Rainbow Dash pulled up from her speedy dive towards the ground. She came towards the bright grass at unimaginable speeds. Scootaloo cheered wildly in excitement. Her hero was in action. A triple loop, a dive bomb backflip, spiraling so close to the ground that she could almost touch it, then slipping back up in the draft. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were just outside Ponyville. Scootaloo watched as her idol Rainbow Dash performed stunts that she had never heard of, half of them didn't even have a name. Barrel roll front flip, quadruple backflips while doing a dive bomb, and even spiraling upwards so fast, that Scootaloo could hardly see her. On the last dive bomb, Rainbow Dash sped towards the ground from almost as high as she could fly. Halfway through the dive, a slipstream began to form around her. Scootaloo knew what this meant. She started to cheer even louder than before. The slipstream began to split into seven vibrant colors, the colors of the rainbow. She was about to perform a sonic rainboom. The cone shaped rainbow exploded, as she broke the speed of sound and light. Scootaloo had just witnessed the best sonic rainboom ever. There was only one thing wrong with it, Rainbow Dash didn't pull up. A cloud of dust and dirt formed in the air, accompanied by the sound an explosion would make, as Rainbow Dash flew into the soil. The world shook as she flew straight into the ground leaving a cloud of dirt and dust behind her. It had all happened so quick! Scootaloo had clearly heard the sound of Rainbow Dash's bones being shattered through the noise of the impact.
Scootaloo was frozen in shock, her cheers having stopped after witnessing Rainbow Dash's devastating crash. Her mouth was wide open, along with her eyes. Did her hero, Rainbow Dash just pass away? It was a spectacular display of the sonic rainboom holding a smirking cyan mare inside. Her bodacious nature had just failed her. It was too late. Scootaloo had just seen, with her own eyes, her idol's demise.
Before Scootaloo could think, she was already galloping somewhere for help. She didn't know exactly who to go to first.
She made a hasty decision, and started to head to Twilight's library hoping to find her there. The filly burst through the door, and started rambling about Rainbow Dash in between each heavy breath. Spike was there in the main room, when Scootaloo bolted inside.
"Twilight get in here! It's Scootaloo!" Spike obviously trying to hide his anxiety. He could barely make out what Scootaloo said, but he understood little snippets of it. A heavy book being set down could be heard in one of the back rooms. Seconds later, Twilight Sparkle emerged from one of the many doors in the library.
"Hey Scoots, what's on your mind?" She asked oblivious to the inevitable crippling answer.
"Rainbow Dash was doing flying stunts just outside of Ponyville! *huff* And I was watching her do cool corkscrews and stuff! *huff* then she did a big dive bomb! *huff* She did a sonic rainboom on the way down! *huff* But then she didn't pull up when she was supposed to! *huff* And she hit the ground and she needs help! *huff* "
"Oh, dear Celestia! We need to hurry!" Twilight told Spike to look after the library, then they scurried to where Rainbow Dash had crashed
Scootaloo was trying to gallop as fast as she could in the direction of the failed air show while Twilight levitated herself quickly after her.
When they arrived, the smoke cloud had completely cleared. Rainbow Dash was lying on her side in the middle of a small crater. Twilight hovered down to Rainbow Dash, then stopped using her magic, landing roughly beside her. Scootaloo jumped down to examine her fallen idol, with a grief stricken expression on her face. Twilight quickly started to use her magic again, her horn was brighter than it would've been any other day. She was using an advanced healing spell. The moment
Twilight's horn touched Rainbow Dash's chest, the fallen pegasus woke up. Luckily she was merely unconscious. Scootaloo had thought worse.
"Ow!" She suddenly felt the sharp pains, that she was immune to in her unconscious state.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Scootaloo shouted at Rainbow Dash.
"Ugh... H-hi guys." The injured pony rolled over to stare at her friends. She needed a doctor for diagnosis and x-rays, very soon.
"Scootaloo, can you get Rainbow's hooves? We need to carry her to the hospital!" Twilight knew the urgency of the situation. She would not let her friend die on her. Scootaloo grabbed Rainbow Dash's hind hooves, and Twilight grabbed her fore hooves.
"Ow!" Together they lifted the surprisingly light pegasus up off of the ground. Twilight knew that she couldn't lift Rainbow Dash alone. Scootaloo would slow them all down, but there was nopony else around.
