Farewell

BEEP

BEEP

Rainbow was very suddenly aware of an incessant beeping noise whereas before there was nothing.

BEEP BEEP

Where the hay was she? She was lying on her back. Warm, she was warm. Everywhere was black, why was it black?

BEEP BEEP

Rainbow attempted moving her arms, nothing. Okay. She tried moving her legs, nothing. Wherever she was she couldn’t move and it smelt clean, bleach clean.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She noticed her heart was beating faster, the same time she noticed the damned beeping increase too. Where in Equestria was she?

BEEP BEEP – “DOCTOR! She’s waking up!”

“Why’s Fluttershy shouting?” Was her first thought, then “Doctor……..” Sunk in – memories of the crash returned in a wave of unpleasant sensations. She remembered the pain, speed, the pain, the loss of control, the pain. It had hurt, a lot. She found if she tried really hard she could open her eyes a little, a small crack at first, then the whole way, wincing as bright light flooded her eyes. The White light was everything. Slowly her eyes adjusted and Rainbow took in her surroundings.

Rainbow Dash was half laid, half sat in a pristine white bed, crisp white sheets covering her. Her right arm and left leg were both in casts, as was her right wing, the unfamiliar weight of it jarred her slightly. Looking down she could see various needles and tubes coming from her left arm, her nose and the breathing tube in her mouth. She noticed her collar was still around her neck, otherwise she was naked under the sheets. Flexing a few muscles she could feel the bandages and paddings around her body “Holy shit,” she thought, “I've never been hurt this bad before.” To her left by her side was Flutteshy, who was stood motioning for a doctor to come and see Rainbow.

Finally able to move her left arm a little, Rainbow reached over to Shy and gently nudged her right arm. She tried to speak a greeting but the tube in her throat prevented words, with a startled “Eeep!” Fluttershy spun round to face Rainbow Dash, her face full of delight despite the puffy eyes and tracks of dried tears staining her cheeks, the dirty unkempt pink hair and wrinkled clothes. Rainbow knew Shy must've been here a long time, a slight feeling of guilt built up in her gut. It was swiftly banished as Fluttershy swooped down on Dash, gathering the blue girl up in a crushing embrace, burying her head in her girlfriends neck and showering her in kisses and fresh tears. “Dashie you had me so worried, we thought you’d never wake up! We, I mean, I, we um was so scared for you”. Fresh sobs poured into Rainbow at these words. Rainbow tried bring her left arm up around Shy to return the hug but found she couldn't due to the restricting nature of the wires and tubes in her arm. Resigned, Rainbow let Shy hold her as tight as she could, not wanting to break this moment.

The Doctor knocked slightly before entering the room, allowing the reunited girlfriends a chance to separate, although Fluttershy kept hold of Dash’s hand for all she was worth. He looked impeccable, white coat over a dark blue suit, short brown spiked hair with sideburns just below his ears. Rainbow was drawn to his eyes, which seemed entirely too old for such a young man. He gave a polite cough to get their attention then began, addressing Rainbow and reading from her notes on a clipboard.

“Miss Rainbow Dash, 20, resident of Cloudsdale, attending Equestria University. Correct?” Shy and Dash both nodded. The Doctor went on, “First of all, let's get that tube out shall we?” Rainbow noticed his gloved hands gently grip the tube in her throat, felt it move upwards as he slowly removed it. She fought the urge to be sick, instead giving a wet cough as it came free. Dash’s throat felt sore and dry, and her voice didn’t sound like her own when she thanked him. “Thanks Doc, ugh uhhhh how long have I been here?” The Doctor took a seat to the right of Rainbow’s bed, facing her and Shy. When he spoke his voice was solemn “Miss Dash you were admitted here, Equestria Royal Hospital, just over four months ago.”

“Four months?” Rainbow interrupted, “I've been out four months? What the hay happened to me?” The Doctor suppressed a look of irritation at being interrupted. “Yes, four months. Now you were admitted in a very bad way Miss Dash. I cannot stress how lucky you are to be alive now, it's only your innate Pegasus nature that kept you from being a smear and a memory”. He looked at her lying there holding her girlfriend's hand before continuing on in a softer tone. “You impacted the ground at 148 metres per second. That’s unheard of for you to have survived that crash, even for a Pegasus. Your injuries were very severe, including multiple breaks, fractures, internal bleeding and extensive damage to almost all your internal organs, especially your liver and kidneys.” Fluttershy wrapped Rainbow tighter in her arms as The Doctor read off her lover's list of injuries. “The breaks we have of course repaired over the course of several surgeries. However Miss Dash I have to prepare you for this unwelcome news. You will never fly again. I'm sorry.” He smiled softly at her as these words washed over her.

“But, you said you mended me, right? I mean, look.” Confusion reigned as she demonstratively flexed her right wing. As she did so she suddenly felt wrong, off balance. She noticed immediately Fluttershy pulled away from her, sobbing through her hands at her face. Rainbow caught “I, I’m so sorry R, Rainbow” between her whimpering sobs. Rainbow didn't get it, “Sorry for what” she thought. Rainbow was about to flex her other wing when she stopped cold, an icy dread making its way to her gut. It hit her then. She couldn't feel her left wing at all, there was no weight, no discomfort. Nothing. Rainbow tried to turn her head to look over her shoulder at her wing but Fluttershy wouldn't let her. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder at that moment, calming her somewhat. He broke the news to her as gently as he could. “Rainbow, Miss Dash, you will never fly again because we had to amputate your left wing. It was too badly damaged in the crash. The bones were shattered, the muscles ripped from bone and the tendons severed. Had we not removed it you would have bled to death………..”

