me and my parents, you talk to us directly. Don’t bring kids into this, and don’t go stealing them just because you’re lonely. It’s like everything mum told me about you was true.”

“Yeah?” Sky countered, muzzle inches from his own. “Well, I’m keeping her until I can get her to an orphanage or something, and there’s nothing you can fucking do about it. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

Stronghooves placed a hoof on her chest, snarling quietly before pushing her over with one powerful shove. Sky tried to land as softly as possible so as not to hurt Accident, but as she came down on her side, there came a thud and a pained whimper from inside her saddlebag.

“No.” Stronghooves shook his head. “Even if I were to believe everything you’ve said this evening, you’re still wearing a burglar’s mask.” He advanced on her, pulling out a pair of hoofcuffs. “You’re coming with me, Sky. We’ll get you the help you need, put you away, rehabilitate you and make sure that this delusional little foal gets back to her family.”

There came an unintelligible noise from within the saddlebag.

Stronghooves perked his ears, listening more intently. “What?”

“I...don’t wanna go home to my mum…” Accident whispered. “She doesn’t love me...she said she doesn’t love me…she called me a fre…a frea…”

“A freak.” Sky groaned, getting to her hooves and spreading her weak wings. “We’re both freaks, Hoovesie. She gets it. She’s been through the same shit I’ve been through, and neither of us get to know what it’s like to be loved. That’s why she’s staying with me. I can help her.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were replacing me.” Stronghooves froze, fixing Sky with a slightly fearful gaze.

“Maybe I am.” Sky grunted, turning tail and galloping for the alleyway, leaving Stronghooves in shock.

* * *

“Are you okay, kid?”

“Not really…” Accident replied honestly.

“Alright. Just try not to cry, okay? We’ll get home and I promise you’re gonna feel all better…” Sky muttered.

“I don’t think you can make me feel better, Sky…” Accident said doubtfully.

“Wanna bet?”

The mare dropped into her cul-de-sac, pushing her door open and flicking on the lights. With a flick of her wings she launched herself into the air, twisting her body so that Accident could fall out of her saddlebag onto the sofa. In spite of her heartbreak and injuries, Accident gave a giggly little squeak as she bounced on the couch, laying down and curling up into a ball again. Sky flopped down in front of her, tucking her wings in and giving her cheek a soft nuzzle.

“You didn’t tell me that your mum threw you out, too.” Accident whispered, wrapping one of her huge wings around her body like a big feathery blanket.

“Yeah.” Sky nodded. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, kid, but...well...if there’s one thing you can take away from what happened tonight, it’s that even without your family, at least you’re not alone.”

“Stronghooves was mean.” Accident muttered, peeking up at Sky through her feathers with her brilliant green eyes. “He pushed you down. Only bullies do that. I thought he was a guard!”

“He is.” Sky nodded. “I guess he made it that far in his career, but...kid...you know that being a guard doesn’t mean you’re a good pony, right?”

“It’s supposed to!” Accident choked, ears splaying back again. “And being a mum means you’re supposed to love your foals no matter what, and...and…”

“And the world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.” Sky nodded. “There are loads of bad ponies, and you just kinda got the short straw, being related to a complete asshole.”

“Does...does she hate me because of my wings? Are they the problem?” Accident asked. “I’ll take them off! I don’t care how! Scruffy can take his off, too! We wouldn’t mind!”

“No, Shad...Accident.” Sky shook her head, clambering up onto the couch with her. “Don’t you dare get rid of those. You know why?”

“Wh...why?” Accident sniffled, wrapping her forehooves around Sky’s chest and pushing her face into the mare’s fur.

“Because they’re the prettiest wings in the whole wide world and it’d be a shame to take them away.” Sky smiled, kissing her on the forehead. “They’re better than these useless old things.”

“Mu...mum always said that, too…” Accident sobbed, squeezing Sky a little tighter.

“Yeah, well guess what? I’m telling the truth.” Sky grinned, ears flicking back as she did her best to console the crying little pony. “That’s the big difference between your mum and me. I actually give a damn about you. I’d never leave you behind when you need me like you do now...and I know an awesome, special little pony when I see one.”

“Spe...special?”

“Special.” Sky nodded, remembering her own mother calling her “special” and the connotations it carried. “And when I say special, I mean that there’s nopony else in the whole wide world like you. You’re happy and brave even when scary stuff happens, and you give the best hugs in all of Equestria.”

“You’re just...just saying that…”

“Am I?” Sky cocked her head. “Who went out searching for help when she was lost and alone? You did. Nopony even had to tell you to do it.”

Accident snorted, not pulling her head out from Sky’s chest as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You know what else you did?” Sky carried on. “You went and saved me from those mangoes even though you were super-scared of being eaten. That’s pretty brave, right?”

“Ye...yeah...I guess so…” Accident conceded slowly.

“And then you told their dark master off for selling them to everypony, even though he was bigger than you.” Sky continued.

“He wasn’t that much bigger…” Accident shrugged.

“And then you smiled and tried to befriend a pony who was being a bully, just because you’re a nice little filly!” Sky grinned, giving her a nudge. “Come on, kid! Just tonight alone you’ve done a lot of really brave stuff! I know full-grown ponies who couldn’t do the things you’ve just done!”

“Well...I guess I’m a little brave…” Accident smiled softly, pulling away and giving Sky a shaky little smile.

“You’re super brave.” Sky corrected her, booping her nose with a forehoof. “You’re clever, friendly, soft, cuddly and pretty! You’re a great pony, Shadow. You just...your mum couldn’t see that, and that’s her loss.”

Accident stared up at Sky, cocking her head.

“Well, you know…” She said, placing a hoof on Sky’s and giving it a squeeze. “Your mum’s missing out, too.”

Sky scoffed, tussling Accident’s mane. “Heh...you know what? Maybe it’s just as well that I got thrown out forever. It means I got to meet you and we get to be the best of friends, right?”

“It means you could cheer me up when nopony else could.” Accident nodded. “Even if you got my name wrong.”

“What?”

“You called me Shadow.” Accident giggled. “My name’s not Shadow, it’s…”

“Accident. Yeah, I know.” Sky chuckled, rolling onto her side and pulling the filly closer. “Well, I like the name Shadow better. Sue me.”

“Okay!” Accident grinned, banging her hoof on a sofa cushion with a tiny little pomf. “You’re guilty of one act of being a big silly horse! How do you plead?”

“You already said I was guilty!” Sky snickered. “That’s not even fair!”

“A-ha! You admit it!” Accident tutted at her, shaking her head. “You really are a criminal, aren’t you?”

“Maybe I am.” Sky grinned, flexing her hooves. “But this criminal’s gonna make an awesome daring escape. Wanna know how?”

“How?” Accident asked, cocking her head. Obviously escape was impossible. Sky was entwined in a filly-hug! Nopony ever escaped a filly-hug!

“By tickling the guards until they let me go.” Sky winked, pushing her forehooves under Accident’s wings and wiggling her hooves against her sensitive joints.

“NO! YOU CAN’T! THAT’S CHEATIIIIIIING!” Accident squeaked and squealed, threatening to roll off of the couch as she exploded into a fit of breathless giggles.

Sky pinned her to the couch, rolling Accident onto her back and rubbing her tummy as she tried to suppress her own giggles. She cocked her head as she seemed to spot Accident’s bellyfur for the first time, looking for all the world like a long-haired cat’s. It was the fluffiest thing Sky had ever seen.

“MERCY!” Accident squealed, beating her wings uselessly as she lay upside down. Though tear streaks still ran down her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes was that of pure happiness. It’s impossible to be sad when you’ve just received the tickling of a lifetime.

Sky snapped back to the present, letting her go and pinning her under a wing again. “I win.” She grinned.

Accident squeaked and whimpered as she fought to catch her breath, hooves wrapping around one of Sky’s primaries as she drew the mare’s wing up under her chin.

“Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you get kicked out?”

Sky’s ears splayed back as she rested her head down next to Accident’s.

“Well...you know…” Sky shrugged, ears flopping down as she shifted uncomfortably. “I...was...I was born all wrong.”

“But you’re a pretty pegasus!” Accident beamed.

“Yeah, well, that’s the problem. My mum...my dad...my big brother...they’re all unicorns. They…they didn’t want a pegasus.” Sky said slowly, closing her eyes. “They threw me out one day because I wasn’t fitting in and got expelled from school.”

“Did they ever come back for you?” Accident asked, silently imploring Sky to let this story have a happy ending.

“Stronghooves did. The stallion you met tonight - my big brother best friend forever - he came and brought me food every day.” Sky smiled softly. “He was a big sweetie back then. He took care of me and kept me safe from some other ponies.”

“Shady?” Accident put in.

“Yeah, Shady. He’s kind of...kind of a bully around these parts.” Sky nodded. “Stronghooves protected me from him. He used to fight him a lot.”

“So why haven’t you spoken to him in so long?” Asked Accident, confused.

“Because...one day...he left me alone with Shady. Told him where I had my super-secret hiding place that nopony else could find.” Sky said, turning her head away. “And Shady found me and… well, he hurt me pretty bad.”

“That was really mean of Stronghooves.” Accident huffed. “He really is a meanie! Did...did you ever meet anypony like you?”

“What do you mean, like me?” Sky asked.

“You know, who understood you.” Accident shrugged. “Who knew what had happened and didn’t care and loved you anyway, no matter what?”

Sky froze, opening her eyes and looking into Accident’s. They stared at each other for a very long time, Accident regarding her with a look of honest curiosity while the cogs turned in the elder pony’s head.

“You know something?” Sky said slowly. “I spent years wishing that somepony would. I sat in that little armchair over there and wished as hard as I could that someday a pony could show up who could make me feel better. I even wrote a bunch of letters to Princess Luna.”

“And...did she write any back?”

“Nah. I guess she was too busy or something. Must be difficult doing literally two things with your entire day.” Sky glanced out of the window at the moon before turning back to Accident. “Still, one night, not too long ago, I got a knock on my door. It was the first time a pony had ever knocked on my door. I went to open it, and do you know what I found on my porch?”

“What?” Accident asked, enthralled.

“I found a little pony curled up on my doorstep. She was bleeding heavily, knocked out and barely breathing. I took her inside and made her all better.” Sky whispered, her voice shaking as a soft smile of realisation played across her face. “She was the cutest little pony in the whole world. She had these huge wings and a smile that wouldn’t ever go away, no matter what happened.”

“Did she join the Sky fan club, too?” Accident asked, wondering how Sky could possibly have gone this long without mentioning that filly.

“You know something, kid? She’s the only member.” Sky chuckled. “She’s the first pony I ever met who could make me smile after all of the crap that’s happened, make me...well...enjoy myself for a change.”

“What happened to her?” Accident asked.

“Well...I promised to take her back to her mum...and then her mum didn’t want her, so I let her hang out for a while.” Sky said, seemingly choking on nothing. “I found out that she’d gone through so much of the same stuff I’d been through...and it had taken me forever to realise that somepony actually had answered all of my letters. I had a...a friend...and a little sister…and I never even knew she existed until I met her…”

“What was her name?” Accident asked.

Sky said nothing, shaking violently as she clutched the filly a little tighter.

“Sky?”

“Ye...yeah?”

“Are you crying?”

“N...no…”

Accident craned her neck, frowning grumpily as she spotted telltale tear-tracks running down the mare’s cheeks. Wriggling her way out from under Sky’s wing, she darted off into the kitchen. There was only one way to stop a pony from crying if filly-hugs didn’t work, and Accident knew it all too well.

After much sniffing and snuffling (and a little bit of crashing - how was she even meant to know that those saucepans were there?) Accident emerged with a little bucket held in her mouth. Without a word, she clambered up onto the couch and took a single cookie out of it, pushing it into Sky’s mouth.

“Mmmph…” Sky mumbled, opening her eyes and looking down at the cookie. “Mph?”

“I saved you one!” Accident smiled. “It’s the very last one in the bucket! I didn’t know that grown-ups cry, but I thought you might like it, since you made me feel so much better!”

Sky gave her a long look, her eyes still bright with tears as she munched gratefully on the cookie. “Mmph...thanks…” She muttered.

“You make me feel better when I’m all sad and upset! It’s only fair!” Accident beamed, as if Sky were a little simple.

“Well...I guess…” Sky chuckled, finishing the cookie and smiling up at Accident. The two little ponies nuzzled one another, closing their eyes as the youngster settled down in front of her.

A moment later, Sky jumped to her hooves, looking around urgently. “Wait! I’ve got a great idea!” She said urgently. “It’s a sure-fire way to make you feel better!”

“Is it a cuddle? Because I’d like a cuddle!” Accident said hopefully.

”Better than a cuddle.” Sky grinned triumphantly. “If I go and get it for you, do you promise to wait right here?”

Accident froze, ears flopping back. “That’s just what mum said before she left me…”

“I know, but kid, I’ve got a great idea that you’re gonna love!” Sky grinned. “Trust me, it’ll be worth the wait, and I promise that I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Please don’t leave me forever…” Accident whimpered, clutching Sky’s forehoof and holding on tight.

“Kid, I live here. You know I’m gonna come back.” Sky winked. “Besides, I’m not like your mum. If you can believe that for just ten minutes, I’ll prove it to you.”

“Okay…” Accident said slowly. “But if it turns out that you’re lying…”

“If it turns out I’m lying, you can hunt me down and beat my ass yourself.” Sky giggled. “But I’m not gonna go anywhere. I’ll be right back, and I guarantee that you’re gonna be the smiliest little pony in Equestria, okay?”

Accident bit her lip, considering Sky’s offer for a moment before finally nodding. “Okay. But I’m gonna count!”

“Yeah? Well I’m gonna run. I bet I can get back before you finish counting.” Sky said, giving Accident one last kiss on the forehead before galloping out of her front door.

With a confident little grin, Accident went to retrieve Scruffy, setting him down on the couch next to her as she began to count.

“One happy pony, two happy ponies, three happy ponies…”

* * *

“...I’m stuck.”

Accident frowned, realising that she really ought to have thought this through. Like most five year old fillies, she couldn’t exactly count past one hundred happy ponies, so she resorted to tapping her hoof and letting Scruffy take over. He was the smarter pony. It wouldn’t be too tricky for him to handle.

As she sighed and slumped on the couch, Accident gazed at the door, wondering where Sky could possibly have gone.

“She said she was gonna bring me back something that’d make me smile...but I don’t feel all that smiley right now…” She murmured.

Scruffy said nothing.

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt you and make you lose count!” Accident said hurriedly, slumping again as she returned her gaze to the door.

“You know what I bet?” She said after a while. “I bet Sky’s gonna come back in any second now. I’m gonna do some counting of my own!” She squeed, tail flicking from side to side as she wiggled her flanks and lifted herself into a pounce-ready position. “In three...two...one...NOW!”

Accident’s ears perked up, but there was no sound, nor any indication that Sky had returned. The little blue filly settled back into her ready position.

“Okay, this time for sure.” She grinned. “Three...two...one...NOW!”

Still nothing. Accident bit her lip as worry crept in, eating at the back of her mind. What if Sky had lied to her just like her mother? What if she’d taken her in just to throw her away like Mum had done? It was a horrible thought, but as Accident watched the door, it became harder and harder to defy her growing sense of dread.

“Okay...one…one more time…” She whispered, voice shaking. “Three...two…”

Accident didn’t get to finish her countdown, as just then a beige something burst through the door on four white legs, yelling happily as if it were the life of the party here to boost everyone’s spirits. The little filly screamed with fright, grabbing Scruffy and diving behind the couch.

“Okay...not what I was expecting.” The intruder muttered. “Guess I came on a little strong, but whatever..”

Clearing its throat, it spoke out in a deep male voice.

“Accident? I’m a very special friend that Sky sent to make you feel better! There’s no need to be afraid of me!” It intoned.

A pair of little blue filly ears poked out over the top of the couch, followed by the rest of Accident’s head. “Who are you and what have you done with Sk…”

Accident froze. What stood before her was not some horrible ugly evil intruder, but a great big cookie the size of a pony, standing on four very familiar-looking legs. It reared up, holding out its forehooves.

“All I want is a hug.” It said.

“You’re...a great big cookie…” Accident said softly, remembering what she’d told Sky about her lifelong dream. “And...and you want to...to hug me?”

“Sure do!” The cookie replied, beckoning her over. “Sky told me that it meant the world to you to get a hug from a giant cookie, so here I am!”

Accident shivered like mad for a few seconds, before practically bouncing off of the walls in delight. Each one of her big hops was accompanied by a happy beat of her wings as she pranced around, completely freaking out.

“OH MY GOSH! THIS IS...THIS IS AMAZING!” She gasped. “I TOLD SKY THAT IT WAS MY LIFELONG DREAM AND SHE LISTENED TO ME AND MUM ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT GIANT HUGGING COOKIES WEREN’T REAL BUT I PROVED HER WRONG AND HERE’S ONE RIGHT NOW AND IT WANTS TO HUG MEEEEEE!”

With a tiny little peep, Accident collapsed, fainting with delight.

“Erm...kid?” The cookie froze, looking down at her with concern as her hooves twitched.

“Hug, please…” Accident said weakly, trying to catch her breath as she held out her forehooves.

The cookie trotted over to her, lifting her up and cradling her like a newborn. It had an incredibly gentle grip, the sort of hold that was at once firm and soft. The kind of grip that can only come from years of picking locks and stealing from pockets.

Accident closed her eyes, hugging it back.

“Sky?”

“Ye...I mean, I’m not Sky!”

“Sky...I know it’s just you in a cookie suit.”

Silence.

“Shit.” Sky muttered after a while. “I knew I should’ve tried to find a better costume…”

“It’s okay! I don’t mind.” Accident whispered, smiling wider than ever as she clutched the mare in a bone-breaking hug. “This is the nicest thing that anypony’s ever done for me.”

As the little blue filly wrapped her wings around Sky, her body shook again, tears running down her face and dripping onto the ground.

This time, however, they were tears from the happiest filly in the whole wide world.

Setting The Stage

Sky lay Accident down in her bed, tucking her in and kissing her on the forehead.

“Are you gonna go to sleep this time?” She asked, cocking her head and smiling softly.

“Ne...neveeer!” Accident yawned, poking her little forehooves out from under the duvet and pulling it up to her chin.

“I dunno…” Sky said slyly, hopping into bed and getting under the covers as well. “You look pretty sleepy and it’s way past your bedtime…”

“I...I’m not sleepy...honest…” Accident whispered, closing her eyes and putting one of her huge wings around the elder pony.

“I bet,” Sky chuckled, kissing the young filly on the forehead and closing her own eyes. “How about this, then? If you can keep your eyes shut for a whole hour without falling asleep, I’ll take away your bedtime forever.”

Her ears perked as Accident mumbled something almost unintelligible. As Sky strained her hearing, she could just make out the words “IwantScruffy…”

“Oh...shit, yeah…” Sky rolled her eyes, clambering out of bed and trotting down the stairs to go to get Accident’s cuddly little pony toy. He lay upside down on the couch where they’d left him. Scruffy stared unblinkingly at the ceiling.

“Hey Scruffy,” Sky said, sitting down next to the plushie and picking him up. “You’re supposed to be in bed with the kid. What’ve you got to say for yourself?”

Scruffy said nothing. Plushies, after all, cannot speak.

“Oh, I see,” Sky giggled quietly. “You were having a late dinner? And how do you feel after that?”

Another silence, though now there was a certain ominousness to the atmosphere of the room, as if some all-powerful entity was threatening Sky with a horrible disfiguring injury if she dared finish that joke.

“Stuffed, you say?” Sky nodded, putting a hoof to her mouth so that her little whinnying laughter wouldn’t wake Accident.

After a few moments, Sky finally settled down, cocking her head as she smiled down at Scruffy. “You know, you’re kinda nice. I can see why the kid likes you so much. Mind if I ask you a question?”

Scruffy didn’t answer, possibly because he was still in a state of shock from that disastrous pun.

“Thanks,” Sky nodded, glancing around to make sure that no one was looking. “Erm...do you like Accident’s name? Like, do you think it suits her at all?”

She smiled again when Scruffy completely failed to respond, suspecting that she might be going crazy.

“Yeah, I know, right?” She chuckled. “She’s not an accident. That kid’s a blessing. She’s a cute little ball of feathers and smiles! Why the fuck would anypony give her such a shitty name?”

Silence.

“Yeah, but I already know a pony named Sweetheart.” Sky deadpanned at Scruffy. “She’s a stripper. It’s not a flattering name for a kid. I kinda...like Shadow better. I mean, did you hear what she said when she first chose the name? How she wanted to stick by my side?”