"The hospital's this way!" Remarked Twilight, as she flicked her head in the direction of it. They started to canter as fast as their awkwardly positioned figures would move.
"Let's go!" Scootaloo said, almost shouting with the enthusiasm, believing everything would be fine. Not a another word was spoken as the two whisked Rainbow Dash to safest place they could think of. They were there in record time. Twilight used her magic to open the two big glass doors, for them to enter. They laid her down by the waiting chairs. Nopony was sitting in them. Scootaloo sat there with Rainbow, as Twilight told the receptionist everything that had happened to their dear friend that day. The receptionist called in two nurses with a stretcher, using her intercom.
"The patient is over there." The receptionist signaled with her hoof as to where Rainbow Dash was lying. The nurses rushed over, hauled her up onto the stretcher, then left to go into the exam room. There, she would have her x-rays taken. Twilight and Scootaloo twiddled their hooves nervously in the waiting room. The wished so badly, that they could go with their friend into the exam room as well, just so they could watch.
Rainbow Dash was heaved onto a table of sorts, and then took her x-rays from many different positions. She couldn't bear a peek at the monitor across the room where the images were being processed. After a few more painful pictures, the doctor sitting at the moniter came over and told her flat out, that she would never fly again. She felt like somepony had just come up to her and stabbed her with a dagger of ice. She didn't want news like this, even though it was inevitable.
Right after the heart shattering news was delivered to her, (though she still couldn't believe it herself) another doctor came in and pushed her back onto the stretcher. She was pushed through a series of double doors, when finally, they entered a surgical room. There were three surgeons, all wearing dark blue chemical masks and light blue aprons. They said some strange gibberish, that only Twilight would understand. She didn't remember much after that though, because she was heavily sedated.
In the waiting room, now sat six uncomfortable ponies. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Scootaloo, and Twilight. Nopony talked, because it didn't feel appropriate. Everypony just sat, and waited until they could see Rainbow Dash again.
The surgery was going well. They were reattaching all of the broken pieces to Rainbow Dash's fragmented skeletal frame. At this rate, they would be done in about an hour. The surgery went accordingly, and her wounds were covered in bandages. She was sent back out to the room in which her eager friends were waiting. Applejack was the first to speak.
"Rainbow Dash is back everypony!" Scootaloo got out of her chair, and ran up to her, embracing her in a hug. It clearly hurt her, but how could Rainbow Dash say no to her number one fan. Soon enough, the others had joined in. Everypony there in the waiting room, was now hugging their dear friend. When the hug finally broke up, an idea came to Pinkie Pie's mind
"Hey! We should have a party!" She yelled.
"Pinkie dear, shouldn't we let Rainbow Dash rest for a while? Rarity had a tone in her voice, that told the party pony to hold off for a while.
"Oh, sure! We can have it tomorrow! at Sugarcube Corner! She put emphasis on the word tomorrow.
"That would be great, Pinkie!" All of the others looked at Rainbow Dash with surprised eyes. They expected her to want to go home, and cry away all of her sorrows.
Rainbow Dash would have to wait in the infirmary for another half hour, so the doctors could run some final diagnostics on her. She was sent back in after her visit with her friends. The time would slip away too slowly. She felt like she had been laying there for an eternity. One of the nurses told her that she could be there for weeks. Rainbow Dash was quickly told otherwise though, when a pony at a monitor came over, and told her to rest here until she felt good enough to go. The more she moved around in this case, the better.
Everypony left the confined waiting room, so that they could return to their own busy lives. Applejack was still harvesting the apple orchard, Fluttershy needed to attend to her animals, Pinkie Pie was preparing for the party at Sugarcube Corner, Rarity was filling in a large order of dresses, and Twilight needed to study her magic. Scootaloo stuck with Rainbow Dash though. Twilight had invited them for a sleepover, considering Rainbow's inability to access her cloud house. Rainbow Dash reluctantly accepted, and her loyal "sister" joined her. She would need to get used top not being able to fly. Even in the way back to Twilight's house, she had tried at least five times to take off and soar around for a bit. Her wings were still there but she just couldn't move them. They were paralyzed.
The night was short. They got there fairly late at night, because of one of Scootaloo's crusades. Almost right as they got there, they hit the hay. Twilight was up all night though. She was working on a project.
