Tough luck Part one: Rough Beginnings
The house was dark; papers were in piles over everything imaginable, wires ran across the floor and the lights of machines flickered on and off. A young pegasus by the name of Tough Luck was sleeping in her bed. Her coat was a light brown, her mane and tail were light blue. Her front hooves were bruised and swollen; ever since she was little her front legs were quite fragile and underdeveloped. If she was careless she could really hurt herself, which she did constantly. She was also blind her left eye, her cutie mark was, strange, ever since she got it as a filly she never knew what it was. This was mostly due to the fact that she could only see about half of it. She sat up with a yawn and felt around for the light switch. She didn’t like being woken up early, but that didn’t stop the pony that was knocking at the door.
"I really need to work on that automatic light switch." she yawned, living on her own was fun, if a little difficult at times. She was a scientist first and foremost. She was living off one of her favourite inventions, the street lamp. Both Princess Celestia and Luna thought the invention was incredible and gave Tough Luck enough money to live comfortably for most of her life. It was nice to be able to pursue her own interests from time to time, with various experiments and jobs at the castle paying for her rent. When she wasn't in the hospital at any rate. Curse her bad luck.
Eventually she found the light switch, a quick movement of her right hoof turned the lights on. A small cracking sound made Tough Luck wince in pain; she had another fracture in her right hoof thanks to her careless movement. Moving very slowly she reached for one of her leg braces. Feeling around her bed very slowly she eventually found what she thought was her brace. Hard to tell though it just appeared to be a grayish blob because of her left eye. She started attaching the brace while taking care not to break part of her leg any further.
Whoever was at the door was knocking again and much more frantically. Tough Luck cleared her throat and yelled “Just A minute,” and continued to get out of bed. Getting out of bed was another challenge however, since her room was covered in papers, wires, and quite a few unfinished projects, she had to take special care not to hurt herself getting out of bed. As she moved her left hoof landed on a particularly slick stack of papers, stifling her own screams she lay on the ground with her left hoof being broken.
In the commotion she managed to find a syringe with a very strong painkiller in it. Shaking in pain she injected herself with the medicine and proceeded to get her other brace on. Walking was no longer an option so she started to fly, something she never liked doing because of her impaired vision. After several minutes of careful maneuvering she managed to get downstairs. The knocking started up again; this time Tough Luck was there to greet whoever decided to come calling.
She gripped her door with her mouth and opened it with a small creak, a chain kept the door from opening all the way. She stepped back upon seeing her guest. A unicorn and a royal guard at that, a royal guard showing up at your door was almost never good.
Tough Luck looked irritated and said “is there a problem?’ the guard looked concerned and answered rather quickly “ma’am I received a noise complaint yesterday, and when I knocked on your door I heard a commotion. What’s going on in your house?”
Tough Luck sighed, “yesterday I slipped and hurt myself , and this morning when you woke me up, I slipped and broke my left hoof.” "At least I’m not in too much trouble,” she thought to herself.
Taken aback he said, “I’m very sorry ma’am, do you need to go to a hospital?”
With a smile Tough Luck said, “I’m fine for a while, I used a painkiller, would you like to come inside for some tea?”
“No thank you on the tea, I would like to come in to make sure your home is safe, then I’m going to take you to a hospital.” He said very seriously.
Tough Luck sighed and said “Fine, but it might take awhile.” She unhooked her door and opened it for the guard “so what’s your name sir?”
Carefully stepping over the mess in Tough Luck’s house he said, “Private Saving Grace ma’am, is your entire house like this?”
Sheepishly Tough Luck said, “Yeah I need to clean up the place” Why was she so embarrassed, her disorganization never bothered her before, so why now? He was a royal guard, which was usually a reason for embarrassment, so it was probably the reason. She took a better look at her guest with her good eye; he wasn't unattractive by any means. His coat was a dark brown color from what she could tell, the same with his mane. His armor was standard issue so it covered most of his body.Her good eye was drawn to his cutie mark, which was a cape. A cape, and nothing else from what she could see.
The stallion walked through the house and immediately tripped on stray wires sending him head first into the couch. “I’ve seen enough” Saving Grace said as he picked himself up from the couch, “we’re going to the hospital now, and I’ll try to send somepony over to clean this place up while we’re there.”