Sky wrapped a hoof around the back of Scruffy’s head, making him nod.

“Nopony’s ever said that to me before. Not even Hoovesie.” Sky mused. “It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard anypony say to me.”

She lay there in thought, idly cuddling the little toy for a while as she thought through her options.

“Obviously I can’t take her back to mum...she’s a mean old bitch and Shadow doesn’t deserve that,” Sky thought aloud to Scruffy. “I dunno about the dad, but I bet she’d check on him to make sure he hasn’t rescued her or anything, and if she caught the kid in his care, she might drown her.” She frowned. “There’s always orphanages, I guess. Still...she’s different from everypony else. She’d get teased to shit. I don’t want that for her. She deserves better.”

Sky bit her lip, looking down at Scruffy. “What do you mean keep her here? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for a filly in my line of work? She could be hurt, or killed, or...you know...what happened when Shady caught up to me…”

She cringed, meeting Scruffy’s unblinking gaze once more.

“What I’m saying is that it’d be dangerous for the poor little pony.” She said quietly. “Shadow doesn’t deserve the kind of crap I’ve had to go through. She deserves all of the love and care and cookies in the damn world, and I dunno if I can do that for her.”

Scruffy said nothing, staring at Sky and letting her work out the answer for herself.

“Yeah...I mean, if I taught her what I know and looked out for her, I guess she’d have a slightly better chance,” Sky conceded. “You know, that might work. I mean, it gives me something to do while I work out what the hell I’m gonna do with her, right?”

Sky placed Scruffy on her back, climbing the stairs and sneaking down the hallway towards her room so as not to wake the little filly.

“You know, you’re a good listener, Scruffy,” She whispered. “I can see why Shadow likes you.”

As she crept into her bedroom, setting the little toy down by Accident’s side, Sky froze and stared. Somehow the filly had not only managed to throw the duvet off, she’d also spread her wings to their full considerable length, taking up most of the mattress.

“What the fuck…?” Sky whispered, pulling the duvet back onto the bed and shifting one of Accident’s wings out of the way to avoid crushing it. With a little squeak, Sky settled down in bed next to the young pony, keeping an eye on her in case she started crying in her sleep.

“You poor thing,” Sky muttered under her breath. “You never deserved any of the crap that’s happened to you, sweetie. It’s kind of a miracle that you managed to grow up into such a cute little angel with a mum like that.”

She leaned over, kissing Accident on the snout and rolling over in bed to get some rest.

* * *

Minutes passed, and Sky found herself drifting closer and closer toward the land of sleep...until something kicked her in the flank.

“He...hey!” She yelped, eyes shooting open as she rounded on the offender.

Accident kicked her in the stomach, fidgeting wildly in her sleep. Her huge wings fluttered occasionally, legs jerking violently as she broke into a twitchy, bed-bound gallop on the spot. She let out little sniffles and whimpers, making a spirited attempt to knock the wind out of her host with those little hooves of hers.

“Fuck...ouch...hey, quit it!” Sky grunted, catching Accident’s forehooves and glaring at the sleeping pony. “Hey, it’s okay. Look, it’s fine...I’m here...I...oof!”

Finally, Accident caught her in the diaphragm, sending Sky rolling off of the bed clutching at her belly.

“Fu...fuck!” She gasped, coughing a little as she struggled to get her breath back. “Okay...so you wanna be fidgety, do you? You wait right there, kid…”

Sky stormed out of the room, returning a few moments later with a big ball of yarn. Accident continued to kick and beat her wings and whimper in her sleep, but Sky had had quite enough. If she was to calm this filly down, she had to stop her from moving first. The last thing they needed right now was two concussed little ponies.

“Fire in the hole!” Sky cried, lobbing the ball of yarn under the bedclothes.

In only a few moments, Accident managed to catch her hoof on it, slowly unravelling the ball and wrapping the wool around her wings and legs quite by accident. Her own fidgeting worked against her, entangling the poor little filly in more and more of it until she was completely unable to move. The whimpering and fussing didn’t dissipate, though Accident tugged at her bonds with all of her might.

Sky sighed, climbing into bed and tucking Scruffy in between Accident’s forehooves again.

“Hey, kid,” she whispered, “I know I’m not your mum, and I don’t think I can replace her, but...I’m here for you. Trust me, I’ll take much better care of you than she ever did. Every day’s gonna be Visiting Day, and I’ll play with you and teach you everything I know...and...hell, we can even do each others’ manes or whatever.”

Accident let out a very soft cry, pushing her muzzle under Sky’s chin and breathing heavily.

“Yeah, sweetie...I know what it’s like to lose your mum. I know that feeling of loneliness, of being lost and feeling like nopony in the world cares for you anymore, but trust me, you’re not alone. I’m here for you.”

The little blue filly nodded, struggling against the yarn a little more as she started to settle down.

“Things hurt right now, but just remember, there’s a pony right here who’s got your back, every step of the way,” Sky whispered, smiling encouragingly. “I’ll find a way to make everything okay, kid. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to make you happy again, together.”

Accident stopped struggling and whimpering, and for a time the only noise was the sound of her breathing. In good order, even that slowed down, settling into the deep, slow rhythm of a sleeping little pony.

“Thank you, Sky…” Accident said tiredly, nuzzling her way under the elder pony’s wing.

“Hey, don’t mention it, kid. You...you make me pretty damn happy.” Sky smiled back. “You deserve better, and I’m gonna make sure you have it.”

“I...ooookay…” Accident nodded, her whole body settling completely. “And I’ll be the best filly ever, okay?”

“Kid,” Sky beamed, “You already are.”

And with that, both little ponies finally drifted off to sleep, resting in each others’ hooves.

* * *

Sky was the first to wake, groaning softly as she pulled herself out of bed.

Accident followed with a dull thud, having somehow found a way to wind the yarn around Sky’s hind leg, too.

“Eep!” squeaked Accident. “I’m up! I’m up!”

“Yeah, I know! Sorry!” Sky yelped apologetically, pulling the little pony to her hooves and starting to free her from the trap.

“Was I fidgeting?” Accident asked worriedly. ”I’m sorry, Sky! I didn’t mean to!”

“You were having nightmares and going through a tough time, kid. Everypony gets those in their lives at some point or another. I’m pretty impressed that you didn’t cry!”

“Well…” Accident shrugged. “I guess I just wasn’t sad. I mean, I was really sad about mum, and about being alone and not exactly having a family, but there’s stuff I can be happy about too! I can be happy that I’ve got somewhere to stay, I can be happy that I’m not really alone, and I can be super happy that I met you! You give me a super-duper big smile, even bigger than Mum on Visiting Day!”

Sky tapped a hoof to her chin, finally grinning at her. “Well, you know, it gets even better…”

“It does?” Accident squeaked.

“Yeah! See, Scruffy and I were talking last night, and he said some great stuff about you! You’re gonna have to learn how to be streetwise one way or another, so...how would you like to learn how to be a burglar with me?”

Accident’s mouth dropped open. “Really?” She asked. “Like, you really really wanna make me a burglar just like you?”

“Well, I mean, if you wanna…” Sky shrugged. “The offer’s open, if…”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence, for Accident had cut in by wrapping her hooves and her enormous wings around Sky’s body.

“Yes! Yes please, Sky!” she grinned with an excited little squee.” I’d love to be an awesome burglar just like you!”

“Well...you know...it was just a thought, and...well...thank you too, sweetie,” Sky said, giving Accident one more cursory squeeze before heading down to the front door. “Alright, if you’re gonna be like me, you’re gonna want to meet Bellboy!”

“Bellboy?” Accident asked.”Who’s Bellboy?”

“He’s the pony who first taught me how to pickpocket!” Sky grinned, hoisting Accident onto her back as she made her way out into the cul-de-sac, “...and now he’s going to teach you, too.”

Bells and Whistles

“So where does Bellboy live?” Accident asked, as Sky spread her wings and took off.

“Well, it’s kinda embarrassing…” Sky replied sheepishly, gaining altitude, “he actually lives in my attic.”

“Did you kidnap him?” Accident asked, taking a few experimental leaps at the drainpipe in an effort to follow her.

“Yeah, I did,” Sky giggled, “though I like to think I saved him, instead. See, when I first met him, some fashionista bitch had him tied up in her parlour as a display piece. Every day she’d come out and beat him, and...well...I thought he was too good-looking to treat that badly.”

With a shrug, the little white mare pulled aside a few roof panels, coming in to land and tucking her wings in by her sides.

“Is he friendly?” Accident pressed. “He’s not gonna shout at me, is he?”

“Nah, he’s a sweetie,” Sky snickered. “I don’t reckon he has it in him. He’s sorta noisy when you get on his nerves, though. Just so happens that that’s the whole point.”

With a grunt, Sky pulled a large stallion-shaped mannequin from the hole in the attic. Hundreds of little bells all over his body jingled like a sleigh at Hearth’s Warming as she lowered him down onto the ground. Accident hopped off of the drainpipe, making her way over to the jingling little mannequin with wide eyes.

”This is Bellboy?” She asked, placing a hoof on his painted wooden flank. A few more bells jingled at her touch, making her recoil in surprise with a tiny squeak

“Yeah, he taught me how to pickpocket,” Sky repeated, nodding. “Here, check this out…”

Sky threw a pair of saddlebags over the bell-clad pony’s back, strapping them down and tossing a bag of coins into one of them. Finally, she dropped the flap back down over the saddlebag, stepping to the side and grinning at her little protege.

“Okay, here’s the rules,” She explained, “you’ve gotta get the coins out of the saddlebag…but...if you make any of the bells jingle, you’ve got to run away and hide until they stop, okay?”

“I can do that!” Accident nodded. “I’m great at hide and go seek! Well...except for my wings...they kindas stick out of things. Mum always used to be able to find me! Er...except for that one time.”

“Yeah, well, don’t focus on that, sweetie.” Sky smiled, nuzzling Accident’s cheek. “Come on, give it a go. I bet you’ll be great at it!”

“You really think so?” Accident asked, looking up at Sky with a tentative little smile.

“I’m sure of it, kid,” The little white mare replied, kissing her on the forehead and giving her an encouraging push towards Bellboy. “Just remember, be quiet, be careful and take your time. You’ll be a kick-ass burglar in no time!”

“Okay!” Accident squeaked, hunkering down with her tail flicking from side to side as she crept up on the mannequin. When she reached out with her forehoof and bumped the saddlebag, however, the jingling began again.

Accident yelped and galloped for cover, diving into a nearby cardboard box and tucking her wings in by her sides. Sky looked after her, shaking her head with a little chuckle as she spotted a telltale little tail poking out of the box.

“Kid…” Sky sighed.

With a flick of her tail, Accident hid herself completely. The box shuffled a little as she shivered in excitement, then went totally still.

“Not bad,” Sky said, nodding, “Just remember, you don’t have to hide forever. It’s like a game of hide and seek, then a really intense game of tag. As soon as they’re not looking anymore, run away until you can find an even better hiding place, okay?”

“Okay!” Accident squeaked, a pair of little filly hooves appearing over the rim of the box as she peeked out at Sky with an enormous smile on her face. “Did I do okay?”

“You’re pretty fast and pretty super-sneaky,” Sky replied with a wink, “you’ll be great when we do this for real. Now, have another go! If you practice extra-hard, we can even pull our first big heist today!”

“Didn’t we steal all of those cookies?” Accident asked.

“Well yeah, but the evidence was all eaten, so I don’t reckon that that counts.” Sky chuckled. “This one’s gonna involve real money and coins and shouting guards. You’re gonna have to be smart and fast and really good at hiding.”

“I can do that!” Accident nodded. “I’m the fastest filly in the west!”

“Oh yeah?” Sky asked, cocking her head, “how fast is that, then?”

“This fast!” Accident giggled, scrabbling her way out of the box and trying to gallop across the cul-de-sac as quick as she could. As her wings flopped down by her sides, one of them managed to work its way underhoof, sending Accident tumbling head over hooves and skidding to a halt right next to the elder pony. She gave an innocent little smile as she looked up into Sky’s eyes.

“Heh, you look kinda funny from down here,” she noted, pawing at Sky’s nose with her little forehoof.

Sky cocked her head, placing a hoof of her own on Accident’s belly and idly tickling her.

“Well, perhaps we won’t start you off on anything that requires you to run very fast...at least until we get those wings of yours sorted out.” Sky thought aloud, as Accident writhed and giggled under her tickle assault. Her hooves, inlaid with padding to silence her hoof-falls, were softer than anypony else’s in Canterlot, and Accident simply couldn’t take it. Her squeaky little giggles descended into a noise that was at once both a laugh and a neigh.

“Stoooooop!” Accident squealed, trying to get all four of her hooves under Sky’s to push her off. It was no use. The mare had her trapped and had no qualms exploiting her fluffy ticklish belly.

“Sorry! Can’t hear you!” Sky giggled, continuing her tickling as she thought back to the kind of jobs a filly who can’t run without tripping over her hooves.

As an idea struck her, she loosened up on the tickling and looked down at the squirming young pony. She looked so pathetic like this, almost like…

“What?” Accident asked, as she caught Sky’s expression.

“Kid…” Sky said, a sly little grin spreading across her face, “how would you like to be hit by a carriage?”

* * *

A team of eight strong stallions strained against their chains, pulling an armoured carriage along through the streets of Canterlot. Within, guarded by one of the Royal Guard themselves, sat an enormous chest loaded with bags upon bags of coins.

The Royal Guard jumped as the carriage went over a very big bump indeed, then jumped again as everypony out in the marketplace beyond screamed. Her ears perked at the sound of a crying filly behind the carriage, and a realisation finally struck her.

Oh no…

The carriage pulled to a halt, and the guard jumped out to tend to the little pony it had struck. A few of the driving stallions had already wriggled loose of their harnesses, surrounding the pony’s broken little body.

“She must’ve run right out into the street,” one of them spoke up as the guard shoved him aside. “I never saw her. None of us did. It’s not our fault…”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” the guard said, dismissing him with a wave of her hoof and looking down at the victim.

She was curled up into a ball, her huge wings sticking out at odd angles as she lay in the street. The poor filly was inconsolable, crying her little heart out and struggling to breathe.

“Please…” she whimpered. “Please...I don’t wanna die...I didn’t mean to...I didn’t wanna get hurt.”

“You’re not going to die, little one,” the guard said, splaying her ears back as she gestured for the others to back away and give her some space. “Where are your mother and father?”

“They...they’re gone…” the filly sniffled, wiping her running nose on one of her tiny hooves. “They...they’re gone forever…”

“You idiots! You hit an orphan!” the guard scolded, raising her forehooves time and again as she tried to work out just how to pick the poor pony up without damaging her. “I’m sorry, little one. Do you have a name?”

“My...my name’s...Shadow…” she whispered.

“Shadow, huh?” the guard nodded. “Well, we’ll make sure we get an ambulance for you. Where does it hurt?”

“Er...erm…” Shadow winced, inventing wildly. “My everything hurts! Especially my wings! Erm...I see a light!”

“Oh Celestia, really?” The guard blanched, growing more panicked by the second. “Well...er...don’t look into it, okay? We’ll get you some medical attention...there’s no need to be alarmed…”

“I’m really alarmed! I want my mummy…” Shadow said softly, tears running freely down her cheeks. “I want my mummy and my daddy and I don’t wanna die but it hurts so bad and I…”

“It’s okay...Shadow, was it?...We’re going to get you the help you need and everything will be alright.” The guard said with a nod. “What were you doing playing in the road, anyway?”

“I...I wanted to...play...Scootaloo...with the carriage…” Shadow squeaked. “I didn’t think...it’d hurt this bad…”

The guard looked her over again. Wheel tracks criss-crossed her enormous wings, unpreened and messy as they were. Her head was already freshly bandaged. Perhaps this was an accident-prone filly, or maybe she just made a habit of playing chicken with carriages.

“I’m having your jobs for this, you bastards,” the guard said, glaring at the drivers around her, approaching Shadow with caution and brushing a hoof over her shoulder.

“Don’t...don’t take their jobs…” Shadow shook her head, clawing at the cobblestones with her weak little hoof. “They didn’t mean...they didn’t mean to...to…”

“Stay with me, Shadow,” the guard pressed.

“No! I can’t!” Shadow wailed, reaching out dramatically. “I’m done for! A write-off! A goner! My poor little filly life has been snuffed out forever, and it’s all my fault! Gr...grandma? Is that you?”

The drivers began to look at one another in concern, and the guard rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that’s your grandma, little one.”

Shadow paused, biting her lip as she tried to come up with something else. “Er...well, it’s a really old lady, anyway! I guess that means I’m dying! Oh no! Whatever will I do without my body! What a cruel world to snuff out a little filly’s life! All I wanted to do was play in traffic, but...but…” She trailed off into a coughing fit, too weak to continue.

The guard was about to pick Shadow up, when her ears perked at a jingling noise just behind her. Wheeling round, she caught a glimpse of a little white pony with a red tail disappearing into the crowd, weighed down by huge bags of coins. Her eyes darted to the carriage door, which she realised too late she’d left open. It took a moment longer for her brain to put two and two together.

“Wait...how did…” she said slowly, turning back to Shadow...or rather, where Shadow had been moments earlier. “Where did she go?”

“She said something about making a miracle recovery!” one of the drivers shrugged.

“And you let her go?” the guard blanched, realising all of a sudden that her own job was on the line.

“I wasn’t about to question it! Fillies are weird!” the driver yelped, flailing his hooves. “She really could have made a miraculous recovery for all I know!”

The guard grinded her teeth, staring at the assembled drivers. “Call it in. I want the Captain informed of what happened here...and you’re to explain to him that you let the bait filly go.”

The drivers looked between one another with increasingly worried expressions. It seemed that, today, everypony involved with this little robbery was going to end up on the streets without a job.

* * *

Sky and Accident peeked around the corner, sparing a look back at the marketplace to see if anyone had tried to follow them. When they saw that the coast was clear, Sky gave Accident a teasing smirk.

“Really? A great big light?” Sky asked.

“Well, it’s what I read you see when you die!” Accident shrugged. “I haven’t been dead before! I wouldn’t know!” She paused, and after a while added “That was a great idea, you throwing that big bag of potatoes under the wheels of the carriage, though. I thought you were gonna actually throw me for a while there. You kind of had me pretty scared.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t do a thing like that,” Sky chuckled, tussling Accident’s mane and pulling her into a tight hug. “And hey, how’s that for your first successful job? That was one hell of a show you put on for them back there.”

“I still think the cookie one was my first job ever,” Accident giggled. “Besides, this is just money, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Sky nodded, “but you can buy cookies if you’ve got enough money, right?”

Accident took a moment to process this realisation. A great big smile spread across her face. “So...so there’s still a cookie reward at the end of every job?”

“Yeah, but you know what I really like after a job?” Sky beamed. “Ice cream. Ever tried it before?”

“N...no?” Accident shook her head. “What’s ice cream?”

Sky blew her mane out of her face, wrapping a wing around her new little partner in crime and trotting off towards the Middle District.

“Kid...you’re going to love this.”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hFR54R19U

Dear Sister

“Lieutenant, I don’t see why you’re so obsessed with this one burglar. There’s plenty of other crime to deal with…” Titus began.

“Captain, with all due respect, I don’t want to hear it,” Stronghooves replied, shaking his head, “This burglar’s different. She and I have...history.”

“Oh? Is she an old flame?” Titus grinned slyly as the two stallions came to a halt on a balcony overlooking the city.

“And old relation,” Stronghooves shook his head, “It’s...complicated.”

“I’ve got time.” Titus replied evenly, placing a heavy forehoof on the officer’s shoulder.

Stronghooves glanced across at him, letting out a soft sigh. He crossed his forehooves and lay his head down upon them, looking out over the multicoloured roofs of Canterlot.

“She and I go way back,” He explained, “Her name’s Sky Runner. You probably wouldn’t find her name in any record of my family. My parents...our parents...went to great lengths to cover up that she ever existed.”

“What was their big deal?” Titus asked, cocking his head.

“They’re self-made ponies. Unicorns from multiracial families who want to pretend that they’re more “pure” than their own parents. That means that if you’re not a unicorn, you’re an embarrassment to the family.” Stronghooves sighed. “Sky was a pegasus, so…”

“...So they hid her.”

“At first, yes.” Stronghooves nodded. “Downplayed a lot of her achievements, ignored her and dumped praise on me. All the while I did my best to keep her safe from them in their angrier moments, taught her how to fly...it wasn’t the ideal family situation, but it was something. It was special, I guess.”

“And then something happened?” Titus asked.