The next day, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had the time of their lives. They spent the day pranking other ponies, as they occasionally would. The variety of pranks they could do though, was now more limited. Rainbow Dash had lost the ability of using wings, so they couldn't pull the curtain over any pegasus pony's eyes. First they tricked Rarity into thinking that all of her red sequin dresses for the big order, had changed color to purple sequined dresses. They watched her, as she tried to see if it was just the light. Rainbow Dash was using a trick of light on them, but not one that would be easily discovered. Rarity couldn't hear the snickering that came from above her. Rainbow Dash was perched as high as she could get so she could hide while she watched. Scootaloo couldn't stifle the few snickers that escaped her mouth. She was hiding in a small accessory trunk. Soon enough, one of them was loud enough to give them away.
"Rainbow Dash! Shouldn't you be taking it easy?" At first she was surprised, but her voice took an edge of disappointment. Scootaloo crawled out of the trunk.
"C'mon. You can't tell the awesome Rainbow Dash, to take it easy!" Her snide remark was as expected. Rarity shooed them out of her store, with a huff.
Next on their list was Applejack. They found her outside, tending to her orchard. She was out bucking apples into the carefully placed baskets under each tree. When she threw her muscles into it, all of the apples would fall off the tree, and plop neatly into the basket next to her. The two pranksters would fix that. Both of them had brought bottles of glue. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash rushed over to a tree near Applejack. It wasn't close enough for her to notice, but it was close enough for the prank to take action soon. Applejack was completely immersed in thought, so she wouldn't have noticed even if they picked a closer tree. They began reaching up into the tree, to glue the apples to the branches holding them in place. Scootaloo was small enough to climb the thick trunk. Rainbow Dash could simply stand on her hind legs.
It was difficult trying to keep the apples attached to the branches, at such an awkward angle. It hurt the sides of her stomach, standing like that. It would be worth it in the end though.
Having finished the short session of "arts and crafts" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo scouted out a good vantage point for watching the prank from. Just in time, they found a nice spot, for as they settled in, Applejack threw a fine buck at the tree they had just put the sticky substance in. The apples held firm, just as they had anticipated. After all, it was a permanent based glue that they had used. Applejack's train of thought crashed, as she realized the apples hadn't fallen. She kicked the tree again, but this time a bit harder. One of the fruits fell into her near overflowing, woven basket.
"Gosh darn apples." Applejack mumbled to herself, as she attempted one final kick on the tree. This one left hoof marks on the rough bark. "Ugh!" She stressed. Eventually, Big Mac would notice it, and come to buck the apples clean off. The two guilty, laughed their heads off.
They didn't have time to pull another prank on Ponyville's residents. Pinkie Pie's party was going to start soon. The two ponies began to trot a random route, in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. As they traveled, Scootaloo thanked Rainbow Dash for what they had been doing all morning.
"Rainbow Dash, I had a lot of fun today! Thanks for using your time with me" Scootaloo looked down at the ground. To her belief, Rainbow Dash should be surrounded by an endless crowd of other ponies that wanted signatures.
"It's okay squirt! I had fun with you as well."
"Really!" She perked back up with such a sudden motion, she bumped into her friend.
"S-sorry!"
"It's fine. Now let's get to that party!" Scootaloo had higher spirits than she had at Rainbow Dash's show-off session. They wore smiles as they walked, striking up a few points of conversation along the way. None of their ideas seemed to be enough to talk for more than a minute. Their heads were still held high though. Sugarcube Corner was now only meters away. They trotted up to the door, and Scootaloo gave the it a knock. Immediately after they knocked, Pinkie Pie threw the door open to let both of them in.
"Hi guys! Glad you could make it!" Her enthusiasm almost caused them to lose their hearing.
"Hey Pinkie." Scootaloo tried to put as much heart into what she was saying as Pinkie Pie had seconds ago. Her ears were still ringing, and she could never be as near as excited as Pinkie during a party. The attempt failed.
"Come in! Come in." Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash walked inside, as nonchalantly as they could. Applejack, and Twilight had still not arrived yet, so the only other ponies there, were Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom also made an appearance. There were even some ponies that neither of them knew.
The room was decorated with balloons, streamers, and confetti. A concessions table in the corner had punch and assorted desserts. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and tableware all sat neatly on it. A large banner in the background read: Get well soon, Rainbow Dash! She felt great, because the whole party was thrown for her.