“But I’m fine” Tough Luck said as she flew right into a big pile of papers and fell to the ground with an audible thud. “Okay maybe the hospital is a good idea after all,” she said slowly wobbling to her feet.
“Let’s go then, and stay close to me. I don’t trust your eyesight,” Saving Grace said.
With an annoyed tone Tough Luck said, “Well if you don’t trust my eyes I have a cart outside we can use.”
“Good, get in and let’s go,” Saving Grace said as he left the house.
With a sigh Tough Luck said, “let me get a pillow or two for my legs, and I’ll be right out” as she slowly flew up to her room. “Why am I so flustered, he’s not even that good looking of a stallion” she grabbed the window with her mouth, opened it, grabbed two pillows and flew down to meet Saving Grace. With a sigh she said, “Let’s go.”
A short while later Tough Luck was riding in the back of the cart with Saving Grace pulling it. The pair was barely moving because of the crowded streets. They made almost no headway for several hours, both of the ponies were getting impatient.
“Can’t we go any faster?” Tough Luck said “I was wanting to get this over with as soon as possible”
“I can’t do anything about the crowd ma’am,” Saving Grace replied sounding annoyed. “If your eyesight was better we’d be there by now, rather than stuck here in traffic.”
“Oh is that all well then fine I’ll just fly up and get there myself” Tough Luck replied sarcastically “Oh wait I can’t because somepony decided that I had to sit on my rump and wait for him to pull me there. Stupid bad luck, why do I always have bad things happen to me? I mean it's not like...”
Her rant was cut short as she started doubling over in the cart causing Saving Grace to stumble. He turned around to see Tough Luck writhing around in the cart trying not to scream.
“Ma’am are you okay?”
“I AM NOT OKAY,” screamed Tough Luck, as the crowd around them parted. “MY PAINKILLERS HAVE WORN OFF SO MOVE IT YOU USELESS STALLION!”
They had no trouble making it to the hospital with Tough Luck screaming. Saving Grace plowed through the doors and yelled “GET ME A DOCTOR NOW!”
Anypony not already doing something was rushing to help Tough Luck. A nurse managed to calm her down enough to use a sedative as the carried her off to an examination room.
Several hours passed, Saving Grace had gotten in touch with his commanding officer Sergeant Phalanx Shield and explained the situation. He was given standing orders to keep an eye on Tough Luck. So he waited outside her room for several hours, until a nurse came to get him.
The nurse looked like she had been crying. Saving Grace was about to ask her about this when she said. “Mr. Grace? Ms. Luck is awake now, and she’d like to see you”
He stood up and walked into the room, Tough Luck was lying in a bed with both her front legs in casts. She looked at Saving Grace, smiled and said, “I see you met my sister Caring Soul”
“By Celestia could you take something seriously once in your life, you could have been in serious trouble!” Caring Soul shouted. “What if nopony was nearby when you painkillers wore off what would have happened then?”
Tough Luck just smiled and said, “nothing would have happened sis, you really need to lighten up.”
“Lighten up, how can I lighten up when you live by yourself and have serious physical issues! I tried to make Mom and Dad keep you at home, but no, ‘She’s old enough to live by herself’ or ‘she doesn’t need anypony’s help she’s a big girl’ and guess what I was right you do need somepony to at least keep you safe because you always end up here at least once a month!” Yelled her sister, “if it wasn’t for your friend here I don’t know what would’ve happened to you.”
Caring Soul was crying again as she turned around and ran out of the room, Saving Grace was left there dumbfounded at what had just happened. “Is she going to be okay ma’am?”
“Yeah she’ll be fine, and stop calling me ma’am it makes me sound old,” said Tough Luck with a big grin. “Call me Tough Luck, or Ms. Luck, just not ma’am, soldier colt.”
“Yes ma’am, I mean yes Ms. Luck” Saving Grace said with a sheepish grin.
Tough Luck just laughed, with Saving Grace joining in after a minute or two.
Not soon after that a doctor came in to give Tough Luck a check up. “So back here again Ms. Luck?” he said, “good to see you again Dr. Heart, same drill as last time?” Tough Luck replied with a grin.