“Yeah, something big. She got her cutie mark when she went truant from flight school. Ran away from the truancy officers, outsmarted and outran them and galloped all the way home. She was really excited to show me,” The Lieutenant smiled fondly at the memory, wiping his eyes, “Mum and Dad were furious.”

“What was it?”

“Turns out her special talent is running. She’s light on her hooves and really fast...until she uses those gimpy little wings, anyway,” Stronghooves chuckled, “I was just proud that she’d finally found something that she was good at. Mum and dad...weren’t. They threw her out when I went to sleep, and then they told me that she’d gone and gotten hit by a carriage.”

“Did you believe them?”

“At first. I was only a stupid teenager. I guess I was more impressionable back then.” Stronghooves shrugged. “When they didn’t hold a funeral or show me any evidence, I got...suspicious, I guess. They started doctoring all of our family photos to remove her from them. Mum and Dad were hellbent on keeping her existence a secret.”

“Yeah, well, by the looks of it, you’ve found your long-lost sister and she’s turned into a career criminal.” Titus chuckled. “I bet you’re relieved that she’s alive, at least.”

“I suppose I am,” Stronghooves smiled, sniffling, “but she resents me for what happened back when we were kids...and she replaced me.”

“Replaced you? With what?” Titus frowned.

“She had this...this filly with her. I don’t know whose it is, but I can’t imagine it’s hers. She said that her name was Shadow…” Stronghooves said, his features growing a little darker as he spoke, “I can’t even imagine the kind of sick lies she’s filling that kid’s head with about me.”

“You can’t blame yourself for the way she took what happened, but you’ve got a point.” Titus nodded. “If Sky is allowed to hang around this kid for much longer, she could do a lot of damage to her impressionable young mind. We could have another burglar on our hooves before we know it.”

“Yeah, and as long as this “Shadow” kid is a factor, I don’t see things getting better between myself and Sky.” Stronghooves frowned. “I can’t even imagine the lies she’s told about me, just to paint me as a bad guy.”

“Handle the foal as you see fit, Lieutenant.” Titus said stoically. “It’s Sky’s relation to you that interests me. So, this is the burglar that’s been escaping us over and over again, is it?”

“Yes, sir. I’m positive of it.” Stronghooves nodded. “Sky’s a fast pony and she’s exceptionally good at hiding. It’s her special talent. That explains why we’ve never been able to catch up to her. The only reason I got a look at her face last night was because I caught her off-guard.”

“You’re telling me that the one-pony rise in crime in this city is your kid sister?” Titus asked in disbelief.

“I’m afraid so. I’m not proud of it, but...I know it’s her. I don’t know anypony else who looks like her...or who’d speak to me with that much venom in her voice,” Stronghooves cringed at the memory of the previous night’s encounter, “We have to stop her.”

“Well, you’re the best burglar hunter in the city. Tell me what you need and I’ll pull the necessary strings.” Titus winked.

“This is going to require me to deviate from my normal method of dealing with burglars.” Stronghooves frowned. “I’m going to aim to capture Sky and rehabilitate her, not kill her off. I’m not going to do that to my own sister.”

“What if she resists or runs for it?”

“She won’t.” Stronghooves grinned. “It’s all about finding the right leverage to get her to cooperate...and I think I know just the thing.”

* * *

“You’re kidding.” Sky deadpanned.

“Nuh uh.” Accident replied. “I mean it! I want that one!”

“You do know what kind of ice cream that is, don’t you?”

“I don’t care! I wanna try it!” Accident beamed, wagging her bushy little tail excitedly.

Sky let out a long-suffering sigh, turning back to the ice cream mare with a slightly forced smile. “Can I get a cookies and creme and a...kid, are you sure about this?”

“Yes!” Accident nodded confidently. She couldn’t care less what flavour the delightful orange ice cream was. She’d never ever tried ice cream before, and she was super-excited to try it for the first time ever!

“Fine, fine…” Sky sighed, dropping her voice down to a whisper to prevent the young filly from hearing, “...and one mango-flavoured ice cream, please.”

“Sure thing.” The ice cream mare beamed, passing them over. “Is this your first time having ice cream, little one?” She added.

“Yep!” Accident nodded briskly, wagging her tail even harder as she took it between her forehooves. “Miss Sky’s been really nice to me and she took me to a cookie factory and helped me murder mangoes and now she’s taken me out for ice cream!”

“Well then, I should warn you, ice cream is awfully cold, so don’t go eating it all at...once…” She trailed off, watching as Accident stuffed her face with the frozen treat. The young filly whimpered and squeaked as she struggled to get her head around just how cold ice cream was, but it was every bit as delicious as Sky had made it sound!

“Thank you, Mrs Ice Cream Pony!” Accident smiled, flapping her huge wings excitedly. “It was really lovely and I really wanna have more sometime! Are there any other kinds?”

“There’s all sorts!” The ice cream pony chuckled, taking Accident’s gorging session in stride. “There’s chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, mango…”

“Ewww! Mango!” Accident cringed, disgusted. “Don’t tell me that they’re disguising themselves as ice cream now!”

“But...didn’t you just eat…?” The ice cream mare began, but Sky flashed her a dark look, the look of a pony who would simply never be forgiven if Accident ever learned the truth.

“Why, silly me! I had no idea that those dastardly mangoes had infiltrated your nice little ice cream cart!” Sky said loudly, as Accident cowered under her red bushy tail. “No doubt you’re going to hunt them all down and put a stop to their mischief!”

“Er...certainly! Of course I am!” The ice cream mare scoffed, picking up on Sky’s little ruse. “Don’t you worry about a thing! I’ll be sure to go get the Royal Guard and put them back in their place! We can’t have loose fruit running around disguising itself as ice cream so it can sneak up on unsuspecting fillies, can we?”

“No, we can’t!” Sky sighed gratefully, putting a wing around Accident’s shoulders and steering her away, towards the park gate. “Thank you very much, Miss! We’ll get out of your mane!”

“Stay alert, Mrs Ice Cream Pony! They’re everywhere, and they’re watching!” Accident squeaked urgently, poking her muzzle through Sky’s feathers to give the poor salespony one last ominous stare.

“You’re going to get me in trouble one of these days.” Sky chuckled, trotting down the path as she tucked into her own ice cream.

“Or maybe I’m going to get you out of trouble!” Accident countered, grinning. “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a pretty great little burglar!”

“You definitely put on one hell of a performance for the guards today.” Sky conceded. “Were you scared?”

“No! I’m not scared of anything!” Accident giggled proudly, trotting along in front of the elder pony with her nose held high.

“Yeah?” Sky chuckled. “Well, that’s lucky, considering what’s right behind us right this second…”

“Wha...what’s behind us right now?” Accident said softly, lowering her voice and cowering under Sky’s wing.

“Well, you’d better not look at it, because it’s pretty big and scary.” Sky said seriously. “It’s a giant mango with slathering jaws and a great big mouth that can swallow a pony whole! But hey, I’m sure you’re not in the least bit afraid of it. After all, you’re not scared of anything, right?”

“Ri...right!” Accident nodded, though she couldn’t help but gulp. She could already feel the onset of panic from the monster’s approach...or perhaps that was just her tummy hurting from all of that ice cream in one go. Either way, she felt pretty terrified, nuzzling a little further under Sky’s wing.

“Are you okay, Shadow?” Sky asked, licking her ice cream a little more. “You’re awfully shivery! Don’t tell me you’re scared!”

“N...no!” Accident shook her head. “I’m just...er...cold! That’s it!”

“Cold?” Sky pressed, raising her eyebrows, “but it’s the middle of a super-sunny day and we’re in the middle of the park! How could you possibly be cold?”

“Well...okay, I might be the teeniest tiniest bit frightened, too…” Accident gulped, “but I don’t wanna be eaten whole! I’m only little! I’ve got so much to live for!”

“I guess you do,” Sky sighed, flicking her tail around and wrapping it around Accident’s, “so you’d better watch out, because if you’re not careful...it’s gonna GET YOU!”

And with that, she gave Accident’s tail a tug, sending the filly tumbling onto her flanks with a squeal.

“NOOOOO! DON’T EAT ME! I WANNA LIVE!” She squeaked, hiding her head in her hooves to avoid looking into the monster’s eyes.

After a while, Accident cracked an eye open, a little surprised at the decided lack of slathering jaws and razor-sharp teeth. More surprising, however, was Sky’s cheeky giggling.

“I’m...I’m alive?” She whispered, as Sky proceeded to laugh her flanks off nearby.

“Ye…yeah...you’re alive, kid…” Sky snickered, finally catching her breath. “Oh, wow! I really had you going, that time! You completely fell for it!”

“Fell for...fell for it?” Accident asked, cocking her head. “This was a trick all along?”

“Sure was!” Sky giggled, standing over the young pony and tussling her mane, “There’s no such thing as giant mangoes. Don’t worry, kid.”

“Wh...why?” Accident whimpered, looking up at Sky with her great big green filly eyes, “Why did you trick me, Miss Sky? We were getting on so well!”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it had something to do with the stunt you pulled back at the cookie factory. Remember, when you refused to get me out?”

“Oh yeah...er...that…” Accident giggled guiltily, “but I’m still really grumpy with you, Missy! Like, super grumpy! In fact, do you know how grumpy I am?”

“How grumpy are you?” Sky asked, her curiosity piqued.

“I’m so grumpy I could...could…give me that…” She huffed, snatching the ice cream cone out of Sky’s hooves and pressing it to her own forehead, creating a rather messy fake horn. “A-ha! Now I’m a princess and I’m gonna make you pay for being such a cheeky, mischievous little pony!”

“Oh no!” Sky yelped melodramatically, putting her forehooves up in surrender as Accident held her at cone-point, “Please don’t hurt me, Princess Shadow! I’ve seen the error of my cheeky ways!”

“Too late for that, Sky!” Princess Shadow grinned, advancing on her, “You’ll have plenty of time to think about what a cheeky little pony you are when I turn you into a kangaroo!”

“Noooo! Don’t...wait, really? A kangaroo?” Sky asked.

“I like kangaroos.”

“Oh,” Sky fell silent for a time, before raising her forehooves again, “noooo! I’m innocent! I didn’t mean to scare you, Princess!”

“Silence! I don’t want to hear your excuses, Miss Sky! Let’s see how silly you look when you’re forced to hop around like a great big kangaroo!” Accident grinned, levelling her “horn” at Sky and making a rather convincing “Zap” noise.

Sky rolled her eyes, rearing up on her hind legs and hopping in circles around the younger pony. She didn’t have a clue what kind of noise a kangaroo makes, but judging by Accident’s cheery giggling, Sky figured that she was doing a passable impression nonetheless.

“Okay, okay, now a donkey!” Accident squeaked, “zapping” Sky with her horn again.

The little white mare froze in place for a time, looking around at the other ponies in the park apprehensively. Each and every one of them had already started staring at her after the kangaroo act, and things were only going to get worse from here on in…

Ah, screw what they think. It’s making her laugh!

“HEE-HAW!” Sky brayed dramatically.

Princess Shadow exploded into a giggling fit, rolling onto her back and failing to notice when her fake horn fell off of her head. A few other ponies nearby burst out laughing at Sky’s display, while a very touchy mule strode haughtily off, complaining about how her mother was, in fact, a saint.

“Forgive me, yet?” Sky snickered, trotting up to the little pony and rubbing her tummy.

“Ye...yeah, I forgive you, Sky.” The filly giggled, wrapping all four legs around Sky’s hoof to protect her vulnerable little belly.

“Come on then, Princess Shadow,” Sky grinned, hoisting her young sister onto her back and trotting off down the path, “I’ve got another little surprise for you, and I think you’ll like it.”

Pegasisters

Sky led Accident up the tallest hill in the whole park, stopping every so often so that the young filly could admire the occasional daisy or dandelion. She stopped and bumped each one with her muzzle, fascinated by the sight and texture of something so bright and colourful. Accident was enthralled by everything around her, tail wagging excitedly as she learned for herself just how wonderful flowers could smell.

“Wow, you really haven’t been out of the house before, have you?” Sky asked, cocking her head as she watched the little pony try to pick every flower in the park.

“Nope!” Accident beamed, tucking daisies under her wing for later. “Mum never ever let me go outside, especially to a place like this! I mean, I’d read about parks before, and how flowers smell, and how the grass feels on your hooves, but...but…” She stopped, shivering as she experienced a sensory overload.

“Did she ever say why?”

“Well, she said it’s because I’m an Accident, so I guess she was just worried that I’d trip over my great big wings a whole bunch!” Accident shrugged.

“I guess she said the same stuff when you wanted to meet the rest of your family, huh?” Sky pressed, coming to rest at the top of the hill and picking daisies of her own.

“Well, I asked over and over again to go and see the rest of my family,” Accident said, “but Mum always told me that they were busy or that they were out of town.”

Sky spotted Accident’s ears twitch a little out of the corner of her eye. Letting out a soft sigh, the elder pony lay down in the shade of the big oak tree atop the hill, patting the ground next to her.

“Kid, come here,” she said quietly.

Accident sauntered over, laying down and curling up in front of Sky. She gazed up at her with her bright green eyes, watching the big white pony’s expression carefully.

She doesn’t look very happy… Accident thought to herself, frowning.

“Look...I...I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry.” Sky said slowly.

“Sorry? What are you sorry for, Miss Sky?” Accident asked, tilting her head confusedly.

“I’m sorry that the world’s not a better place.” Sky replied. “I’m sorry that you don’t have a mum and dad anymore. I’m sorry that you got left out on the street. I’m sorry that your so-called parents thought you were something to hide because you were...different…”

Sky stopped as Accident placed a hoof to the mare’s lips.

“Don’t be sorry.” Accident smiled. “I’m not sorry. My big wings are still super-special, even if Mum doesn’t like them!”

“But you were so excited to see her again, and when you did…” Sky trailed off.

“I know…” Accident nodded, ears flopping down, “but there’s a good side, too! I got to meet a pony who’s super-special! I’ve made new friends, and been on adventures, and...it kind of feels better.”

Sky said nothing, knotting daisies together into a little chain as she watched the young filly.

“So...you’re not sad at all?” she said, finally.

“Nope!” Accident giggled. “I’m having too much fun to be sad! My Mum’s always going to be the best Mum I’ve ever had, but you’re my best friend and you never tell me that I can’t hug you! I like that about you.”

“Well...I guess I like your hugs.” Sky chuckled. “Yours are probably the best hugs in the whole world...and the only ones I’ve had in...well...ages…”

Accident watched Sky work on her daisy-chain, thinking carefully to herself. The fan club, the song, the way she’d talked to her own mother - to Accident’s mother, come to that...things were finally starting to make sense.

“Sky?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re all alone out here, aren’t you?” Accident asked, staring.

Sky stopped, looking down into Accident’s eyes. Her ears flattened against her skull as she met the filly’s patient gaze, pawing the ground uncomfortably.

“I...er...I don’t know what…” Sky began.

“Don’t tell fibs.” Accident warned, cutting her off.

“Well...er…” Sky snorted, looking away, “I’m kind of alone...actually, I’m alone a whole lot of the time, but...it’s...better that way…”

“Why?” Accident inquired. “I don’t think I could stand to be all on my own without Scruffy...or you.”

“Well...my work’s pretty dangerous.” Sky said. “I mean, it’s cool going on adventures and stealing stuff, don’t get me wrong,” she shrugged, “but I’m not exactly in the kind of business where you’re allowed to make friends or...have a family.”

“Did your mum throw you out, too?” Accident whispered.

Sky bit her lip, looking at everything but those huge green eyes. Her fluffy white ears twitched and swivelled as she tried to come up with an appropriate answer.

“Well...er...you see…” Sky finally managed, “my mum...was…er...she kind of didn’t like me for the same reason that yours didn’t like you...because of my wings…”

“But your wings are so pretty!” Accident protested.

“Yeah, but...they’re kind of...weak…” Sky admitted, holding one of them up for inspection. “I never really lost my filly down. My wings are pretty damn warm, but I can never ever fly as fast as everypony else. Besides...Mum hated the idea of having a foal without a horn. She was just waiting for an excuse.”

Shadow looked down at her hooves for a while. “You talked to my mum like she was yours.” She observed. “Why?”

“Well...er...funny thing…” Sky chuckled, scratching the back of her head. “She used to be mine, a few years back. She’s the one who threw me out of the house, and...I guess she had you a few years later.”

“You mean...we’ve got the same mum?”

Sky nodded, finally winding the daisy chain into a little circle.

“That means we’re…”

“Sisters.”

“So...you are my family?” Accident asked, frowning and flapping her wings as she tried to process all of this.

“Well...yeah.” Sky smiled. “You’re my little sister and I’m your big sister...course, I’m not that big…”

“You’re pretty big…” Accident said absent-mindedly. Sky drew a wing over her belly out of self-consciousness.

“Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“If we’re sisters...does that mean you’re gonna take care of me forever?”

“Well...forever is a pretty long time…” Sky said doubtfully.

“It’s a really long time if you’re alone.” Accident observed.

Sky stared at the little ring of daisies, avoiding the filly’s eyes once more. For just the tiniest little moment, Accident could have sworn she’d seen a tear drip from the mare’s eye onto the grass.

“Yeah…” Sky muttered quietly, “it is…”

“Well...you know, we don’t have to be alone. I mean, you’ve got me and Scruffy to take care of you, and you can take care of us, right?” Accident offered hopefully.

“Look, kid, I appreciate it, but…” Sky muttered.

“But nothing! No excuses, young lady!” Accident blurted out. “When you took care of me and let me choose a super-cool nickname, I went with Shadow because I wanted to be by your side and never ever leave you. That’s why I’m here right now. That’s why Scruffy’s gonna be waiting for us when we get back home/ That’s why I started learning how to be a real burglar!”

Sky stared at Accident for what seemed like ages, only able to offer the occasional shocked blink. Finally, with shaky hooves, she set the little ring of daisy’s on the filly’s head like a flowery coronet.

“You know what, kid? Your mum’s a fucking idiot.” Sky said with a shaky smile, “I can’t believe that you grew up so wonderfully even though you had to live with a bitch like that. How the hell did you end up so sweet and kind and special and...and…happy?”

Accident looked up at the crown of daisies, extracting her little flower collection from under her wing and feverishly trying to make her own daisy chain.

“Well...how did you manage it?” Accident asked.

“What do you mean?” Sky frowned, cocking her head.

“I mean, you’re the only pony in the whole city who’d pay attention to me when I was all alone. You even took me in and made me feel better, and you gave me cookies!” Accident squeaked with a big toothy smile. “You’ve been all alone ever since Mum made you leave as well, and you grew up into the best big sister a pony could ever wish for!”

Sky went bright pink, looking away again.

“Please,” she scoffed, “you’re ten times the pony I am. You’re a sweetheart and nothing seems to get you down, and you’re cute and funny and loving and caring and...and…”

She stopped once more, freezing in place as Accident lowered a crown of daisies onto Sky’s head, too.

“...and you’re just like me,” she finished for her. “Please don’t be sad, Sky. I’m your little sister and I’m gonna be here for you forever! You don’t have to be lonely or afraid or upset anymore!”

“Wow,” Sky said simply, looking up at the crown with misty blue eyes. She seemed unable to come up with anything more.

Accident’s eyes widened as she started to panic. “Oh no, did I mess it up? I’m sorry! This is the first time I’ve ever made a flower hat! I didn’t mean to…”

Sky interrupted her, looping a foreleg around Accident and pulling her into a great big tight hug. She wrapped both of her downy white wings around the filly, engulfing her in feathers and fluff as she started to cry.

“Thank you…” she mumbled, shaking like a leaf.

“No! Don’t cry! Don’t cry!” Accident whimpered, snuggling into Sky’s grip and shivering herself. “Don’t...otherwise...you’re gonna...make...me...cr...cry...too…”

And with that, the two little ponies burst into tears, hugging each other as tightly as they possibly could. Though they each bore a great deal of pain from their abandonment, they couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit comforted in each others’ embrace. It was good to have a sister.

In time, Sky and Accident calmed down, wiping their eyes on their wings as they held each other tight. Sky rocked her new little sister from side to side, nuzzling her cheek and waiting for the choking little sobs to stop.

“S...sis?” Accident asked after a while.

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel better when you’re sad?”

“I...er…” Sky paused, blushing a little, “I...like to sing…”

“Oooh, you sing songs?” Accident asked. “What kind of songs do you sing?”

“Er...well...I kinda...sing about how sad I am, sometimes…”

“That doesn’t sound like it helps…” Accident said doubtfully.

“It really does! Check it out…” Sky insisted, clearing her throat.