Rainbow Dash enjoyed herself, while Scootaloo danced it out to the loud music. Applejack showed up a bit later. She claimed to have been harvesting the apples. She walked over to Rainbow Dash, and started telling her about the tree whose fruits would not come off. She tried not to giggle while her friend talked. Twilight never showed up to the party. She was probably still at her library, working on new spells or something.
The big bash eventually broke up. Fluttershy and Derpy (Rainbow Dash had objected upon seeing her at Sugarcube Corner, but dismissed it quickly.) offered to take the honored pegasus home in a royal chariot. She declined. Together, they could hardly fly, let alone pull a chariot. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, instead, decided to go back to the library, to ask Twilight if they could sleep there again. They exited to the dark outside night. They hadn't realized that it would be this late when they were done.
"Can we hurry...I, um...I want to get to sleep...Hehe yeah!" Scootaloo was afraid of the dark, and she didn't want her friend to know that.
"Yeah, we can hurry. I'm a bit tired as well." She yawned, and them started down the cobblestone pathway. Scootaloo didn't waste any time following her. Unlike when they were headed to the party, the tension had been broken, and they talked freely all the way back.
"Did you see my awesome dance moves, Rainbow?"
"You bet! Applejack came over to me and told me all about that one difficult tree in the orchard."
"Haha! Can you believe Pinkie chugged that much punch?"
"Only when she finished without exploding!" Scootaloo couldn't stop laughing. "Did you see Rarity? She was wearing her party uniform. She was so formal about it! It's was a party for crying out loud!" Scootaloo started to laugh again, after the pause she took while listening to the second offensive statement.
"Wait, were almost there." Twilight's library was now in front of them. Scootaloo once again ran up to the door, and knocked three times loudly. Nopony answered the door. She knocked again. This time, Twilight opened the door. It took a few minutes nonetheless.
"Hel- Oh! Hi Rainbow Dash! Umm...just a minute!" Twilight went back inside. Rainbow Dash heard a few loud clanging sounds, but she wasn't sure.
"Did you see her? She looked like she hasn't had sleep in weeks!" Rainbow snapped back to reality. She was spacing out.
"Yeah, I noticed. She w-"
"Come in!" Twilight interrupted her, mid-sentence. They trotted inside, and asked her if they could stay for the night again.
"U-um well..." It seemed to have caught her off guard. "Sure... I guess."
"Ok great, thanks!" Scootaloo exclaimed. She didn't want to have to spend another night at the orphanage, now that a proper bed was not readily available. Rainbow Dash laid down on the floor, with no cushions or blankets. She was obviously sleepy. Scootaloo, however stayed up much later, listening to some sort of machine, coming from the room Twilight had been in, the whole night. At long last though, she fell asleep.
The morning light cascaded through the windows of the silenced library. It grew brighter and brighter, until it bothered Rainbow Dash's eyes. She woke up, but didn't open her eyes. The tired pegasus pony laid there for at least ten more minutes. Scootaloo was still sound asleep. Rainbow Dash finally got up, and opened her eyes. She silently walked over to the room Twilight was in to see if she were up yet. She had no idea what time it was, but it was bright enough outside, to blind her in her sleep. She opened the door, to find Twilight sitting at a desk. Startled, she swivelled around in the chair she sat in to meet Rainbow Dash.
"You're up early!" She shoved a load of papers into the middle of her desk, and covered them with her hooves.
"Um, Twilight... Are you okay?" Her friend had bags under her eyes, and her mane was all tangled up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I, uh... Have something to give you..."
"Um okay? What is it?" Twilight pointed towards the corner of the room. Rainbow Dash hadn't seen it when she walked in.
"Um... Twilight? What is that? There was a large contraption in the corner of the room. It looked like a pair of chrome pegasus wings with a harness looking thing on top.
"Well, I've been working on a sort of... Prototype."
"Of what?" She was curious now.
"They're um...wings...for you."
"What! You made me wings!? Thank you Twilight!"
"Wait! Before you get too excited, these are just a test. I was still working out all of the bugs..."
"When do you think they will be done!?"
"We could try them right now, but..."
