Skyfire's Storyby PegasisterTheBronyChaptersChapter One - The FallChapter Two - The VerdictChapter Three - The WonderboltChapter Four - The TruthChapter Five - The OpportunityChapter One - The FallBuzz Buzz! Skyfire slammed a hoof onto the clock and shot into the air, waking up instantly from her slumber. "TODAY'S THE DAY!" The light blue pegasus shrieked, throwing her hooves into the air and doing a quick little victory dance with joy and glee. Today was the day of Wonderbolt Tryouts. Quickly, she gathered her sheets and "made" her bed to the best of her ability, ran a comb through her bed head mane, and inspected her well-toned wings to make sure every feather was perfect. Finally satisfied, the sky-colored pony flew downstairs, greeting her mother in the kitchen. "Hi, Spitfire!" Spitfire glanced away from the stove to see her daughter. "Hey, champ! Is today a big day or something? You seem excited." Skyfire gave her mom a look. "Mom, I know memory loss is a sign of aging, but..." She broke off with laughter at Spitfire's stern expression, and offered her a salute. Spitfire stared for a second before finally saluting back. The pair released a new round of giggles as Spitfire finished up her pancakes and began putting them on plates, chatting the entire way. Skyfire felt a warm sensation in her heart all over again as she thought of the close relationship with her mom, a thing that came as a rarity to most. During a review of Sky's preparation, a knock on the door sounded, breaking up the early conversation. As Sky got up to answer, the visitor let herself in, shaking out her vibrant and colorful mane. "Aunt Rainbow Dash!" Skyfire cheered, racing over to the Wonderbolt and giving her a hoof bump. "I didn't know you were coming!" Rainbow winked at her goddaughter. "Wouldn't miss the chance to see ya before the big moment!" She replied with a hardy punch in the leg. Skyfire laughed and ushered her over to the table, where slightly charred pancakes awaited them. Today was going to be perfect; she could feel it in her wings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And here's the tryout order for Arena 7. Up first, Flying Colors. Second, Sugar Breeze. Third, Prism Streak. Fourth, Skyfire. Fifth, Stormy Skies. Sixth..." Skyfire stood in silence, listening to the tinny noise of the speaker announce the names. Fourth, fourth... She muttered to herself, desperate to seal it into her brain. "Well! Who do we have here?" Sky gritted her teeth and turned, coming eye to eye with Sugar Breeze. The mare was the same age as her, but lots more mean; she had been the top in the Wonderbolts academy, and wouldn't let Skyfire forget it. "Do you think you have a shot, sweetie? You should just flap on home, little filly, there's nopony here who's interested in you." The baby pink mare crooned, fluttering her fake eyelashes. Narrowing her own eyes, Skyfire responded coolly. "Oh, Sugar Breeze, little do you know that I've had several stallions ask me if I was free tonight for dinner at Rainbow Falls. What's your count, dear?" She replied sweetly before trotting away smugly, leaving the pegasus to angrily toss her white mane and stalk away, her group of cronies following. A few moments later, Skyfire was watching Prism Stream blaze through the sky, spinning clouds and preforming tricks and dives that he would definitely feel in the morning, feeling the first hints of nerves begin to roll in. "I just need to get up there and do MY cloud spinning." She muttered to herself, polishing her cutie mark off with her elbow. The cloud with three fireballs raining out of it glistened, and the young pony's confidence returned. All she had to do was spin the clouds at blazing speed and stomp on them, letting fireballs fill the sky. The Judges couldn't say no to her once they saw the magnificent balls of flame, could they? The blaring of a horn showed that Prism's routine had ended, and he dove back onto the cloud, landing and pushing his goggles onto his head before offering Sky a hoof bump. "Good luck, Sky. No pressure!" The yellow and blue stallion laughed. Skyfire smiled faintly and bumped his hoof before turning to the starting gate. The announcer's voice blared out. "Skyfire, please prepare for takeoff in three, two, one..." A deafening horn screeched, and Skyfire shot out the gate with a trail of flames licking at her tail from speed. The speeding pegasus grinned, narrowed her eyes, and flapped even harder to gain more speed. The wind whistled in her ears, and her mane flew back in a tangled mess. Skyfire flew for a solid one minute and thirty seconds, pulling off the most dangerous loops, dives, and tricks she had ever done. With a swift glance at a clock, she saw her chance for the cloud spinning finale. Next to the clock, a thundercloud symbol was lit up; there was a weather pony out on the course dealing with something, but she didn't care - she just needed to finish! The light blue pony flapped her wings even harder and quickly spun circles around the closest one, shoving her side into it so the speed would increase dramatically. After few seconds, the cloud began to hiss, and steam started to emerge, so she stopped and kicked it. Instead of raindrops, several fireballs fell. Oohs emerged from the crowd, but there wasn't any time for that; Skyfire zipped to the next cloud and repeated the process, trying to get the whole course done before the two minutes where up. The second-to-last cloud was a darker shade of gray than the others, and had a pony in blue sitting on it. Was that... Sky waved her hooves wildly. "DERPY!!! WATCH OUT!!!" The cross-eyed pegasus looked up from her cloud and, seeing Skyfire speeding towards her, started to flap her wings, rising off of it. Sky flew even faster to make up for her lack of speed earlier and pushed on harder than ever. She was nearing her target and- Derpy fell back onto the cloud. Bolts of lightning shot everywhere, and Skyfire had no time to slow down. A lightning bolt struck her at the base of her right wing, nearly frying it off. Her coat blackened and her wing nearly separated itself from her body, the bone holding it while flesh fluttered off of it. Skyfire fell then, hurtling downwards with utter silence, leaving a trail of smoke and blackened feathers in her wake. She hit the cloudy ground with a soft thud. Skyfire couldn't hold on to conciseness for much longer. The last thing she saw was the bright blue, sunny sky. Chapter Two - The VerdictSkyfire awoke drowsily, a tiny moan escaping her lips. Slowly but surely, the light blue mare blinked her eyes open, staring at the plain white ceiling for a few moments. Then the memories returned. Then, Skyfire remembered. "Oh my Celestia!" She shrieked, jumping out of the bed she was in and starting to instinctively flap, trying to hover in midair, but she tumbled instantly onto the linoleum floor. That's not right... She stood and, for the first time, registered that this wasn't her room. The bed lacked a cloud mattress, and certainly didn't have any good hard floors. The sheets were plain. Monitors perched next to the bed, and a single window gave a stellar view of the brick wall next to her. Her eyes caught one last detail. The mirror. Slowly stepping towards it, she gulped and rised her eyes to the reflective surface. The young Pegasus was taken aback. Her mane had lost its buoyancy and now hung in flat, dull, and straight strands that flopped against her face. There were bags under her wild orange eyes, and her fur was in disarray. But that's not what she needed. With a deep breath she began to spread her wings. She only counted one. "No." She choked. Skyfire could hardly hear it herself. "No. No. No. No... NO!" The last one became a scream, a call of defiance against fate, a call of anger, sadness, and confusion. "NO! NO NO NO!!!!!!" Sky slumped onto the floor once more, sobbing. She looked to her right side, wishing that she had only imagined it, but saw nothing but bandages. "NO! NO! THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!" She sobbed into the floor, her own tears soaking her own coat. The door to her room swung open, revealing a doctor, a nurse, and Spitfire to the crying pegasus. "Skyfire!" The Wonderbolt cried out, jumping over the medical staff with assistance from her wings, galloping to her daughter and engulfing her in a hug. "It's okay, Fireball. It's alright." She whispered into her Skyfire's ear. Skyfire let her tears pour onto her mother's shoulder. Fireball. I haven't been called Fireball since I was a Filly. The doctor stepped into the room, followed by the Nurse. "Hello, Miss. Skyfire. I'm Doctor Wingbeat, and this is Nurse Heart Scope. Please, return to your bed. Nurse Scope will connect you to your monitors once more." Skyfire looked up at the stallion and rose to her hooves. "Why?" Doctor Wingbeat took a tiny step foward. "If you get into bed, Miss Skyfire, we can explain-" "Why? Why, why, WHY?!" She was screaming once more. "WHY DID YOU CUT IT OFF?! I WAS SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE TO THE TEAM AND YOU RIPPED IT OUT OF MY HOOVES! YOU TOOK MY WING!! WHY?! Why..." She broke down once more, and Nurse Scope reached out with a hoof, perhaps to comfort her, but Sky swatted it away. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She spat. The Nurse jumped back, her ears flattening. "But..." Nurse Scope stopped mid sentence and shook her head. Almost desperately, Doctor Wingbeat looked towards Spitfire. Understanding, the Wonderbolts captain placed a hoof of Skyfire's shoulder. "Honey, please. You need to cooperate." Skyfire stared at her mother first, the Nurse Scope, and finally Doctor Wingbeat. Should she listen? The mare glanced once more at where her wing used to be, blinking to see through her tears. She then realized that she wanted to know, she needed to know. After a moment's hesitation, Skyfire rose off of the floor and dragged her hooves back to bed, where she sat numbly and silently as Nurse Scope began to connect her to machines and take her vitals. The unicorn recorded them onto a clipboard before nodding to the ponies in the room and leaving, her silvery stethoscope cutie mark flashing. The door closed behind her. Doctor Wingbeat folded his wings and stood across from Skyfire. "So, Skyfire, do you remember what happened?" Skyfire's response came, hoarse and almost inaudible. "Yes." The stallion cleared his throat. "Okay, so I'll begin explaining your treatment and recovery process right away. Firstly, the Lightning from a stray thundercloud struck you here." Wingbeat turned and pointed to the base of a wing on a diagram. "The destroyed tissue and muscle was far too great in amount, so we were forced to amputate. The surgery had no complications, so there's no further worry on the topic." Skyfire remained silent, but a single tear trickled down her cheek as she listened to the orange pony. Was this really happening two her? "In about one to two weeks, we'll remove the bandages; until then, you'll be taking pain medication, which you can pick up from our pharmacy upon your departure tomorrow." Spitfire broke in. "Why is she staying overnight?" Wingbeat consulted his clipboard. "Just to keep an eye on her." the pegasus answered. "According to our charts, we recommend therapy." Spitfire interrupted once more. "Physical, I'm assuming?" Wingbeat set down his clipboard and turned to look at Spitfire. "Physical and mental. Although we predicted a rough phase, due to her aspiring Wonderbolt career, I never thought her reaction would be so severe. Therefore, I've decided she'll be in physical rehab for one month and mental for two. We'll then discharge, unless more treatments are needed." Skyfire finally spoke up, lifting her head to face the Doctor. "Mental rehab? Like I'm some kind of crazy pony?" Wingbeat muttered something under his breath, earning himself a swift kick from Spitfire. Narrowing her eyes at him, Spitfire moved next to her daughter and settled a wing onto her back. "You're not crazy, Sky." She told her soothingly, shooting another glare at Wingbeat. "It's just that this is a very big shock, especially for a younger pony. We need to be sure your mind has adjusted to this." Hearing her mother's words offered little comfort, but Skyfire nodded anyway. "Okay." "So, that's about it. You can have guests come in, but short visits please. She needs rest." Wingbeat flicked his tail in farewell and trotted out the door, leaving the small family alone In peace. "So, champ, I'll leave you to rest, okay? Any idea of who you want to come visit?" Spitfire asked, nudging Skyfire into a laying position. The one-winged pony thought for a second. "Whoever wants to come, I guess." She muttered after a minute. Spitfire tucked the sheets around her. "Alright, Fireball. I'll be back." Skyfire's mother turned to leave, walking out of the door. "Mom?" Sky called weakly. The yellow-gold mare paused and turned back. "Yes, honey?" "I... I love you." "I love you, too. Hang in there, Skyfire. Just don't leave me. Not over this." Chapter Three - The WonderboltI hovered in the air with leisure, flying as though nothing had ever happened. Letting out a luxurious whoop, I stretched my wings to their full extent and soared further into the cloudless sky. I had never been so limitless, never so free. I could fly forever and ever, with no ending. Then, it happened. In a rush, the sky turned a shade of golden-yellow in a flash. The storm clouds appeared out of nowhere, as if they had been following me, waiting for the right moment. As the clouds closed in, flashing their wicked lightning tauntingly, I tried to fly upwards to escape the fate that I already knew awaited me. Instead of shooting into the sky above me, I fell. Looking to my right, I saw that my wing had dissapeared once more. The clouds moved below me, somehow quicker than I, and surrounded me in a sphere. The lightning came from all directions... Skyfire jerked awake with a scream, long and shrill. Tears flooded mercilessly from her eyes, soaking her cheeks. She took in choked and hollow breaths rapidly, trying to calm herself. It was all a dream. Just a dream. But, regardless of what she told herself, Sky knew. It wasn't a dream. Her wing was gone. Forever. The lightning, the fall, those yellow-gold eyes, all of it would haunt her. Forever. At last, the tears stopped. Finally. Skyfire collapsed back onto her bed, feeling the wires that connected her to the machines poking into her. Pain enveloped her side, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore. A soft knock on the door revealed a blue nurse, her silvery mane swept into a bun; Nurse Scope. "Skyfire, dear, are you alright? I heard you scream..." "I'm fine." "Oh. Well, it's about time for breakfast, anyway. Could we bring in something for you?" "No. Thanks." Nurse Scope just shook her head with a small sigh and left, shutting the door behind her with her silver magical aura. As soon as she left, Skyfire let another tear slip out of her eye, slide down her cheek, and plop against her pillow, where it became nothing more than a damp spot. She missed flying, the freedom. She missed her home... Without meaning to, she drifted to sleep once more. Privately, she wished she would dream of the sky; she wished she would go back home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunlight was burning through Skyfire's eyelids, making her world go from soothing black to a jolting blue. Sky blinked slowly, beginning to wake up from her slumber. Beside her, several familiar Pegasi were sitting in chairs, having quiet conversation that was held in whispers. Skyfire could only hear snippets. "Extra... needed... for... current... Scope... Screaming... Nightmare..." Skyfire blinked once more, trying to process. Scope had told about the screaming? Surely, others had heard, but Scope tattled to Wingbeat? Ugh. With a groan, Skyfire sat up and let her eyes travel to her bedside. A plate of muffins, now cold, sat there, with a note that had "I'm sorry, please get well soon." Scrawled onto it, next to a smiley face. Sky had the impression of a foal writing it out, but only one pony loved muffins that much in all of Equestria, and only one pony could write worse than a foal; Skyfire pushed Derpy's muffins away a little bit, not wanting to see them, and attracted the attention of several Wonderbolts, the ponies in her room. Skimming her eyes over them, Skyfire spotted Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Fire Streak, and Silver Lining. "Hey, Skyfire!