“No actually I’m just going to skip to the part where I give you your medicine, leg braces, and a wheelchair out of here.” Dr. Heart sighed. “You really need to start being more careful, your sister has panic attacks whenever you come in here. It scares the other patients.”
“Well if my next project goes according to plan I won’t be needing visits anymore Doc.” She said with a grin “now I think I’m ready to leave, let’s go soldier colt.” She said motioning as best she could to Saving Grace.
“Please don’t call me that Ms. Luck” Saving Grace said with a sigh. “I’ll take you home then I’d better check in at the guard post.”
Two nurses came in with a wheelchair for Tough Luck; she was gently lowered in as she said, “why don’t we go there first? I’m in no hurry to get home.”
“Alright then lets get you in the cart, and we’ll go” He said with a smile.
The trip to the guard post was uneventful, the pair made much better time since the streets had calmed down. Saving Grace approached the guard post and said, “wait here I’ll just be a minute”
“I don’t think I can do anything else so make it quick, and if you see my dad say hi for me.” Tough Luck said with a smile. “His name’s … Oh hi dad.”
Saving Grace turned to see Sergeant Phalanx. He saluted and said “Sir, private Saving Grace reporting for duty, sir.”
The sergeant smiled and said, “At ease son, I see my daughter is safe and sound. Good work, but the orders I gave you earlier are still standing, please keep her safe.”
“I’m fine dad” Tough Luck said with a sigh “I can handle living by myself just fine”
“Of course you can,” he turned to look at Saving Grace “Still soldier you have your orders, keep her out of trouble and help her as best you can with her...” he paused and seemed to think of the best words to use “...experiments” he finished.
“You know I can hear you Dad,” said Tough Luck “and don’t worry I’ll definitely be able to handle myself after today.”
“Wait what ‘experiments’, what did you sign me up for sir?” Saving Grace said with a nervous grin.
“Even I don’t know,” Laughed the Sergeant, “you’ll be in for quite a ride that’s for sure.”
Before Saving Grace could do anything, Tough Luck said “Let’s go back now i have... stuff i need to do back at home, bye Dad say hi to Mom for me.”
“Bye sweetie, and good luck private,” her dad said before heading back into the guard post.
“Bye” Tough luck said as Saving Grace started moving saying “what have i gotten myself into?”
For a while the pair said nothing until Saving Grace Finally asked “What ‘experiments’ were you talking about back there?”
“Do you want the long version or the short version?” Tough Luck said with a small laugh.
“Short version please” Saving Grace said with a pant. He had been pulling the cart all day long and Tough Luck was not a light pony.
“Well i guess you could just say, robotic limbs and eye” Tough Luck said, “I’m almost ready to use it, i just need an assistant for the set up.”
“No I’m not helping you mutilate yourself” Saving Grace replied quickly
“Pleaaaase, it would really help me.” Tough Luck pleaded.
“No”
“Please”
“No”
“Then I’ll just tell my dad you abandoned me in a back alley” Tough Luck said smugly.
“Wha, no, that’s not fair,” Saving Grace stammered as he reached Tough Luck’s house.
“Well, what’ll it be soldier? Help me ‘mutilate’ myself or face the wrath of my mom, dad and sister.” the pegasus said smugly.
Defeated Saving Grace said, “Fine, you win.” he opened the door using his magic and lifted up Tough Luck and plopped her on his back. “What do I need to do?”
“Take me to the basement for starters,” Tough luck said with a giggle, “then we’ll go from there.”
It took Saving Grace a few minutes to navigate to the basement door and carry Tough Luck down the stairs. “Okay we made it” he coughed “What now”
“Get me onto that table over there” Tough Luck said, she sounded like she was trying really hard not to burst with excitement as Saving Grace lifted her onto the table. “Now get me those screwdrivers on the wall over there, that syringe, and some earplugs for yourself, and we should be good to go.” she said with a big grin.
“What’s in the syringe Ms. Luck? And what are the earplugs for?” Said Saving Grace as he was gathering the items with his magic.
“A very strong sedative Mr. Grace,” said tough luck as she started adjusting parts of the table with the screwdrivers “and the earplugs are for you, wouldn’t want you to be deaf now would we?”
“Well no, but won’t you need something for your ears?” Saving Grace
“I’ll be unconscious so it won’t bother me,” said Tough Luck while adjusting more parts on the table, until she said “Done, now for the sedative... It’s empty,” She sighed “did you grab the right needle Mr. Grace?”
