Chapter 2: The Silver Lining

*All Revised, thanks to MyInnerWeirdo!

The sterile aroma of cotton and latex were the only smells present in the small room that Rainbow Dash was lying in. She didn’t even need to guess where she was. She had been taken to the hospital plenty of times for crashes.

“I’m going to be fine” she thought to herself. “I mean really, I’m Rainbow Dash; the best flyer in all of Equestria! Some dumb little crash isn't going to stop me!” Even as these bold words left her, she knew that she was kidding herself. That crash was unlike any other she had ever experienced. It was defying physics in the first place to break the sound barrier and create a rainbow, so there was no way that crashing into the ground at the speed of sound wasn't going to severely injure her.

Now that she thought about it, Rainbow couldn't really remember much of anything from the previous day. She recapped yesterdays events in her head.

“Lets see, well first I know I was flying with the Wonderbolts.” Her face immediately lost its cyan color. “Why, why in front of the Wonderbolts?” She screamed to herself. It wasn't that she was embarrassed of the crash. It was the fact that she had just had everything she ever wanted right there on the end of her hoof, and than when she crashed, all those dreams flew out the window.

Rainbow sat up and screamed. The sudden motion made her body cry out for her to stop, but she couldn't. Rainbow just continued to scream until her lungs could no longer let out air. Rainbow gasped and fell back on her pillow and looked at the ceiling. She wanted to cry, but the pain was just too much to bear. Rainbow stared at the white ceiling for hours, not knowing what she would ever do with herself.

After hours of self hatred nurse Redheart entered Rainbow’s room and looked stunned. “Doctor, doctor!” The nurse yelled and ran out of the room shortly returning with Doctor Whooves.

“My god!” he yelled. “She’s finally awake. Rainbow looked back at the doctor with a angered face and yelled, “No shit Sherlock! I have been awake for hours just screaming at the ceiling, I thought at least one of you so called doctors would have come to me, but no. I suppose you have other, more important matters to attend to.” Rainbow angrily jerked her head away from the doctor and looked out the window.

Doctor Whooves sat next to Rainbow and looked at her puzzled. Any other pony would have taken great offense to such a rude tone, but Whooves knew that Rainbow was not always the most understanding when it came to injuries.

“Rainbow,” the doctor said in a gentle tone. “You never screamed, the fact your alive right now boggles my mind.”

“What do you mean I didn’t scream?!” Rainbow yelled to the doctor.

“Rainbow, I don't know how to tell you this, but you have been in coma for three months. You even slipped in and out of life multiple times this past week. If it weren't for those five friends of yours we would have pulled the plug weeks ago, but after the purple one wrote a letter to the princess we had to keep you on life support. I thought for sure that you were a goner, but here you sit, breathing next to me.

Rainbow had no clue what to say. She was absolutely outraged that the doctor had the nerve to pull the plug on her, but at the same time, she couldn't believe that her friends kept her alive for so long.

“You really have some great friends you know,” Doctor Whooves said as he rose up off of the bed. “Not many ponies can say that their friends really saved their lives.”

*----------------*

Rainbow awoke to Nurse Redheart trying to quietly switch out Rainbow’s bandages. Rainbow hadn't seen her wings since the crash and was worried, but ready to see how they faired.

The Nurse looked over to see the awakened Pegasus looking back at her. “Oh dear,” she sighed. “I really wanted for you to be asleep for this.” Rainbow smirked back at the Nurse and wheezed,

“I’m Rainbow Dash, I think I can handle seeing some broken bones, even if they are mine.”

The Nurse gulped, and replied, “Rainbow, I’m afraid that its far worse than a few broken bones. I really think you should look away for this.” Rainbow wouldn't hear any of it though. She demanded that she finally saw the true extent of the damage.

After one last failed attempt by the nurse to change Rainbow’s mind Redheart began to unwind the bandage. Once it was finally off Rainbow gasped and burst into tears pushing the nurse back against the wall.

She had no wings. Just two small swollen bumps where each wing used to be attached. “I’m so sorry” the Nurse begged. “There was just no way to save them, the damage was far too great.”

Rainbow was hysterical. She looked at the nurse and shouted, “I would rather be dead!” and continued to cry her eyes out. The nurse knew that there was no way she could re-bandage the wound now, she would just have to try later, and hope that Rainbow didn’t do anything crazy.

Rainbow laid in bed awake all night crying, until she had no more tears. Than she just stared at the ceiling again like she had done in her dream during the coma. She wished that this was all just going to be a dream, and she was still in her previous state, but the pain and emotion was all to real to be that of a dream.

Just when her body had no more energy to loathe, Rainbow fell asleep, just as the sun started to rise over the horizon in the distance.

*-------------*

“She’s awake!” Rainbow Dash was suddenly jolted out of her sleep by a teary eyed Pinkie Pie who refused to let go of her rainbow mane.

Rainbow quickly shoved the pink pony off of herself with a look of disgust. Pinkie once again cowered back behind Applejack as the rest of Rainbow’s friends entered the small room.

Twilight was the first to break the awkward silence by walking up next to Rainbow and smiled, “It’s so good to see your eyes Dashie, we were losing hope each day you were asleep.” The rest of the friends all nodded in agreement.

Rainbow just stared at her friends with a look of pure hatred. “What in Equestria are you so upset about Dashie,” said Rarity as she placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow quickly pushed the white pony off of her and finally raised her voice.