Accident looked on as Sky set her down on the grass. The little white mare stood up, looking out over the park and clearing her throat.

She froze as Accident cut in.

”If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hooves!” Clap, clop.

“Shadow…”

”If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hooves!” Clap, clop.

“That’s not…” Sky tried.

”If you’re happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hooves!” Clap, clop.

Accident stopped, flopping back down onto all four legs and staring at her big sister.

"Shadow, do you mind?” Sky asked patiently. “I'm kinda trying to have a moment to myself."

"Can you have a moment to yourself with me?" Accident offered, cocking her head and smiling a hopeful little smile.

"You weren’t even going to sing the same song! You were just singing Happy And You Know It!"

"I like my song better!" Accident countered.

"Yeah, well...it doesn't fit how I'm feeling, okay?" Sky huffed.

"I bet it's because you're not clapping your hooves!"

Sky deadpanned at the young filly.

"Okay, what if I sing my song over here, and you sing yours over there?" Accident asked, wagging her tail a little

And with that, Accident trotted off to carry on singing. The lyrics were comparatively simple, yet as Sky listened to the young pony's song, she heard something incredible; even through all of the horrible things that had befallen her, Accident really was happy...and she knew it, too.

Sky watched her for the longest time, her own song long forgotten as she listened to her younger sibling sing her little heart out. Sky didn't try to join in, or call Accident on singing off-key, or anything of that ilk. She just sat and watched, enthralled by what she recognised as pure happiness incarnate.

"You know," Accident called out, "I could use use a backup singer!"

"Yeah?" Sky replied, "and what happens when you can't sing Happy And You Know It anymore?"

"Well," Accident shrugged, "if I had a best friend or a big sister with me...we could sing Pat-A-Cake instead! Would that be okay?"

Sky caught Accident's hopeful expression as the filly eagerly beckoned her over, and for the first time in forever, Sky caught herself smiling a real smile, full of genuine happiness and love.

"Kid," she beamed, trotting over to join her little sister, "it'd be my pleasure."

Step Into My World

Accident tied her burglar’s mask up behind her head, wiggling her flanks just a little as she crept up on Bellboy once more. Slipping her hoof into his saddlebag for just a moment, Accident pulled out his coinpurse without disturbing more than one or two little bells.

“Ooops, sorry mister!” She squeaked innocently, trotting around in front of him and pawing the ground. “I didn’t see you there! I’ll be super careful next time, I promise!”

“That’s a new tactic,” said Sky, raising her eyebrow as she watched.

“Yahuh! I’ll watch where I’m going next time, mister! See ya!” Accident squeaked, trotting off with a little wave.

“Okay, I’ll admit that that was pretty good,” Sky giggled, “but don’t just go saying sorry to everypony you bump into, otherwise you could get in some pretty serious trouble. Got it?”

“Yes, Mi...I mean, er...sis.” Accident smiled, giving her wings a little flutter. “But I’m doing well so far, right?”

“You’re learning...pretty damn fast, actually,” Sky said with a frown, “you’re sure as hell getting the hang of this faster than I did.”

“Do you think I’ll be a great big burglar like you someday?” Accident asked hopefully, unfurling her wings and staring up at Sky with those big shining green eyes.

“Well, I’m sure you wi…wait a minute,” Sky paused, narrowing her eyes at the young filly, “who are you calling ‘big,’ huh? Was that a comment about my weight?”

Accident rocked back and forth on her hooves, refusing to look Sky in the eye. “Well, I mean, you’re a pretty big pony,” she said diplomatically. “I bet you ate a lot of cookies to get as big as that!”

“Oh, I see how it is!” Sky huffed, turning her back on the filly. “This is about my great big flanks, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” Accident nodded, happy that Sky was quick on the uptake. “They’re enormous! I bet I couldn’t even fit both of my forelegs around them!”

Sky huffed even more grumpily, sauntering off and sitting down at the edge of the courtyard. “Oh, yeah, sure! Tease the pony about her great big ass! You know, nopony ever comments about the rest of me! Nopony ever says “Sky, you should eat something! You’re only skin and bone! No, it’s always gotta be about my great big butt!”

Accident cocked her head, frowning. “Wait, did I say something wrong?”

“No...no, it’s nothing…” Sky said, trailing off and looking away.

Were Accident a little older and wiser, she’d have picked up on Sky’s teen angst. As it was, this little filly was far too young to comprehend how silly Sky could sometimes be. All she knew was one prevailing truth; Sky was sad and she couldn’t allow that sadness to continue. With a little squeak, Accident shuffled over to her big sister, plonking down next to her and tucking her head under the elder pony’s downy wing.

“Wanna know what I think?” Accident asked.

“Sure,” Sky sighed, “what do you think?”

“I think you’re the prettiest pony ever.” Accident whispered.

“Yeah? Even with my messed-up wings and bed mane?” Sky scoffed.

“Yep!” Accident beamed. “It’s part of what makes you such a lovely pony! It’s what makes you...well...you!”

“And being me is a good thing?”

“Well…” Accident frowned, “back when I read a whole lot of books at my mum’s place, I kinda started thinking...what if life is like a great big story and you’re writing yours right now?”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it.” Sky grumbled. “Shadow...you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and the second I find you I run into Stronghooves again. I’ll bet he’s the guy who’s killing off all of the burglars, too.”

“Well, that’s what I mean,” Accident continued, “if you’ve got the power to write your own story, would you ever let somepony else write it for you?”

Sky stared at Bellboy for a long time, deep in thought.

“N...no.” She said. “Nopony can write my story better than I can...though I could sure as hell use a co-author.” She added, giving Accident a wink.

“Ooooh! Pick me! Pick me!” Accident squealed, bouncing up and down on the spot.

“Hmmm…” Sky said slowly, looking around the courtyard as if it was packed with potential candidates, “I dunno...I’m gonna need a volunteer…”

“Sky! Sky! Pick me! Baby sister, right here!” Accident chirped, sticking her hoof up like an eager little student.

“It’s gotta be somepony super special…” Sky continued.

“Me! Meeeeee!”

“Somepony who’d make a great partner in crime…”

“Me! Me me me! I’d make a great partner, and I’m housebroken!”

“How about…” Sky tapped a hoof to her chin, pausing for dramatic effect.

Accident shivered as she held her hoof in the air, biting her lip out of desperation.

“Bellboy!” Sky beamed.

The filly flopped down into the dirt, hiding her head in her hooves. “Awww, I was so sure I was the one!”

Sky pranced over to her mannequin, picking him up and taking flight to stow him back in the attic. Once he was all squared away, the little white mare floated down to the ground next to her young sister, nudging her with a hoof.

“Shadow…” she said quietly, giving her cheek a nuzzle, “why would I ever choose anyone else? You’re my number one pony!”

“I...I am?” Accident asked, peeking out from behind her hooves.

“Damn right. You’re a sweet little pony and the best thing that’s ever happened to me! I’d love to have you as my co-author!” Sky crooned, wrapping her forelegs around Accident’s midsection and lifting her back onto her hooves.

Accident said nothing for the longest time, staring up at Sky as if trying to work her out. Finally, she wrapped her forelegs around Sky’s and rubbed her cheek against the mare’s chest fluff. “Tha...thank you, sis…” She whispered.

“No problem, sweetie.” Sky smiled, hugging her back. “I know that you wanna hold onto your old name, but for what it’s worth, finding you was the happiest accident ever.”

“Yeah...about that…” Accident said softly, “I...kinda don’t want that name anymore. Can you just...call me Shadow?”

“You’ve finally warmed up to the name, huh?”

“Yeah.” Shadow nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it, and Mum was actually being really mean when she gave me that name. Besides...nopony can ever leave their shadow behind, can they?”

“I know I’d never want to.” Sky whispered. “My Shadow’s the sweetest little pony in the whole wide world.”

With that, Sky hoisted Shadow into her saddlebag, beaming at the young pony. Shadow held onto the rim of the bag by her little blue hooves.

“So...sis…” Shadow asked, “what are we gonna do about Stronghooves?”

Sky tapped a hoof to her chin, frowning.

“We’re gonna need firepower.” She said, finally. “C’mon, I think I know just who to talk to.”

* * *

“Must be nice not to be scared of Sawblades anymore, huh?” Sky smiled as the two sisters trotted down the tunnel once more.

“I dunno, he looked pretty scary when he was giving you that evil stare!” Accident countered, bouncing up and down in her sister’s saddlebag.

“Yeah, well, how about this time you don’t rat me out if I nick his sweets?”

“No deal.”

“I’ll cut you a deal; fifty percent if you don’t tell.”

“Eighty.”

“Sixty.”

“Three hundred.”

“Three hu...wait, what?” Sky froze, staring at the filly.

“Was that wrong?” Shadow asked. “I’m not good at numbers…”

“Er...well...just say fifty and I’ll give you half of the lollipops when we get home.” Sky sighed.

“Oh, okay! I thought we were just listing off random numbers!” Shadow giggled.

Sky gave a frustrated little huff, banging on the door with her padded forehoof. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“Good! I’d hate to be easy!” Shadow said with an innocent little squee.

The viewport slid open once more, revealing the same pair of mismatched eyes as before.

“Don’t tell me she’s managed to bump her head again?” Sawblades asked exasperatedly.

“Not this time,” Sky replied, shaking her head. “This time we’re looking for weapons. Something that can take somepony out of a fight without killing them.”

Sawblades stared a little longer before shutting the viewport and unlocking the door. He invited the two ponies in with a wave of his hoof, tussling Shadow’s mane as she passed.

“You look good in a burglar’s mask, kid. Super-scary.” He commented with a wink.

“You really think so?” Shadow asked, putting on her biggest, nastiest scary face.

“Kid, I treat crooks for a living. Trust me, I’ve seen big and tough, and you look pretty big and tough.” He grinned, locking up before leading them into his office. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

When all three of them were safely in his office, Sawblades tapped a hoof to his chin, starting to search through his locker.

“So, you want a weapon that can put a pony down without killing them…” he frowned, “what about a Taser?”

“What, you think I’m made of money?” Sky asked, glancing sidelong at the freshly-refilled bowl of lollies.

“Point taken…” Sawblades chuckled, blowing a few errant strands of hair out of his face. “Well, how about something that’ll turn them into a toad?”

“That’s more of a unicorn thing.” Sky shrugged. “What’ve you got that I could use on the job?”

“Well...there is something…” Sawblades said slowly, “but that depends on how comfortable you are with alchemy.”

“Alchemy’s kinda weird…” Sky replied doubtfully, “but I’m willing to give it a go if it’ll get the job done.”

“Well, you’ll like this, then.” Sawblades grinned, pulling a conical flask filled with a glowing green fluid out of the locker and holding it up for observation.

“Great. You blended boogers.” Sky deadpanned.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Sawblades chuckled. “No, this stuff is sleep formula. Its active ingredient is benzodiazepine, so it’s guaranteed to put a full-grown stallion in the dirt in under thirty seconds. Good against everypony from foals to well-trained guards.”

“Guess it’s not as simple as just spiking somepony’s water flask with this stuff, huh?” Sky asked, taking the flask and looking it over.

“I wish.” Sawblades scoffed. “Still, there are other ways to deliver the formula. I mean, if you could find the right kind of crossbows, I could easily load this stuff into dart capsules for you.”

“So we’d have real-life sleep darts, would we?” Sky asked, intrigued. “Okay, I’ll tell you what. If I can find the right crossbows, you’ll supply the darts, right?”

“Sure. I can even do it free of charge, if you want.” Sawblades shrugged. “Just depends on what you want to use them for.”

“Well, we found the guy who’s been killing off all of the burglars.” Sky frowned, setting the flask down. “Turns out it’s a guy with some...personal history with me. I’m gonna use these things to keep us both safe from him.”

“Better you than some weird date-rapist. You won’t believe how much some ponies have tried to pay me for this stuff, but I figured I’d hold onto it for somepony who really needs it.” Sawblades smiled. “So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is; we get the darts, load them up into our crossbows and knock Stronghooves out the next time he comes after us.” Sky grinned. “Trust me, he will come after us, too.”

“How can you be sure?”

“He’s my brother.”

Sawblades’s ears splayed back against his head as he picked up the flask, heading out into the clinic proper.

“I’ll...I’ll get these ready for you…” He said quietly.

As soon as he was gone, Sky and Shadow gave the bowl of lollies another cheeky glance.

“Coast is clear!” Shadow whispered.

Sky licked her lips, reaching out into the bowl to seize her prize…

SNAP!

“OW!”

“Oh, by the way,” Sawblades continued, poking his head back into the office, “I hid a mousetrap in the bowl of candy, just in case anypony got any more bright ideas. You weren’t going to try and pinch another lollipop, were you?”

Sky stared at him, her hoof still trapped in the increasingly incriminating bowl of lollies.

“Not at all!” She smiled. “I was just rearranging them!”

“Don’t steal my lollies, Sky.” Sawblades chuckled, trotting off.

As soon as they were both sure that he’d gone, Shadow pulled the bowl of lollies over and emptied it into Sky’s saddlebag, leaving her big sister with a great big mousetrap jammed on her hoof.

“Busted!” Shadow giggled.

“Shut up.”

Baited and Set

Sky and Shadow stepped out into Canterlot, wearing this season’s completely tasteless sunglasses as they observed their surroundings. Each pony wore a little crossbow on their forehoof and a bandolier of bright green darts on their shoulder. They struggled not to giggle as they exchanged a glance and saw just how cool the other looked. Sky picked Shadow up by the scruff of the neck and placed her safely in her saddlebag.

“That feels a bit safer,” Sky said with a chuckle, “and we’ve got a quick way to put you to sleep if you’re getting fidgety!”

“Aww, sis, don’t knock me out!” Shadow complained, poking her head out from under Sky’s saddlebag flap. She fixed her big sister with a heart-wrenching pout, doing her best to look as criminally adorable as possible.

“Kid, after the treatment you’ve had at home, I’m not going to give you more shit to worry about. Relax,” Sky giggled, craning her head back to rub her cheek against Shadow’s. She broke out into a gallop, bounding up onto the rooftops with a few flaps of her underpowered wings.

“So what’s the plan now?” Shadow asked. “I mean, we’ve got the neat little crossbows, but that’s not exactly gonna draw Stronghooves out, right?”

“Right,” Sky agreed with a slight frown. “We have to draw him out, and there’s only one way that you can get a cop like him to play into our hooves.”

“How’s that?” asked Shadow, tilting her head.

“Cause as much chaos and have as much fun as we can,” Sky replied, giving her little sister a wink. “Trust me, whenever burglars start having fun, there’ll always be a guard along to ruin everything. Just you wait and see.”

“Okay!” Shadow said, beaming. “What are we gonna do first?”

Sky paused, putting her hoof to her chin and glancing sidelong at Shadow. “Well...let’s see...it’s gonna have to be something public…”

“Something with a lot of ponies watching?” asked Shadow.

“And something with a lot of money,” Sky finished for her with a nod. “We’re gonna have to be pretty obvious about it, too. Draw attention, make some noise...say, how would you like to be a bank robber?”

“Do I have to wear the mask?” Shadow inquired.

“Can’t be a proper bank robber without a bank robber’s mask,” Sky said with a shrug.

Shadow stopped to consider this for a while. The logic, she decided, was quite airtight.

“Are you sure I’m ready?” She finally asked.

“Well, let’s put it this way,” Sky replied. “Back when I was just a little older than you, I got my ass kicked out of my house and I had to make my own way. Do favours for ponies, some of them...kinda degrading...learn some tricks and skills and generally take care of myself. I guess what I’m saying is that the best way to learn is from experience, right? Besides, you’re gonna have something I never had when I was your age.”

“What’s that?” asked Shadow, cocking her head.

“A big sister watching my back,” Sky finished, hauling Shadow up into her saddlebag and taking off. “Come on, kid. We’ve got a heist to plan.”

* * *

Bells rang out across Canterlot as yet another burglar fled for her life, cringing every time her damaged hoof hit the cobblestones. She rounded a corner, horn flaring as she desperately tried to magically shield herself from sight. Though her body flickered out of the visible spectrum, the clink of her saddlebags and her low wheezing gave her away. With uncertain steps, she slipped into a side alley, finally allowing herself to rest.

How the hell was he waiting for me? She thought to herself, applying pressure to the deep wound on her hind leg to stem the bleeding through her bandages. The clinic’s supposed to be safe ground…the guards shouldn’t know about us…how could one of them have been waiting right outside the tunnels?

With a pained little whimper, the unicorn hoisted herself up, clambering back down the alleyway towards her little hideout. Her magic spluttered and died as the blood loss set in, breaking her concentration and focus. So dim were here senses that she never saw the guard coming, not until he slammed a hoof down on her struggling body.

“Please...pleeeease...let me go…” she whispered between deep sobs. “I don’t know what you want...I wasn’t doing anything…”

“You were patronising the services of a criminal, my dear,” Stronghooves replied dutifully. “You know full well that that clinic is strictly for those who want to remain anonymous. No one would go there unless they had something to hide.”

His horn flared, tearing the mare’s saddlebags open with his magic. Beakers and conical flasks full of strange coloured liquids tumbled out, clattering on the pavement. The criminal cringed, clearly terrified that one of them might break.

“Contraband,” Stronghooves whispered. “You could go to prison for a long time for possession of dangerous alchemical substances...but I wonder if it wouldn’t be kinder to put you down…”

“No...please…” the mare gulped, choking back tears and looking up at him with wide eyes. “I don’t want to die...I just needed this stuff, okay?”

“I’m sure,” Stronghooves replied, raising an eyebrow. “Fine, I’ll make you a deal. Your kind like deals, right?”

The little unicorn nodded, glancing back at her oozing leg for just a moment before staring up at Stronghooves with rapt attention.

“I’m looking for a pony,” he said, softly and clearly. “Her name is Sky Runner. Red mane, white coat, travels with a little foal. The foal’s head was bandaged, so I have reason to believe that she visited the clinic recently. Tell me, did you see anyone with this description?”

“No...I...I didn’t…” the mare gasped. “Please...I didn’t see her...leave me alone...please...I just want to go home…”

Stronghooves raised an eyebrow, stepping in front of her and laying down nose-to-nose with his captive. He tilted his head just a little, giving her a friendly smile.

“You know, I respect the camaraderie of your little criminal society,” he said, placing his hoof on hers. “I do. I understand how important it is to look out for one another. You know, the guards are similar. I’d do anything for my fellow guards to see them safe.”

The mare blinked, tilting her head and looking back at him with wide, confused eyes.

“Still...your circumstances are different from mine,” he continued softly. “You look as if you have everything to lose and nothing to gain, so I’m prepared to make you a deal. Tell me the whereabouts of the pegasus and her foal, and I will not only let you go, but I’ll allow you to keep the contraband.”

“It’s...really that important to you? What’s this pony done?” the mare asked, perplexed.

“That is a complicated story that you needn’t worry about right now,” Stronghooves said, his horn flaring. Tendrils of magic wrapped around her saddlebags, stitching them back together before cocooning her leg in sweet, soothing magic. “Suffice to say, she’s my sister and I want her back in my life. Fair enough?”

“Fair...enough…” the mare whispered. “Fi...fine. She was in the clinic...today, in fact.”

“Really? What was she after?” Stronghooves pressed.

“We don’t ask about that kind of stuff,” she replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “I heard her talking about hitting a bank later in the day, though. Some kind of big heist.”

“And what, she’s going to bring the kid?” Stronghooves said with a gasp. “That stupid reckless...okay, right...well, thank you, ma’am. I’ll be going now, but there’s one last thing.”

“What’s that?” she asked, as Stronghooves got to his hooves.

“No telling her what I’m up to,” he finished, trotting to the end of the alley and glancing back at her.

“Don’t worry, sir! I won’t tell anyone anything, I promise!”

Stronghooves gave her one last smile, drawing his sword and winking at her.

“No,” he whispered, “you won’t.”

***

Sky threw open the chest in the corner of her living room, pulling out a scroll and spreading it out across her coffee table.

“This is a floorplan of the Grand National Bank,” Sky explained to her awestruck little sister. “I’ve drawn on it a couple of times, but it’s still pretty accurate. Now, we’re gonna go in through the front and…”

“What’s this?” Shadow asked, pointing to one of the doodles.

“Oh,” Sky said, blushing and looking away, “erm...that’s a picture of me with big sacks of money...you know..being rich and stuff…”

“And all of those ponies around you?” Shadow asked, grinning.

“Stallions...lots of stallions…” Sky murmured.

“And why is one of them on top of…” the filly began, but Sky promptly spun the map around so that she could slam her hoof down on it.