The Doctor was still speaking but Rainbow wasn't listening anymore. She'd just been told she’d never fly again, that there was no chance of her ever flying again. She couldn't believe it. Her whole life had been spent in the air, she lived to fly. Not anymore. How could they take her wing from her? She was Rainbow Dash! Equestria’s best flier! Performer of the Sonic Rainboom! No. She was. WAS. Not anymore. Now she was nothing.

“Show me”.

The Doctor stopped abruptly, Fluttershy raised her head from her hands, looking shocked at Rainbow. “Miss Dash, the bandages must be kept in place for your own good, at least for now.”

“Show me”. She looked stubbornly from her girlfriend to The Doctor. Neither one seemed inclined to move anytime soon. Rainbow was crying herself now, rage was building in her. “I said SHOW ME!” She hadn't meant to shout, she certainly hadn't meant to scare Shy so much that she had to flare her own wings in order to avoid hitting the floor. She just wanted to see firsthand what had been done. Fluttershy hovered in place as The Doctor reluctantly stood over her and gently removed a large section of the bandage on her left side. Easing her forward slightly he peeled them back from her toned blue skin. Turning her head to the left Rainbow looked over her shoulder and saw to her horror the surgically repaired stump twitching pathetically against her back where her wing used to be. She felt her world fall away. Everything she had trained for since being five years old was gone. Her dreams of joining the Wonderbolts, gone. Everything she was, everything that made her Rainbow Dash was gone, taken from her in an instant, stolen by a freak accident, a random strike of chance. As The Doctor reapplied the bandages Fluttershy lowered herself toward Rainbow, her cheeks blushing bright red as she was suddenly aware of her own flight, and not wanting to upset Rainbow anymore than she already was. Shy went to her, her own wings held very firmly against her pink jacket as she once more held Rainbow in a tight embrace. The mounting despair broke from Rainbow in that second, she wept uncontrollably in Shy's arms for what felt like hours. All the while Fluttershy held her firm, stroking her prismatic hair and offering comfort in her caress.

“Ahem”. They’d quite forgotten The Doctor was there. Rainbow lifted her head from Fluttershy's sodden shoulder to look at him. “There is more, I'm afraid”. More? How could there possibly be more? What the hay was worse than losing a wing? Rainbow rather thought she didn’t want to know.

“What is it Doc? Tell me”.

He leant back in the chair, an unreadable look on his face. “Okay Miss Dash, here it is. As you know in the crash you sustained severe damage to your internal organs, most of which we were able to repair in surgery. However, the damage to your kidneys was to much, and we had to remove them”.

Rainbow clutched her guts instinctively, too stunned to reply. Shy spoke up in her delicate voice “What does that mean?”

“In short, it means that unless we can find a suitable donor to offer replacement organs within six months your body will go into toxic shock and you will die of renal failure”.

Rainbow felt like she'd been pole axed. Her world was gone, her dreams were gone and now she had been given half a year to live. No tears came to her though, the cyan Pegasus felt empty.

“You will need to be connected to this artificial kidney machine from now on, you can be away from it for a few hours per day, no more. It will assume the role your kidneys played, filtering the toxins from your body. However it is not perfect and while on us you will deteriorate unless donor organs can be found in time”.

Rainbow was numbed to her core, thankful that Shy was there with her, that she wasn't hearing this news alone.

“Miss Dash I am truly sorry for what has befallen you, believe me I am. If it is any consolation to you, you won the race you know, and your Rainboom was truly magnificent. Now, once you've been checked over you'll be released from here in a couple of days, I feel this is redundant but do you have somewhere to live, someone to care for you?”

Without looking away from her stricken love, her gaze drawn to the collar Dash still refused to remove, Fluttershy answered. “She has me. Rainbow will always have me. She knows I'll care for her”.

As The Doctor stood to take his leave, he motioned to the unnoticed package at the foot of Rainbow’s bed. “While you were unconscious I understand a friend of yours left this for you. And these, tokens from your friends and admirers.” He offered kindly, indicating the vast array of cards and balloons she hadn’t noticed before now. There were too many to count at once, the window sill overflowed with them, then they were stuck around the window and all over the rest of the wall. Surely she didn't know this many people? Scanning the cards from her bed she saw the largest most colourful card, in the centre, the one that meant the most to her right now. The one marked simply with three butterflies, three apples, three diamonds, three balloons and a six pointed star, all surrounding a multi coloured lightning bolt coming from a white cloud. “Thanks girls.” Was all Rainbow could say.

Fluttershy still held Rainbow in her tight hug, planting soft kisses over her cheek, neck, collar and exposed shoulder. Her soft voice was almost inaudible in Rainbow’s ear. “Open the package, you'll like it.” With shaky hands Rainbow looked at the package she held, no larger than a briefcase. On it was a simple message to her.

“To Rainbow Dash. A true Wonderbolt if ever there was. Your Rainboom was awesome and you showed all of us there the qualities of an elite flier to finish that race, let alone win it in such spectacular fashion. I've watched you since you saved us and your friend at the competition in Cloudsdale. You never fail to impress me. This is yours, you earned it a long time ago. With greatest respect, your friend Spitfire.”

Carefully tearing the package to preserve the note, Rainbow looked down to see a pristine blue and gold Wonderbolt uniform, RAINBOW DASH carefully embroidered in large white letters on the left breast, her cutie mark displayed on the right, a privelidge only granted to captains like Spitfire. Hugging it and Fluttershy close to her, she spent the rest of the day cuddled next to the two things she loved most in all the world.