There had always been anger behind her flying. Sure, she had morphed it into some sick kind of happiness, but really it had always been the anger. She narrowed her eyes as she increased speed, dropping into a steep dive and pulling out just at the last moment in a near Sonic Rainboom.
She looked down and forced the concentrated frown from her face, aware that she now had an audience.
"Rainbow Dash! Hey Rainbow Dash, do that again! That was awesome!"
Great. A performance during her scheduled therapy. Exactly what she needed.
"Sure thing, Scootaloo," she said, barely able to keep the frustration out of her voice. "And I'll show you how to do it sometime, too!" She flashed a grin and flew higher, preparing her wings for another dive.
(stupid conceited jerk can't you even try no why not why not because you're—)
Go away, please, I'm in the middle of something, go away go away go away. . . .
(oh come on too weak too weak yes i think so not so strong now are you dash?)
No, I'm not, you win, let's finish the war another time, can't we?
(ha no i don't think so i've got you now wait stop open your eyes OPEN YOUR EYES OPEN YOUR—)
Thud.
"Rainbow? Rainbow, can yeh hear me?"
She opened her eyes to a dulled and spinning world, Applejack standing blearily above her.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think so."
"Okay, good. Yeh've taken a nasty fall, now, but Scootaloo came running as soon as she saw. Are yeh okay?"
"Are you kidding?" Rainbow blinked, standing up on only slightly wobbly legs. "I'm Rainbow Dash! The invincible, the unstoppable! One lousy fall ain't got nothing on me!"
Applejack looked doubtful. "If yeh say so. Just watch our fer yourself. What happened up there, anyway?"
"Closed my eyes. Didn't see the ground until it attacked my face."
There was some pain, but Rainbow willed most of it away with the same power that could keep the thoughts at bay. There would be a few bruises, sure, but nothing seemed broken, and she'd be flying again by tomorrow.
Applejack gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, all right then. Ah'll leave yeh to yer flyin'. Just be careful!"
"Will do," replied Rainbow Dash, stretching and wincing as a spasm of pain lanced up her wing.
Scootaloo's attention had drifted from Rainbow Dash to Applejack as the earth pony murmured something to her and began walking back to the farm, Scootaloo in tow. Apple Bloom would hear about this, probably as soon as her sister returned, and before long Sweetie Belle would know, too. Rainbow had faith that no one would mention it in front of her, but there would almost certainly be a blow to her reputation and muttering behind her back.
Rainbow scowled and sprang into the air, flailing her sore wings and somehow managing to keep steady as she headed for the skies. The day was as good as over; she'd be lucky if she could make it home without resting.
The trip home was uneventful. Thankfully there was nopony else to watch Rainbow clumsily carry herself up to her cloud house above Ponyville. The pain in her wing increased greatly as she flew, each stroke sending a fresh wave of agony up her spine. Looked like she'd hurt it worse than she thought.
Rainbow nearly collapsed on the cloud porch when she reached it. While she could still move her wing with some ease, she was sure it would stiffen up as soon as she stopped flexing it. The pain was a great throbbing, a repeated pulse impossible to block from her mind. In a word, unbearable.
Was there some sort of herb for pain? Zecora would surely know, and maybe Fluttershy, she was so accustomed to treating animals' injuries. But Rainbow had always prided herself on being able to tough it out, and had ignored whatever first-aid lessons any teacher had tried to teach her. If only you'd listened, whined a voice in her head, but it was quickly buried by the pain.
But feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to fix anything. Walking on unsteady legs, she stumbled forward and crumpled lifelessly onto the bed, letting the cold blackness of sleep overwhelm her.
She was awakened by the rusty squeal of her mailbox and the soft flap of wing beats as the mail pony left.
Was it really so early? Rainbow glanced at the bright outdoors and decided it was. She did like to get down to Ponyville early, after all, and she hadn't been flying for very long before the accident.
She closed her eyes and pulled the covers high over her head, asking for sweet merciful unconsciousness, but her wing demanded attention. It had stiffened while she slept, and moving it was just as painful as it was difficult. In other words, very. The wing insisted on remaining glued to her side, feathers ruffled and joints numb.
Rainbow clambered out of bed and loosely tucked a few stray feathers back in order, stumbling over to the bathroom to see just how bad her wing was.
It was pretty bad.
Swollen, flushed red that appeared purple through her blue coat. Several feathers were badly mangled and would need to be pulled out—they'd take a while to regrow. Flying wouldn't be as smooth without them, but she'd manage.
The base of her wing actually had patches of bare skin visible. How did she get all that from a single crash? Had there been a few branches that scratched the feathers out? Oh well, it hardly mattered where they came from. She'd have to deal with the injuries either way.
Rainbow shrugged, sending another lurch of pain through her wing. No way was she getting it checked out. The doctors would strap her down to that hospital bed and force her there for weeks—and until another Daring Do book came out, she was not ready to sit through that.
Okay, maybe she wouldn't be flying tomorrow, but right after she'd get back to her old schedule.
There was stale hay left out from earlier that morning, and Rainbow downed it in a few quick chomps.
There was nothing to do once her hunger was satisfied. Her friends were all back in Ponyville, and with her injury, Rainbow wouldn't be down there anytime soon. The pegasus had learned enough patience to take to the air slowly after a crash: push yourself once a day and no more until all traces of the wound are far gone.
The boredom got to her, and she took to pacing aimlessly around for about twenty minutes.
Then she remembered the mail.
Rainbow trotted outside, cringing as her wing brushed the door frame, and checked the mailbox.
There was nothing.
Had the sounds just been a figment of her imagination? Some lingering trail left behind by a forgotten dream?
No, that couldn't be. She needed something to do.
In her haste, Rainbow hadn't noticed the thin envelope that had slipped past when she opened the mailbox. She looked down now and saw it, fluttering gently as it sank to the ground, teasingly floating upwards as another gust took it, swinging away on a wind current as it took its time fleeing from its addressee.
Wait, what?
Rainbow Dash stumbled forward, barely touching the letter with her hoof and slowing its course just a little. She ignored the wrench of pain in her shoulder and wing and lunged for the letter, gripping it between her teeth and ending in a graceful face-plant.
At least the letter was safe.
