As Rainbow led the way out of the alley, she quickly took notice of her new friend's ragged appearance. Her coat was stained with dust and dirt, and Rainbow recoiled as the stale scent of blood wafted over her nostrils. "Hey, Ditzy," she whispered, unfurling a wing and gently touching the tip to her shoulder. "When's the last time you bathed?" Her muzzle scrunched up slightly, and Ditzy's ears fell backwards.
"Oh, I..." Ditzy cringed at memories of the cramped tub in the upstairs bathroom of her house, and the skin on her back crawled as she felt the coarse brush scrubbing her, tearing open old wounds; the soap seeping into them and stinging like fire; the powerful blast of water in her face, alternating between boiling and freezing. "It's been awhile," she finally said with a shudder.
Rainbow frowned, nudging her forward a few steps. "Well, let's go to my house, and you can--" She trailed off as she remembered something, slapping a hoof to her face. "Oh shoot, we can't... I'm grounded." She smiled sheepishly at Ditzy's blank stare. "I'm not even supposed to be here."
"Oh, I don't wanna get you in trouble or anything..."
"Psh, are you kidding? Trouble's my middle name!" Rainbow thumped her chest with a hoof. "Yep, that's me, Rainbow Trouble Dash! C'mon, we'll just find a few rainclouds and you'll be all cleaned up in no time."
Ditzy followed after her, limping slightly as she cast a worried glance over her shoulder at the imposing figure of her house. "O-Okay," she murmured.
Rainbow sped from one patch of clouds to the next, plucking pieces of the fluff from certain areas. She had soon gathered a sizeable lump of dark grey clouds, and with a single flap of her wings she thrust herself on top. "Get under there," she commanded. Ditzy crept underneath and braced herself as Rainbow began bouncing on the clouds, eventually dumping a torrent of lukewarm water over the grey mare. Ditzy occasionally flinched as hardened flecks of blood were stripped from her fur, but she soon relaxed under the soothing stream. This was much better than she remembered!
After a few moments, the water slowed to a trickle and Rainbow kicked the mass of clouds to the side. Before she could react, Ditzy crouched down and rapidly shook herself off, flicking her mane and tail in a wide arc to throw off the excess moisture. Ditzy brushed her mane out of her face to reveal a very irritated Rainbow Dash, soaked to the skin and blinking water from her eyes.
"Oops, I'm sorry..." Ditzy shrank back under Rainbow's sharp glare, but it soon softened and Rainbow cracked a grin.
"No biggie." Rainbow approached Ditzy and teasingly rubbed her head on the grey pony's neck to dry herself off, then pulled away and began walking towards a cluster of small shacks down the road. "C'mon, Ditzy!"
Ditzy's lips curled up in a small smile as she followed, soon arriving at the town square. Rainbow led her to a certain shop situated along the edge of the square, where a stallion stared wide-eyed at the approaching blue pegasus.
"Okay, Dash, now you're really starting to worry me." He held a hoof to his forehead, sighing quietly. "I mean, you were just here, like, two hours ago! Any more sweets and you won't be able to fly home!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes and held out a hoof in front of the mare beside her. "This is Ditzy Doo. We would like two more muffins, please." The clerk's mouth formed an o as he turned and retrieved two more specially-made muffins from the stocks.
"Nice to meet you, Ditzy," he said as he handed the two their treats. "What happened to your wing, kid?"
Rainbow jerked in surprise. How in Equestria did I forget about that?! She glanced sideways and saw Ditzy's calm smile grow uneasy.
"Oh, um... I fell," she admitted. Down a flight of stairs, her mind added bitterly.
"Yikes, that looks kinda nasty," he observed. "You sure you're alright? Need to see a doctor or anything?"
"Oh, no, I'm okay," Ditzy insisted. "I'm just a bit hungry." To prove her point, she immediately stuffed the entire muffin into her mouth, chewing slowly both in order to savor the flavor and because the muffin was much larger and denser than she anticipated. Sensing that she wouldn't be saying anything for awhile, Rainbow uttered a quick farewell and pulled Ditzy across the square under the concerned gazes of passersby.
"Ditzy, maybe we should go to a doctor. Your wing does look pretty messed up." Her stomach turned over as she inspected the mangled mass of feathers clumped on the grey mare's back.
