Sky took the stairs three at a time, forgetting for one vital moment that she had working wings. Her hoof caught on one of the stone steps, sending her rolling down the staircase and slamming into the mango cart next to Accident.

“Bollocks.” Sky muttered, looking up at her legs as she lay against the side of the little cart. “Fucking gravity…”

The little white pony huffed grumpily, shaking her head and staring up at the sky. Stars twinkled overhead, though she wasn’t sure whether that was the night sky beyond or simply stars dancing in front of her eyes. She gave a little grumpy groan, rolling onto her front and pulling herself to her hooves.

“Halp!” Came a tiny little squeak from beneath a pile of nearby mangoes.

“Wait, what?” Sky asked, cocking her head. She’d certainly hit the cart hard enough to knock some of the produce loose, sure, but she was at least relatively certain that they weren’t sentient.

“They’re gonna kill meeee!” Came the squeaky little voice again.

“What the…?” Sky muttered, trotting closer and pulling some of the mangoes aside and peering under the pile. She’d scarcely cast two aside when a little filly with enormous wings burst out, wrapping her hooves around Sky’s foreleg and holding on for dear life.

“You saved me!” Accident squealed, on the edge of tears. Her whimpers of pure terror died away over time as she nuzzled Sky’s fur. “They were evil and they were gonna eat me and they were all over me and I couldn’t get them off and you saved me!”

“Wait...the mangoes were...evil?” Sky said slowly, glancing from Accident to the discarded fruit with concern. “They don’t look evil.”

“That’s how they trick you! They lure you in with promises of juicy sticky fun and then they get you!” Accident raised her head, looking up at Sky as if the elder mare was a little bit dim for not knowing this. Obviously it was common knowledge.

“Uh...huh…” Sky bit her lip, picking up a mango in her free hoof and holding it up to the moonlight. “So what would happen if I took a bite of this thing right this second?”

“It’ll take a bite out of you!” Accident replied, eyes widening at the mad mare’s frankly suicidal gesture.

“I’m sure it won’t.” Sky grinned evilly, lifting it to her lips. She took a moment to glance down at the filly. Accident gazed up at her with two terrified green eyes, shaking her head in a silent plea to not put that carnivorous monster so close to her jugular vein.

Sky looked down at the filly incredulously, before a very evil idea indeed began to form in her mind. Letting Accident go, she started jerking the mango erratically, her own eyes widening as she started flailing.

“Oh no, it’s got me!” Sky wailed, flopping onto her back. Accident backed right up, clapping her hooves over her muzzle in horror.

“Nooooo! Sky! Don’t let it eat you!” Accident squeaked. “Oh my goodness! Should I go get the guards?”

“No!” Sky yelped melodramatically, miming a rather convincing mango attack. “It’s too late for me, Shadow! Get away before they get you too!”

Accident backed away a little more, jumping as her flanks bumped into another nearby cart. She bit her lip as she stared at the ridiculous scene unfolding before her, shaking with fright. The events of the last few hours flashed through her mind in an instant, from listening to Sky sing her little heart out to the confrontation with Mum, and her complete rejection of the little filly.

Sky’s in trouble… She thought to herself, gulping and closing her eyes as she squealed the sweetest little battle-cry in the history of Equestria. She launched herself right into the fray, not aware that there was not, in fact, a real fray to charge into. With an angry little squeak, she batted the mango out of Sky’s hooves before leaping atop it, bringing both of her forehooves down on top of it in blind filly-fury. Mango juice went everywhere, splattering both of them and coaxing a slightly psychotic laugh from the victorious filly.

“Wow, kid. You’ve got some serious balls.” Sky commented, rolling onto her side and wiping her eyes.

“Balls?” Accident asked, perplexed.

“Er...that just means you’re brave is all.” Sky said hurriedly. “I thought you were really scared of those things!”

“I was...I am!” Accident nodded. “But…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re…” The filly whispered, her face falling. “You’re all I’ve got left. Well, you and Scruffy, but...yeah…”

Sky froze, looking her over and biting her lip. “You don’t know that. Your mum might still want you…”

“No.” She insisted quietly. “I heard the conversation you had with...with mum...and she doesn’t want me anymore...she doesn’t want her own...her own daughter…”

Accident sniffled and groaned, snuffling her way closer to Sky and finally letting out everything she’d been feeling as the full weight of what had happened tonight hit her. Her own mother, a pony she’d loved and behaved herself for, a pony who’d taught her to read and talk, didn’t want her anymore. Accident knew nothing of how a filly like her could affect a high-class pony’s image, what a mutant pegasus could look like as the child of pure-blood unicorns. Her simplistic understanding of the world, her belief in a mother’s love for her foal, completely failed her.

