A little white mare clad in a light grey cloak spread her wings, taking off in silence. Her weak wings, still encumbered by filly down, carried her up into the clouds with pathetic little flaps. Her legs propelled her upwards faster than her wings ever could, and in time she tucked them back by her sides completely.

Unbeknownst to her, a little filly with huge wings followed her every step, even going so far as to move her legs in time with the elder pony. Hopping up onto the clouds was particularly difficult for poor Accident, but in time she found herself able to use the clouds’ own springy texture to her advantage, following behind Sky with great big hops and weak little wing beats.

“Where do you think she’s going, Scruffy?” Accident whispered to her little cuddly toy, mounted on her back like a rider with his forehooves tied around her neck.

“I know!” She giggled quietly after a while. “It’s gotta be a super-secret mission! I bet if I can sneak along behind her she’ll be so impressed!”

Accident put her hoof up to her lips to shush Scruffy as Sky alighted atop the highest cloud she could reach, looking around. Slipping her burglar’s mask on to conceal her identity, the filly peeked up over the cloud layer at the elder pony, tail flicking from side to side excitedly.

“Sssh...Scruffy...I don’t know what she’s doing, so stop asking!” Accident huffed, tucking her ears back to make herself less noticeable. As she watched, Sky lay down atop the cloud with a little sigh, looking out over the city pensively.

“Ugh...I’m a fucking idiot…” Sky muttered, lowering her head down onto her forehooves. “Come on, Sky. Stop messing around. You’ve gotta stop putting off taking her back to her mum. This is getting silly, now.”

Accident cocked her head, perking her ears up to better listen to Sky.

“Why would Miss Sky think that things are getting silly?” She whispered to Scruffy. When the stuffed toy failed to give her a straight answer, she frowned, listening on.

Sky flapped her wings irritably. “Who does she think she is, coming into my life like that? Telling me she loves me...unbelievable…” Sky growled grumpily, rolling onto her back and looking up at the stars. “I don’t need ponies in my life. I don’t need anypony in my life. I’ve done just fine on my own.”

“I...thought she had a fan club…” Accident whispered, confused. Scruffy flopped over forwards onto her head, and she let out a little gasp. “Scruffy, you’re right! She must’ve been telling fibs! Then...what does she have?”

Sky stared up at the moon for the longest time in peaceful silence, and for a while Accident assumed that she’d drifted off to sleep. After a while, however, Sky started to whisper something under her breath. Exchanging a glance with her best friend in the whole wide world, Accident clambered closer to the mare, straining her ears to try and listen more closely.

Is she singing?

Accident lay down, tucking her wings in and listening carefully. Sky’s voice was soft and breathy, a hair’s breadth above a whisper.

“When I was little, mum and dad threw me out on the street,
And I learned that day that ponies aren't all friendly, kind or sweet.
They were apathetic giants, couldn't bring themselves to care
for the tiny little filly who was lost, alone and scared.
I tried to find a mum and dad to give me a new home
but everypony seemed to have a child of their own.
It's a bit late now to tell me that some foal is gonna help
Since I got kicked out I'm doing fine relying on myself.”

Sky took a soft breath, opening her eyes and peering at her own forehooves.

“I've got the darkness, skills, a cloak, and what more do I need
I'll be okay with just the shadows and me.”

As the mare rolled onto her front again, Accident crouched down lower, eyes wide with terror as she took in Sky’s song. She sang it mournfully, slowly, her voice full of compassion and sadness that sounded truly foreign to Accident.

She sounds just like mum when she’s sad...but there’s something so weird about Miss Sky…

Accident followed Sky as she got to her hooves, building in confidence and volume as she hopped from cloud to cloud.

”I'm smarter, faster, hotter than any guard you'd care to name
And there's no one, mare or stallion, who can beat me at this game.
I'm a burglar, a criminal, that girl you love to hate.
There's nothing about me but my plot ponies appreciate.
That little kid, she likes me, but she's just young and confused.
She reminds me of myself when I was little, weak, abused.
I don't need that kind of drama in my life and nor does she.
I'll be okay with just the shadows and me.”

Sky fell silent, apparently unable to sing anymore. Accident wasn’t an expert on this sort of thing, but something told her that Sky was trying to do her best not to cry.

