Rainbow Dash laid awake that night.
She just couldn't get over it. She had nearly died and had been rescued by a colt no one had ever seen, doing a move nopony had ever done before.
Who was he? How did he do it?
She laid there until morning, with only those thoughts circling in her mind.
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Lucky might have been happy yesterday, but he certainly wasn't happy now.
Everything was stiff and sore. It hurt to breath.
His wings were definitely the worse. Every two minutes or so, he forced his head up so he could check and make sure his wings were still there. It felt like they had been chopped off.
He groaned. He was still glad of his accomplishment, but the pain was taking all the fun out of it. He wondered if he should get up at all today. But that was a dumb question; of course he had to. His father would be up soon, and if he was still in the house....
He hauled himself to his feet, wincing with every movement. He stumbled down the stairs, nearly tripping. He snapped his wings open in panic, and instantly regretted it. His eyes teared up as twin bolts of agony shot through his back. He breathed in sharply and made his way to the door, wondering if he'd ever be able to fly again.
Cloudsdale was fairly empty at the moment. He was glad of that. Usually, he'd attract attention, and not the good kind like yesterday. Lucky had a certain....demonic quality to him. His mane and coat were nothing to stare at; his coat was olive green and his mane was black, with thick bangs that covered his eyes. His eyes were on of the first things ponies usually noticed about him. One was a icy grey, but the other was an odd shade of pink. That was his fathers fault. He had once poured bleach into Lucky's eye as a punishment. Miraculously, his eye still functioned normally, but it was still pink.
His teeth were the next negative point. They were long and pointed. That, along with his snake-like tongue and mis-matched eyes, generally sent ponies trotting to the other side of the street. He didn't really blame them, he scared himself sometimes by getting a glimpse of himself in the mirror. But still, it'd be nice if they weren't so obvious about it.
His stomach growled impatiently, reminding him that the tank was empty. He started looking around for something to swipe. He immediately caught the scent of apple pie. Some foolish pony had left it on the window sill to cool.
Score.
He slowly wandered to the target, giving the air of complete innocence. He scanned the streets. Was anypony there? No? Good.
He seized his prey and vanished into a sidestreet. He was about to enjoy his prize when a female voice cried out "Stop! Thief!"
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Rainbow Dash was up bright and early. Having gotten no sleep, it was easy to pop right out of bed and start her morning. Today was Saturday. She had the whole day to herself! And of course, she knew just what she was going to do today.
She was going to find her rescuer.
After gobbling down her breakfast, she eagerly trotted outside, ready to find her savior. The streets were quite empty. Maybe he'd be out here! He seemed a bit shy. This would be the perfect time for him to be out and about. She walked from street to street, but found nopony.
Until she reached Mane Street.
She watched in horror as the tall green colt stole the pie. He ran away as quick as he could, which wasn't very fast at all. He looked rather stiff.
This was a thief! This was her chance to be a hero! She flew quickly after him into a sidestreet, and just as he was about to take a bite, she yelled " Stop! Thief!"
He jumped, startled. He tried to run, but he obviously was sore. She lunged at him a little too quickly, and sent them both flying into a wall. She stumbled back, stunned. The thief fell to the floor, out cold. She regained her balance and surveyed the scene in front of her. Her first objective was to return the pie. She carried it back and placed it back on the sill, before returning her attention to the thief.
He was just coming around when she returned. She froze as his eyes focused on her. He groaned and struggled to get up, but he fell back on his side when he tried.
Rainbow could never really place the feeling she felt that day. She finally tagged it somewhere between fate and pity. She thought there was a name for it, but she never found it. But as she stared down at him, she suddenly knew she couldn't rat him out. Nor could she leave him there.
She knelt next to him. He stared back at her, defiance overriding the fear she could see hiding in his eyes. She reached out to him, and he shrank back. Gently, more gentle than she had ever been before, she laid her hoof on the back of his head. He flinched and shut his eyes tightly, obviously expecting to be hurt, but no blow ever came. Instead, he got a question: "Are you alright?"
He simply stared at her, confused. He obviously was expected a hit. But she didn't want to hit him.
He shyed away from her touch. "Hey, it's okay." she comforted. "I'm not gonna hurtcha."
She tried to touch him again, but he snapped at her hooves with his surprisingly sharp teeth. She yelped and drew back. He staggered to his feet and started to slowly back away, glaring at her the whole time. She fluttered forward slowly, then suddenly shot up and over him, holding him down. He wailed and struck out angrily, but he was in no condition to fight. The moment he stopped squirming, she picked him up and started carrying him off. "It's okay." she assured him. "Quit fighting and let me help you."
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Lucky decided it was probably best to listen to the filly. He was too sore to move now, and she was quite strong, for somepony so tiny. At least she wasn't taking him to jail. At least, he thought so.
Time crawled by, and he was starting to doze off when the filly said "Here we are! My private fort!"
It wasn't much to look at, just your standard little shed with a small fence around it. But he wasn't going to say anything, of course. Better than going to jail, after all.
It wasn't much better on the inside. There was some balls and a baseball bat in one corner, a Wonderbolts costume in the other, and a beanbag in the last. She helped him onto the beanbag and disappeared somewhere.
He just laid there, unwilling to move. He laughed a bit bitterly. This beanbag was softer than his bed. Just went to show how crappy his life was.
He fell asleep, waiting for her to return.