"Yes! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash was too eager to hear Twilight's warning about them. The near-weightless machine was lifted onto Rainbow Dash's back with magic. Twilight fastened some straps under her friend's belly.
"It fits perfectly!"
"I don't think we should try this in Ponyville." Heeding Twilight's advice, Rainbow Dash walked out of the library, almost forgetting that Scootaloo was still asleep. She had a close call with waking her up, as she almost stepped on her head. That would not have ended well. They walked and walked for what felt like hours. Rainbow Dash finally had her wings back, but she was restricted to using them only outside of Ponyville. When she had first heard the news that she would never be able to fly again, her heart stopped. Her talent had been given back to her by her friend, and she loved Twilight for it. They had only walked for about ten minutes. Rainbow Dash's hyperactive mind tried to think of what type of tricks to do first. She finally decided to just improvise when she got to the test area Twilight had picked out.
"Almost there, just a few more minutes."
"We've been walking forever!"
"It's only been fifteen minutes. Do you have any patience?"
"I just got my wings back! How could I wait!"
"C'mon, just have some decency." Rainbow Dash didn't want to talk to her friend anymore. There was not a greater insult to a pegasus pony, then telling them not to fly. She couldn't stand the will to fly, and began to flap her wings.
"Um, Rainbow Dash? We're not quite there yet."
"Can't I just fly along with you, while we go over there ?" Rainbow Dash knew she was testing Twilight's nerves. Her hooves were no longer touching the ground. She had more control over the device, then she had thought she would.
"Get back on the ground! Do you have any idea what could happen?"
"No, and I don't really care! It hasn't happened, so I don't know what you're worried about. Watch me!" She flew even higher towards the sky. It was surprisingly easy to move them.
"Look at me! I'm flying again!" She felt the adrenaline trickle into her veins, as she would in every flight session she had recently done. Rainbow Dash was over ten feet overhead now. As she passed the twenty foot mark, she assumed a new position. She felt an indescribable pain coming from the harness. Rainbow Dash blacked out, and collapsed to the ground. She was out before she hit the ground. Twilight let out a surprised yelp, as her friend fell mere inches from her face.
Twilight resisted the urge to say "I told you so." To the unconscious pony, but instead she resisted, and lifted her up with magic, and galloped back to the library. She didn't stop until she reached the familiar wooden door. Twilight opened it with her free hoof, to find Scootaloo still sleeping.
"Scootaloo! Get up!" Rainbow's sleeping fan awoke with a sudden movement to a standing position.
"Wh-wh-what is it?" Scootaloo still looked like she would doze off again.
"I made some prototype wings for Rainbow Dash. We went out to test them, but she flew too high, and passed out! I don't know if she got hurt from the fall though!"
"You made her new wings?"
"Scootaloo, focus!" The filly was wide awake by now, but she couldn't decide if Twilight had actually made new wings for Rainbow, or if she was still dreaming. Rainbow Dash was set down in a wooden chair, so she could regain consciousness.
"Scootaloo, we need to get this thing off of her! It's hurting her!" They undid the straps, and tried hoisting the machine off of Rainbow Dash.
"It won't budge!" Scootaloo was huffing by now. She would do anything to get the contraption to stop hurting her role-model.
"Uhhh. H-hello?" Rainbow Dash was now adjusting to her surroundings.
"Rainbow! Can you hear me!?" Twilight realized who had just woken up, before Scootaloo had a chance to say anything.
"Y-yeah...I think?"
"Rainbow Dash! What happened!" Scootaloo was now curious as to how the master aviator could have just crippled in mid-air.
"I uh... I-it hurts. G-get... It off." Almost as if by magic, the invention slid off of her back, and onto the floor. It made a metallic sounding clang, like something inside it broke.
"I think she should rest for a while longer before we start asking her too many questions." Twilight reasoned.
"I-I don't... Wan-need r-rest." She was reluctant to sleep, because she had been having nightmares ever since she left the hospital, even though she recovered very quickly.
"Yes you do Rainbow Dash. Please just lay down here, and try to get a little bit more sleep." Rainbow Dash slid out of the chair lazily and plopped down onto the hard floor. Twilight ran back further into the library to find a closet with extra blankets and pillows. Her back still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it was when she had fallen out of the sky, so she tried to ignore it.Twilight levitated a folded blanket with pictures of apples sewn into it, and a white feather pillow into the main room. Rainbow Dash was already asleep. Twilight tried to slide the pillow under Rainbow's mane, with little success. Scootaloo, who had been watching the whole time, crouched down to lift the cyan mare's head. That allowed Twilight to carefully slide the pillow to the desired spot. The apple clad blanket was unfolded, and tossed onto her back.