“You seriously had the nerve to write the princess and make the doctor keep me on life support!” The other ponies all looked back at their friend with total confusion.

Fluttershy at this point had begun to cry and became angered by Rainbow’s attitude. “What did you expect us to do Rainbow?” Fluttershy said in a cowering tone.

“They took my wings!” Rainbow began to bawl. “They just went and hacked them right off!” Rainbow turned her back to her friends to make sure that each could see the fresh wound.

Waiting for sympathy from her friends Rainbow kept her back turned. But the sympathy never came. Applejack stood forward and turned the very shocked Rainbow Dash around. “Rainbow, we know that your one true love was flying, but how do you think we felt.” Rainbow began to see the tears form in Applejack’s eyes. Rainbow was stunned, even in all the years she had been friends with AJ, she had never actually seen the cowpony shed real tears.

Rainbow quickly glared back at Applejack. “Why does it matter how you feel?” Rainbow Dash had finally lost her temper. “You weren't the ones who crashed! You weren’t the ones who were in a coma! You weren't the ones who had their life literally chopped off! You didn’t have to go through anything!”

All of Rainbow’s friends were simply in shock. Fluttershy turned bright red and flew above Rainbow Dash.

“How…” Fluttershy whispered. Suddenly she put her face right against Rainbow’s and screamed at the top of her lungs. “HOW DARE YOU EVEN SAY THAT WE DIDN’T GO THROUGH ANYTHING!!!!”

The room became extremely quiet, and all eyes were on Fluttershy who had backed off to the ground and was breathing heavily. Fluttershy raised her voice again, not to a scream, but loud enough to heard by all in the room.

“For the past three months, your friends and I have come to this hospital everyday to see you. Everyday the doctor would tell us the same dreadful news about your condition and plead with us just to end your life!” Fluttershy took a quick pause to catch her breath.

“We knew that you had it in you and we told the doctors to do anything they had to do to save your life. I guess that meant they had to amputate your wings, and believe me I have cared for enough animals that have lost limbs to know that it’s hard. But they always pull through and live full, rewarding lives. I knew that you would make it, and I knew that even without your wings you would live a great, successful life. Rainbow Dash, I know that this is so hard for you, but everything your friends do is all for you. We love you Dashie.”

With that Flutershy went up and hugged her cyan colored her friend. All of the girls except Rainbow gasped. Rainbow Dash had pushed Flutershy to the ground and looked at her friends.

“ I would rather be dead.”

All of Rainbow’s friends left the small room single file with tears in their eyes. When they had all left even Rainbow Dash herself began to cry.

*-------------*

A week had passed and Rainbow still had not received a single visitor. Although Rainbow knew well that she shouldn't expect to see her five friends, she grew lonely. Nurse Redheart was good company, but the two ponies had absolutely nothing in common. Rainbow longed for someone to come, just to hear a voice. Spike would cheer her up! No way, Twilight would never allow Spike to visit Rainbow for fear that Rainbow would just step all over Spike’s feelings like she had done to Twilight. Rainbow was so desperate that even hearing an, “Eyuup” from Big Mac would make her day. Hospital life sucked.....

There was only half an hour left in the day for visiting hours at the hospital and Rainbow came to the same conclusion that no pony was going to come.

Nurse Redheart entered Rainbow’s room with a large smile on her face. Rainbow also got excited, for the extra unusual look of happiness plastered on the normally boring nurse’s face meant that something was up.

“You have a very special visitor Dashie!” The nurse told Rainbow as she opened the door for the unknown guest to enter the room. Rainbow couldn't imagine who was standing next to her bed.

“Spitfire!” Rainbow yelled jumping up to give the orange pegasus a hug. Rainbow was starting to get stronger each day.

“Hey there kiddo!” Spitfire replied suddenly turning very pale putting her fore legs back on the ground.

“Oh, Rainbow......I...I don’t know what to say” Spitfire must have felt, or more so not felt the wings on Rainbow Dash’s back.

“I know,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Life can be unfair, and it was really hard to deal with at first, but I’m starting to accept that this is the way that I’m going to have to live my life.” Spitfire looked absolutely amazed by the way Rainbow had handled the situation.

“Wow Rainbow,” Spitfire shrugged. “You really are quite the pony you know.” Rainbow Dash blushed at the compliment but was slightly confused at what Spitfire meant.

“How am I quite the pony?” Rainbow sighed. “Your a bucking idol for every filly in Equestria. All I am is a broken down pegasus who had her dreams come down and crush her.”

“I may an idol for my tricks and skills,” Spitfire paused to make sure she was going to get this compliment right and not just add insult to injury. “But your the one who should be the idol Dash. Any pony who can stay so positive after such an ordeal is the real hero in my eyes.” Spitfire nodded to herself seeming pleased with what she had just said to her friend.

Rainbow Dash suddenly realized what Spitfire had said was a complete lie. Rainbow looked up to her idol and spat, “I’m no hero, I’m a no good lousy pony who pushed away the ones I really care about, just because they saved my life.” After saying it out loud Rainbow knew how extremely foolish she had been.

“I’m so sorry to leave like this Spitfire, but I have to go turn something I made so wrong, back into something right.” Spitfire was slightly confused but was not going to hold the pony back.

“Here I come girls!” Rainbow yelled as she ran out of the hospital and toward Ponyville.