“There was only the one needle, are you going to be okay Ms. Luck?” Saving Grace said with a very serious look on his face. “What about the medicine Dr. Heart gave you? could that help?
“That stuff is just a painkiller so it’ll help but i’d much rather be completely unconscious for this” Tough Luck said with a grimace. She sighed “oh well, we make do with what we can, go get it please.”
“I’ll be right back, don’t start it until I get back,” Saving Grace said as he trotted up the stairs.
Tough Luck sighed and adjusted her position so she’d be ready to start. She unfurled her wings and heard a small “click.” Bindings came out of the table to hold her in place, she must’ve accidentally turned on the machine! She screamed “Saving Grace HELP ME” but it was too late as the whirring of saws and drills made her unable to hear if he was coming or not.
Saving Grace came bursting through the door just to hear Tough Luck screaming in pain. He couldn’t move, he was petrified because of what he was looking at. He managed to muster up enough courage to go down to the table and inject the painkiller into Tough Luck.
He wobbled over to a corner and sat there unable to get the nerve to do anything. The process went on for what seemed like an eternity, with different guards, Tough Luck’s dad, and even Princess Celestia entering the house. All Saving Grace could do was cry “I’m sorry.”
Eventually it seemed like the nightmare had ended. Doctors confirmed that Tough Luck was alive, but barely. Princess Celestia took both her to the castle where she received medical attention.
Princess Celestia had a group of scientists go down to Tough Luck’s house to recover her equipment and notes. Saving Grace was dishonorably discharged from the royal guard by Sergeant Phalanx and left to wander the streets of Canterlot. He did this for a few days before being called back to the castle upon receiving the news of Tough Luck’s awakening.
Princess Celestia was waiting for him, in a comforting voice she said, “Ms. Luck wants to see you, it’s alright she’s not mad.” Saving Grace couldn’t find the courage to speak, so he walked alongside the princess in silence. They both walked to a secure medical suite just below the castle’s main floor. As the pair approached Tough Luck’s room princess Celestia said, “Her family has already left, so it will just be the two of you talking.”
For the first time in days Saving Grace smiled and said, “thank you your majesty” as he walked into the room where Tough Luck was resting.
Well, resting may not be the best term as she was running all around the room. Her appearance was very different, first off her front legs looked like they were solid metal. Her left eye was also different; it had a bright green glow to it with a bright purple gem inside of it. She had a bright red harness covering most of her body and a scar coming from her head down to her chest. She turned around and saw Saving Grace; she had a huge grin and flew straight at him.
“Where have you been you silly stallion, I missed you” she said as she hugged him. She took a good look at him and said “geez you look awful, what happened to you?”
Saving Grace sighed, “well your dad fired me for what happened to you, and I got evicted two days ago” he looked away “I haven’t been able to sleep either, I was so worried you’d died.” He turned back with tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t get there in time.”
Tough Luck slapped him “It’s not your fault you big idiot so stop crying.” She grinned, “It was just bad luck and besides everything worked out in the end.”
The door opened and Princess Celestia walked in, “I see you two are quite happy.” Her smile was replaced with a serious look as she turned to Tough Luck. “Ms. Luck while my scientists were trying to examine your equipment, an accident with a wire caused some papers to catch fire. They saved all the could but most of your notes and equipment were burned and are unusable.” She paused to let this sink in as she pulled out a stack of papers. “This was all they could save, I’m very sorry Ms. Luck.”
Tough Luck just sat there staring at the papers for a few minutes as Celestia left. Saving Grace sat there with her until she stood up and started pacing around the back wall. Saving Grace said, “Are you alright Ms. Luck?” as he stood up.
“I am not alright, years of my life are gone now thanks to careless scientists poking around my house.” She screamed. She turned to face the back wall, “I feel like just hitting something.” So she did just that, with her metallic hoof she hit the wall with all her might, causing it to cave in on itself revealing a cave.
Saving Grace was shocked at the sight of Tough Luck’s strength and stared at her as she flew down into the cavern ranting incoherently. “Wait for me!” he yelled as he ran after her.
Little did they know what they were going to get themselves involved in.
