The Ballad of Wingless the Pegasus

Twilight could see the growing discomfort etched in Rainbow's face as they stood up in the dingy apartment. She figured it was either from the brief yet still daunting task of caring for a recently injured pony, or the deplorable conditions of the room, despite Twilight managing to pry the filthy window open.

"And remember to make sure he drinks enough water okay? He needs to get as much fluids as possible okay? Now I should only be a few hours at the MOST, while I try and track down Spike and Fluttershy, but we need to face the fact that Fluttershy might not be able to look after him, and...Rainbow? RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight ended in a huff.

"Huh? yeah, I'm...listening. Feed him, water him, help him to the toilet, something about Fluttershy....blah blah blah. Seriously Twilight, do you REALLY think I should be...doing this? I've never done this before, and I..." Dash looked down at her hooves shuffling in the dirt on the floor.

"Dash, you'll do fine. And besides, I have a lot of work to do for Princess Celestia, AND I guess I need to go write her a letter explaining why I'm now flat broke. That will cut into a large chunk of my time." She looked at the abashed Dash, and smiled. "It will be okay Dash, I know you can do it. Besides, you will probably have Fluttershy to help you some, if not most of the time. But if she can't be here often remember DO NOT change his bandage! Let me or Fluttershy do that!" Her expression turned back into it's serious pose.

"Okay, okay! You said that..." Rainbow Dash sighed. "But, you do know best Twi"

"Thank you Dash." Twilight picked up her bags and placed them over her back. "Now, watch him like a griffin, okay?"

Dash threw up her foreleg in a mock salute, "Yes Sir! M'am Sir! M'am!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and walked out the open door. As soon as her hoofsteps were no longer audible, Dash ploped down with a loud "harrumph" and she glared at the unconscious pony. "I guess this is my...recompants.... recumbents...recompens...whatever, me making amends to you."

She stood again and began pacing around the room for awhile. unlike Twilight, she kind of thought the room was "creepy" and "cool," she even began considering asking the stallion if she could use it as part of a haunted house for Nightmare Night the next year when a groan came from the bed. Dash jumped at the small yet silence shattering noise.

"Oooh, my head..."

"H-hello? Mr. Tomato?"

"Huh?" Seamless turned his head slowly towards the noise. Unable to see with a wad of bandages wrapped around his head, he panicked." Whu- AHHHHHHH!" Seamless screamed and tried getting up, only resulting in him smashing his skull against the headboard of the bed.

"WHOA whoa, you need to calm down!" Dash jumped up and gently put her hooves on Seamless' shoulder, which along with his now overly painful head, seemed to quiet him down. "You need to relax, you have a...what was it...a con-cushion."

Seamless rubbed his covered temples as best he could. "A...what? A concussion?"

"Yeah, That"

Seamless groaned. "I...Yeah! No Shit! Guh, dolt...Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Rainbow Dash...Mr. Tomato." She added that last part with an obvious air of disgust.

"RAINBOW DASH!" Seamless sprang up again, once more smacking his head on the headboard. He wrapped his forelegs around his head and let out a long groan.

"Wow. What is you problem?" Dash asked, very taken aback by the second outburst.

"Ooooh, no problem here, uh, Miss Dash! Thank you for coming by to point out the obvious, but your services are no longer required! So just," Seamless waved a hoof at the wall. "Show yourself out if you would, thanks."

"Oh no, I am staying right here. I'm here to repay you...repay a debt to the mare who saved your flank, and as far as she's concerned, MY flank! So, you're stuck with me for the time being. Now what was with you screaming when you heard my name? Do you know me?"

Seamless was glad the bandages covered his head, otherwise his blush would have been very visible. "Ahem...uh no, I just, uh recognize you from the cafe earlier...Might be a little, uh, embarrassed is all. I'm sorry about all that by the way."

"You mean yesterday. You were hurt yesterday. F-from what I was told anyway."

"I was out all night?"

"Yes, and it's really not me you need to be apologizing to, it's my friend Pinkie Pie. And while you're at it, you need to apologize to Phillipé, the waiter at the restaurant!"

"Oh." Seamless pondered around in his head a moment. "She must mean that annoying mare...great... Well, I'll uh, get on that, as soon as I feel better."

"Good. Glad to hear it. Now, since I'm here for the time being, is there anything I can get you? Maybe a bit of water?"

Seamless smacked his lips. "Yeah I am a bit thirsty, but I think the only water faucet is outside behind the shop."

Dash huffed and went outside to search for the faucet. While outside, Seamless tried getting up. As soon as he got a few inches up a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him, sending him back down to the pillow. "Well, I'm going nowhere fast. But damn, I HAVE to get away from her. I can't believe she hasn't figured out who I am. But...I think I have no choice, I AM stuck with her. I guess as long as my head is wrapped up and I keep my robe or cloak on to hide my back, she won't recognize me. And...maybe I can get her to trust me, so if she DOES find out who I am...