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a bit too cheerfully. The cyan Pegasus jumped up from her chair and walked over to the patient, offering a hoof bump. Wordlessly, Sky stared at the outstretched hoof. Really? Did Rainbow think everything was okay, despite her severed wing? Did she think that everything would go back to normal, just like that? Seeming to get the hint, Rainbow pulled back. "How'd you sleep, Sky?" Soarin asked her, using his wing to pull Rainbow pack gently. Skyfire shrugged. "Dunno. Fine." She mumbled, drooping her head down and letting her mane fall into her face. You could practically hear the crickets chirping as the team members exchanged glances with each other. Fleetfoot shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "I heard that the other trainees are coming up to see you today, probably after we head out." The young mare managed, trying to start conversation. Skyfire's head jerked up suddenly. "Who got in?" She blurted out, making eye contact with the other ponies. Sky was pretty certain who it was (Prism Streak, of course) but still wanted to be sure of it. Silver Lining, Misty Fly, and Fire Streak - three of the five judges - all stared at each other expectantly, wondering who would say it. All eyes seemed to settle on Misty. "Ugh! Fine! Three judges over two, it was Sugar Breeze." The yellow mare gasped dramatically, throwing her front hooves into the air in exasperation. Skyfire fell back onto her pillows, her mind fuzzy once more a Misty Fly's words. It was... Sugar Breeze? Sugar, who always taunted her for no reason? Sugar, who managed to get the other fliers to dislike her because she was the only Wonderbolt foal? Sugar Breeze was a Wonderbolt now? In her haze, she hardly noticed the angry conversation that was beginning to stir up in the room. Spitfire and Lightning Streak were arguing with Misty, Fire, and Silver about Sugar Breeze, Rainbow and Soarin eventually siding with the pair. "Sugar Breeze? I still can't believe you went through with her!" "She's a talented flier, Spitfire! We couldn't let her go!" "But her attitude!!! She's not exactly the nicest pony, you know!" "Lighting Streak, you're not even the captain, why should you call the shots?" "Because I know what's best for the team!" "And Spitfire doesn't?" "Maybe we could just settle this later?" "SHUT UP, SOARIN!!!" Soarin's face twisted into an offended frown. "Why me?! Why not Fleetfoot?!" He replied to the group, waving his hooves towards the icy pegasus. Fleetfoot just gasped in anger before jumping to her hooves, marching over to him, and pressing her nose to his. "Say it again, I dare Ya!" "You're the one who needs to shut up! Your voice is so nasal!" Fleetfoot's nostrils flared with anger, and Skyfire broke out of her haze once more upon hearing Soarin. Oh, Fleetfoot's gonna lose it!!! As if she had read Sky's mind, the mare let out a loud insult like a slap across the face. "WHY, YOU SON OF A-" The door slammed open suddenly, cutting Fleetfoot off and making Everypony jump in surprise. Skyfire, though she couldn't see who awaited her at the door, felt a tiny bit of disappointment settle in her stomach; the idea of Fleetfoot telling Soarin off with just priceless!!! If only the door hadn't open- "Oh, dear. I hope we aren't interupting anything." Several other familiar Pegasi stepped into the room, all of which Skyfire knew well. First came Stormy Skies. The stallion was smaller than most, shorter and thinner, but it helped in the agility category. (This was told by his cutie mark, which was a lightning bolt that appeared to dodge clouds easily.) His coat was a darker shade of blue, almost like the sky just after sunset, and his light gray and gold mane was growing out of his face, almost like Spitfire or Soarin, and there were goggles hanging from around his neck. His eyes were a startling gold, and they rested on Skyfire with light concern. Walking close behind was Flying Colors. She was a stunning white, with black dots mingling together near her hooves and wing tips. Thick lashes coated her icy blue eyes, and complemented her long and messy rainbow mane very well. Her mane was usually styled so that it fell sideswept across her left eye, but now it was pushed back with goggles. The spots on her legs were also partially hidden by the leg wraps that she wore to help her with the muscle pain she sometimes got. In her flank, three water drops that were colored with the primary colors resided, showing off the time that she had captured the water from Rainbow Falls and transported it through a tornado (Sugar Breeze had been helping) to the Crystal Empire. Despite her feat, the pegasus was very shy. With a small smile, she skittered inside. Next was Prism Streak. He was a lighter yellow, with a navy and dark blue tussled mane. Unlike Storm's, his mane fell down in a shaggy mess, covering a bit of his royal blue eyes with the ends. On his flank, there was a navy Phoenix, with a few blue feathers mixed in; it indicated that he had once saved a Phoenix nest that was full of eggs from falling into a pond; the image of a full grown phew I had appeared on his flank, indicating that the lives he had saved would one day be beautiful, strong, and... Powerful. Ever since, he had been a flight guard at the Junior Speedsters camp, helping out the kids who had a bit of a struggle with certain aspects of flight. Sky could tell that his work had a positive effect on him, from his attitude to his toned arms. A bit of athletic tape wrapped around his bad knee, but that was the only indication of a weakness. He stopped for half a second, just.. Staring. Skyfire shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, somepony else walked into the room. "Ugh, Prism! Move it!" The last addition was Sugar Breeze. She had a long, wavy white mane that had some streaks of off-white in it, a supple baby pink coat, and, unlike the others, showed no signs of practice at all. Although she claimed it was preposterous, Everypony knew that she wore fake eyelashes; you could especially tell whenever one of them was crooked. Her voice was harsh, much like her tornado cutie mark, and breezy confident, like the wind marks that seemed to egg on the funnel on her flank. Skyfire just couldn't help but wonder sometimes if Sugar had gotten her cutie mark by helping Fly with the transportation of Rainbow Falls waters, or if it justo effected her personality. But, then again, who knew? But, at that moment, Skyfire knew one of Sugar's most annoying traits. It was the Wonderbolt title that she now carried. Chapter Four - The TruthSkyfire gritted her teeth in slight fury, the monitor next to her showing a rising blood pressure. Stormy Skies and Flying Colors just awkwardly shuffled their hooves and glanced at the Wonderbolts, as if trying to signal for them to leave. Prism Streak cleared out his throat, making eye contact with Spitfire nervously. The captain's response involved coolly meeting the stallion's blue gaze. No one moved for the next few seconds, and Skyfire's mood quickly switched from angry and irked to just plain annoyed. Couldn't her mother get a hint?! Her own thought shocked her thoroughly, like... Well, like lightning. With a slight wince, the one-winged pegasus pushed the analogy away and contemplated her most previous mental statement. I would have never even thought that about Spitfire before... Why did I just think of it now? "Well, Wonderbolts, we would really like some time with out best friend Skyfire here. After all, we're really concerned for her. Anyhoo, we'll talk later at practice. Okay? Okay. Buh bye." Skyfire was quickly snapped out of her own thought process by Sugar Breeze's snooty voice. Once again assessing the room with her eyes, she saw Sugar pushing each of her own teammates out of the door from behind. Spitfire swiftly batted her away, proceeding to walk out on her own. "Sugar Breeze, I'm your captain. You still need to treat me with respect or I won't hesitate to revoke your membership." Flicking her tail to summon the others, she nodded to Skyfire before walking out of the room. Thanks a lot. She thought to herself angrily, crossing her legs over her chest with a huff. She was now left left in a room with her nemesis. Fabulous. Flying squished into a chair with Stormy, snuggling up to her coltfriend and getting cozy. "How are you, Sky? We were watching from the side, but they wouldn't let us out to help." She explained, a bit of anger inching into her voice. Flying was normally a very sweet and lighthearted mare, but she