Hours passed, and Rainbow continued to cry out for somepony to help her. It was as if the dark water was expecting her to fall and drown. Whenever Sir came by, he just looked at her and laughed. How could any living being be so cruel?
One It was nice to her, though. It would look around, then slip her a slice of bread through the holes in the net. It would smile at her, but not like Sir. A warm, sad smile, like he wanted to help her, but couldn't. Then he would walk away.
One time when he did this, Rainbow looked up at him with her sad, magenta eyes, and silently begged it to help her. Then it said something to her. "My name is Brandon."
"Rainbow Dash," she whispered back, and he smiled and nodded slightly. Brandon, the cyan pegasus smiled at him as he walked away.
The reason why she was so terrified while in the net was because pegasi didn't swim. It wasn't in her DNA. She couldn't get her wing feathers wet or she couldn't fly until they dried. But she was especially scared. She couldn't swim. Even pegasi learned to swim and cope with wet feathers, but Rainbow had never learned. She always made an excuse to why she couldn't swim, like she was pooped from cloud-busting and needed to catch some Zs, or she was freezing and didn't want to go in. Which was silly, because pegasi don't feel cold. Twilight had once given her a lecture about pegasus magic, but Rainbow had filed it under "Egghead stuff".
When Brandon ever came by, she would beg him to help her. But he would look around nervously and whisper "I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't." And then he would walk away before any other Its could catch him.
When Sir came by after hours of this, Brandon walked up to him and whispered something in his shriveled up ear on the side of his head. Sir nodded, then ordered Brandon to lift up the net! He obeyed, and put Rainbow into a cage again, but a bigger one this time. He put in fresh cloth, clean water, and actual food in the little bowls. Right before he put Rainbow in it, he saw the dirty rags binding her broken leg. He got fresh ones and gently wrapped the pony's leg.
Then he spotted her wings.
He let out a small yelp of surprise, but Rainbow shoved a hoof in his mouth before it got any unwanted attention. She brought the other one over hers, and he nodded. She gently unwrapped the bandages with her mouth and unfurled the feathered limbs. It hurt, but she did it until they were fully out.
"You're... you're a pegasus," Brandon whispered.
"Yes," Rainbow replied. "Only the fastest flier in ALL of Equestria," she added, holding her chin up.
"You're a pegasus," the human said in wonder.
"Uh... you said that already. What's the big deal? There are tons of pegasi in Equestria," Rainbow was starting to act like her old self now. "Unless my awesomeness makes you so stunned you can't talk."
"Oh..." he swooned, like he was going to faint. Rainbow noticed Sir giving them stern glances. She tucked her wings and backed into the cage before he could come over and question Brandon.
"Dude!" she hissed. "Get your act together!"
"Right," he said, finally coming to his senses.
He bound Rainbow's broken wings with fresh cloth and shut the cage door. In this cage, Rainbow could stand up if she hunched over just slightly and she could walk around if she pulled it really tight.
"Yes, much better, isn't it?" asked Discord. He had appeared again.
"You," Rainbow was fuming. It was his idea that got her stranded in the net in the first place!
"Me," he said casually. "I see you just made a new human friend."
"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Rainbow snapped. She was sick and tired of him ruining her life with his stupid riddles and pranks. He was supposed to be good now!
"It's my idea that got you his sympathy, and he will help you later on," Discord replied with a smirk.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Rainbow sounded like a spoiled filly, but she didn't care. "You're supposed to be good!"
"Oh, I didn't do this! This is destiny!" he mused. "I'm just helping you so you'll survive. It may seem like bad advice now, but it'll do you good in the long run!"
"Then, if you want to help me so much, why do you keep speaking in riddles?" she asked.
"Sorry, you already asked you're question!" Discord smiled, then disappeared.
"DISCORD!!!" Rainbow howled to the sky. The question thing had seemed like a good thing when he first announced it, but now it was driving her CRAZY! The Its were looking at her funny, and she realized they couldn't see the draqonicus. Just as well, thought the pegasus. If they think I'M weird, then Celestia knows what they'd do if they saw something like DISCORD.
Now that she was out of the net, she started thinking about the riddle again. She was glad she had Brandon to watch her back now. It may seem like bad advice now, but it'll do you good in the long run! Discord's words kept coming back to her.
Did that mean that Brandon would save her life?