Time passed slower than normal while Rainbow Dash was asleep. Twilight was attempting to improve her set of wings in her bedroom, but she couldn't concentrate. Scootaloo just stared out the window by Rainbow Dash, glancing at the clock that hung on the wall, every so often. Rainbow Dash dreamt of flying, as she had been doing ever since she got out of the hospital. In her dream, the skies were clear, Scootaloo was watching just like always, and she were doing every trick she could think of on the fly. To end the session, she would dive downward. A slipstream would engulf her as she increased speed. Faster and faster she went. At the end, she lost control. The noise of a sonic rainboom would erupt from the air as she eluded the barrier of light. The force of it would drive her into the ground, and she would wake up in a cold sweat. It was the same dream this time around, as well. Rainbow Dash jolted awake. Her pulse higher than it would be if she were doing an air show with The Wonderbolts, for all of Equestria to see.
Scootaloo quickly shifted her gaze to Rainbow Dash.
"You awake?" She asked, unsure of herself.
"Well, I'm up. What were the questions you want to ask me?" The disgruntled looking pony was impatient. She hadn't wanted to have to watch herself fail again. She couldn't pick out which part of her the dull pain were coming from.
"How did it happen? You've never fallen out of the sky before."
"I felt some kind of pain in my back. It hurt so much... I just kinda blacked out.
"How did you get hurt in the first place?"
"I think it came from the... mechanical wings."
"Should we go back to the hospital, and tell them what happened?"
"I...I don't know. Maybe we should ask Twilight first." The two ponies waltzed over to Twilight's room.
"Do you think she wants to be bothered?" Scootaloo asked with a rather odd expression.
"We'll find out soon." They barged in, and asked the unicorn at her desk, if they should go back and tell the hospital what had recently happened.
"Rainbow Dash said that she passed out because of her back. Those wings seemed to be the problem." Scootaloo added.
"Only if Rainbow wants to. She's the one we're talking about here. After all, we can't decide everything for her... What do you think Rainbow Dash?"
"It might be worth a try. Maybe they can fix it." She did recall the one doctor's exact words. You won't be able to fly anymore. She wasn't sure if the doctor was saying this, because he believed that she just wouldn't be able to, or to crush her attempts for flying, so such accidents wouldn't happen. She didn't know for certain, so she didn't mention it to her friends.
They left the library, to walk in the direction of the hospital, with few failed tries at starting a conversation among them. It was an awkward walk, as none of them knew what to say. All Rainbow Dash wanted to do, was fly. It would be so much quicker, and definitely less awkward. She wanted to give Twilight's invention another shot, but she doubted the bookworm would ever let her put herself at risk like that again. It hurt worse than anything she had felt before, but it was worth it. Never, had she gone this long without flying before. It was the reason her house was practically a cloud in the air. Nothing could compare to the excitement and adrenaline of Rainbow Dash's one love.
Rainbow was lost in thought. She was on autopilot mode, while her friends guided her in the right direction. Thump! Rainbow Dash walked right into the outer wall of the hospital. She snapped back to reality.
"Ow!"
"Watch where you're going, will you?" Twilight was a bit annoyed, and embarrassed as some of the bystanders turned their heads in the group's direction.
"Sorry." With that, the three ponies walked inside to see the same receptionist, looking exactly the same as last time.
"Back so soon? What happened this time?"
"Well, you see uh, Twilight here made me a new set of wings. They worked like a charm, until something happened, and I blacked out. My back started to hurt really bad..."
"We'll get someone in here right away for you, miss uh... Rainbow Dash is it?"
"Yes." She filed some papers, and then used the intercom to call in another team of nurses. She would have had a feeling a déjà vu if it weren't for the fact that a stretcher was not involved this time around.
"Please, follow us." Greeted the earth pony on the left.
"We just need to ask you a few things. It'll only take a small amount of your time." assured the unicorn pony on the left. They didn't wait for an answer from her, because she followed without question. After going through more sets of double doors, she was brought to a larger room filled with IT staff wearing white coats that covered their flanks, desks, stacks of papers, and small tables with matching chairs. One of them, in particular got up out of their uncomfortable desk seat to greet the overwhelmed pegasus.