was also very protective of her friends. Skyfire just shrugged. "Dunno. Fine, I guess. How much did you guys hear, anyway?" She questioned, uncrossing her hooves and leaning forward a bit towards Prism; he stood at the foot of the bed, seeing that Sugar Breeze had taken the last chair. The handsome flier ran a hoof through is mane. "All we heard was that you were in a coma and under the best care they could give you. Everything else was some kind of secret, 'Patient Confidentiality' or something like that." "Oh." Stormy readjusted himself for a quick stretch before leaning back once more. "So when can you get back to flying, Sky? We'll finally have even teams." He informed her with a cheeky grin. "Oh, yes, they're so looking forward to having you back in the arena." Sugar Breeze muttered, not bothering to look up from where she was filing her hooves. Flying just sighed and blinked her baby blues expectantly at Skyfire. "So? When can you get back in the sky again?" This, Skyfire knew, was the moment she had been dreading. The pretentious predicament, the diabolical dilemma, the terrible truth. Tears filled her eyes once more upon the sudden reminder, and she glanced down to see that the sheets still engulfed her, and, for the first time, she noticed that her body was covered by a thin hospital gown. Noticing her silence, Prism moved next to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Sky...?" Following suit, Flying gently lifted out of the chair with a flap of her wings and stood next to the concerned yellow stallion. "Skyfire, are you okay?" Stormy Skies also left his seat and joined the small crowd. While Sugar refused to get up, she did lift her eyes from her hooves, arching an eyebrow and letting a small smirk play at her lips. Skyfire had to tell them. She needed to. She just... Didn't want to. But she had to. The young pegasus closed her eyes first, tears threatening to spill out from beneath her lids. Slowly, she spread out her wing, carefully guiding it through the slot in her gown and letting the group see that only one wing rested on her shoulder blades. Lifting up her hoof, she pulled down her gown a bit to reveal the bandage that covered where the wing used to be. She was met with gasps of shock. A hoof file clattered to the floor. A choke of tears. She felt a hoof leave her shoulder, it's reassuring touch gone. Skyfire managed to hold back a sob, taking deep breaths. "I don't... I don't think I'll ever fly again." Finally, she said it out loud. It seemed far too real at that point, far too terrible. For it to be happening to her. But it was. A familiar magical sound opened the door. Hoof steps entered, and a soft "Oh, my," was heard. The hoof steps of Nurse Scope got closer still. "Dears, I think... I think you should leave now. Skyfire needs her rest." Skyfire stood still as she heard her friends leave. She stood still as Scope checked her vitals, not once opening her eyes. She would never fly again. Never again. Never again would she feel the wind tangle her mane. Never again. Never again would she soar to no end. Never again. Never again would she fly. Never again. Chapter Five - The OpportunitySkyfire opened her eyes again when she heard Nurse Scope's pen click closed. Making a halfhearted attempt at pushing her mane out of her face, Sky met the Nurse's magenta eyes. "So... Is everything alright?" The pegasus asked, referring to her own vitals. Scope used her magic to place the clipboard down, oddly quiet for a second. "Yes, everything's looking fine. But are you okay, Skyfire?" She asked, moving to stand next to the younger pony. "Please, Sky, tell me. I want to know, and I'm worried about you." Skyfire mentally debated confiding in the unicorn, who had always asked about her. She had always at least tried to see if she was feeling okay. And here she was, asking again. "I just... I never saw this coming. I was set on a career as a stunt flyer, and then, well... You know. What... What am I supposed to do? I'm meaningless now." Sky whimpered, tears beginning to fill her eyes again. She felt a hoof wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "Honey, that's for you to find out, okay? But you are not meaningless, and don't you ever forget that. You mean the world to your mother, and I'm positive you mean a lot to Rainbow Dash, too; you're practically her own foal. Never, ever say you're meaningless." Skyfire's mouth seemed to fill with bile. "What about my dad? He never even had the decency to just come out and say he's my Father, I'm sure that I'm perfectly meaningless to him." Nurse Scope but her lip for a second. "I can't answer that question, Skyfire, because that's not my place or in my knowledge. But you have a meaning to Everypony, that's for sure. I'm sure your Father loves you, Sky, he's just afraid to say that he does." Scope then released her patient and turned around to retrieve her board. Once it was clasped in her magic grip, the Nurse Started out of the door. "So, I'm going to go and get Wingbeat, and he'll give you the all clear to leave. Your mother's in the hall with Rainbow, so I guess I'll go on ahead and send them in. I'll be right back, dear." The blue unicorn departed, leaving the door open for the visitors the walk in. Two Pegasi, cyan and gold, made their way inside with worried eyes. "Hey, Fireball." Spitfire murmured, giving her daughter a hug. "How's it going?" Sky just shrugged in response. "Fine, I guess. Scope said that I could be discharged today." The one-winged pony responded, briefly returning the hug. Rainbow Dash offered a small smile. "That's good, right? You'll be out of this place soon, and that gives us an opportunity!" Now Rainbow's eyes sparkled with excitement, and whenever Skyfire turned in question to Spitfire, she saw that her Mom's general demeanor had changed to one that was happier and hopeful, leaving Sky to be even more confused. "What do you guys mean? What kind of opportunity?" She asked them, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion. Spitfire grinned in excitement. "Well, hon, I did some research and found out that the hospital has a pony who can make prosthetics. I asked Mrs. Heart Scope to see if she would look into it, and turns out that she knows him personally. She said there would be no promises, but she could try. Can you believe that?! Honey, you might actually fly again!!!" Skyfire suddenly felt as if she were soaring, not just flying. She might get a wing back? She might fly again? Sky quickly snatched up both of the mares into a tight hug, her heart fluttering with hope. She could actually fly again!! Quickly she released both Spitfire and Rainbow, eagerly looking between the two of them. "Oh, please, tell me everything!!!!" She begged them, feeling the happiest she had ever been. "Starting with this; who in the name of Celestia is Heart Scope?" Spitfire and Rainbow exchanged a quick look. "Well, you already know her. She's Nurse Scope!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air. Spitfire nuzzled her daughter's cheek happily. "Isn't it great?!" "I'll tell you what's great, and it's that Skyfire may be officially discharged from the hospital this afternoon." All three Pegasi looked up to see Doctor Wingbeat standing there, with a smile on his face for once, and Nurse Scope beside him, who was wearing a knowing smile as well. Spitfire walked towards him, with Rainbow Dash trailing behind her. "That's great, Doctor. Really. Where do I sign the paperwork?" Spitfire asked him eagerly. Wingbeat nodded, gesturing with his hooves. "Both of you, if you could please step into my office." The pair of Wonderbolts trotted out of the door, following the Doctor, leaving Skyfire and Nurse Scope - Heart Scope - in the room. Skyfire watched the unicorn mare as she began to disconnect Skyfire from the various machines, thinking to herself as the screens slowly faded to black. This nurse had agreed to try and help her out. She had agreed to try and give her her life back. This nurse was a miracle worker, and was properly named Heart Scope. With brief hesitation, Sky cleared her throat to get her attention. "Nurse Scope?" The pony looked up from double checking all of the cords, pushing some of her forelock out of her face. "Yes, dear?" "Just... Thank you." Nurse Scope grinned as she stood up, stretching out her legs. "Of course, Skyfire. There's no need to thank me." She responded, quickly removing a tube from one of Sky's forelegs and wrapping some gauze around the tiny hole it had left. Skyfire rolled out of her hospital bed cautiously, setting one hoof down at a time, and stretched out her own legs before stepping over to the Nurse on shaky legs and giving her a quick hug. Nurse Scope smiled at her before turning to leave. "Good luck, Skyfire. And remember, you're not meaningless." With those final words, she saluted Sky and stepped out of the hospital room door for the last time. Sky gave a tiny wave to the unicorn before walking over to the mirror and spreading her wing out to it's fullest extent. Her small smile seemed to vanish instantly, to be replaced by a slight frown. I just hope that everything will work out okay... Spitfire walked up behind Skyfire, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "You ready to go, champ?" Skyfire took one long, last look in the mirror before turning away. "Yes." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nurse Scope set her clipboard on the receptionist's desk, offering Inked Quill a smile as she did so; Skyfire had been her last patient of the day, and she was heading home now for some much needed rest. Quill smiled back and took the clipboard and pen into her mouth. "How was your day, Mrs. Scope?" The Earth Pony asked as she removed the records from the board and placed them into a filing cabinet, then taking the clipboard and pen to set them under the desk. Nurse Scope answered as she wrote her name on the sign-out sheet, "Good, but very busy. What about you?" "Just the same. Is that all for you today?" The receptionist responded. Nurse Scope nodded. "It is! I'll see you tomorrow, Quill." "Alright, Scope, I'll see you then!" The Nurse waved before turning around and trotting away, towards one of the stairwells. Descending quickly, the unicorn reached the hospital's basement in a mere matter of minutes. As soon as she was on the lowest floor, Scope turned left and trotted down another hallway, approaching a door that had 'Morgue' etched into it. Before she even entered, she could already hear the two ponies inside having a rather one-sided conversation. "I'm telling you, Rigor, this invention's going to save lives, I know it!" "Either that, or you'll loose another hoof that I'll have to patch up. Again." "Nonsense! So anyway, all you have to do is-" Scope opened up the door to find just the ponies she had been trying to find; the white and heavily scarred pegasus stallion, Injury Prone, was standing next to a rather dangerous looking contraption, having a conversation with Rigor Mortis, a tan Earth Pony mare whose ears were folded back in concentration as she worked at her own table. When Scope entered, however, Rig's ears perked up. "Heart Scope? What're you doing down here? I haven't seen you in weeks!" Quickly wiping off her hooves with a rag, she trotted forward to meet her old mentor in the center of the room. "At last, someone else to see! Heart Scope, you must see my newest creation!" Jury whooped, following up Rig. Scope smiled and offered them both hoof bumps. "I'm sorry, Jury, but I don't have any time right now. However, I could use a favor from both of you." Rigor arched an eyebrow. "Sounds like it's story time. Come on, I'll get Ya some coffee." With a flick of her tail, she turned around and started walking towards the break room. "So, I have this patient named Skyfire..."
Chapter One - The FallBuzz Buzz! Skyfire slammed a hoof onto the clock and shot into the air, waking up instantly from her slumber. "TODAY'S THE DAY!" The light blue pegasus shrieked, throwing her hooves into the air and doing a quick little victory dance with joy and glee. Today was the day of Wonderbolt Tryouts. Quickly, she gathered her sheets and "made" her bed to the best of her ability, ran a comb through her bed head mane, and inspected her well-toned wings to make sure every feather was perfect. Finally satisfied, the sky-colored pony flew downstairs, greeting her mother in the kitchen. "Hi, Spitfire!" Spitfire glanced away from the stove to see her daughter. "Hey, champ! Is today a big day or something? You seem excited." Skyfire gave her mom a look. "Mom, I know memory loss is a sign of aging, but..." She broke off with laughter at Spitfire's stern expression, and offered her a salute. Spitfire stared for a second before finally saluting back. The pair released a new round of giggles as Spitfire finished up her pancakes and began putting them on plates, chatting the entire way. Skyfire felt a warm sensation in her heart all over again as she thought of the close relationship with her mom, a thing that came as a rarity to most. During a review of Sky's preparation, a knock on the door sounded, breaking up the early conversation. As Sky got up to answer, the visitor let herself in, shaking out her vibrant and colorful mane. "Aunt Rainbow Dash!" Skyfire cheered, racing over to the Wonderbolt and giving her a hoof bump. "I didn't know you were coming!" Rainbow winked at her goddaughter. "Wouldn't miss the chance to see ya before the big moment!" She replied with a hardy punch in the leg. Skyfire laughed and ushered her over to the table, where slightly charred pancakes awaited them. Today was going to be perfect; she could feel it in her wings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And here's the tryout order for Arena 7. Up first, Flying Colors. Second, Sugar Breeze. Third, Prism Streak. Fourth, Skyfire. Fifth, Stormy Skies. Sixth..." Skyfire stood in silence, listening to the tinny noise of the speaker announce the names. Fourth, fourth... She muttered to herself, desperate to seal it into her brain. "Well! Who do we have here?" Sky gritted her teeth and turned, coming eye to eye with Sugar Breeze. The mare was the same age as her, but lots more mean; she had been the top in the Wonderbolts academy, and wouldn't let Skyfire forget it. "Do you think you have a shot, sweetie? You should just flap on home, little filly, there's nopony here who's interested in you." The baby pink mare crooned, fluttering her fake eyelashes. Narrowing her own eyes, Skyfire responded coolly. "Oh, Sugar Breeze, little do you know that I've had several stallions ask me if I was free tonight for dinner at Rainbow Falls. What's your count, dear?" She replied sweetly before trotting away smugly, leaving the pegasus to angrily toss her white mane and stalk away, her group of cronies following. A few moments later, Skyfire was watching Prism Stream blaze through the sky, spinning clouds and preforming tricks and dives that he would definitely feel in the morning, feeling the first hints of nerves begin to roll in. "I just need to get up there and do MY cloud spinning." She muttered to herself, polishing her cutie mark off with her elbow. The cloud with three fireballs raining out of it glistened, and the young pony's confidence returned. All she had to do was spin the clouds at blazing speed and stomp on them, letting fireballs fill the sky. The Judges couldn't say no to her once they saw the magnificent balls of flame, could they? The blaring of a horn showed that Prism's routine had ended, and he dove back onto the cloud, landing and pushing his goggles onto his head before offering Sky a hoof bump. "Good luck, Sky. No pressure!" The yellow and blue stallion laughed. Skyfire smiled faintly and bumped his hoof before turning to the starting gate. The announcer's voice blared out. "Skyfire, please prepare for takeoff in three, two, one..." A deafening horn screeched, and Skyfire shot out the gate with a trail of flames licking at her tail from speed. The speeding pegasus grinned, narrowed her eyes, and flapped even harder to gain more speed. The wind whistled in her ears, and her mane flew back in a tangled mess. Skyfire flew for a solid one minute and thirty seconds, pulling off the most dangerous loops, dives, and tricks she had ever done. With a swift glance at a clock, she saw her chance for the cloud spinning finale. Next to the clock, a thundercloud symbol was lit up; there was a weather pony out on the course dealing with something, but she didn't care - she just needed to finish! The light blue pony flapped her wings even harder and quickly spun circles around the closest one, shoving her side into it so the speed would increase dramatically. After