“ANYWAY,” she interrupted a little too loudly. “WE GO IN THE FRONT AND TELL EVERYPONY TO GET ON THE GROUND AND THEN WE GET THE MONEY AND RUN FOR IT, OKAY?”

Shadow nodded, beaming with the innocence of a pony who didn’t understand the implications of a stick-figure stallion mounting a stick-figure Sky Runner.

“Good!” Sky finished, laughing as she sat back. “Now, if we run into a problem, we can get through this service corridor and up the stairs. There’s a back window they leave open that we can escape through, and that’ll put us above most of the guards.”

“So that’s if we can’t get out the front way, right?” Shadow asked, tilting her head.

“That’s right,” Sky said with a grin. “When Stronghooves turns up, we book it with the loot. If he lets us get away from right under his muzzle, odds are that his commanders are gonna have to reprimand him to save face, which’ll get him out of our manes for a few months...maybe even a year or two, if we’re lucky. Any questions?”

Shadow tentatively put a hoof up.

“Any questions that aren’t about the stick-figure stallion?” Sky clarified.

With a little huff, Shadow put her hoof down again.

Sky facehoofed, pulling her little sister in with one of her wings. “Okay, kid. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, how are you feeling? I mean, this is gonna be a big, broad daylight operation, so this is gonna be a lot of pressure for both of us.”

“Well, will it mean that we get to live safely?” Shadow asked, resting her head on Sky’s side as she peered at the map.

“As safe as burglars are ever gonna be,” Sky admitted with a shrug.

“I think I could live with that,” Shadow said quietly. “I mean, it sure beats freezing to death out in the big rainy city, right?”

“Exactly,” Sky agreed with a giggle. “You’re far too cute to go unloved for your whole life.”

“Look who’s talking!” Shadow squeaked, poking Sky in the chest-fluff and beaming up at her. “I can’t believe you tried to pretend that you had a great big fan club when you never got any visitors at all!”

“Hey! I do too have visitors!” Sky protested. “Sometimes Sawblades comes over and everything!”

“Oh really?” Shadow asked, folding her forelegs and giving her a stern look. “And why does he come over, hmm?”

“He just...comes to house calls...because he’s a doctor…” Sky stammered, going bright red again and looking away.

“Really? Because that stick figure pony you drew on top of you totally looks like…”

“I thought we agreed to not mention that anymore!” Sky yelped.

“I didn’t agree to anything,” Shadow said with a cheeky little giggle.

Sky glanced sidelong at her fluffy sister, letting out an angry huff as she blew her mane out of her eyes.

“You’ve got an attitude on you, kid,” Sky eventually muttered. “Come on, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight here.”

“Sky, do you like...?” Shadow began.

“I SAID WE’RE LEAVING!” Sky yelled, clapping her hooves over her ears.

With that, she pulled her cloak on and galloped out into the cul-de-sac with a giggling Shadow in hot pursuit.

Payday

It’s uncommon for a filly to walk into a bank all on her own without a parent in sight, even more so on a schoolday. Shadow found the enormous Corinthian architecture of the bank’s facade more than a little daunting, those tall pillars and white marble stairs making her feel even smaller than she already was. And yet, for the first time ever, she couldn't help but notice that there was a certain vulnerability about it all, as if this whole wide world was something she could suddenly influence. For her small stature in a big uncaring universe, she had a place, a purpose and her own little adventure.

Shadow tucked her overlarge wings in as she ducked past older ponies, marveling at the impressive interior of the Grand National Bank. The foyer stretched three storeys, capped by a stained glass dome depicting the two royal pony sisters. Shadow stood in the light filtering down through it for a time, smiling softly at the dancing colours and thinking about her own sister.

I wonder if Celestia is as awesome as Sky is… she mused. I bet she doesn't take Luna on surprise trips to cookie factories or anything.

She came back to the present as a stallion in an expensive suit bumped into her, almost causing her to topple over and spill out the contents of her saddlebags. Shadow squeaked and staggered out of the way, shaking her head before focussing on the immediate target once more...the teller’s counter.

Everypony had long since gone to work, so the tellers had very little to do. What customers there were were easily handled or quickly kicked out for being belligerent, so it was with significant ease that Shadow grabbed one of the chairs from the foyer and joined the queue with it. She pushed the little chair along with her nose, flapping her overlarge wings to help get a little more power behind it, until she finally propped it up against the teller’s counter.

“Well, hello little one!” said the teller, peering over his spectacles at the little filly as she bounded up onto the chair. “What can I do for you today?”

“Um...I’d like to open a bank account, please,” Shadow said nervously, digging through her saddlebag and retrieving a little hoof-full of coins. “I have five little bits that I wanna keep nice and safe from my sister, okay?”

The teller counted the coins, chuckling at the sight of Shadow’s hopeful little smile and quaint savings account. He took the money in hoof and gave her a friendly little smile.

“You’re a responsible little one. It’s very uncommon for a pony your age to open a bank account, but it’s definitely encouraged. I think we can help you out.” He said.

“Um...mister? Can you show me what you’re gonna do with my money? Only…” Shadow whispered, playing with her hooves, “I don’t wanna lose it or have anything happen to it. It’s gonna be safe, right?”

The teller glanced around for a moment, deep in thought. The foal was barely six years old, surely. It would probably be harmless to let her take a quick look…

“Well, if you’d like, I could give you a tour so that you know exactly what happens to it. Would you like that?” the teller asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shadow tucked her hooves up under her chin, nodding eagerly. “I’d love that, Mister Bank Manager, sir! I’ve always wanted to know how this stuff works! I thought it was all put in one big safe!”

“Well, that’s not exactly how we do it,” the teller said with a chuckle. “Come along and wait by the service door just to the left of the counters and I’ll show you exactly how we handle everypony’s money. You know, we also take care of the Royal Treasury here!”

Shadow’s eyes widened as she hopped off of her chair and waited by the door.

“You don’t have the crown jewels here, do you?” She asked, as the teller unlocked it for her and let her in.

“I’m afraid not,” the teller replied, beaming at Shadow’s waggy tail as she trotted into the service corridor. “The crown jewels and the Elements of Harmony are currently held in the Royal Palace, which is the only place in Equestria safer than this bank!”

“Wow, mister. That’s super interesting. So you take care of all of the other money in Equestria?” Shadow asked, as the teller started down the corridor towards the back of the building.

“Oh, of course. We actually take care of everyone, from big ponies, to little foals like yourself. We also handle major companies and some of the government’s funds, too.”

Shadow nodded along, slipping a tiny doorstop out of her saddlebag and jamming it in the door mechanism as it swung shut behind her. When it closed fully, the lock failed to engage.

Perfect… Shadow thought to herself, wagging her tail some more as she cantered to catch up to the teller.

“Oh, so you keep everypony’s stuff safe! That’s wonderful! But what about thieves and burglars, mister? How do you keep them out?”

“Well...er, what’s your name?”

“Shadow.”

“Well then, Shadow,” the teller says, leading her past a pair of glowing green crystals set into the walls, “we have the latest in security technology, including magic-detecting crystals that look for anypony not wearing a little ID badge like this one.” He gestured to the nametag on his chest. “You’re getting past just fine because you’re far too small to set them off, but an older pony trying to get in would set them off and get sprayed with tracking fluid and a special kind of glue. That way, the city watch could easily hunt them down and arrest them!”

“That seems awfully safe, mister,” Shadow agreed. “What else do you do to keep it safe...I mean, if you don’t mind my asking…”

“Not at all,” the teller said with a grin. “Well, we have security guards on-site to keep the place safe, and I’ll show you something else. Just watch…”

As the two of them rounded the corner, Shadow’s jaw dropped. An enormous vault door stood before her on the far side of a room filled with desks and notaries. The door itself was bolted in place with fixtures about ten times Shadow’s size. The idea of something that big ever opening was totally unthinkable.

“Wow…” she whispered. “How do you get into that thing?”

“Well, it’s quite simple,” the teller said, chuckling at her awe and curiosity. “You just have to show your ID card to the magic reader and enter the combination and the vault opens right up. Still, it’s /very/ important to have that combination and the ID badge. If you miss one of them and try to open it up, it sets off an alarm and locks everything down. See, that way, no one can get in unless they work here!”

“That’s really impressive!” Shadow squeaked, trotting past bored accountants and notaries at their desks to look up at the vault door itself. “Oh my goodness, it’s so big...I bet you could fit thousands of me in there!”

“I bet we could,” the teller agreed, showing his ID card to the little crystal set into the solid steel vault door and turning a set of cranks to enter the five-number combination.

5-6-2-2-8. Shadow thought to herself, following his motions carefully. Okay, that’ll make this way easier!

As the vault door swung open, Shadow peered inside, ears flopping down as she took in the sight of the room beyond.

Thousands of safes stood on vast shelves, stretching the height and length of the rest of the building. The higher ones were accessible via catwalk and staircase, with various bank workers trotting this way and that within the vault to access and update bank accounts. It was a veritable goldmine, a jackpot, a motherlode. At least, it would be if Shadow knew any of those words.

“Oh my gosh that’s so cool!” she squeaked, nuzzling and hugging the teller’s foreleg. “What about the safes? How do ponies get into them?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” the teller said proudly. “There are specific keys for every safe in this vault, and the bank manager has a master key that opens all of them in case of emergency. Would you like to meet him? I’m sure he could tell you more, because unfortunately I’ll have to go back to my desk soon.”

“Sure thing, mister! I’d love to know more about how all of this works! When I grow up, I wanna be a banker just like you!” Shadow squeaked, fluffing herself up and looking up at him with her bright green eager eyes.

The teller blushed, leading her to an older mare with a grey-streaked purple mane and a pair of half-moon spectacles. A keyring jingled on her saddlebag as she walked, handing out paperwork to the rather miserable-looking notaries as she went.

“Excuse me, Mrs Hoofshackle, we have a curious pony here who wants to know more about safe banking,” the teller called out, approaching the old mare with Shadow in tow. “She’s looking to open an account and would like to know more about how we do things here.”

“I’m so super excited to learn everything, Mrs Hoofshackle!” Shadow affirmed, nodding along as the teller passed her five little coins to the bank manager.

Mrs Hoofshackle put a hoof to her lips to silence the little foal, before giving the teller a severe look.

“Go back to your desk right this minute,” she said haughtily, ushering him back towards the corridor. “I’ll take it from here, if you please.”

“Erm...okay, sure…” the teller said nervously, casting Shadow a last nervous smile before heading back towards his station.

“Now, you want to understand more about how our bank operates, do you?” Mrs Hoofshackle asked, pacing around Shadow with a grumpy frown. “You’ve come to the right pony. I run a tight operation around here, and with good reason. Any delays whatsoever are bad for business. However, since you seem interested in keeping your...modest...savings here, I’ll indulge you.”

Shadow tilted her head, smile fading just a little. She didn’t entirely know what that meant, but she suspected that it was quite catty.

“You seem sad,” she said. “Are you sad, Mrs Hoofshackle?”

The mare paused, avoiding eye contact for a while, before tilting her head up and trotting back towards the vault. “I’m busy. Come along. If I leave you behind then security will no doubt pick you up and shove you out the door, and then you won’t get to open an account at all!”

Shadow hurried after her, practically tripping over her own oversized wings as she followed behind the old mare.

“I’m sorry if I said anything wrong…” she murmured.

“Having a foal in here is the last thing I need,” Mrs Hoofshackle huffed, clambering up the stairs. “It’s been a truly terrible day. As if having the city watch breathing down my neck and disrupting my staff wasn’t bad enough.”

“Why would the city watch be bothering you?” Shadow asked. “I thought you guys were obeying the law!”

“We are, but one of their officers believes that there’s going to be a burglary today, so he insisted on placing soldiers here, and in the vault, no less! I don’t trust a lot of guards. They’re nothing but trouble, like children.” She added, glaring at Shadow.

“That’s okay, Mrs Hoofshackle. I don’t trust a lot of guards either.” Shadow agreed, attempting to nuzzle her foreleg hopefully. The elder mare held it just out of reach, recoiling from her.

“Don’t touch me,” Hoofshackle said, carrying on up the stairs and along a catwalk. “Now, your safe will be Number 1138. If you lose that number, we can’t help you. You will also have to have your photo taken to verify your ID, and we’ll need a full name. Do you understand that?”

“Sure do, Mrs Hoofshackle!” Shadow said brightly, as the bank manager opened up her safe. It was easily big enough to walk in without a care in the world, and Shadow peered inside hopefully, as if curious to see if someone had misplaced a small fortune for her. When she found nothing, she let out a little huff and smiled up at the manager. “This is perfect. Thank you so much!”

“You’re very welcome.” the old mare said curtly, tossing the coins inside before slamming the safe door shut. “You want to access your account, you come to one of the tellers at the front and tell them how much you want to withdraw or deposit so we can keep it on record. Now, let’s get your ID sorted ou…”

Mrs Hoofshackle was interrupted by a wailing from outside the vault, followed by an alarm bell going off. She froze, ears perking, before brushing past Shadow and hurrying down the stairs.

“Wait here!” she commanded, dashing down off of the catwalk and out of the vault. “Don’t move and don’t touch anything! I’ll be back in just a moment!”

Shadow nodded dutifully, waiting for the old mare to charge out of the vault before looking down at the contents of her saddlebag.

One master key and one ID card from Mrs Hoofshackle and the teller. Sky’s gonna be so proud of me! She thought to herself, sealing her saddlebags up and cantering down the stairs. As red lights flashed in the vault itself, the huge steel door swung back into place, slowly but surely.

Uh oh… Shadow thought, beating her wings to force herself to run even faster, nearly tripping over her own hooves as she approached the rapidly closing gap between door and locking mechanism. With just seconds to spare, she slipped out past the door and into the notary hall again, trotting along as if nothing was wrong as the door slammed shut behind her.

Blessedly, none of the notaries’ desks were facing her, so Shadow found it more than easy to disappear down a side corridor, remembering what she’d read of Sky’s map. If she was right, this ought to get her back to the service door...and close enough to Sky to warn her of the impending trap.

* * *

Mrs Hoofshackle stormed down the corridor, eyes scanning the hall for any sign of mischief of burglar. What she saw as she came around the corner, however, caused her to roll her eyes.

The teller stood, glued to the floor by his hooves as sprayers built into the walls doused him in the transparent tracking dye. He looked around at her sheepishly as she flashed her ID card at the crystals, resetting the security system.

“Do you have an explanation for this, you imbecile?” she growled, putting her hooves on her hips and glaring at him.

“I...don’t understand…” the teller whimpered. “I had my ID card a minute ago…”

“Get back to your station. You’ll be charged for a new card at the end of the day, and the dye is coming out of your paycheck. Seriously, we have the city watch keeping tabs on us right now and you’re making a scene in front of them! Now I’m going to have to go and tell Lieutenant Stronghooves that it wasn’t that burglar after all, just some bumbling idiot who’s lucky he still has a job!” She growled, storming off again.

“Wait! What about the glue?” the teller called, still tugging against it.

“Call security or something. If you’re still there by the end of the day, I might be kind enough to leave you a crowbar,” she huffed, stomping off back towards the vault. “Idiot…”

* * *

Shadow peeked out of the service door, beckoning her sister over before she could begin her standard bank robber spiel. Sky caught her eye, stopping before she started and trotting over as quietly as she could.

“Stronghooves is here,” Shadow whispered urgently. “He’s watching the bank and everypony here knows that he’s here, too.”

“Did you get the stuff?” Sky asked, frowning at this new revelation. Nowhere in their plan had they factored in Stronghooves already being onsite.

“Yeah, ID card, master key for the vault safes and I’ve got the vault combination right here,” Shadow said, tapping her head and grinning. “Are we gonna keep going or are we gonna run away?”

“No,” Sky said swiftly. “We’re gonna go through with this. Come on, let’s get moving. We haven’t got much time before Hoovesie drops the net on us if he’s waiting.”

She slipped inside, tossing Shadow her cloak and pulling her own black hood and burglar’s mask on. The young filly got dressed too, clipping the teller’s ID card onto Sky’s cloak and giving her a big smile.

“Our first big job,” Sky chuckled, ruffling Shadow’s mane. “I’m so proud of you, kid. Come on, let’s get moving.”

Shadow pulled her crossbow gauntlet out of her saddlebag, tugging it onto her hoof before following Sky down the side corridor. “We’re just gonna walk right up to the vault door? There are guards in there!”

“That’s what the darts are for,” Sky said, giving her a nod. “Only one who might see us heading to the vault is the manager, and she’s probably inside it right now, wondering where her master key’s gone...that or she’s gone to find Stronghooves. Either way, we have time.”

“There’s no way we’re gonna make it out of here with all of that loot,” Shadow said, picking up her pace and keeping an eye open for resistance. “We can’t possibly carry it all!”

“Well, we’ll just have to carry what we can,” Sky replied. “It’s more about making a statement than anything else, right?”

“Right,” Shadow agreed, as they both crept out into the notary hall once more. Sky led her over to the vault door, peering over it for some time before Shadow leapt up and flashed Sky’s ID card at the magic reader.

“Now you have to put in the code. 5-6-2-2-8,” Shadow added helpfully.

Sky grinned, pulling the cranks to force the tumblers into place until the combination display showed the right code. With a grating of steel against steel, the vault door swung open once more, presenting them with the same set of stacked safes as before.

“That’s weird,” Shadow muttered.

“What is?”

“Nopony’s here. There were lots of them earlier…” Shadow said with a frown.

“Could be part of the guards’ protocol or something,” Sky chanced. “Come on, we need to go and get this over with nice and quickly.”

“What about those guys?” Shadow asked, gesturing back at the silently scribbling notaries. None of them had turned around to look at them, even with all of the banter about robbing the bank.

“They’re accountants, Shadow. They’re lost in a sea of numbers from which there’s no escape,” Sky said sadly, putting her wing around her little sister and leading her into the vault.

Shadow slipped the master key out of her saddlebag, sticking it into the nearest safe and unlocking it as quickly as she could. Sky made her way over, pulling her saddlebags open and loading them up with bags full of bits as Shadow did the same.

“Good thinking, Shadow,” Sky whispered, as she filled her saddlebags up and passed the rest over to her sister. “The closest safes make it easy to get in and out again.”

“Yeah, that and this is my mum’s account,” Shadow said, grinning. “It was the one labelled “Wind Runner.”

“And that’s...mum’s...name…” Sky whispered, looking down at the money. “Huh…really good job, kid. You’ll get even more cookies for this.”

“You’re gonna pay me in cookies?” Shadow asked.

“Well, yeah, I mean, unless…” Sky began, but Shadow had already clamped herself around Sky’s foreleg in a big filly hug.

“I’d like that,” Shadow whispered, nuzzling her leg and beaming at her. “But I’m gonna share them with you, okay?”

“Okay,” Sky giggled, raising her hoof to let Shadow slide off of it onto the floor. “Now come on, we’re all loaded up. Let’s get out of here before…”

“Before what?” came a voice from behind them.

“Before…” Sky muttered under her breath, “my asshole brother decides to turn up and crash the party.”

* * *

Shadow cowered behind Sky as the teenaged mare rounded on her brother, who stood right in the vault threshold. Flanking him were five guards on each side, all fully armed and armoured. No escape.

“You were very clever, Sky,” Stronghooves said, smiling at her. “Getting your little filly friend here to infiltrate the bank for you is inventive, but isn’t that kind of low for you?”

“Maybe,” Sky admitted, backing away with Shadow behind her, “but hey, she asked to be part of this operation, and it was a right sight better than her mum leaving her out on the street like she did.”

“Oh, I see,” Stronghooves scoffed, pacing towards her and lowering his head. “You both have very sad stories behind your criminal lives, I’m sure. I can’t even begin to imagine what you went through, Sky, but poisoning the mind of an impressionable foal is just…wrong.”

“Exactly,” Sky snarled, lowering her own head as well. “That’s why I cut you and my parents out of my life. Leave Shadow out of this.”

“If she’s involved in this at all, it’s your fault, not mine,” Stronghooves reasoned. “Besides, it looks as if capturing your dear little accomplice is a sure-fire way to get you to stay still and play along.”

As he talked, his horn flared bright blue, picking Shadow up with his magic and pulling her over to him. The young pony screamed, beating her wings as forcefully as she could, but there was no escaping Stronghooves’s telekinetic grip.

“Don’t worry, Shadow,” he whispered. “We’ll hand you over to Captain Titus until he can return you to your mother.”

“I don’t wanna go back to my mum! I want to stay with Sky! Let me go!” Shadow growled furiously, trying to sock the officer on the nose as she flailed her hooves wildly.