Sky’s ears splayed back, realising that this time there was no false hope for her to get Accident to cling to, nothing to hold off the realisation that she’d been abandoned because she was unloved, that there wasn’t a pony in the world to care for her. No wonder that little filly clung so tightly to her foreleg.

“Hey...sweetie…” Sky whispered, putting a forehoof around Accident’s shoulders and drawing her closer. “Look...I’m not good at the whole 'pep talk' thing, but you know what?”

“Wh...what?” Accident asked softly, nuzzling her way under Sky’s wing.

“Your mum’s missing out on something great.” Sky smiled. “You’re a great filly, kid. You’re curious, you’re sweet and kind and loving and anypony would be lucky to have you in their life. I know that doesn’t bring your mum back, but...you know what? Screw her! If she’s too blind to see it, that’s her loss.”

Accident nodded weakly, tucking her head ever further under Sky’s wing and pressing her cheek against the mare’s ribcage. “I...I did my best...I always wanted to be the best little pony I ever could be…”

“I know you did, but…” Sky bit her lip. “Sha...Accident...not all ponies in the world are good. There are some bad ones as well. There are ponies who don’t accept us for who we are, who wish we were something different. Ponies whose love is conditional. We...we don’t need ponies like that in our lives.”

“But...but it’s my mum…” Accident sniffled.

“Yeah, and just because she’s your mum doesn’t mean that she’s not an asshole. A lot of ponies can be bad, sweetie.” Sky choked, pulling Accident closer. “But it’s okay. That doesn’t change who you are. You’re a sweet soft little pony who gives the best hugs in Equestria.”

“I...I do?” Accident asked, not even shaking with tears anymore.

“Damn right.” Sky nodded. “I’ve never had hugs as good as yours before I met you, and I’ve been around the block, believe me.”

“You mean...I…?” Accident began, but Sky squeezed her just a little bit tighter to silence her.

“Yeah, kid. Best hugs ever. You heard it here first.” Sky grinned. “Hey, you know something? I know exactly how you feel. Remember when I told you I didn’t really talk to my mum anymore?”

Accident nodded, ears poking up through Sky’s feathers as she listened.

“Well...that’s kind of...half the truth.” Sky explained. “When I was a filly...about your age…my mum and dad got real mad at me because I skipped school. They threw me out on the street and left me to fend for myself.”

“Yeah...I know…” Accident whispered guiltily. “I...kinda followed you when you went for a walk tonight. I heard your song. I heard...everything.”

“Oh…” Sky muttered. “Well...yeah...the point is that I wished and wished with all of my might that somepony would come along and tell me that everything would be okay, that they’d give me a hug and make me feel better.”

“And...did they?”

“No.” The mare sighed, shaking her head. “Nopony ever came to help make me feel better. I was alone for a long time...until I met you.”

“I thought you had a fan club!” Accident protested, pulling away a little to fix Sky with an accusing, tearful gaze.

“Er...I do!” Sky nodded. “And it’s super-exclusive! Like, there’s only a few extra-special ponies who are allowed into it!”

”How exclusive?” Accident asked.

“Er...well...there’s...me and you.” Sky admitted, slumping a little. “That’s...that’s all.”

“So you mean...you’re all alone, too?”

Sky looked away. That was all the answer Accident needed.

The two ponies sat there in silence for a time, enjoying each other’s warmth as they embraced.

“Sky?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Does...does it stop hurting after a while?” Accident whispered.

Sky thought about it for what felt like an eternity, not saying anything. She kept herself pressed against Accident’s chest, rubbing her back with her padded forehoof.

“Yeah...it does.” She answered eventually.

“When?”

Sky bit her lip, defying the very cheesiness of the sentence taking shape in her head.

“Well...it stopped hurting when...when you showed up at my door.” She said slowly.

“I...made it go away?” Accident asked.

“Yeah, kid.” Sky nodded. “You...you’re the first pony I’ve met who gave me a second glance. The only thing I’ve ever been good for is robbing ponies and...well...I’ll tell you when you’re older.” She chuckled. “The point is, no one ever liked me. I’m a burglar. Ponies don’t like me. That’s...kinda not what I’m for.”

“Well I like you.” Accident assured her, giving Sky a little kiss on the muzzle. “I get to see you every day! I only got to see mum once a week!”

“Yeah, Visiting Day...you said…” Sky nodded. “Well...you know...maybe it wouldn’t hurt to keep you around for a little bit longer...you know...just to make sure you’re all better and everything…”

“Yeah…” Accident nodded. “And maybe you and me could play together...and...and we’d still be friends even after I have to go, right?”

“Of course.” Sky nodded. “I’ll always be your friend, kid. You’re alright.”