few seconds, the cloud began to hiss, and steam started to emerge, so she stopped and kicked it. Instead of raindrops, several fireballs fell. Oohs emerged from the crowd, but there wasn't any time for that; Skyfire zipped to the next cloud and repeated the process, trying to get the whole course done before the two minutes where up. The second-to-last cloud was a darker shade of gray than the others, and had a pony in blue sitting on it. Was that... Sky waved her hooves wildly. "DERPY!!! WATCH OUT!!!" The cross-eyed pegasus looked up from her cloud and, seeing Skyfire speeding towards her, started to flap her wings, rising off of it. Sky flew even faster to make up for her lack of speed earlier and pushed on harder than ever. She was nearing her target and- Derpy fell back onto the cloud. Bolts of lightning shot everywhere, and Skyfire had no time to slow down. A lightning bolt struck her at the base of her right wing, nearly frying it off. Her coat blackened and her wing nearly separated itself from her body, the bone holding it while flesh fluttered off of it. Skyfire fell then, hurtling downwards with utter silence, leaving a trail of smoke and blackened feathers in her wake. She hit the cloudy ground with a soft thud. Skyfire couldn't hold on to conciseness for much longer. The last thing she saw was the bright blue, sunny sky.
Chapter Two - The VerdictSkyfire awoke drowsily, a tiny moan escaping her lips. Slowly but surely, the light blue mare blinked her eyes open, staring at the plain white ceiling for a few moments. Then the memories returned. Then, Skyfire remembered. "Oh my Celestia!" She shrieked, jumping out of the bed she was in and starting to instinctively flap, trying to hover in midair, but she tumbled instantly onto the linoleum floor. That's not right... She stood and, for the first time, registered that this wasn't her room. The bed lacked a cloud mattress, and certainly didn't have any good hard floors. The sheets were plain. Monitors perched next to the bed, and a single window gave a stellar view of the brick wall next to her. Her eyes caught one last detail. The mirror. Slowly stepping towards it, she gulped and rised her eyes to the reflective surface. The young Pegasus was taken aback. Her mane had lost its buoyancy and now hung in flat, dull, and straight strands that flopped against her face. There were bags under her wild orange eyes, and her fur was in disarray. But that's not what she needed. With a deep breath she began to spread her wings. She only counted one. "No." She choked. Skyfire could hardly hear it herself. "No. No. No. No... NO!" The last one became a scream, a call of defiance against fate, a call of anger, sadness, and confusion. "NO! NO NO NO!!!!!!" Sky slumped onto the floor once more, sobbing. She looked to her right side, wishing that she had only imagined it, but saw nothing but bandages. "NO! NO! THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!" She sobbed into the floor, her own tears soaking her own coat. The door to her room swung open, revealing a doctor, a nurse, and Spitfire to the crying pegasus. "Skyfire!" The Wonderbolt cried out, jumping over the medical staff with assistance from her wings, galloping to her daughter and engulfing her in a hug. "It's okay, Fireball. It's alright." She whispered into her Skyfire's ear. Skyfire let her tears pour onto her mother's shoulder. Fireball. I haven't been called Fireball since I was a Filly. The doctor stepped into the room, followed by the Nurse. "Hello, Miss. Skyfire. I'm Doctor Wingbeat, and this is Nurse Heart Scope. Please, return to your bed. Nurse Scope will connect you to your monitors once more." Skyfire looked up at the stallion and rose to her hooves. "Why?" Doctor Wingbeat took a tiny step foward. "If you get into bed, Miss Skyfire, we can explain-" "Why? Why, why, WHY?!" She was screaming once more. "WHY DID YOU CUT IT OFF?! I WAS SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE TO THE TEAM AND YOU RIPPED IT OUT OF MY HOOVES! YOU TOOK MY WING!! WHY?! Why..." She broke down once more, and Nurse Scope reached out with a hoof, perhaps to comfort her, but Sky swatted it away. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She spat. The Nurse jumped back, her ears flattening. "But..." Nurse Scope stopped mid sentence and shook her head. Almost desperately, Doctor Wingbeat looked towards Spitfire. Understanding, the Wonderbolts captain placed a hoof of Skyfire's shoulder. "Honey, please. You need to cooperate." Skyfire stared at her mother first, the Nurse Scope, and finally Doctor Wingbeat. Should she listen? The mare glanced once more at where her wing used to be, blinking to see through her tears. She then realized that she wanted to know, she needed to know. After a moment's hesitation, Skyfire rose off of the floor and dragged her hooves back to bed, where she sat numbly and silently as Nurse Scope began to connect her to machines and take her vitals. The unicorn recorded them onto a clipboard before nodding to the ponies in the room and leaving, her silvery stethoscope cutie mark flashing. The door closed behind her. Doctor Wingbeat folded his wings and stood across from Skyfire. "So, Skyfire, do you remember what happened?" Skyfire's response came, hoarse and almost inaudible. "Yes." The stallion cleared his throat. "Okay, so I'll begin explaining your treatment and recovery process right away. Firstly, the Lightning from a stray thundercloud struck you here." Wingbeat turned and pointed to the base of a wing on a diagram. "The destroyed tissue and muscle was far too great in amount, so we were forced to amputate. The surgery had no complications, so there's no further worry on the topic." Skyfire remained silent, but a single tear trickled down her cheek as she listened to the orange pony. Was this really happening two her? "In about one to two weeks, we'll remove the bandages; until then, you'll be taking pain medication, which you can pick up from our pharmacy upon your departure tomorrow." Spitfire broke in. "Why is she staying overnight?" Wingbeat consulted his clipboard. "Just to keep an eye on her." the pegasus answered. "According to our charts, we recommend therapy." Spitfire interrupted once more. "Physical, I'm assuming?" Wingbeat set down his clipboard and turned to look at Spitfire. "Physical and mental. Although we predicted a rough phase, due to her aspiring Wonderbolt career, I never thought her reaction would be so severe. Therefore, I've decided she'll be in physical rehab for one month and mental for two. We'll then discharge, unless more treatments are needed." Skyfire finally spoke up, lifting her head to face the Doctor. "Mental rehab? Like I'm some kind of crazy pony?" Wingbeat muttered something under his breath, earning himself a swift kick from Spitfire. Narrowing her eyes at him, Spitfire moved next to her daughter and settled a wing onto her back. "You're not crazy, Sky." She told her soothingly, shooting another glare at Wingbeat. "It's just that this is a very big shock, especially for a younger pony. We need to be sure your mind has adjusted to this." Hearing her mother's words offered little comfort, but Skyfire nodded anyway. "Okay." "So, that's about it. You can have guests come in, but short visits please. She needs rest." Wingbeat flicked his tail in farewell and trotted out the door, leaving the small family alone In peace. "So, champ, I'll leave you to rest, okay? Any idea of who you want to come visit?" Spitfire asked, nudging Skyfire into a laying position. The one-winged pony thought for a second. "Whoever wants to come, I guess." She muttered after a minute. Spitfire tucked the sheets around her. "Alright, Fireball. I'll be back." Skyfire's mother turned to leave, walking out of the door. "Mom?" Sky called weakly. The yellow-gold mare paused and turned back. "Yes, honey?" "I... I love you." "I love you, too. Hang in there, Skyfire. Just don't leave me. Not over this."
