Medical Procedures

A dim light shined on a walkway prepared by Rarity. Outside the windows, one could tell it was still fairly early in the evening, where the stars just started to come out. Rainbow and Rarity had already gone through several discussions involving how to trot, talk, joke, and appear normal. One of the few things the two wanted was Twilight suspecting Rainbow was up to something.

“Alright, Rainbow,” Rarity yelled from the stage side, yawning near the end. “This should be the last one. You know what to do?”

Rainbow’s shadow could be seen adjusting her mane from behind the red curtain. “Yeah, I got it. Can we get this started already? At this pace, I’ll be too worn out by tomorrow to even show up!”

“Well, let’s hurry up then,” Rarity said.

The curtain was magically slid open, some fog lofting on the wooden floor, and through the silhouette shadowing, Rainbow walked forward. Her head stayed high with the back of her mane tied by a purple scrunchie matching her eye color. She maintained a professional posture, but the way she moved had its own personal flare.

With each step, her tail swished from left to right, smoothly matching her flank’s motion as she swayed it. Rarity watched critically, pointing out, “Raise your butt a bit higher…”

Rainbow, though keeping a kind expression, said, “It’s going as high as it’ll go.”

“Believe me, Rainbow,” Rarity promised. “I’ve caught Twilight looking at me when I walk this way. It’ll give you a nice chance to make Twilight stare, and in turn, that will make her even more attracted to you.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes with a smile. As she reached the end, she stopped and let Rarity walk around her for a second. Though Rainbow felt a little nervous, thinking this was going to ruin her chances with Twilight completely, she kept in mind that Rarity’s probably spent a lot more time with Twilight compared to her, and thus, probably knew plenty more about Twilight’s interest than she did.

“Are, uh…” Rainbow looked down for a moment. “Are you sure Twilight will like this?”

Rarity nodded with a hoof rubbing her chin. “Rainbow, if I may? Not to sound strange or anything, but I’m almost liking this right now.” She circled her hoof, telling Rainbow to do a spin.

As she did with a cute fashion, Rainbow asked, “But, what if she sees right through me?”

Rarity followed alongside Rainbow as she walked. “No need to be discouraged, Rainbow. Have faith that all this work we’ve done so far will pay off. After all, if you come visit me a few days after work, I’ll be able to help you further.”

Coming up to the starting point, Rainbow sighed. She glanced over at Rarity with a satisfied grin, then saw the clock behind her. “Well,” she said. “I’d better be on my way… Thanks for all the advice and… tutoring?”

Rarity giggled. “I suppose you could call it that.” Leading Rainbow to the door, she also mentioned, “Tomorrow, and every day for that matter, be sure and meet me outside the Ponyville Clinic before work. You won’t be able to adjust this scrunchie without my help, otherwise.”

Rainbow blushed. “Yeah… that was horrible.” Before they started, Rarity thought it’d be a nice idea for Rainbow to add a little something extra. When letting her try and do it herself, the scrunchie basically almost ripped a part of her mane out. “Let’s… keep that between you and me, okay?”

Rarity removed the accessory from the back of Rainbow’s hair and said, “My lips are sealed. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Right before the door could close behind Rainbow, a gust of wind was kicked at the entrance by her takeoff. The door was knocked so hard by the sudden burst that it flung wide open, knocking against the wall and swishing closed in less than a second.

Rarity’s purple locks went up a few inches, then slowly came back down while she said to herself, “Hmm… She’s getting rusty. Last time she did that, I had to have somepony come over and fix the door…”

Rainbow hadn’t had the chance to take flight all day, and consequently, she felt herself unable to go anywhere near as fast as she once did before her little injury. Actually, she knew her talents were suffering, for it hadn’t only been a mere day. It’d been a whole month.

An entire thirty days, maybe more had gone by without her being able to take to the skies. As expected, she couldn’t even go anywhere near as fast as she once could while training with Spitfire.