“Good…” Accident nodded. “I’d like that. I’ve...never had a friend before…”

“Yeah?” Sky smiled, giving the filly a friendly squeeze. “Well, neither have I. Guess what? You get to be my first friend ever, and that makes you my best friend ever.”

“Wow!” Accident beamed. “Does that mean I get something super-special?”

“Sure does.” Sky chuckled. “It means you get to live with me until you can find your own family, and it means you get to sleep in a nice warm bed every night. Oh, and you get...full hugging privileges.”

“Silly Sky, I already had full hugging privileges!” Accident giggled. “I’m gonna squeeze the stuffing out of you for being such a nice pony!”

The two little ponies both grinned happy grins as they hugged each other tightly. Accident was true to her word, making a pretty conscious effort to hug the air out of Sky’s lungs. With little squeaks and whimpers, Accident attempted to hug Sky as tightly as she possibly could, to somehow embrace that mare so tightly that their family trees would intertwine.

“Sky?” She said after a while.

“Yeah?”

“I’m stuck.” Accident said. “That mango juice was really sticky.”

“Yeah, sweetie.” Sky nodded. “I’m stuck, too.”

Another silence, only broken when Accident began to giggle. With her squeaky little filly voice, it sounded more like a happy, high-pitched neigh than anything else.

Sky’s mouth twitched a couple of times as she held the filly close, before she too descended into a giggling fit.

“We’re...we’re so screwed!” Sky snickered, trying to push Accident off of her.

“Well, it could be worse!” Accident laughed as well. “I’m stuck to the cuddliest pony in the whole world!”

“That’d...be...you…” Sky grunted, pushing Accident as hard as she could in a vain effort to get her off.

“Eep! You really...eee...think I’m...eep...cud...cuddly?” Accident squeaked as she pulled against their sticky fur.

“The...eeee...cuddliest!” Sky whimpered, finally pushing the filly off of her with a loud tearing noise.

“What...what was that?” Accident panted.

Sky looked from the filly to her own chest, cringing. “Damn it…”

Accident followed Sky’s sightline, first glancing down at her own coat. She seemed to have an awful lot of white fur stuck to it. Sky herself seemed to be missing an awful lot of her chest fur all of a sudden.

“Erm...sorry…” Accident apologised, peeling a few strands of fur off of her coat and pressing them against Sky’s bald spot. “These...these are yours…”

“Yeah…” Sky nodded. “Look...you keep ‘em. They look better on you anyway.”

As Accident smiled up at her, the two of them were distracted by a nearby shouting.

“My mangoes!” Came a cry from a few stalls over.

“Oh, shit…” Sky muttered. “What the fuck’s he doing up at this hour? Come on kid, we’ve gotta go…”

“In a minute…” Accident held up a hoof to silence the elder pony, trotting in the direction of the voice. “OH, AND YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S BEEN SELLING EVIL MURDER DEATH-FRUIT, ARE YOU?”

She froze in place as a stallion in spectacles came galloping towards her, skidding to a halt and glaring down at the poor little filly.

“What the hell are you on about?” He asked, cocking his head.

“Your fruit tried to eat me!” Accident yelled, stamping her hoof irritably. “Do you have any idea what kind of day I’ve had today?”

“Shadow…” Sky muttered, but Accident ignored her.

“Kid, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but mangoes are pretty harmless.” The salespony huffed. “Where the hell do you get these crazy ideas, anyway?”

“They tried to eat me!” Accident repeated, as if he were a little bit simple. “I’m onto you! I know you’re part of the con...con…”

“...conspiracy…” Sky added dully.

“Yeah, that!” Accident nodded. “You’re trying to sell this stuff to all of the little ponies in Equestria so that they can eat them alive! I know what you’re up to, mister!”

“Done?” Sky asked.

Accident pouted at the bemused shopkeeper, making wild “I’m watching you” gestures with her hoof before turning and making her way back to the little white mare.

“Yeah...I’m done…” She growled with uncharacteristic savagery.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not pulling any evil crap, sweetie.” Sky chuckled, opening her saddlebag and letting Accident hop in.

The filly crossed her forehooves, blowing a raspberry at the mango salespony. The stallion blew a raspberry back, adjusting his glasses.

“Sky! Did you see that?” Accident gasped. “He’s evil! He’s rude and evil! Give him a smack!”

“Kid, I’m not gonna give him a smack!” Sky rolled her eyes, trotting away. “And don’t use my real name, either. If someone hears you…”

“Sky?” Came a slightly louder male voice from in front of them.

The mare came to a halt, looking up at a huge unicorn stallion in bright gold armour. His bright white fur stood out against the night. He cocked his head, looking down at the little burglars with a pair of shining blue eyes. Sky’s eyes.

“Oh, shit.” Sky muttered. “It’s my brother.”