Chapter Three - The WonderboltI hovered in the air with leisure, flying as though nothing had ever happened. Letting out a luxurious whoop, I stretched my wings to their full extent and soared further into the cloudless sky. I had never been so limitless, never so free. I could fly forever and ever, with no ending. Then, it happened. In a rush, the sky turned a shade of golden-yellow in a flash. The storm clouds appeared out of nowhere, as if they had been following me, waiting for the right moment. As the clouds closed in, flashing their wicked lightning tauntingly, I tried to fly upwards to escape the fate that I already knew awaited me. Instead of shooting into the sky above me, I fell. Looking to my right, I saw that my wing had dissapeared once more. The clouds moved below me, somehow quicker than I, and surrounded me in a sphere. The lightning came from all directions... Skyfire jerked awake with a scream, long and shrill. Tears flooded mercilessly from her eyes, soaking her cheeks. She took in choked and hollow breaths rapidly, trying to calm herself. It was all a dream. Just a dream. But, regardless of what she told herself, Sky knew. It wasn't a dream. Her wing was gone. Forever. The lightning, the fall, those yellow-gold eyes, all of it would haunt her. Forever. At last, the tears stopped. Finally. Skyfire collapsed back onto her bed, feeling the wires that connected her to the machines poking into her. Pain enveloped her side, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore. A soft knock on the door revealed a blue nurse, her silvery mane swept into a bun; Nurse Scope. "Skyfire, dear, are you alright? I heard you scream..." "I'm fine." "Oh. Well, it's about time for breakfast, anyway. Could we bring in something for you?" "No. Thanks." Nurse Scope just shook her head with a small sigh and left, shutting the door behind her with her silver magical aura. As soon as she left, Skyfire let another tear slip out of her eye, slide down her cheek, and plop against her pillow, where it became nothing more than a damp spot. She missed flying, the freedom. She missed her home... Without meaning to, she drifted to sleep once more. Privately, she wished she would dream of the sky; she wished she would go back home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunlight was burning through Skyfire's eyelids, making her world go from soothing black to a jolting blue. Sky blinked slowly, beginning to wake up from her slumber. Beside her, several familiar Pegasi were sitting in chairs, having quiet conversation that was held in whispers. Skyfire could only hear snippets. "Extra... needed... for... current... Scope... Screaming... Nightmare..." Skyfire blinked once more, trying to process. Scope had told about the screaming? Surely, others had heard, but Scope tattled to Wingbeat? Ugh. With a groan, Skyfire sat up and let her eyes travel to her bedside. A plate of muffins, now cold, sat there, with a note that had "I'm sorry, please get well soon." Scrawled onto it, next to a smiley face. Sky had the impression of a foal writing it out, but only one pony loved muffins that much in all of Equestria, and only one pony could write worse than a foal; Skyfire pushed Derpy's muffins away a little bit, not wanting to see them, and attracted the attention of several Wonderbolts, the ponies in her room. Skimming her eyes over them, Skyfire spotted Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Fire Streak, and Silver Lining. "Hey, Skyfire!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a bit too cheerfully. The cyan Pegasus jumped up from her chair and walked over to the patient, offering a hoof bump. Wordlessly, Sky stared at the outstretched hoof. Really? Did Rainbow think everything was okay, despite her severed wing? Did she think that everything would go back to normal, just like that? Seeming to get the hint, Rainbow pulled back. "How'd you sleep, Sky?" Soarin asked her, using his wing to pull Rainbow pack gently. Skyfire shrugged. "Dunno. Fine." She mumbled, drooping her head down and letting her mane fall into her face. You could practically hear the crickets chirping as the team members exchanged glances with each other. Fleetfoot shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "I heard that the other trainees are coming up to see you today, probably after we head out." The young mare managed, trying to start conversation. Skyfire's head jerked up suddenly. "Who got in?" She blurted out, making eye contact with the other ponies. Sky was pretty certain who it was (Prism Streak, of course) but still wanted to be sure of it. Silver Lining, Misty Fly, and Fire Streak - three of the five judges - all stared at each other expectantly, wondering who would say it. All eyes seemed to settle on Misty. "Ugh! Fine! Three judges over two, it was Sugar Breeze." The yellow mare gasped dramatically, throwing her front hooves into the air in exasperation. Skyfire fell back onto her pillows, her mind fuzzy once more a Misty Fly's words. It was... Sugar Breeze? Sugar, who always taunted her for no reason? Sugar, who managed to get the other fliers to dislike her because she was the only Wonderbolt foal? Sugar Breeze was a Wonderbolt now? In her haze, she hardly noticed the angry conversation that was beginning to stir up in the room. Spitfire and Lightning Streak were arguing with Misty, Fire, and Silver about Sugar Breeze, Rainbow and Soarin eventually siding with the pair. "Sugar Breeze? I still can't believe you went through with her!" "She's a talented flier, Spitfire! We couldn't let her go!" "But her attitude!!! She's not exactly the nicest pony, you know!" "Lighting Streak, you're not even the captain, why should you call the shots?" "Because I know what's best for the team!" "And Spitfire doesn't?" "Maybe we could just settle this later?" "SHUT UP, SOARIN!!!" Soarin's face twisted into an offended frown. "Why me?! Why not Fleetfoot?!" He replied to the group, waving his hooves towards the icy pegasus. Fleetfoot just gasped in anger before jumping to her hooves, marching over to him, and pressing her nose to his. "Say it again, I dare Ya!" "You're the one who needs to shut up! Your voice is so nasal!" Fleetfoot's nostrils flared with anger, and Skyfire broke out of her haze once more upon hearing Soarin. Oh, Fleetfoot's gonna lose it!!! As if she had read Sky's mind, the mare let out a loud insult like a slap across the face. "WHY, YOU SON OF A-" The door slammed open suddenly, cutting Fleetfoot off and making Everypony jump in surprise. Skyfire, though she couldn't see who awaited her at the door, felt a tiny bit of disappointment settle in her stomach; the idea of Fleetfoot telling Soarin off with just priceless!!! If only the door hadn't open- "Oh, dear. I hope we aren't interupting anything." Several other familiar Pegasi stepped into the room, all of which Skyfire knew well. First came Stormy Skies. The stallion was smaller than most, shorter and thinner, but it helped in the agility category. (This was told by his cutie mark, which was a lightning bolt that appeared to dodge clouds easily.) His coat was a darker shade of blue, almost like the sky just after sunset, and his light gray and gold mane was growing out of his face, almost like Spitfire or Soarin, and there were goggles hanging from around his neck. His eyes were a startling gold, and they rested on Skyfire with light concern. Walking close behind was Flying Colors. She was a stunning white, with black dots mingling together near her hooves and wing tips. Thick lashes coated her icy blue eyes, and complemented her long and messy rainbow mane very well. Her mane was usually styled so that it fell sideswept across her left eye, but now it was pushed back with goggles. The spots on her legs were also partially hidden by the leg wraps that she wore to help her with the muscle pain she sometimes got. In her flank, three water drops that were colored with the primary colors resided, showing off the time that she had captured the water from Rainbow Falls and transported it through a tornado (Sugar Breeze had been helping) to the Crystal Empire. Despite her feat, the pegasus was very shy. With a small smile, she skittered inside. Next was Prism Streak. He was a lighter yellow, with a navy and dark blue tussled mane. Unlike Storm's, his mane fell down in a shaggy mess, covering a bit of his royal blue eyes with the ends. On his flank, there was a navy Phoenix, with a few blue feathers mixed in; it indicated that he had once saved a Phoenix nest that was full of eggs from falling into a pond; the image of a full grown phew I had appeared on his flank, indicating that the lives he had saved would one day be beautiful, strong, and... Powerful. Ever since, he had been a flight guard