“See, Sky? You’ve poisoned her,” Stronghooves said, ignoring Shadow and holding her there as he stared at his younger sister. “You couldn’t just ruin our family. You had to ruin somepony else’s, too.”

“Her mum didn’t love her,” Sky snarled. “I met her, and you’ve met her too. She’s the most manipulative bitch in Canterlot and she kept the kid locked in the attic. First time that filly left the house was so her mum could leave her to die on the street. Sound familiar, Hoovesie?”

“If what you say is true, her mother will be reprimanded and the foal will be put into foster care,” Stronghooves said. “Still, I doubt that you’re telling the truth, and we’re getting away from the crux of the matter. Right now, you have a choice, because we have you cornered and I have your little partner here. If you give yourself up now, no harm will come to her.”

“And if I don’t?” Sky asked, suddenly very wary indeed. She was dimly aware that he wouldn’t dare hurt a hair on Shadow’s head, but given the things he’d done to fillies before, all it would take was a moment where no one was watching, and poor Shadow wouldn’t even be able to scream before she died.

“Make your choice, Sky,” Stronghooves replied simply.

Shadow and Sky locked eyes across the vault, both sisters shivering with fright. Sky knew that there was no way out of this, that Stronghooves could do whatever he wanted to make her submit, and he would, too. Having a partner in crime may have benefits, but this was the most vulnerable that either of them had ever been.

“Sky...you don’t have to let him win…” Shadow said, her quiet voice echoing across the vault. “You can run away if you wanna, and I’ll...find some way to get back to you. I love you, big sis.”

“I love you too, kid,” Sky murmured back, pulling her crossbow off of her hoof. “Stronghooves, drop the kid. I...give up. Just let her go...please…”

“Right,” Stronghooves said with a smile, dropping Shadow onto the marble floor with a thud. As one of his soldiers approached the filly to check on her, he himself strode forward and grabbed Sky by the foreleg, cuffing them both behind her back. “You’re coming with me, and I’m never going to let you escape again.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sky whispered, with confidence that just wasn’t there anymore.

One of the guards leaned in to inspect Shadow, who shook and whimpered as she curled up on the floor.

“Don’t want...Sky to be taken away…” Shadow whispered. “Please...give her back...I’ll do anything…”

“It’s okay, little one,” the stallion whispered, nudging her with his snout in an effort to make her get up again. “We’re going to make your friend better and rehabilitate her, okay?”

“No…” Shadow whispered, snapping out her little hoof crossbow and loading up a sleep dart, “I’m not gonna let you take her.”

With that, she loosed a dart straight into the stallion’s face. He went down in seconds as the alchemical formula put him into an instant coma. Shadow leapt to her hooves as the other guards rushed towards her, galloping past them and spreading her wings as she picked up speed.

“STOP HER!” Stronghooves roared, clutching Sky by the back of the neck as her little sister accelerated across the marble floor.

The guards, with their metal armour and hoof-guards, slipped on the polished floor as they sought to go from zero to gallop in two seconds. Shadow leapt over notaries and slid under desks as the soldiers chased her across the hall, actually opening up the distance against all of the odds. She skidded past the glued-down teller, burst out into the foyer and pumped her wings furiously as she hit the top of the stairway outside the bank.

“Uh oh…” she squeaked, as she realised that it was a little too late to slow down. She shut her eyes, stretched her wings out as far as they could go, and...took off.

Shadow opened her eyes as she felt the strangest sensation, the feeling of air rushing through her primaries and lifting her up above the streets. She flapped experimentally, letting out a timid squeak as she found herself climbing higher.

“Oh my goodness I’m flying and it’s awesome and all of my dreams have come true!” Shadow squeaked, as the hapless guards watched her gain altitude and glide over the city centre. “I just wish...Sky had seen me do it…”

She let out a soft sigh, pulling her wings in a little and letting herself float down into a crowded corner of the city. Too many ponies for her to be spotted by the guards. As she got trotting once more, Shadow felt her mind focus. She knew precisely what she had to do next.

* * *

“Your little friend’s more like you than I thought,” Stronghooves commented, holding onto Sky as his guards came swarming back to apprehend her.

“She’s learned from the best,” Sky replied, straining against her manacles. “Trust me, she’s better this way.”

“We’ll see,” Stronghooves said, slinging her onto his back and hauling her out of the vault with his soldiers in tow. “As for you, my dear sister, you’re going to be rehabilitated, whether you like it or not.”

“What, when you did me the kindness of forcing me to get into this job in the first place?” Sky laughed mirthlessly. “You’re one confusing sack of shit, Hoovesie.”

“And you’re one manipulative tramp, Sky,” Stronghooves laughed, hauling her down the side corridor towards one of the service entrances. “You twist my words so wonderfully to make me look like the bad guy in all of this.”

“Must be a bit of a wakeup call after all of the effort you must’ve gone to to convince yourself that you were right,” Sky huffed. “What’s it like, getting torn out of your echo chamber by somepony telling the truth? Hearing for the first time that maybe you are an asshole after all, that you left your own little sister out on the street because you chose your parents over her?”

“You’re trying my patience, Sky,” Stronghooves growled, kicking the exit door open and hauling her out into the alley behind the bank.

“Why, because you know I’m right?” Sky asked, beaming. “You know that you’re a bad guy. You’re corrupt, you kill burglars in cold blood just because I’ve slipped through your butter-hooves so many times, and you obsess over me as if some empty promise of brotherly love makes up for all of the shit you did to me. After all of that, you think that me robbing that bank is enough to put you on the fucking moral high ground, huh?”

Stronghooves slung her off of his back with a snarl, sending her down onto the cobblestones with a dull thud. Her vision dimmed for just a moment as a stabbing pain shot through her head, and when she was able to focus again, she found herself pinned under Stronghooves’s heavy hoof.

“You are the absolute worst kind of scum, Sky Runner,” Stronghooves growled in her ear.

“I learned from the best,” she whispered back.

The officer glanced from her to the soldiers arrayed behind him, before drawing back his hoof and slamming her head into the pavement, knocking her out cold.

“You saw her,” he said, glaring at all of them. “She attacked me and resisted arrest. Bring the carriage around and let’s get her off to the city prison. Move it!”

Prison Break

Shadow hammered on Sawblades’s door, only stopping when he was able to make himself heard over her hoof-pounding.

“What? What on earth is it?” he barked, sliding the viewport open and staring down at Shadow, perplexed. “Where’s Sky?”

“Captain Stronghooves caught her, Mister Sawblades!” Shadow yelped, visibly shivering as she looked up at him. “You’ve gotta help me get her back and stop him from hurting her!”

“But...I can’t...I’m not a burglar, I’m a doctor…” Sawblades began, but he fell deathly silent as he looked into Shadow’s misty bright green eyes. Her lower lip wobbled as she threatened to burst into tears, hoofing at the ground and giving him a pleading look. It was enough to melt the heart of even the most stone-faced stallion, and Sawblades was far from heartless.

“Fine…” he mumbled, unlocking the heavy steel door and pulling it open for her. “Look, I can’t help with everything, but I can certainly give you the tools and knowledge you need to get in there and rescue her.”

Shadow wagged her tail just a little as she stepped inside, giving his foreleg a grateful nuzzle as she trotted by to get into his office. Sawblades locked the heavy clinic door behind her, making his way into his office and spraying one of the seats with disinfectant.

“Sorry,” he said, chuckling uneasily. “We had a guy come in here with a missing leg earlier, so he might’ve bled all over the place.”

“He came in with a missing leg?” Shadow asked. “So, he’s like a pirate now, right?”

“Yeah, he’s got an eyepatch and everything,” Sawblades replied, allowing himself a smile as he dug through various books and maps for information.

“Awesome!” Shadow squeaked, hopping up onto the chair and tilting her head. “So what do we do to save Sky, Mister Sawblades?”

“Well, that’s a difficult question to answer,” Sawblades said, ears pinned back against his head. “See, she’s held in the prison of the most heavily protected city in Equestria, guarded by an officer who’s known for killing escapees on sight...and I don’t know whether he’ll make an exception for her…”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Well then, Sky will be killed the second she breaks out, provided he can catch her,” Sawblades said mournfully. “Fortunately, I don’t think he’ll be building his plans around you being a capable burglar. Sky trained you, right?”

“Yahuh!” Shadow said, gesturing to her hooded cloak and little burglar’s mask. “I’m her partner and I made it out of there all by myself! I even flew a little!”

“Smart kid,” Sawblades said with a chuckle. “Okay, so I guess we’ve got the running and the sneaking and stuff down pat, so let me ask you this; are you prepared to go into the prison and get your big sister back?”

“Yes,” Shadow answered, without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll do whatever I have to do, Mister Sawblades. I’m a really good burglar!”

“Then listen carefully,” the doctor whispered, pulling out a map of Canterlot Prison and laying it out on his desk. “This building is damn well defended. Lots of guards and a receptionist to sneak past before you even get to the cells themselves. Then you’ll probably have a jailer to take care of. He’ll have the keys to the cells, and one of them should fit Sky’s cell lock. After that, you’ll both have to grab her stuff from the evidence locker and get out of there.”

“But how am I going to do that?” Shadow asked. “I mean, there’ll be so many guards in there! What if they see me coming?”

“You’re right,” Sawblades huffed, looking back down at the map. “I did some research of Lieutenant Stronghooves recently. The guy’s pretty focussed on Sky right about now, and he’s attentive. He’s actually really good at hunting and catching burglars. I’ll give him professional credit there. What we need is a way to draw him away from the cells and the prison itself, like…”

“A distraction?” Shadow finished for him, staring at Sawblades expectantly.

“Yeah, that’s right, a distraction,” Sawblades agreed. “Some kind of heinous crime that’d get him to come after somepony else while you sneak inside the building and rescue Sky. At best, you’d only have to deal with the receptionist and the jailer.”

Shadow kept staring at him, a little smile forming around her fluffy little face. It didn’t take long for Sawblades to catch on to it.

“Um...are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Mister Sawblades…” Shadow said, trying to suppress giggles, “could you do me a really big favour?”

Sawblades looked from her to the map, then back to her again. His eyes widened in horror.

“Erm...wait...when I said we needed a distraction, I didn’t mean…” he stammered.

“Pleeeeeease?”

“But I don’t often leave the clinic…” Sawblades complained, playing with his forehooves nervously. “There are guards out there with sharp sharp spears and a worrying interest in my internal anatomy…”

Shadow didn’t understand what “internal anatomy” was supposed to mean, digging through her saddlebag and giving him another nuzzle.

”Pleeeease?” She whimpered. “I don’t know anypony else!”

“I could always set you up with a partner. There’s this lovely little colt called Buzzy who’s just come into town, and he…” Sawblades began, but Shadow shook her head furiously.

“No way! Colts are gross!” She insisted, sticking her tongue out in disgust. “Are you sure you wouldn’t do it for...one bag of money?”

To emphasise her point, she pulled a sack of coins from the earlier heist out of her saddlebag, letting it drop heavily onto his desk. There was an audible clink!

Sawblades’s ears perked up and his eyes drifted to the bag of money. He couldn’t help but reach for the bag to inspect its contents, but Shadow was faster. She swiped the bag away and held it close, still staring at him.

“Oh, so you do want the money, huh?” Shadow asked with a smirk. “Well, you know, the only ponies who get to have this money are the ones who help me out with my little heist, by giving Stronghooves a distraction…”

Sawblades sighed.

“You’re Sky’s sister, all right,” he conceded. “Fine. Here’s the plan…”

* * *

Stronghooves paced down the dark stone corridor next to his commanding officer, both stallions holding their heads up haughtily.

“Well, Lieutenant,” said Titus, “you commandeered a lot of the Watch’s resources, but you get some serious results. I’d never have believed that you could succeed where the rest of the Watch failed. However did you do it?”

“It was quite simple, actually,” replied Stronghooves. “I had an anonymous tip-off that she’d be hitting the bank today, and I made sure to have some of the best troops I could muster on-site before she arrived. She walked right into the trap.”

“Not bad,” Titus said with a chuckle, patting Stronghooves on the back. “You’ve got the makings of a Captain about you, son. I’ll see to it that the princesses are informed about your successful crusade against burglaries.”

“Thank you, sir,” Stronghooves said, beaming. “I just wish I could’ve captured the foal, too. She was far more elusive than I’d first thought.”

“Foals are hard to catch,” Titus replied with a shrug. “She’ll get hungry and come to the Watch soon enough, and when she does, I’ll be sure to find her a new loving home personally.”

“Excellent,” said Stronghooves. “Now I just hope we can rehabilitate Sky. She’s gone a long while without a positive male influence in her life, and I only hope it’s not too late to fix her.”

“I have to say, I’m looking forward to finally meeting her properly,” Titus commented, as they rounded a corner into the cell blocks. “Anypony who was so efficient at burglary that we mistook her for five different ponies is worth rehabilitating...maybe even turning into an informant.”

“We’ll see,” Stronghooves sighed, as they came to a stop outside one of the cells.

Titus peered inside. Curled up on her little wooden bunk was Sky Runner, her tail all tucked up underneath her as she slept. From time to time, her ears gave a little twitch, as if she was totally at peace in spite of her predicament.

“Has she been like this for long?” Titus asked Stronghooves and the nearby jailer.

“Since she was brought in earlier, sir,” the jailer answered with a nod. “She’s stable, just unconscious.”

“I’m afraid there was violent resistance on her part,” Stronghooves explained. “I had to put her under for a few hours to ensure that she wouldn’t harm me or my soldiers.”

“That’s only under regulation if she was armed, Lieutenant,” Titus warned.

“She was, sir,” Stronghooves said with a nod. “She had a crossbow strapped to her foreleg and she was threatening to shoot us with it. I had to act quickly.”

“I see,” Titus said with an understanding nod. “Good work, Lieutenant. You just keep making me more and more happy to have you on the force.”

The Captain’s horn flared, forcing Sky back to consciousness by magic. Sky, roused from her trauma-induced sleep, clutched at her head where Stronghooves had struck her, groaning quietly.

“Shadow?” she called out dimly, still bleary-eyed.

“Who’s Shadow?” Titus asked.

“Her young partner,” Stronghooves clarified, before turning to Sky again. “It’s okay, Sky. You’re safe now. Your brother’s here to make everything all better…”

Sky whimpered a little, shying away from her elder brother. “Leave me alone…”

“You should be more grateful, Miss Runner,” Titus said, raising an eyebrow. “Lieutenant Stronghooves here went to great lengths to have you back in his life, you know.”

“I wish I could say the same…” Sky muttered. “You have no idea what he did to me…”

“Sky’s a compulsive liar, sir,” Stronghooves interrupted. “I assure you that any 'trauma' she’s claiming to have is just a result of her need for attention and special treatment. Give her an inch and she’ll take a mile.”

Titus nodded understandingly, sitting down by the cell door and smiling at the scared little mare, clearly goin
g out of his way to appear friendly as can be.

"You've given us quite a run for our money, Miss Runner," he said, looking her up and down curiously. "Where on earth did you learn to work so efficiently?"

Sky gave him a dark look, spreading her wings and using them to hide her own face.

"Are you here to gloat or are you just after sex, buddy?" Sky asked dully, still massaging her poor head. "Most guards are just after one or the other, so why not cut to the chase?"

"Lieutenant Stronghooves and I are not most guards," Titus said sternly. "You had better lose the attitude as long as you're here under the Royal Guard's care."

"Oh please," Sky scoffed, "I've seen what passes for care with you guys. I mean, hell, anyone who's crazy enough to hire this asshole has already told me enough." She gave Stronghooves a savage look, narrowing her eyes furiously. "You know that he kills ponies who can't defend themselves, right?"

"If I may interject, sir," Stronghooves cut in, "you've already seen the official reports on those criminals, and they did resist arrest. I'm afraid that Sky is lying again."

"Oh yes, Lieutenant," Titus said with a chuckle, "I'm well aware of this, but she's ever so quaint with her assertions. Burglars often use a divide and conquer approach when cornered, you know." He turned back to Sky, beaming at her like a teacher would at a prodigious little foal. "Go on, why not incriminate yourself further?"

"Bite me," Sky hissed acidly. "You're clearly not gonna listen to me, so how about you give me my stuff back and we can skip to the part where I knock you all out and get the hell out of this dump."

"She's definitely your sister, Lieutenant," Titus commented, his smile fading slightly. "Every bit as confident and strong-willed."

Sky made a rather dramatic retching noise.

"Can you stop tonguing his balls for two seconds and just get a room already?" She groaned, rolling onto her back and letting her wings flop over the sides of her prison cradle.

"Lieutenant, I sincerely hope that this attitude won't continue. " scolded Titus, glaring humourlessly at his prisoner. "You are in charge of making your little sister more compliant and law abiding. Use whatever methods you deem appropriate, but don't kill her."

"I assure you, sir. This won't be fatal," Stronghooves replied, throwing a salute. "I will need equipment, however."

"Whatever you require, Lieutenant," Titus replied, making to leave. "Just do try to make a dent in that toxic attitude of hers. I can't imagine how the two of you could possibly be related."

"You and me both, matey," Sky said with a huff. "Hey, isn't torture meant to be illegal in Equestria?"

"Oh please, are you seriously going to lecture us on the law? You, of all ponies?" Stronghooves scoffed. "Torture is permissible under certain circumstances, especially with problem prisoners who are particularly dangerous."

"And you guys are the law, so you get to decide what makes me a problem prisoner," Sky said with a sigh. "And you're seriously going to tell me that I'm the bad guy in all of this?"

Titus left the cell block without another word, refusing to dignify Sky with an answer. Stronghooves stared at her through the bars, giving her a hurt look.

"You really should show us a little more respect, Sky," he scolded. "We're only trying to help. Don't you see? I'm doing this because I love you. You really shouldn't fight this, little sister."

"What, so you'd rather I just sit down and get tortured like an obedient little criminal? Bite me." She spat, curling up on her bunk and giving him a very rude gesture with her wing.

Stronghooves sighed again, making his way over to a nearby basin and getting the water running. He lowered a large flannel into it, giving Sky a mournful stare.

"Your disobedience did terrible things to our family," he whispered. "Running away was the best thing you ever did for us, and you couldn't even do that properly. A burglar, Sky? Really?"

"Hey, you've gotta have a hobby," Sky said with a shrug, eyeing the basin worriedly. "Besides, you know that I I didn’t run away. I was kicked out. Don’t you see that mum and dad have gotten into your head and messed with your memory? Damn, you’re stupider than I thought."

“Your attitude isn’t doing you any favours, Sky,” Stronghooves said, waiting until the cloth was completely soaked through before taking it out of the basin and shutting off the water. “Now, how about we have a talk about your willingness to cooperate with the city watch, hmm?"

"Look, Hoovesie, you're wasting your time and mine," Sky said, backing up into a corner as Stronghooves stepped into her cell. "I don't suppose that you could just let me go, you know, for old time's sake?"

"Are you begging, Sky?" Stronghooves asked, edging closer and grinning dangerously at her. "There's no getting out of this, little sister. You had your chance to escape, to do something meaningful with your life, to build a brighter future for yourself. You had your chance and you squandered it, and now it's my solemn duty to punish you for your insolence."

Sky backed further into the corner, fur standing on end as she stared down her brother. Her eyes darted from side to side, frantically looking for a way out. Stronghooves grabbed her by the scruff of the neck as she tried to leap past him, hauling her up and looking deep into those frightened eyes of hers.

"You're not going anywhere," he whispered, holding her up with his hooves as he raised the soaking flannel in his magic. Before Sky could protest further, he wrapped it around her mouth and nose, immediately cutting off her ability to breathe. Sky struggled and writhed as Stronghooves applied pressure, forcing her back onto her cot and pinning her there with one heavy hoof. Sky's eyes went wide with panic as she fought for air that simply wouldn't come, the flannel asphyxiating her completely. She tried to scream but found herself damningly muffled, making little more than a pathetic choking whimper. He held her there for so long that Sky's vision went blurry and dark, the onset of merciful unconsciousness. Finally, with Sky moments from passing out, Stronghooves relinquished the flannel, letting her breathe again and yet refusing to take his hoof off of her chest.

"You are broken, Sky," Stronghooves whispered in her twitchy white ear. "You are broken and foolish and the very definition of a ne'er-do-well. Don't worry, through; your big brother's going to make it all better. Won't that be nice?"

Sky drew weak, desperate gasps, trying to draw as much air into her starving lungs as possible. She kept a wary eye on the flannel, her twitches and meagre efforts to escape growing all the more pathetic by the moment.