He turned his attention from his thoughts as Dash reentered the room. "All I could find for drinking was this bucket...um, it was full of, well...anyway it's clean." She said.

She held the bucket in front of his head and helped him take a long drink, Seamless moaning in pleasure a bit from the cool liquid in his throat. "Oh...thank you, I needed that." He licked his lips, moistening his dry lips.

"No problem. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

An idea popped into Seamless' head. "Actually yes, can you hand me my saddle bag?"

Dash picked them up and plopped them in Seamless' lap. He grunted a small thanks and began rummaging through them. Albeit, blind, Seamless managed to identify everything he grabbed, "Hmmm no. Is this...no that's too small, must be the mouthwash. Oh here we go." He took a long drink from a bottle before Dash could react. He spit it out, scraping his tongue on his hoof. "Nope...that's my spare ink."

Dash stifled a snort of laughter but not well enough. "Oh find that funny do you featherbrain?" That seemed to suppress the laughter down to a chuckle at least. Finally after rummaging around for another minute, he found what he was looking for. A small plastic box, and a large silver flask. As soon as he had the flask in his hooves, he opened it up.

Dash looked at him worriedly. "Hey are you sure that's such a good idea? You being...injured...and..."

Her sentence dropped short as she watched him tilt his head back and drain a good quarter of the large flask in a single swallow. "Ahhh, that really gets rid of that water taste." He looked towards Rainbow Dash's general direction and held the flask out to her. "Care for a wee dram?"

She scratched her head nervously. "I don't know, I don't um, drink a lot..."

He laughed and shook the flask towards her. "Oh go on, you have sounded like nothing but a nervous wreck since I woke up. It'll help you relax."

She hesitated but, not seeing the harm in it, took the flask and tipped her head back, taking a small shot. She shuddered as the warm amber liquid spilled down her throat, and a little down her chin. "UGH! What is that? And how can you slam it down like that?" She groaned in slight disgust, wiping her chin.

Seamless laughed so hard it made his head hurt more. "Ohhh... Well, practice makes perfect! And it's scotch whisky. Glenfurlong, a good 13 years old. Go ahead, take another."

She stared at the flask. Her stomach and tongue said no, but her brain overrode them, so she took another, larger shot. This time it went down a little easier, and it all managed to get into her mouth this time. "Actually, it's not that bad." she said with a cough. Seamless simply smiled and and held out the little box.

"What's that? Dash asked.

"It's a little hoofheld radio." He gave it to Dash. "Think you could tune this to the Wonderbolt's race?"

"C'mon Fluttershy, please? It would only be for a week at the most, and it would just be the same as helping out an injured animal, help him eat and drink, and change his bandage everyday. Maybe give him an ibuprofen once in a while too." Twilight paused to take a sip of the tea Fluttershy had made her. She glanced over at Spike, still sleeping in the sun, a half eaten painite he managed to find along the way still clutched in his claw.

"I don't know Twilight, He was just so rude to Phillipé yesterday, I just don't know if could..."

"Well, what if he just had a really bad day? I can't imagine somepony could be THAT rude all the time. But the point being is that I'm really busy this week helping the Princess, and you're the only other pony that would know how to take care of him. All-in-all it might only be until he wakes up. He wasn't exactly carrying small amounts of bits when I found him, so he could probably afford to hire a nurse."

Fluttershy stared at her cup of tea. Twilight could see her mind whirring with possible reasons not to do it. She nearly had given up all hope until she drank the rest of her tea in one gulp, looked at Twilight with a sigh and said softly, "okay, I'll do it."

"...and here comes Soarin on the outside, taking the lead! He's now followed by Charming 'The Lightning' Flash, who is right on his fetlocks, and two lengths behind is the rest of the pack, Spitfire at the head, not letting anypony get by her, half a length behind her is Jet Charger, then Curly Cloud, Swan Victory, Bright Obsidian and taking up the rear is Limaceous Lee! And here we come into the final stretch of this winding track, Lightning Flash coming back up beside Soarin, they're neck and neck, and here they come to the finish line and it's...! Oh my Celestia folks it's a photo finish, they were so close! And behind in third is Wonderbolt's Captain, Spitfire, still fighting back the other ponies as she crosses the finish line! Behind her in order it's Jet Charger, Swan Victory, Curly Cloud, Bright Obsidian, and as usual in the back of the pack, is Limaceous Lee! Poor, poor, Limaceous lee, will he ever win a race? And here we go, the results are in! Oh WOW, Soarin wins buy less than a nose, a mere two inches!"

The rest of the commentary on the radio was drowned out by Rainbow Dash and Seamless screaming in joy over the winner. Whisky splashed everywhere, unnoticed by the already inebriated Dash, and the blind Seamless.

