//------------------------------// // A Tale of Two Ponies // Story: Nubs // by Ghostly Glow //------------------------------// Lucky Roll sat awake all that night. Tonight was THE night. The one where everything in his foalhood went wrong. Granted, it never went well in the first place, but it had gotten better. For a little. But then THE night happened, and everything went downhill quicker than a Sonic Rainboom. He shuddered at that thought. Sonic Rainboom. That was her move. It had once been his; though there was no rainbow at the end. He remembered teaching it to her. How proud he was when she finally pulled it off, when she finally got her cutie mark.... Now the memory left a bitter pang in his heart. He sighed, and tried to sleep on his other side. The move was useless. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight. He knew it. Slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He stared into the darkness that currently inhabited his RV. He hopped nimbly out from under the blankets and walked to the door, tripping a little over discarded items in the process. It was cold in the carpark, but he brushed it off. He made a mental note to order a portable heater; maybe that would make it better. Buying it wouldn't be an issue, he was making thousands of bits at this very moment. His band was a sensation, just as he knew it would be. How could it not? He had spent years trying to track down highly talented ponies, and this was the payoff. He pushed open the hallway door and into the slightly warmer walls of King Studio. This was his paradise. Normally he'd say it was their paradise, but he owned this place. He just let the others live here, a fact he never let them forget. Sure, this place was run-down and infested with zomnies and demons and restless spirits, but it was still home. But he wasn't really reflecting on that right now. He mechanically walked down the halls, up many stairs, and finally onto the roof. He stared across the trash heap and graveyard that made up the front lawn, and let himself get lost in memories. Memories of her. His Crashie. The only mare he had honestly loved. He was left alone for a while, unwary of what was happening around him. The soft click of hoofsteps brought him back to reality. He didn't need to look behind him, he knew it was his guitarist. P2 was too much of a klutz to move so quietly, and Backbeat was quite heavy. It could only be Spaghetti. She sat next to him, silent. She knew something was wrong, but she also knew that Lucky didn't like to admit weakness of any sort. It was best to wait until he was ready to talk. Otherwise he'd get too defensive. He glanced back at her, silently acknowledging her presence. He liked the little filly, though he'd never admit it. There was always a silent understanding that ran between them. They weren't sure how to classify their bond. It was just there, and both parties appreciated it. Finally, she broke the silence, unable to contain her concern anymore. "Are you alright, Lucky-San?" she enquired. He smiled faintly at the sound of her voice. He'd always found it sort of cute. He rather liked Nieghpanese accents. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about waking you up, kiddo." he responded. She weighed his words, and knew they weren't true. He was too quiet, and he never apologized on something so trivial. His deep, scratchy rasp had a shaky quality to it that she'd never heard before. Something was definitely troubling him. "Want to talk about it?" she asked. He sighed, chuckling a little. You couldn't hide anything from her. "It's not a very pretty story..." he mumbled. She leaned against him, ignoring his stench of sweat, booze, and smoke. "Tell me." she insisted. "Well, it's really the story of how I got my wings and horn." he stated, gesturing to the huge set of dragon wings he sported, and the large, jagged horn that had sprouted through his forehead. "It was pretty long ago, back when I was colt, 'bout your age, but twice your size..." he began. ******************** About ten miles away, deep in the heart of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash sat on the roof of her friend Fluttershy's house. Rainbow had tried to sleep earlier, and found she couldn't. Tonight was THE night. The night of the most horrible thing she had done to anypony. The night she had betrayed her love, just because he had been crippled. Because her other friends demanded it. "I....I don't know what got into me, Shy. I'm supposed to be the element of loyalty. How could I do that to somepony? Especially somepony I cared so much about." she whispered. "He was the pony who needed me most... His mom was dead, his drunken father always abused him, his brother just sat back and let it happen... I was supposed to help him. But I ended up hurting him more than his dad ever did. It was my fault he got in that accident in the first place." Fluttershy was silent. She didn't know what say. In an act of trying to comfort her crying friend, she hugged her tightly. Rainbow didn't return the favor, but it was obvious she was grateful. They sat together in silence for a bit, waiting for the tears to stop. "You...you know...telling somepony about what you did could make you feel better....i-if you want to, that is." Fluttershy said softly. "I-I can't." Rainbow sobbed. "What would you think of me then?" "Nothing different." Fluttershy assured her. "We've all done some bad things in our time, but that doesn't make us bad ponies. What's important is to move on, but you can't if you have all these nasty feelings in you. So tell me. I hate to see you like this, and I just know it will make you feel better." Rainbow Dash sniffed, feeling ashamed of herself. This wasn't like her. She was never weak like this. But even after all this time, this still hurt so bad.... "Promise you won't think of me differently." she demanded. "I promise." "All....all right. I'll tell you." Dashie sighed, steeling herself up for the onslaught of painful memories that were sure to come. "This was back when I was in flight school..." she began.