"Don't...wanna...be...saved..." she wheezed, tears running down her damp muzzle as she choked back tears. "Wanna..go...home...wanna...take care of Sha...Shadow. Le...let me goooo...please..."

“I can’t, Sky. Not until you reform yourself and hand the filly over to the Watch for rehabilitation. You’ve fallen a long way, and right now the burden is on you to make the decision that’ll save both of your souls.” Stronghooves said mournfully.

“I’m...not gonna...give her to Titus...she’s with me...we’re happy...we’re si...sisters…” Sky gasped, trying to roll over in order to somehow crawl away. Stronghooves pushed his hoof down on her chest, crushing the air out of her lungs and the fight out of her body with one little application of pressure. Sky let out a strangled cry and fell silent, choking quietly as she stared up at him with eyes the size of saucers.

“Sisters?” Stronghooves asked, as his voice dropped dangerously low. “You and that foal are...sisters, are you?”

Sky nodded, placing both hooves on his foreleg in an effort to try and push him off. It was no use. Stronghooves was far stronger and heavier than Sky, and her forelegs were nowhere near muscular enough to even shift him an inch. All she could do was watch as his eyes flashed with silent fury, his face contorting into the most disgusted, hateful expression she had ever seen on him.

“Oh, Sky...you’ve clearly quite forgotten what love is…” Stronghooves whispered darkly, raising the flannel again. “You are corrupted in every sense of the word. I thought you were disgusting when I realised that you’d kidnapped a filly and started raising it as your own, but calling her sister? That implies that you love her almost as much as me...if not...more…” He let out a low snarl, prompting Sky to scramble backwards in her cot, beating her wings in a vain attempt to get out of his grasp.

“Do you love her more than me?” He finally asked, his voice no louder than a whisper by now.

In spite of herself, Sky nodded. There simply wasn’t the air in her lungs for her to speak by now, and all she could do was nod.

Stronghooves let out a soft sigh, looking away from her in disappointment. Though her eyesight was blurry at best from the onset of unconsciousness, Sky could see him shaking with barely contained anger.

“Wrong answer,” he said simply, and wrapped the cloth around her muzzle again.

* * *

“This plan is stupid,” Sawblades muttered under his breath, hiding in the shadows.

“You’re stupid!” Shadow replied acidly. “Now you promised that you’d do this for me, and I’ve already paid, so you’d better go and do it, buster!”

Sawblades let out an adolescent groan, slipping a balaclava over his head to conceal his face and taking a selection of items out of his pack.

“Are you sure about this?” he said doubtfully. “I could still get in touch with Buzzy if you wanted to…”

“No,” Shadow interrupted coldly, pouting at him. “You promised, and I will not work with colts, got it?”

“But I’m a colt…” Sawblades protested pathetically.

“You don’t count,” Shadow argued. “Now get going! Don’t make me put you in a cast, pal!”

“You’re reminding me a little too much of Sky, kid,” Sawblades said with a sigh, eyes fixated on the main entrance to the Canterlot Royal Guard Barracks. Taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, he took tentative steps across the cobblestone courtyard, vividly aware of how conspicuous he looked in this get-up. One of the guards out the front of the building regarded him with a curious glare, the kind reserved for someone showing up in completely incorrect attire.

“Can I help you?” She asked after a rather awkward approach.

“Erm...yes, actually, you can,” Sawblades said nervously, taking a couple of bags of money out of his bag and grinning as evilly as he could manage. “I just wanted you to know that I have robbed a bank today, and I might do it again unless I’m stopped! Er...rargh.” He added hopefully, giving the guard what he hoped was a menacing grin.

The guards standing outside of the main entrance exchanged a depressed look. You really do tend to run into some odd ponies in this job.

“Alright,” the guard said dully, adjusting her helmet, “I’ll tell you what. First, I’ll tell you exactly where you can stick those bags of money and that balaclava, and then…”

What Sawblades was then meant to do, we may never know, as in that moment he brought his foreleg up, a pistol crossbow springing out and sending a sleep dart right into the guard’s neck. Before the other guard could react, he, too, was struck by a sleep dart, slumping down at the same time as his partner. Shadow trotted proudly across the courtyard, flicking her hoof to retract her own crossbow.

“See? Easy!” she said proudly. “Now, how about drawing away all of the guys indoors like a good little stallion, huh?”

“I swear, this isn’t worth the money, kid…” Sawblades seethed, kicking the front door open and rolling a small glass orb into the foyer. He and Shadow dove sideways, hiding outside as the bomb detonated and flooded the entrance hall with sleeping gas. Green fog wafted out of the open doorway, accompanied by the chokes and screams of the guards within.

“This is where I leave, kid,” Sawblades whispered to Shadow. “Get Sky out and be safe, got it?”

“I will, Sawblades. Thank you,” Shadow whispered back, giving him a kiss on his cheek and nudging him with her nose. “Now come on, you’d better get running before they catch you!”

Sawblades gave her one last sheepish grin, galloping back across the courtyard as the first guards burst out of the foyer, still choking and trying to stay conscious. He stopped only to pose dramatically against the sunset, cackling madly.

“You can’t catch me, coppers!” He roared, rearing up onto his hind legs and hurtling off down the street.

The guards charged after him, drawing weapons and completely ignoring the little filly sitting by the door. Shadow didn’t mind. For the first time she wanted to be completely ignored, and it was working like a charm.

“Okay, Sky. Let’s get you out of there…” she whispered, pulling her face wrap up over her muzzle to conceal herself and slipping inside the foyer.

The guards within were passed out to a man, a tangled mass of hooves and metal armour plates that clanked when Shadow trod on them.

“Oops...sorry...oooh, I hope that wasn’t important...sorry, mister…” Shadow whispered under her breath as she hopped from one body to the next, working her way slowly but surely to the hallway marked “Cells.”

She hopped off of the last body, one she recognised as the purple-and-gold clad commander who had accosted her in the alley, and gave him one last kick in the snout for good measure.The corridor beyond was lined with cells, one of which had its barred door wide open. Shadow narrowed her eyes, darting down the corridor and flicking her hoof to let her crossbow spring out.

When she rounded the corner, she spotted Sky, laid down on her back and apparently lifeless, resting on her cot with her wings slumped off of the sides. Shadow yelped and charged into the cell, leaping onto Sky’s belly and inspecting her face more closely, tilting her head this way and that.

“Sky? Sky, are you alright?” Shadow whimpered, muzzle-bumping her big sister on the cheeks and under the chin. Sky’s skin was a little blue under all of that white fur, and at first she didn’t move under Shadow’s ministrations. However, after much nuzzling and worried little whispers, Sky’s eyes flickered open and she drew deep, desperate breaths.

“Sha...Shadow...tra...tra…” she wheezed, as Shadow wrapped her forelegs around her favourite pegasus.

“What is it, Sky?” Shadow squeaked, nuzzling into Sky’s surprisingly damp fur.

“Tr...trap…” Sky managed, still trying to draw breath as she slipped off of the cot.

“No, Sky, there’s no trap. I knocked out all of the guards! You’re safe now!” Shadow squeaked excitedly, rolling off of Sky’s belly and pushing her head under her big sister’s chin to keep her head up. “Come on, big breaths, big sister. We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Sky took a moment to get air back in her lungs, looking down at Shadow with bleary eyes. “You...shouldn’t have come…” she whispered. “That wasn’t safe…”

“Well, I’d better go home, then!” Shadow said brightly. “Since I’m heading there anyway, wanna come with me?”

Sky looked down at those big earnest green eyes and felt her heart melt. There really was no saying no to those eyes, no matter how angsty Sky was trying to be.

“Fine,” she said eventually, ruffling Shadow’s mane and stepping out into the corridor, “but we have to get to the evidence lockers to get my stuff if we’re gonna make a clean break out of here. Did you run into Stronghooves on the way in?”

“No, but Sawblades knocked out a bunch of guards,” Shadow whispered, pacing after Sky and keeping her crossbow ready. “He might have been in the blast!"

Sky regarded Shadow with skepticism as she led the way up the corridor, stopping only to grab her gear out of the evidence locker. Though sealed by a cruciform lock, Sky swiped the key from an unconscious guard and popped the locker wide open. Shadow watched the door as Sky strapped her gear on, crossbow at the ready.

"So wait, Sawblades helped you bust me out?" Sky asked. "Weird...I've never seen him outside of his clinic before. How the hell did you get him to help out?"

"I asked him nicely!" said Shadow, beaming with pride. "Oh, and I paid him, like, a lot of money."

"That sounds more like it," Sky said with a chuckle. "Right, let's get running. We probably don't have much time before..."

"Before someone makes it to the gas masks?" came a voice from the corridor.

Shadow raised her crossbow, taking a shot at Stronghooves the second he rounded the doorway. To her horror, the dart shattered on his visor, his riot armour protecting him from both the dart and the formula within.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Sky growled, rounding on him. "How the hell are you still standing?"

"The city watch barracks does have a riot armoury with a supply of gas masks, you know." Stronghooves said patiently. "That was very resourceful of you, however. The guard could use someone like you, filly."

“Not interested, sorry,” Shadow said brightly. “Sky’s already given me a job, and you seem pretty mean, so I’d much rather be a burglar! Besides, you get to wear this cool mask!”

Stronghooves pulled his gas mask off, regarding her curiously as she pointed eagerly at her face with a big grin. Sky approached him, standing beside Shadow with her wings spread and a venomous look on her face. The Lieutenant sighed and shook his head.

“You’ve corrupted her, Sky,” he said solemnly, horn flaring as he drew his sword. “It was bad enough that you were a terrible sister, but then you had to go and mess with her mind, too. Don’t worry, kid, I’ll be sure to get you to Captain Titus so that you can get the help you need.”

Shadow’s eyes widened as Stronghooves advanced on them, transfixed by that blade of his, and for the first time in a while, a twinge of fear crept through her body. Her ears pinned back against her head and her wings spread half-way. Her first instinct was to hide behind Sky, but just as she crept back, a thought struck her.

Hey, I don’t have to hide anymore! I can actually stop ponies from being mean now!

Shadow raised her crossbow and pulled the trigger with a savage growl, sending another dart hurtling towards Stronghooves’s face. He dove sideways, taking a swing at Sky and nearly taking her wing off as the two sisters split up. Shadow darted right while Sky darted left, playing off of one another so well that it was almost as if they were reading each others’ minds. Sky followed up as her brother turned his attention to Shadow, firing another dart at him while he was distracted. Stronghooves heard the snap of her crossbow and turned his head just enough for the dart’s glass capsule to shatter on the side of his helmet.

“You’re as bad as each other, you know that?” Stronghooves commented, swinging his sword at Shadow with a grunt. The filly beat her wings to help propel her sideways, hiding under a wooden bench and curling up as his sword bit into it.

Sky charged right into Stronghooves, pushing him out of reach of his sword so that he couldn’t attempt to pull it out of the bench and have another go at Shadow. The distraction only lasted a second before he brought his own strength to bear, grabbing his sister by the throat and hurling her at a nearby locker. Sky hit the metal door with a loud clang, collapsing to the floor and struggling to come to her senses. Stronghooves strode over to his sword, grasping it by the hilt and wrestling it out of the bench.

As Stronghooves raised it over his head to finish Sky off, however, Shadow leapt onto his back and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. At first, Stronghooves didn’t even slow down, but when she followed up by clapping her wings around his eyes, he roared and flailed, trying to push her off of his back. Shadow held on for dear life, digging her hooves into his neck as deep as they could go and using her huge wings as the biggest distraction could manage. She only let go when he finally got a good hoof-hold on her, hauling her over his shoulder and slamming her into the floor next to her sister with a sickening crack.

“This...is…over.” Stronghooves snarled, raising his sword again to dispatch both of them with a single killing blow.

Sky and Shadow saw the blade coming, and as one they raised their crossbows and fired in one last-ditch effort to stop him.

While Sky’s dart rebounded off of his helmet again, Shadow’s aim was better, and by sheer chance it struck the point in between his neck and his helmet, right in his jugular. Stronghooves stopped, choking just a little as he looked down at the dart’s contents visibly seeping into his arteries. He pulled the little projectile out, casting it aside, but the damage was already done. The little glass capsule was empty and he could already feel the onset of inexorable tiredness. Stronghooves blinked at the two of them, catching only vague images of Sky picking Shadow up and galloping out the door as fast as her legs could carry her.

“No...come back…” he whispered, struggling after them for a few metres more before his legs...and his head...gave out completely. With a thud, Stronghooves collapsed like his brethren, knocked out cold by the sleep dart. His last sensation before unconsciousness took him was the sound of Sky’s wing-beats as she took off out the door.

Sorority

Deep in the bowels of the city of Canterlot, in the clinic of a young street doctor, two young mares twitched and whined, reprimanding him for every clumsy application of an ice pack or inquisitive prod.

"Would you two cut it out?” Sawblades pleaded, pressing a pack to Sky’s eye. “I haven’t even done anything yet!”

“I know,” said Shadow, cutting out her whining and sitting on the gurney like a silly little horse. “We’re just practicing so that we’re ready for when you break out the hacksaws and syringes and other horrible doctor stuff.”

“Oh, joy,” Sawblades scoffed, glancing sidelong at Shadow before looking back at Sky. “Don’t you sit there grinning, young lady! I know where she learned to be so damn cheeky!”

“I haven’t any idea what you mean!” Sky replied, ever-so-sweetly. She fluttered her eyelashes at Sawblades as her little sister giggled behind her. “I taught her to be a nice, friendly, polite pony! She’d never be cheeky!”

“Yeah, because nice polite ponies never bribe their doctor to dress up like a crook and go wandering around in front of the guard barracks,” Sawblades muttered sarcastically, rubbing Sky’s ear to coax a squeak out of the poor little mare.

“Hey, you didn’t have to take the money!” Shadow put in. “You could’ve gone away or gotten someone else anytime you wanted!”

“Not when you were doing the cute filly routine, I couldn’t!” Sawblades replied wearily. “You two are better sisters than I’ve ever seen in all my life, and that is not a compliment...but at least you guys are safe...ish.”

Shadow looked down at her right wing, which stuck out at a weird angle. “Am I going to be okay, Mister Sawblades?”

The street doctor glanced up at her, letting Sky hold the ice pack to her face as he strode over to her and took a look. “You’re going to be off of that wing for a little while. Whatever broke that did a damn good job at it, but we’re going to get you in a cast and you can be all better, okay?”

“Okay, then,” Shadow said, looking crestfallen.

“What’s the matter? Sad because you’re not allowed to fly?” He asked, gently working it back into a normal position as Shadow fought back the urge to cry out of reflex.

“No...I...ow...well, sort of…” Shadow admitted. “I just wanted to show Sky...that I could fly...when I jumped off of those stairs...it was really cool and I’ve always wanted to be able to fly…”

“Hey, kid,” Sky said, turning around and grinning at her. “I believe you, okay? With wings that big, I’m not surprised that you flew. Hell, a few years for you to practice and grow into them, I’d be surprised if you’re not a better flyer than I am.”

“I know…” Shadow said, “but I just wanted to show you...and keep doing it to make sure it wasn’t a one-time thing…”

“Well, I’ve got an idea.” Sawblades said soothingly, fixing a splint in place and wrapping her oversized wing in bandages. “Do you know what happens to ponies with broken limbs, kiddo?”

“N...no?” Shadow asked, wincing and whimpering with each and every touch to her damaged limb.

“Well, when you get a cast, what I do is I put a great big mould made out of plaster over your wing to keep it straight so it heals up properly,” Sawblades explained, “and then your best friends and family get to write friendly messages on it, so that every time you look at it, you remember that there are ponies who love you. Does that sound nice?”

“Ye...yes…” Shadow said with a little sniffle. Sawblades chuckled, giving her a pat on the head and striding over to where he kept his equipment. He stopped only to slap Sky’s hoof out of the candy bowl and give her a damning look.

“I was...going to give her a lolly…” Sky said sheepishly.

“Sure you were,” Sawblades replied, thoroughly unconvinced. With a disbelieving snort, he got together the things he needed, stirring up a bowl of plaster and slowly moulding it around Shadow’s bandaged wing. “Now, this is going to itch like crazy after a while, but you can’t take it off until you come back here and I say you can, okay?”

“Okay, Mister Sawblades,” Shadow said with a dutiful nod, wiping the tears out of her eyes. “Um...Mister Sawblades?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Are you going to sign it?” She asked hopefully.

Sawblades glanced between her and Sky, hesitating. The look Sky gave him magically restored his ability to speak, and he cleared his throat with a nod.

“Well, it’s not often someone asks their doctor to sign their cast...but I suppose I can probably make an exception,” he conceded. “Besides, at the rate you’re going, you’re probably going to be walking in and out of this clinic so much that I’m going to be your surrogate dad by the end of this.”

“Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence, asshole,” Sky scoffed.

“I’m sorry, but how many times have you brought her in here since you guys first met?” Sawblades asked with a grin.

Sky grumbled grumpily, crossing her forelegs and looking away. “The first time wasn’t even my fault…”

“What happens now, then?” Shadow asked, leaning back as she waited for the plaster to dry out. “I mean, we got away from the bad guy, but he’s still gonna be out there, right?”

“That’s kinda hard to say, kid,” Sky admitted, pointedly ignoring Sawblades. “You’re probably on his hit list right now, so we’re going to need to keep you safe until he finds other things to do with his time. That means that I’m gonna have to train you as you get better until we can both look out for each other.”

“A lot of the burglars and other criminals in this city work in teams, especially since Stronghooves became an officer,” Sawblades put in with a nod. “The most successful are the ones that look out for each other and can cover each others’ backs. You’re going to need to do that incredibly well if you want any chance of surviving.”

“Does that mean he’ll keep looking for us?” Shadow asked. “And that Captain Titus, too?”

“I hope not,” Sky said with a sigh, snuggling up to Shadow and wrapping her wing around her, “but it’s probably what’s going to happen, knowing our luck. Still, keep shooting like that and we’re not going to have a problem with him again anytime soon.”

“That reminds me,” Sawblades said, “you guys conducted a raid on one of the most heavily-defended buildings in the city. I mean, I saw the sleep gas grenade part, obviously...you’re welcome, by the way…” he added, “but how the hell did you take Stronghooves down? This guy’s got a reputation for maximum casualties and a teenager and a nearly untrained kid took him out?”

“Shadow’s a hell of a lot better with that crossbow than I thought,” Sky said with a chuckle, ruffling her sister’s mane. “You should’ve seen that shot. The kid’s got one hell of a talent for this stuff. Stronghooves was armoured up and only had a little bit of skin exposed, and she got him right in the neck, didn’t you?”

“Well, it was kind of a lucky shot, but I sure did!” Shadow said proudly, nodding and leaning up against her sister. “Hey, do you think that might be my special talent?”

“Dunno,” Sky said, shuffling up next to her. “Still, you’re gonna have plenty of time to practice your shooting while you’re getting better, so I guess we’ll know sooner or later, either way.”

“Well, all the same, you’re off to a great start,” Sawblades said, looking them both over and grabbing a little black marker. “There aren’t many burglars who’ve survived an encounter with Stronghooves, let alone actually knocked him out in a fight. Keep fighting like that and you’re going to be the envy of the Canterlot Underground in no time.”

“It’s only a matter of time before everyone knows about the barracks raid,” Sky added. “That’s gonna land us with some decent reputation. I’ll see if I can pull some strings, grab a few ponies who can help teach you the same way they taught me.”

“That’d be awesome!” Shadow squeaked, as Sawblades took her wing in hoof and scrawled something on the dry plaster cast. His ears went bright pink as Sky made a damning “Awwww!” sound.

“What’s it say, what’s it say?” Shadow asked, craning her head to look at the cast. When Sawblades finally let go, she grabbed her wing and read the little message he’d scrawled on it.

“‘Get well soon Shadow, you crazy filly. Best wishes, your pal Sawblades,’” she read under her breath. Shadow pouted at Sawblades, giving him a shove. ”You’re crazy!” She insisted, “but...thanks, Sawblades. I’ll get better super soon and get flying again, okay?”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sawblades said with a friendly smile, passing the marker to Sky. “You just take it easy for the next little while. Well-behaved fillies get well sooner. Did you know that?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s bullshit, Sawblades,” Sky said vaguely, as she scribbled her own little greeting on her sister’s cast.

”Must you sabotage me?” Sawblades asked wearily. “You’re only hurting yourself if she’s acting like a loon for the next month!”

“Don’t worry,” Shadow said, patting Sawblades’s hoof. “I’ll behave myself. I’m sure Sky’s just being all silly and naughty.”