She looked down at the far away ground and began considering what was truly important. The Wonderbolts, or Twilight Sparkle? Such a tough decision couldn’t be made right then and there, of course. Rainbow could barely keep her eyes open, and without much time to think before going to bed, it also meant she’d have to figure her situation out tomorrow.

Sure, she could juggle her responsibilities during work. On break, instead of eating lunch, she could do wing-ups. On her way to Rarity’s at the end of the day, she could race and time herself, trying to go faster each day. But still, it wouldn’t be enough.

What she was going to do about this dilemma, she wasn’t sure. However, one thing that was clear to her was that she needed to train even harder, and take the necessary steps to achieve both the position of becoming an official Wonderbolt, and Twilight’s affection.

That night, she was in her bed, fast asleep. Winds howled outside the window, and tank slept in his basket, cozy and content with his dreams. The same couldn’t be said for Rainbow Dash, though. Every few minutes, she’d toss and turn, her head filled with differing possibilities lapsing as fantasies within her mind.

Several times, she awoke to scratch her head and chest, only to go back to sleep and return once again to the questionable dreams, some nightmares, and ones in between the lines of scary and blissful.

These consisted of future events, ones that would involving Twilight and the Wonderbolts. One had Twilight falling in love with Rainbow, only for the pegasus to lose her opportunity with the Wonderbolts. Another was the complete opposite.

Late in the night, she had the worst possible outcome rush through her stressed head. She dreamed of Twilight knowing full and well about her scheme, and scolding Rainbow for it. Afterwards, the Wonderbolts let her go, saying she’d become far too weak, and can never join under their ranks again.

That last, horrifying dream snapped her back into reality completely. She jumped awake, looked around the room panting, and shivered a little. Rainbow held herself tight, feeling cold despite the air around her being slightly humid, and asked, “What does it mean...?”

She glared up at the mirror across the room, and stared at herself. At that moment, she knew what she had to do. Rarity was right. She knew what Twilight liked more than she, so all Rainbow had to do about that was place her trust within her friend. As for the Wonderbolts?

She hopped out of bed, stretched her body, and looked out the window. The sun wasn’t even up yet, so that was the perfect time to get started. Rainbow quickly fed her pet tortoise, told him to take care of the house for her, and took off through the front door.

If one were to be up at this hour like Rainbow Dash was, he or she would’ve been amazed to see cloud after cloud be broken in two, then four by nothing more than a spectrum ray. With all her might, Rainbow rushed through the clouds, pushing her wings as hard as she could, working up quite an appetite as she went along, too.

After half the sky was cleared, Rainbow swooped down just in time for a corner store to open its doors. She got her hooves on a sandwich, left the establishment, and got right back to work while eating her breakfast.

It wasn’t exactly her best, or quickest take, but better than Rainbow thought she would’ve done with being so out of shape. Every day from that point on, she planned to get up bright and early with an objective: to clear out all the clouds surrounding the town.

With her head cleared, and a better idea of what she needed to do, Rainbow made a mental note. She’d also need to do at least five laps around Ponyville before her daily break was complete.

She would also do wing-up in the changing room before and after her shifts. Finally, instead of just racing to Rarity’s when she was let off, Rainbow planned to zig-zag not only to the Carousel Boutique, but to Fluttershy’s cottage, Applejack’s barn, Twilight’s tree house, Sugar Cube Corner, and her sky sanctuary, timing her self the whole way.

Each and every day, especially on her days off, Rainbow decided to do as much training as possible. If there was one thing she wasn’t about to let happen, it was becoming too weak for the Wonderbolts to even consider removing her from their team.

It still wouldn’t be enough. Rainbow just knew she could go another extra mile. In order to get herself back up to the level she was at only a month ago, she needed to do more. She needed help.