"...'So I just pushed myself as hard as I could, imagining that delicious pie flying right ahead of Mr. Flash. I tell you I've never been more hungry for pie than I am right now, so if you would excuse me...' Thank you Soarin for that...insightful comment. Up next, we'll have Spitfire explaining her team strategy for today, then we'll have a word with Blazing Saddles Captain, Charming 'The Lightning' Flash, but that's all for me for today. This is Bryan Furlong, handing the microphone off to my co-conspirator, Mr. Sam Reinick...

Seamless switched the radio off, unable to hear it over Rainbow Dash still ranting and raving over the win. "Hey Dash!, DAAAAASH! YOOHOO! Equestria to Rainbow Dash!"

"Omigosh! I just can't belieeeve it! This is like...Soarin's three hundreth win...or something...but, ooh, lemme get that from you!" She snatched up the tipped over flask next to Seamless and rectified that by draining it. "Mmm, s'good. Anyways."

"Dash!"

"Hmm? Oh yes, Mister, uhhh Potato?" She said a smirking grin spread upon her face.

"I think you've had enough."

She looked down at the flask, then back up at Seamless. "S'good thing this is empty then!" She burst out in a fit of giggles.

Seamless rolled his eyes under the bandaged. "Still a bloody lightweight." He chuckled inside.

Dash gasped through her laughter and rose up, her face flushed from alcohol and lack of air. "OH! Ohohoh! I almost forgot, I wanted to ask you! Um...hold on, I think I forgot."

Seamless sighed and waited. After a minute, he thought maybe she had passed out, so he cleared his throat.

"Huh?" He heard from the floor. "Oh, yeah, right. I wanted to *HIC* ...s'cuze me. I wanted to ask you, why are you so mean?"

"What? What are you talking about?" he asked, despite knowing exactly what she meant.

"Oh please, Cherry! You were so rude yesterday! You really hurt Pinkie Pie's feelings. She only wanted to be friends with you, so just, why?"

"Well, I don't know. A lot of shit has been on my plate recently."

"No, that's not a good enough excuse! That's...Unacceptamal!"

"You mean... never mind. Seriously though, I didn't MEAN to act so badly, she just kind of crept up on me. I was walking into town and BOOM, there she was! Right in my face talking about how I'm a spy or something."

"Well, that IS Pinkie Pie." Dash said with a wave of her hoof. "As long as you say you're sorry, she'll be okay. But what about Phillipé? He did nothing wrong."

"Um." Seamless couldn't think of a good reason why. "He was just, uh, he had. Um, well that is to say, he was...had just caught me at a bad time. Like I said, I haven't been having a good week, or month so far."

"Or a good four years, to be exact." He kept that thought to himself.

"Well, I hope it starts getting better, because you are really mean when you're grumpy."

"Heh, yeah." Seamless scrambled around for a change in subject. "So uh, about yesterday. Sorry to eavesdrop, but you said you knew that guy on the front page of my newspaper?"

Dash's inebriated joy died at those words, and a dark face replaced the one of drunken stupor. "Oh. Him"

She wobbled into a standing position, and balanced herself as best she could. "I can't believe you don't know him. I mean, sure you're not a pegasus , but he's pretty famous. You've never heard of Hem & Seam Inc? I mean, you like the Wonderbolts, so you had to have heard of about them."

Seamless scratched his head for a fake view of uncertainty. "Um, can't say I have. I don't follow the races all that much anymore."

"Huh... Anyway, Hem & Seam do, or at least did all of the uniforms for the Wonderbolts. Pretty good stuff too. Heck they were the first to make a fabric to keep you dry and warm, without magic at all!"

"Sheen polyester fiber," Seamless said under his breath.

"What was that? Uh, never mind." Dash shook some to the drunk from her head before continuing. "But this guy, Seamless, and his dad were pretty smart. Coming out with new uniforms every couple of months, each one so much cooler than the others. And they did a lot of fancy stuff, like dresses and tuxedos. But Seamless' dad died about a year and a half ago, and since then he's kinda been, well an idiot."

"How so?" Seamless pressed on, wanting to hear her view.

"Well I guess, and I don't know much, since I kind of skip over news about Seamless, he was getting drunk a lot. Did some really stupid things. There was this one story about a celebration party for the Wonderbolts last year, and he did something so stupid even the Princesses wanted it all hush-hush."

Seamless thought back to that night and chuckled inside. "But what about this guy? How do you know him?"

Dash stared at him, trying to figure out why he was so interested. In her current state however, this was all but impossible. "Well...are you sure you want to hear about this? It's not a great story, and..."

"No no, please, do tell! I'm not going anywhere, and I'm out of whisky anyway, so I don't know, tell me a story."

"Okay..." Dash plopped back down on the floor and tapped a hoof on her chin, thinking back.

DRAMATIC FLASHBACK SEQUENCE INITIATED!