“Why would she be trying not to cry?” Accident asked, sitting down as Sky dropped off of the cloud. “Isn’t she happy? Why would she tell me that she had a fan club and it was super-exclusive? Why did she lie to me, Scruffy?”

She pulled the plushie pony off of her back, looking him in the eye as she tried to divine answers from his expressionless face. Wiggling his ears and nodding his head for him, Accident frowned understandingly.

“So you’re telling me that Sky’s been lonely for a really long time, and there’s nopony in the whole world who loves her?” She asked.

Nod.

“That’s horrible!” Accident squeaked. “We’ve gotta help her! I couldn’t imagine how sad it must be to be thrown out in the cold dark street with nopony to love you.”

Slinging the stuffed pony over her back, Accident leapt off of the cloud too, bounding down onto street level and trotting along behind Sky as she made her way down winding alleys and empty streets. It felt for all the world like it had done when Accident had been left in that box a couple of nights ago, but at least now she could walk and follow a particular pony, a pony she knew for a fact cared for her.

I’m sure she was just lying about that part about not wanting me… Accident thought to herself, smiling as she followed that bobbing red tail across what felt like half the city. She’ll love living with me! In fact, I bet I can convince mum to let her stay with us! She can live in my attic and we can go on super-secret missions together every night! She snickered at the thought of all of the fun they could have, how Sky to train her to be a burglar, take her on adventures, even teach her to fly!

Accident cocked her head as Sky approached a very large house indeed, banging on the front door.

“MUM! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT RIGHT THIS FUCKING MINUTE BEFORE I WAKE UP THE NEIGHBOURS!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. Accident recoiled, hiding in the bushes across the street and wrapping her tail around herself. She’d never heard Sky this angry before.

After a time, a white unicorn mare answered the door, staring Sky down with a look of utter contempt. Accident fluttered her wings excitedly.

“Mum!” She squeaked quietly, squeezing Scruffy tight and smiling brightly. “She found her, Scruffy! She promised she would!”

“I thought I told you never to come back here.” Mum growled, making to close the door.

“Yeah, about that.” Sky glared back, sticking her forehoof over the threshold to jam it open. “Guess what came wandering up to my place a few nights ago, bleeding, soggy and scared out of her fucking mind?”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, dear.”

“Don’t bullshit me, bitch. I know she’s your filly. Only a vapid little bitch like you would call your kid “Accident.””

“She really doesn’t like my name, Scruffy…” Accident frowned. “Why does she hate it so much? It’s my name!”

Mum shook her head, her horn lighting up. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Sky. She’s not my filly. Trust me, one freak of nature was bad enough.” Her eyes drifted to Sky’s downy wings, disappointment etched on her face.

“But...I am her filly!” Accident whimpered, stepping out of the bush and creeping towards the house. “Mum…?”

“What, you think lighting up that big bony dipstick is gonna scare me off?” Sky huffed. “Accident’s your kid, mum! You’re not gonna hide this from me, so why don’t you just grow some balls and admit that you couldn’t keep your legs together?”

“Fine!” Mum stamped her hoof, butting heads with Sky. “She’s mine! I kept her locked in an attic for five years so nopony would find out, but you just had to go shouting in front of the neighbours, didn’t you?” Her horn flashed, blowing a chunk of the footpath in her front yard to pieces. “Are you happy now?”

“NO!” Sky screamed back, jumping aside to avoid the debris. “I’M NOT HAPPY! WHAT THE FUCK MAKES YOU THINK IT’S OKAY TO KICK HER OUT LIKE THAT? SHE’S A FUCKING KID!”

Accident paused, standing in the middle of the road and watching the exchange with wide eyes. None of this made any sense to her. Mum had always told her that she was locked in that attic to keep her safe and easy to find in case she needed a great big filly hug!

“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT HER!” Mum screeched, charging her horn again. “I DIDN’T WANT YOU, I DON’T WANT HER! YOU’RE FREAKS, BOTH OF YOU! YOU MUST’VE AFFECTED HER SOMEHOW! THAT’S WHY HER WINGS TURNED OUT SO...SO...FUCKED-UP!”

Accident sat down on her haunches, choking back tears. “But...mum...always said my wings were pretty and made me special…”

“So you’re not gonna take her back, I guess?” Sky rolled her eyes, getting ready to dive out of the way when the next spell flew.