But, who would be able to assist her in this field? Gilda was way too far, and Rainbow wouldn’t ever be desperate enough to go begging for her guidance. Not after what she pulled with Pinkie Pie’s party…

And then, it hit her. “Pinkie?” Rainbow asked aloud while resting on a restaurant bench and table. She took a sip of her water, wiping some sweat away, and thought about the notion for a bit. “But, Pinkie can’t fly! That’s absurd, me needing her help.”

“Help with what?” Pinkie asked from behind Rainbow, shocking the pegasus into a flight. While hovering in the air, Rainbow looked down at the pink pony, asking, “Where did you come from?!”

“Well, I came from a rock farm. You see, my father was-”

“Pinkie,” Rainbow interrupted. “That’s not what I meant! I mean, you… and I… I was…”

Pinkie blinked, still keeping a wide grin spread across her muzzle. “Yes, Rainbow Dash?”

She gave up with a grunt and lowered herself back down to the ground. “If you must know, I’m gonna be way busy over at the Ponyville Clinic down the street to train, and-”

Pinkie shoved a book into Rainbow’s face while chanting, “Oh, oh! I’ve got just the thing! Read this!”

Rainbow shoved the hardcover away, blinked, and read the title. “Secrets of Flight… by Princess Celestia?!”

Pinkie nodded with a toothy grin. As for her friend, questions popped up in her head. Questions like, where could you've gotten this? Why do you have it? Why haven’t I ever even heard of it? What will it do to help me? Did you steal it? And, of course, how do you always have such perfect timing, Pinkie?

Regardless of the numerous questions swarming around her head, Rainbow knew Pinkie would give her nothing but the most ridiculous response no matter how many times she asked. So, Rainbow just accepted the sudden and outstandingly perfect gift without any such interrogation.

“Pinkie…” Rainbow began, almost wanting to giggle at the random, though welcomed act. “You have no idea how awesome this is!”

Pinkie wrapped her hoof around Rainbow for a hug and said, “I knew you’d like it… and it’s so good to see you again...” Once she released her grasp, Pinkie turned around and finished, “Now then, I’ve got about five minutes before this time flux thingie breaks down. I just needed to stop by and fix this silly little problem you caused in my time. But, you wouldn’t know anything about that!”

She galloped off towards some alleyway before Rainbow could even think of a response. Just before Pinkie rounded a corner, Rainbow caught a glimpse of some bright, blue light flashing, and a low buzzing noise slowly dissipating in the background. Directly after that, Rainbow was surprised by somepony behind her asking, “What’s that Dashie?!”

For the second time that day, Rainbow leaped up into the air, only to look down at Pinkie smiling her way. Something about her was different than the one she’d just seen not a minute ago. This one appeared younger, like she always did. Rainbow hadn’t noticed before, but the other Pinkie was much more aged, some wrinkles circling her eyes and hooves.

“P-Pinkie?!” Rainbow stuttered. “But, you were just…”

“Ooh, is that a new Daring Do book? Can I see?”

Rainbow came back down again, looked at the book, then at Pinkie, and said, “But, this is the book you just gave me…”

Pinkie looked confused. “I gave you it?” She grabbed the book, inspected the cover, then confessed, “I’ve never seen this, though.” She smiled, and offered, “You must be confused.”

Rainbow backed away slowly, then shook her head. “N-no, that can’t be right! You… But, I…”

Pinkie sighed, and said, “Well, anyway! I can see you’re busy going into crazy town. Drop me a line when you get back! I’m actually really late, but I’ll see you later! Okay?”

Just like the other Pinkie, she took off. However, this time, she headed for Sugar Cube Corner, no doubt to get started with the job of her own. This reminded Rainbow of her own duties, and how if she wanted enough time to do some extra morning training in, she’d have to be there pretty early.

Though the Pinkie incident would leave her completely dumbfounded for the next whole month, Rainbow had what she needed, ensuring her position with the Wonderbolts stayed the way it should. All that remained was to win Twilight over. That felt like an even harder challenge to Rainbow Dash now, but if there’s one thing she loved, it’s a good opportunity to conquer a unique feat.