“Excuse me, what do you mean ‘naughty?’” Sky asked, pausing to raise an eyebrow at Shadow.

“Naughty like pulling pranks and getting captured, of course! You’re a very naughty little pony, missy!” Shadow said, waggling her hoof at her.

“Oh yeah,” Sawblades agreed. “See, finally some insight from somepony. You really ought to behave yourself or you’re going to end up being punished.”

“I think she deserves a spanking for being so silly,” Shadow asserted, nodding her head and staring at Sawblades pointedly. When he realised that she was hinting that he should do it, the poor stallion went bright red and looked away.

“Erm...no, I think she just needs to have her ears pinched or something…something that’s not that,” Sawblades trailed off, clearly aware that Sky had finished writing her note and was now staring pointedly at him.

Shadow, however, had no such interest in awkward teenage horse affairs, instead concerning herself with reading the note that her big sister had written her.

“Dear Shadow,” it read, “Thank you for saving me. You’re the best sister ever and I promise I’m never ever going to let you get hurt again. Lots of love, Sky.”

Shadow remained silent for a while, reading and re-reading the messages. She paid special attention to Sky’s, eventually looking up at the little white mare with big, tearful eyes. Without any further ado, she wrapped sky in a great big filly hug, using her one good wing to draw her in and make it the softest damn hug she could.

“Thank you,” Shadow whispered, her voice shaking as she cuddled her favourite mare.

Sky sat there for a moment, expressionless, glancing from Sawblades to her new little sister. Finally, closing her eyes to hide her own tears, she wrapped her wings around Shadow in turn and hugged her back.

“Thank you, too,” Sky whispered back, cradling the young pony and rocking her from side to side. They stayed that way for a while, silently crying and holding each other as tight as they could. There was something about nearly losing your newly-found loved one that really reminded both of them just how much they cared for one another.

It was only when Sawblades coughed awkwardly that they broke the hug, Sky looking away so that he couldn’t see the tears in her eyes.

“Um...we should go…” Sky said hurriedly, hopping off of the gurney and trotting hurriedly to the door. “Thanks Sawblades. We’ll be back when it’s time for her cast to come off, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, though I’ll remember to stock up on extra tissues if you’re going to have another moment,” Sawblades replied, as Shadow hopped off of the bed to follow her. “And...kid?”

The little filly stopped in her tracks, looking guiltily at her saddlebags and then up at Sawblades. “Y...yes?”

“Take good care of Sky, will you?” He asked quietly, looking out of his door at the little teenage pegasus. “You two are going to need each other, you know.”

“Don’t worry, Mister Sawblades,” Shadow said, patting his hoof and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll take extra-special care of my sister, just for you. Doctor’s orders, right?”

“Right,” Sawblades said, as she let him go and trotted out after Sky.

“She really is so much like Sky was when I first met her…” Sawblades mused to himself, watching them head out of his clinic. “I hope those kids stay sa…”

He stopped as a single lolly fell out of Shadow’s saddlebag as she hopped out of the front doorway, landing on the floor and sitting there incriminatingly. Sawblades chanced a look at his desk.

The candy bowl was completely empty. That little filly had snaffled all of it.

“OH, FOR THE LOVE OF…”

* * *

“So, Sky,” Shadow said, looking down at her busted wing, “how long does it take to get better from something like this?”

“Oh, not too long,” Sky admitted. “A month, month and a half? I’ve never broken a wing before, so I’d have no idea, really.”

Sky and Shadow remained silent as they clambered out of the catacombs and into the evening air. The sun was setting over Canterlot and many ponies were concerning themselves with closing up shop and going home. The two little sisters found it easy to slip into the crowd, heading towards the Poor District with everypony else.

“So what is it that sick ponies actually do?” Shadow asked, passing Sky a lolly and beaming. Sky stared at her for a time, totally stunned, before a big grin crept across her face and she took the treat from her.

“Well, sick ponies go to bed on time, and go to school, and share all of their candy with the favourite big sister…” Sky said, glowing with pride in Shadow’s candy-thievery efforts.

“Don’t push your luck,” Shadow interrupted, giving Sky a deadpan stare.

“It was worth a try,” she sighed. “Okay, how about ‘sick ponies hang out with their favourite pegasus?’”

Shadow leaned into Sky, nuzzling up under her wing.

“I like the sound of that.” She whispered.

The two ponies were about to turn onto another street, when a sudden shout roused them from their sisterly moment.

“THERE THEY ARE!”

Sky and Shadow rounded on the noise, spotting a group of very large, heavily armoured guards advancing on them.

“Oh, crap…” Sky muttered.

“What’s the plan for these guys, sis?” Shadow asked, taking a couple of steps back as the guards drew weapons.

“Erm...run?”

And run they did. With a flurry of hooves and feathers, Sky and Shadow took off down the street with those pesky officers of the law in pursuit. Though the guards did their best to keep up and get an edge on them, those two little sisters laughed and giggled as they ran. After all, this was business as usual for burglars.

The End

Filly-Murder Most Foul

Bells rang out across the city as Swift grabbed the bag of bits from the bank teller, waving his crossbow in the frightened pony’s face.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO HIT THE ALARM, BITCH!” He roared, slamming a hoof on the counter. “YOU REALISE WHAT YOU’VE JUST DONE?”

His ears perked as he heard the unmistakable clanking sound of approaching guards. There was no way he’d be able to take all of them on with just a crossbow. That left him one option: run.

Swift whirled around on the spot, retracting his crossbow and stuffing it into his saddlebag as he galloped for his life. Bursting out of the back doors, the terrified batpony burglar spread his wings and launched himself into the air. There weren’t many ponies that could catch him once he got into the air.

Strangely enough, however, one of them was definitely trying, a unicorn of all things. He clambered up onto the rooftops, his horn lighting up with bright blue magic as he charged up a spell.

What the fuck…?

The unicorn fired off the spell, sending an orb of bright blue magic straight at Swift. Diving away to avoid it, the batpony tried to disappear into the winding streets of the city centre. However, as Swift looked around, he let out a tiny little chittering squeak. The spell followed him, arcing after him and gaining quickly. Swift beat his leathery wings as fast as he could, trying desperately to outrun the homing ball of magic, but it was no use. The spell caught up with him, binding his wings together and sending the little burglar tumbling head over hooves into an alley. His legs cracked underneath him as he struck the pavement, collapsing in a heap and skidding into a brick wall at the end of the alleyway.

“Fu...fuck!” He whimpered, trying to get to his hooves and scramble away, but it was no use. His legs lay shattered and useless underneath him, his wings torn and paralysed by magic. He struggled to shuffle away, towards a shady place where nopony could see him, but the sound of clanking filled his ears again. The guards were on their way.

Before the injured batpony could even get halfway behind the dustbins, the same unicorn appeared at the alley opening. He stood taller than most other ponies, his build muscular and massive to take advantage of his frame. As he pulled off his helmet to get a better look at the pony, his blond mane fell down around his shoulders. Swift recoiled as he stared into a pair of merciless blue eyes, glaring back at him sternly.

“Do you want to explain to me why you’ve committed this crime?” The guard growled, trotting forward almost casually. His gold armour clanked slightly as he walked, covering his vitals and his white coat beneath.

“No...money…” Swift gasped, pulling himself onto his side and looking up at the officer. “Wasn’t…my...fault…”

The stallion cocked his head. “Wasn’t your fault? You committed a crime, little batpony. You don’t just go around robbing banks because you need money.”

“But I…”

“There’s no excuse for it, batpony.” The unicorn shook his head blankly, pulling a knife out of his saddlebag and casting it onto the ground in front of the burglar.

“Wha...what are you…?” Swift whispered, scrabbling towards the knife and inspecting it.

The unicorn took no notice, drawing his sword and smacking the flat of the blade against the dustbins. The cacophony echoed around the alley and the surrounding streets, sounding for all the world like the clashing of two weapons. Before Swift could work out what he was up to, the stallion brought the weapon down on his head in a great overarm swing, driving the blade deep into his chest and piercing his heart.

The batpony’s eyes widened before finally closing, his limp body collapsing in a torn heap on the cobblestones.

“Lieutenant!” Came a shout from nearby. The stallion whirled on the spot, pulling his sword out of the burglar and cleaning the blade by magic as his commanding officer arrived on the scene.

“Captain Titus.” He said respectfully, sheathing his sword and standing at attention.

“Stronghooves.” The Captain nodded briskly, his eyes drifting over to the dead batpony in the corner of the alley. “What happened here? I heard a great deal of noise.”

“He tried to resist arrest, sir.” Stronghooves shrugged. “He was armed. I had to put him down.”

“Indeed.” Titus sighed. “What an unfortunate waste of life. What about the money from the bank?”

“It’s safe, sir.” Stronghooves nodded, levitating the bag of money out of the batpony’s saddlebags by magic. “He didn’t get to a dead drop. I made sure of that.”

“Excellent work, Lieutenant.” Titus smiled, patting the stallion on the back. “You’ll make Captain someday, just you wait.”

“Thank you sir. I’m just happy to rid the city of another criminal. It’s a shame he couldn’t be rehabilitated.” Stronghooves sighed mournfully.

“Well, some ponies simply can’t, Lieutenant. Don’t let it get to you.” Titus smiled softly, placing a hoof on Stronghooves’s shoulder. “I understand that it’s hard taking a life, but it’s an unfortunate necessity sometimes.”

“Yeah, I...I know…” Stronghooves hung his head, ears splaying back.

“Tell you what, how about you take the rest of the day off? Head to the marketplace and spend some time recuperating.” Titus’s horn flared, a few wads of cash levitating out of the bag and into Stronghooves’s saddlebags. “And perhaps take a little something for yourself, off the books.”

“Sir?” Stronghooves looked back at his saddlebags uneasily. “I...no, sir. I couldn’t…”

“Look, consider it compensation for the effort you had to put into taking this scumbag down.” Titus held up a hoof, grinning. “You’ve earned it.”

Stronghooves looked up at the Captain of the Royal Guard, frowning as Titus smiled hopefully back at him, almost as if he were pleading him to not go to the Princesses about this.

“Thank you, sir.” Stronghooves said resignedly, trotting away. Only once he was clear of the captain did he gallop away, off towards the marketplace.

After all, he had an investigation to complete.

* * *

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Accident screamed.

“Kid, just accept it! It’s happening!” Sky bellowed back.

“I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!”

“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DIE! JUST...STOP FIDGETING, DAMN IT!”

Accident froze in place. She stopped squirming in Sky’s grip to look at her with wide disbelieving eyes. “You...you swore.” She gasped. “You’re gonna be in so much trouble when your mum finds out about this!”

“Yeah, well she’s not gonna.” Sky stuck her tongue out, placing the filly in her saddlebag and continuing to trot up the stairs. “So I can swear all I like!”

“Well…” Accident blustered. “You...you’ll be in trouble with me, then! Your punishment is to not give anypony a bath tonight, you hear me?”

“Nice try, but you’ve got cookie crumbs all over you.” Sky chuckled. “You’re totally getting a bath and that’s final!”

“But...but you can’t do that, Miss Sky!” Accident shook her head, poking her muzzle out from under Sky’s saddlebag flap. “I’ve got so much left to live for! Please don’t drown me! I don’t wanna die!”

“You’re not gonna die!” Sky rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You’ll get wet and then you’ll get clean. That’s all that’s gonna happen, okay?”

“But...what if I drown?” Accident asked, quivering in fright. “My wings are so heavy! I’ll sink right to the bottom!”

“You won’t drown. The bathtub’s smaller than you are with those huge wings.” Sky giggled, stepping into the bathroom.

“But I’ll be soggy and wet! I don’t give very good pony cuddles when I’m all wet!” Accident begged. “You’re robbing me of my cuddling power! How could you do this to me?”

“Easy!” Sky frowned, running the tap and beginning to fill up the bath. Her mind raced as she tried to find a way to shut that little pony up.

“Sky...I thought we were friends?” Accident pouted, poking a little forehoof out of the saddlebag and placing it against Sky’s shoulder. “Friends don’t put friends in the bath!”

“They do too!” Sky frowned, lifting Accident out of her saddlebag by the scruff of the neck and holding her over the water. The filly flapped her wings, galloping in midair for all the good it’d do her, but it was too late. Sky placed her carefully in the tub.

“OH NO! DON’T DO...COLD! COOOOOLD!” Accident yelped, her soft hooves squeaking against the edge of the bathtub as she desperately tried to escape.”

Sky dipped a hoof into the water to test the temperature. “Liar.” She grinned.

“Oh...um...HELP! I’M ALLERGIC TO WATER! I’M MELTING! MEEEEELTIIIIING!” Accident wailed, putting her muzzle under the water and blowing bubbles for dramatic effect. Her wings grew heavy as anvils as they became waterlogged, her tail doing the same. She peeked up at Sky with a look of utter misery, silently questioning how one little pony could be so incredibly mean.

“You’re not melting.” Sky rolled her eyes, before suddenly getting an idea. ”But...you’d better stop thrashing around or the Bathtime Sharks will get you!”

Accident raised her head, one of her ears flopping down as she tilted it. “Bathtime Sharks?”

“Yeah.” Sky nodded gravely, sitting down and raising her forehooves dramatically. “The Bathtime Sharks are super-duper-scary, and they actually live in the pipes under the tub! Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them!”

Accident shook her head, eyes wide as dinner plates. Her misery forgotten, she watched Sky with rapt attention.

“Wow, you don’t?” Sky whistled, waving her hoof. “Oh boy, no wonder you were so noisy!”

“What do they do, Miss Sky?” Accident asked. This was a matter of incredible importance, and she wasn’t about to let Sky dance around the issue. Not when she’s already in the tub like this!

“Well, they travel around the pipes underneath bathtubs, listening carefully…” Sky said slowly, putting a hoof up to her ear. “And when they hear a filly squealing about having to take a bath, they come out of the plughole and gobble them up!”

Accident clapped her hooves to her mouth, shaking her head in sheer terror. “Eep! No! Are the Bathtime Sharks gonna get me?”

“I’m afraid they might.” Sky sighed mournfully, putting her hoof to her forehead dramatically. “You really should have listened to me about being so noisy!”

“No! Sky, you’ve gotta save me!” Accident squeaked, reaching out over the rim of the bath for Sky to pull her out. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

“Well, if only there was something I could do…” Sky splayed her ears back, drooping her wings and tail as she went through her bathroom cabinet. “I mean, if you’re super quiet, you might just...hello, what have we here…?”

“What, what?” Accident squeaked.

“Kid, you might just make it!” Sky smiled, perking her ears as she triumphantly held up a little rubber duck and a bottle.

“Wh...what’re those?”

“Well, this here is magical bubble bath to protect you from the sharks. The bubbles get in your eyes, you see, and the sharks don’t like that.” Sky nodded. “And this...this is a magical little rubber duck to scare them off! He’s a really tough duck, tough enough to beat up those mean old sharks so they go back into the pipes and don’t try to eat you!”

Accident gasped, reaching out for them like a lost desert traveller being offered water. “Please, Miss Sky! I need the duck and the magical bubble bath! Please don’t let the Bathtime Sharks eat me! I don’t wanna be eaten!”

“That depends…” Sky frowned. “Are you gonna complain about taking a bath again?”

“No! Never!”

“Well then…” Sky snickered, holding out the bottle and the duck with a cheeky little smile on her face. Accident snatched them out of her hooves, cuddling the duck as she emptied a good half of the bubble bath into the water. She began to flap her wings, watching as great big concealing patches of bubbly safety formed around her.

“Thank you, Miss Sky. You really saved me!” Accident giggled. “Twice!”

“Don’t mention it, kid.” Sky winked. “Hey, let’s make sure you get all nice and cleaned up, okay? The sooner we get this done, the sooner you’ll be totally safe from the sharks.”

Accident nodded, and Sky stepped forward with a little scrubbing brush. Taking it in hoof, the older mare started to scrub the filly’s back, covering her in a big bubbly lather. “So tell me about your mum. You seem pretty excited to go back to her.”

“Yahuh.” Accident nodded. “My mum’s the best mum around! She’s super-clever and super-pretty and she loves me more than anything else in the world!”

“She is, huh?” Sky asked casually. “Prettier than me?”

“Uh…” Accident paused, falling silent. “She...she’s...pretty beautiful...and taught me how to do my mane!”

“Well you’re gonna have to show me sometime!” Sky smiled.

“She always calls me her pretty little Accident and cuddles me when she comes to visit.” Accident grinned. “She takes great care of me and seeing her is the most exciting thing ever! I love Visiting Day!”

“She...visits you?” Sky asked, cocking her head. “That’s a new one. Where do you normally live.”

“I’ve got my own room in the attic at dad’s place!” Accident replied with a little squee, kicking her back leg as Sky started to scrub the base of her wings. “I...eeeee...I get to sleep there and read books and everything as long as I don’t make too much noise!”

Sky stopped, her ears splaying back. “Er...oh…” She said quietly. “Well, you know what? I think you’re pretty and sweet all the time, for what it’s worth.”

“Thank you, Miss Sky!” Accident giggled, scooping up a hoof-full of bubbles and sticking them to her host’s nose. “You’re really sweet and pretty too, well, except for the moustache!”

Sky crossed her eyes, peering down at the little bubble moustache she’d sprouted. “Oh no, don’t tell me you did that!” She giggled. “Bub...bubbles make me...aaa….AAAA...CHOO!”

With that, she grabbed a great big armful of bubbles, spreading them all over Accident’s face with a great big smile.

“Nooo! I can’t have a beard, Miss Sky! I’m a filly!” Accident snickered, flapping one of her huge waterlogged wings and spraying Sky with water.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry! That was an accident! I didn’t mean to…” Accident began, but Sky drove both of her hooves under the water, splashing the filly and sending her scampering to the other side of the tub.

“How do you like it?” Sky smiled, resting her head on her crossed forehooves and smiling triumphantly.

The filly snuffled and sniffed, trying to get the water out of her nose and wiping her face clean of bubbles. “Ugh...you’re a big meanie!”

“Yeah...but I’m the nicest big meanie you’ve ever met, sweetie. I’ll bet you money.” Sky winked, pulling the youngster out of the bath and setting her down on a towel. Accident shook herself, spraying droplets of water all over the bathroom and soaking Sky completely. The mare glared at her, beating her wings and blasting Accident with air. The tiny little pony gritted her teeth as she spread her own enormous wings, giggling as she struggled to stay in place as she dried off.

“I...LOOOOOVE...YOOOOOOU...SKYYYYYY!” She shouted over the sound of the elder pony’s wing-beats.

Sky blushed, smiling as she scooped up the extra-fluffy dry filly in her forehooves. “You’re not bad yourself, kid. Hey, one more sleep until you go back to see your mum! I bet you’re pretty excited, huh?”

“Super-excited!” Accident smiled, crawling onto Sky’s back and settling down as the mare carried her back to her bedroom. “She’ll have been so worried about me! It’ll be nice to see her again.”

“I bet it will.” Sky beamed, placing the young pony in her bed and tucking her in. “You’ve been on a pretty big adventure. Don’t worry, we’ll pick up a nice present for her before we meet up with her again, okay?”

“Okay.” Accident closed her eyes, extra-fluffy after being blow-dried. “Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think mum’s as excited to see me as I am to see her?”

Sky froze, biting her lip and looking at her hooves. “Um...she’s...er…”

“Sky?” Accident asked, cracking one eye open and staring at her. She gazed up at her with concern, needing to hear a big, resounding yes.

“She’s gonna have one hell of a shock.” Sky finished pathetically, running a hoof through Accident’s mane.

The filly settled back, closing her eyes and wriggling further under the covers. “You know, if I narrow my eyes and look at you real closely, you look just like my mummy.” She whispered sleepily.

“I do, huh?” Sky cocked her head. “What’s your mum like, anyway?”

“She’s…” Accident stopped to give a little squeaky yawn before continuing. “She looks just like you, only she’s...she’s a unicorn...and...she’s got golden horseshoes for a cutie mark...not like the black ones you’ve got..and...and…”

“Kid?” Sky whispered, prodding the young pony.

It was no good. Accident had already drifted off to sleep, snoring quietly and swaddled in warm, dry sheets.

Sky sighed, cocking her head and watching over the filly until she was certain that she was well and truly asleep. She picked up Scruffy, looking the gnarled little plushie over before squeezing him into Accident’s unresisting hooves.

“Well...that should be enough to go on…” She muttered under her breath, giving Accident one last kiss on the forehead before stepping out of the room.

As she left to search for Accident’s mother, Sky didn’t notice the filly’s eye crack open again, just a little.