“No.” Mum snarled, levelling her horn at the adolescent pegasus again. “I was hoping she’d be picked up by a family that would raise her better than I could, but it seems that she got stuck with you, instead.”

Accident felt like she was melting into the ground. The weight of the things she’d heard bore down on her, the poor filly’s heart dropping into her stomach. She was blinded by tears, whimpering and shivering with the most horrific, upsetting realisation that she’d ever experienced.

My mum doesn’t love me...she doesn’t even want me…

With the smallest of tiny little sniffles, Accident struggled to get to her shaking hooves, taking one hopeful look back at the house to see if her mum would spot her and change her mind. It was a longshot, but maybe if she saw how sad she’d made her daughter…

Mum caught her eye for just a moment, the two ponies spotting each other from halfway across the dark street. She gave her daughter a venomous look before turning her attention back to Sky to continue the argument.

It started as a little sensation at the back of Accident’s head as she shuffled away, her enormous wings dragging along behind her. A kind of compound feeling, loneliness, disorientation and mind-crushing sadness assaulting her all at once. The horrible cocktail of emotions spread throughout her body like wildfire, her wings weighing her down as her legs threatened to collapse. This was, without question, the worst day of Accident’s life, and under the incredible sadness, her great big heart snapped like a twig.

As she walked off in no direction in particular, Accident’s tears started to fall freely, leaving a little trail of droplets on the cobblestones behind her.

“Oh, come on, I’d take much better care of her than you ever fucking did! I mean, seriously, Visiting Day?”

“Yeah, I’m sure you could.” Sky’s mother rolled her eyes, tapping her hoof. “Tell me, do you even know where that precious little foal is right now?”

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Sky growled. “She’s asleep in my bed, thanks very much for caring!”

“Oh yeah? Then who was that who just went wandering off towards the marketplace?” The elder mare grinned triumphantly. “Face it, Sky. You’re a terrible daughter and an even worse mother. Just dump the kid at an orphanage and let it go.”

Sky froze in place, momentarily disarmed. “Er...come again?”

“I said, you’re a terrible…”

“No, I meant the thing before that.” Sky blinked, staring blankly at her mother.

“What, the “kid running off” part?”

“Yeah.”

The two mares stood there in silence for a time, before her mother finally lifted a hoof, pointing off towards the marketplace.

“Er...thanks.” Sky mumbled, trotting off after Accident. “BUT THIS PROVES NOTHING!” She added hurriedly.

And with that, she turned her back on her mother, galloping off in search of the young filly.

Accident couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d walked off, or even where she was walking to. All that mattered was that she keep walking. That struck her as being somehow important.

“Why did she throw me away, Scruffy?” Accident asked quietly, sniffling as she made her way round a corner. “I thought she loved me...she always said that she loved me…”

So absorbed was the filly in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice as her wing slipped under her hooves. She trod on it, getting it well and truly entangled with her legs and sending her tumbling head over hooves down a flight of stone steps. She squeaked and squealed as stabbing pain shot through her body with each impact. This time, Scruffy did little to soften the blows, and when she finally hit the ground and struck something that cut out her momentum, the poor filly’s body was bruised and bloodied. Her wings splayed pathetically out on either side of her as she stared into the sky, trying to work out what she’d run into.

A few moments later, something struck her head, blinding her for a moment. Accident blinked, shaking her head and taking a closer look at the solid object she’d run into.

“A fruit cart?” She muttered. “What’s this doing here?”

She tried to roll over and get up when a second projectile struck her, forcing her back down onto the ground again. Accident looked around, spotting a bright orange mango rolling away across the cobblestones.

“What the…?”

Before Accident could react, however, another mango fell off of the cart, then another. Her impact had clearly upset something, awakening the mangoes from their dormancy to prey on the flesh of the adorable. As she tried to scooch away, more and more of the predatory fruit bounced off of the cart onto her, striking her head and her bruised body. After the first six or seven of them, Accident simply couldn’t stand up anymore, allowing herself to be covered in her entirety by the evil predatory fruit.

“Please don’t eat me…” She pleaded with the mangoes, trying to scoot away from underneath them. No use. She was completely covered with no way out.

I guess this is the worst day ever… She mused, closing her eyes and sobbing silently.