"I was sent the information for your case through a letter, and I can't say that I am very surprised. Take a seat, Rainbow Dash." The white-coated unicorn pony pointed a hoof towards a small table nearby. The two nurses left them alone to talk. "By the way, my name is Suir Inge."
"I understand that your friend Twilight Sparkle has made you a pair of er..."mechanical...wings. Am I correct?" The dark brown pony acted as if he were searching for words to describe the machine.
"Yeah."
"I haven't heard of such a thing before, but I guess I could assume nothing less from the princess. Anyway, I was informed that your friend had told you not to fly so quickly up into the air, and that you didn't take a warning from her to consideration. Is this true?"
"Yes, it is."
"She claimed that you fell unconscious before you made contact with the ground. She said that the source of it, was your back. Still right?"
"Yeah. That was pretty much it." The informant paused for a second, to suggest that he were thinking.
"I think I may know what the problem is. Your bones were shattered to a nearly unrecoverable state. Our best surgeons tried as best they could to keep it together. It was a miracle that they were able to save you. I'm afraid that your bone structure seems to have changed slightly when the surgery finished."
"What does that mean?" She tried to show as much interest in the topic as she cloud, but honestly, when ponies started to talk in such a monotone voice about science and stuff, she tuned them out.
"It means, that when you changed to the average flight position, one of your bones may have snapped out of place, causing you to blackout. Where did the pain come from?"
"It was about right here." Rainbow Dash circled an area behind her wings, with her hoof.
"Ah, I see. Do you mind if we take another x-ray of you to try to confirm the shape of your bones?"
"Yes, but make it fast."
"Great!" He put a fake smile on his face. "Matisine!" A dark blue pony, looked around to find the source of the sound. His eyes fell on Rainbow Dash and Suir Inge. Matisine got up out of his chair, and walked over to the small table they were sitting at.
"Yes Mister Inge?"
"Rainbow Dash needs to be taken for x-rays. When they're done, bring her back in here with a copy of them."
"Y-yes sir."
"How many times have I told you to call me Suir? I'm not one for those types of formalities."
"Yes Suir."
Matisine took Rainbow Dash's hoof, and dragged her out of the room. They walked through even more sets of double doors, until she was brought into the same room she had her first x-rays in. There were two other staff in the room.
"Lay down there on the table, so we can get started. Rainbow Dash got down on her belly once she had mounted the steel table.
"Ok good. Now lay on you side."
She tipped herself over so she were now lying as they told her.
"Great. Last one. Act like you are flying." This time, she got back onto her bell, and stretched her body out on the table.
"Ahhh!" She retracted her limbs quickly, and she stopped hurting. It was her back again.
"I am so sorry, but we got the x-rays."
"Please, never make me do that again."
"Lets go back to show these to Suir." He led her back out, while she limped slightly, but tried not to show it.
"I can now confirm, that the problem is right here." Suir turned the paper so that Rainbow Dash could see. His hoof pointed to a small bone in her lower back. "This bone snaps into a little rut filled with muscles and tissue, every time you enter the common flying stance. When you return to a normal stance, the bone retracts itself out of the rut, and back to how it was originally."
"Is there a way to fix it? I can't live without being able to fly!"
"I'm afraid not. We could remove the bone, but it is important, as it keeps some of your nerve cells from touching the muscles and tissue underneath it. If we did take it out, you would be in pain indefinitely. In the average pegasus' body, the bone would be here, serving the same purpose." He pointed towards another area of her skeleton. "In the surgery, it had to be moved because the part there needed to heal."
"If its healed, can't they just put it back?"
"They could, but it would put your life at risk. We were lucky the first time around, but what if we weren't this time? We cannot allow you to take the chance. You're an element of harmony after all. Without you, what would Equestria be? You would have died from a concussion if we hadn't tried to help the first time."
"I...I understand..." Rainbow Dash was breaking into tears. How could she live without flying?
Matisine, and the unicorn from earlier led her back out to the waiting room.
"What did they say!? Can you fly again?" Rainbow was too hurt to say anything. She just shook her head.