Ordinarily, Ditzy would have agreed wholeheartedly, but her entire focus was taken by the prospect that she, the "worthless filly freak," had a friend! Ditzy shook her head vigorously, swallowing hard to finish off her second breakfast. "No way! I can do that some other time. For now let's do something fun!" Upon seeing Rainbow's dubious expression, she lowered her head slightly. "Please?"
"Well..." Rainbow rubbed her chin carefully. "Okay. But if it starts hurting again, we're going straight to the hospital!"
"Fine." Ditzy was beginning to notice the odd looks she was receiving from the patrons perusing the shops, and she folded up her wings self-consciously--although her left wing still somewhat appeared a jumbled mess of feathers. She winced at the pain spearing her side, but forced a bright smile onto her muzzle. "So, what are we gonna do now?"
"Hmm..." Rainbow looked at each of the shops nearby. "Normally I'd suggest a race, but I guess that's a bust." Ditzy glanced back at her folded appendages once more, painfully trying to flatten the mangled wing against her side. "How about we visit that toy shop? I've actually never checked the place out."
Ditzy perked up at the question. "Toys? I haven't seen a toy in... well, almost... I dunno, a really long time." She stared past Rainbow at said shop, her eyes glimmering with anticipation. "Let's go!"
Rainbow watched the young mare's awkward gait across the square with a mix of amusement and sympathy. Even though flying was more than enough to occupy her, she had still enjoyed the occasional toy or game as a filly. However, if her behavior and injury were any indication, Ditzy had grown up without either. With a small shake of the head, she trotted over to the toy store where Ditzy was browsing through a collection of stuffed animals. As she had no interest in buying a toy for herself--okay, perhaps just a little interest--Rainbow turned to watch the other ponies milling about the market.
She recognized a few frequent customers that stopped by the muffin stand, but as her gaze swept over the entrance to the square, a stallion with a red coat and jet-black mane strolled in. She had never seen him before, yet something about him struck her as familiar... She couldn't quite put her hoof on it. She continued to follow his movements with a growing sense of discomfort until he suddenly looked straight at her, and the breath caught in her throat. His ruby eyes narrowed.
It's that guy from Ditzy's house... I wasn't imagining it. He saw me. She shuddered at the memory. But who exactly is he?
That piercing gaze finally shifted off of her, and she let out a silent sigh of relief. His attention immediately fell to something next to her, and she turned her head to follow it; Ditzy was rummaging through a bucket of bouncy balls, completely oblivious to the rising tension Rainbow felt pressing down on the area. "Erm, Ditzy?" The pair met each other's eyes as Rainbow flicked her tail in the direction of the red pony. "Do you know that guy?" Ditzy followed her motion and immediately gasped, her own wavy tail stiffening in terror.
Rainbow looked back at the stallion just in time to witness the flash of recognition across his face, and she swallowed the growing lump in her throat. Something bad's about to happen.
Both mares huddled together as the stranger briskly approached, and with a snarl he yanked Ditzy under his arm. "Home, now," he hissed, dragging her away as Rainbow took a few meek steps after them. She froze as he whirled and pointed at her. "And you would be wise to stay away. This filly..." He jerked his hoof, and Ditzy yelped fearfully as her body was jarred in his grip. "...is not your friend." Before Rainbow could form a response, he was trotting away, dragging a whimpering grey pegasus along by her wing.
"I don't know how you did it," Ditzy's father seethed, "but I can assure you that you will never leave that basement again." He glanced at her trembling face and felt a smile tugging at his muzzle. "That means not ever, you uneducated dolt. And you can forget about that brat you were with; you won't be seeing her 'round here anymore."
The two soon arrived at the doorstep of their "shared" home, and Ditzy found herself being shoved down the stairs, luckily being able to steady herself before she toppled head-over-hooves into the dungeon below. She retreated to her usual corner and listened to the loud crashes and bumps coming from overhead.
A few minutes later, she jolted in surprise as a bundle of thick boards crashed to the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Her father clomped down after them, holding a hammer and a few nails in his mouth. He picked up and pounded nails into the boards one-by-one, mounting them over the window until only a few small cracks of space remained. Nodding in satisfaction, he faced the quivering ball of fur laying a few meters away. A teary golden eye peered out at him from somewhere inside, and it immediately widened before snapping shut as he drew nearer.
"There," he whispered, "let's see how you like 24-hour darkness." A small squeak met his ears, and he cackled as he lifted his chin, raising the hammer high in the air above the helpless grey pony. "In fact, why not start right now?"