"Oh, I...I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said with a hint of guilt in her voice. Rainbow Dash was trying as hard as she could to hold back her tears. She didn't want her friends to see her like that.
"Scootaloo? Can you go get a chariot? I just want to go home. I'll be here, waiting for you."
"Ok..." Scootaloo looked down, and slowly trudged out the glass doors. With the filly gone, Rainbow Dash sat down on one of the armchairs, and started crying silently. Twilight tried to comfort her.
"I bet we can find something better to do anyways...right?" Even Twilight doubted her sentence could do anything more than make it worse.
"What's the point? Flying is what I lived for." Rainbow Dash said through tears. Twilight reached out to give her a hug. Rainbow did nothing to return the favor.
"Look, it can't be all that bad." She got no reply.
The chimes from a small bell over the front door rang out over the silence. Scootaloo slowly trotted inside. Fluttershy and Derpy could be seen outside by the golden cart. Fluttershy's face was also as depressing as Scootaloo's, although Derpy held the same cross-eyed expression as normal.
"The chariot is outside."
Rainbow sat for a few more long seconds, then lifted herself out of the chair. She was shaking, as if she were very cold, but the room temperature was over seventy. Every step felt like she were lifting a few tons with each hoof. The door swung shut behind her. Twilight was still inside, but not moving. While Derpy and Fluttershy saddled up, Rainbow took her time. It was dark out, even though it had only been noon when they arrived. She took a seat on the comfy, cushioned, bench style chair. Her unmasked tears stopped, leaving her cheeks wet. What would crying do to help her anyways? Scootaloo jumped up onto the seat, to sit next to her friend. Derpy and Fluttershy started to run. Their wings unfurled, and started flapping up and down. It went slower than it would have if the royal guards had been pulling, but it still went faster than she expected. Rainbow Dash watched in despair as her chauffeurs' wings kept flapping. She yearned to be one of them, just because their wings were still functional. Nopony had said a word all the way back. It was, once again, not appropriate to say anything. Rainbow felt the breeze through her mane. It felt great. It was nowhere near as good as the feeling of flying, but it had been the closest to it she had gotten in the past week. To her it felt like an eternity.
When they arrived at her cloud house, Scootaloo and Fluttershy prepped themselves for the landing. The chariot hardly made a sound, as it hit the soft cloud. Rainbow Dash dismounted the vehicle. Her friends unhooked themselves from the artificial leather harnesses.
"Is there anything else we can do for you?" Fluttershy's soothing voice rang through the nighttime air.
"I just want to be left alone." Rainbow Dash's cold voice answered back.
"I want to stay here with you!" Scootaloo was determined not to let her friend sulk around like a lost puppy.
"The orphanage might be looking for you. I just don't want company right now."
"But-"
"Sorry, Scootaloo but I think Rainbow is right. They haven't seen you for a week and a half. Besides, she needs a while to calm down." Fluttershy's reasoning was hard to argue with. Scootaloo realized that she would lose, and retreated back to the cart.
Without saying another word, Fluttershy walked back to the chariot as well. She shot Rainbow a look that displayed remorse and sorrow, before slipping her harness on. Rainbow Dash walked back inside, not saying goodbye, or even looking back to the sad pegasus. She felt like she were the only pony in the world after they left. She sat at her dining table, trying to enjoy a cup of cocoa. Outside, it was warm, but in Rainbows heart, it was below freezing. Nothing could distract her from this state of emptiness. Her soul left her body. All that was left was an empty husk.
She had planned to adopt Scootaloo that day. She had been having so much fun with the filly. After all that had happened though, she felt that permanent care for the filly was no longer present. She had filled out most of the paperwork. All that was left to do, was to have a judge declare it legal.
Rainbow Dash only gave up the thought because of her injury. She wished it had never happened. Before any of this, she would have gladly given flying lessons to Scootaloo. In her current state, Scootaloo wouldn't be able to come up with enough bits to pay for flying lessons from anypony else. The weather changing traits that all pegasi inherit would be useless. How would she feel if the pony she looked up to denied her dreams? She could never be the parent Scootaloo deserves. The broken pegasus knew that she could never do that to Scootaloo.
From then on, she knew that she would never be able to compare to the lively pegasus, she once was. Loneliness constantly tugged on the back of her mind. Rainbow Dash would never be the same. Never again would she be...Scootaloo's hero.