at the Junior Speedsters camp, helping out the kids who had a bit of a struggle with certain aspects of flight. Sky could tell that his work had a positive effect on him, from his attitude to his toned arms. A bit of athletic tape wrapped around his bad knee, but that was the only indication of a weakness. He stopped for half a second, just.. Staring. Skyfire shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, somepony else walked into the room. "Ugh, Prism! Move it!" The last addition was Sugar Breeze. She had a long, wavy white mane that had some streaks of off-white in it, a supple baby pink coat, and, unlike the others, showed no signs of practice at all. Although she claimed it was preposterous, Everypony knew that she wore fake eyelashes; you could especially tell whenever one of them was crooked. Her voice was harsh, much like her tornado cutie mark, and breezy confident, like the wind marks that seemed to egg on the funnel on her flank. Skyfire just couldn't help but wonder sometimes if Sugar had gotten her cutie mark by helping Fly with the transportation of Rainbow Falls waters, or if it justo effected her personality. But, then again, who knew? But, at that moment, Skyfire knew one of Sugar's most annoying traits. It was the Wonderbolt title that she now carried.
Chapter Four - The TruthSkyfire gritted her teeth in slight fury, the monitor next to her showing a rising blood pressure. Stormy Skies and Flying Colors just awkwardly shuffled their hooves and glanced at the Wonderbolts, as if trying to signal for them to leave. Prism Streak cleared out his throat, making eye contact with Spitfire nervously. The captain's response involved coolly meeting the stallion's blue gaze. No one moved for the next few seconds, and Skyfire's mood quickly switched from angry and irked to just plain annoyed. Couldn't her mother get a hint?! Her own thought shocked her thoroughly, like... Well, like lightning. With a slight wince, the one-winged pegasus pushed the analogy away and contemplated her most previous mental statement. I would have never even thought that about Spitfire before... Why did I just think of it now? "Well, Wonderbolts, we would really like some time with out best friend Skyfire here. After all, we're really concerned for her. Anyhoo, we'll talk later at practice. Okay? Okay. Buh bye." Skyfire was quickly snapped out of her own thought process by Sugar Breeze's snooty voice. Once again assessing the room with her eyes, she saw Sugar pushing each of her own teammates out of the door from behind. Spitfire swiftly batted her away, proceeding to walk out on her own. "Sugar Breeze, I'm your captain. You still need to treat me with respect or I won't hesitate to revoke your membership." Flicking her tail to summon the others, she nodded to Skyfire before walking out of the room. Thanks a lot. She thought to herself angrily, crossing her legs over her chest with a huff. She was now left left in a room with her nemesis. Fabulous. Flying squished into a chair with Stormy, snuggling up to her coltfriend and getting cozy. "How are you, Sky? We were watching from the side, but they wouldn't let us out to help." She explained, a bit of anger inching into her voice. Flying was normally a very sweet and lighthearted mare, but she was also very protective of her friends. Skyfire just shrugged. "Dunno. Fine, I guess. How much did you guys hear, anyway?" She questioned, uncrossing her hooves and leaning forward a bit towards Prism; he stood at the foot of the bed, seeing that Sugar Breeze had taken the last chair. The handsome flier ran a hoof through is mane. "All we heard was that you were in a coma and under the best care they could give you. Everything else was some kind of secret, 'Patient Confidentiality' or something like that." "Oh." Stormy readjusted himself for a quick stretch before leaning back once more. "So when can you get back to flying, Sky? We'll finally have even teams." He informed her with a cheeky grin. "Oh, yes, they're so looking forward to having you back in the arena." Sugar Breeze muttered, not bothering to look up from where she was filing her hooves. Flying just sighed and blinked her baby blues expectantly at Skyfire. "So? When can you get back in the sky again?" This, Skyfire knew, was the moment she had been dreading. The pretentious predicament, the diabolical dilemma, the terrible truth. Tears filled her eyes once more upon the sudden reminder, and she glanced down to see that the sheets still engulfed her, and, for the first time, she noticed that her body was covered by a thin hospital gown. Noticing her silence, Prism moved next to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Sky...?" Following suit, Flying gently lifted out of the chair with a flap of her wings and stood next to the concerned yellow stallion. "Skyfire, are you okay?" Stormy Skies also left his seat and joined the small crowd. While Sugar refused to get up, she did lift her eyes from her hooves, arching an eyebrow and letting a small smirk play at her lips. Skyfire had to tell them. She needed to. She just... Didn't want to. But she had to. The young pegasus closed her eyes first, tears threatening to spill out from beneath her lids. Slowly, she spread out her wing, carefully guiding it through the slot in her gown and letting the group see that only one wing rested on her shoulder blades. Lifting up her hoof, she pulled down her gown a bit to reveal the bandage that covered where the wing used to be. She was met with gasps of shock. A hoof file clattered to the floor. A choke of tears. She felt a hoof leave her shoulder, it's reassuring touch gone. Skyfire managed to hold back a sob, taking deep breaths. "I don't... I don't think I'll ever fly again." Finally, she said it out loud. It seemed far too real at that point, far too terrible. For it to be happening to her. But it was. A familiar magical sound opened the door. Hoof steps entered, and a soft "Oh, my," was heard. The hoof steps of Nurse Scope got closer still. "Dears, I think... I think you should leave now. Skyfire needs her rest." Skyfire stood still as she heard her friends leave. She stood still as Scope checked her vitals, not once opening her eyes. She would never fly again. Never again. Never again would she feel the wind tangle her mane. Never again. Never again would she soar to no end. Never again. Never again would she fly. Never again.
Chapter Five - The OpportunitySkyfire opened her eyes again when she heard Nurse Scope's pen click closed. Making a halfhearted attempt at pushing her mane out of her face, Sky met the Nurse's magenta eyes. "So... Is everything alright?" The pegasus asked, referring to her own vitals. Scope used her magic to place the clipboard down, oddly quiet for a second. "Yes, everything's looking fine. But are you okay, Skyfire?" She asked, moving to stand next to the younger pony. "Please, Sky, tell me. I want to know, and I'm worried about you." Skyfire mentally debated confiding in the unicorn, who had always asked about her. She had always at least tried to see if she was feeling okay. And here she was, asking again. "I just... I never saw this coming. I was set on a career as a stunt flyer, and then, well... You know. What... What am I supposed to do? I'm meaningless now." Sky whimpered, tears beginning to fill her eyes again. She felt a hoof wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "Honey, that's for you to find out, okay? But you are not meaningless, and don't you ever forget that. You mean the world to your mother, and I'm positive you mean a lot to Rainbow Dash, too; you're practically her own foal. Never, ever say you're meaningless." Skyfire's mouth seemed to fill with bile. "What about my dad? He never even had the decency to just come out and say he's my Father, I'm sure that I'm perfectly meaningless to him." Nurse Scope but her lip for a second. "I can't answer that question, Skyfire, because that's not my place or in my knowledge. But you have a meaning to Everypony, that's for sure. I'm sure your Father loves you, Sky, he's just afraid to say that he does." Scope then released her patient and turned around to retrieve her board. Once it was clasped in her magic grip, the Nurse Started out of the door. "So, I'm going to go and get Wingbeat, and he'll give you the all clear to leave. Your mother's in the hall with Rainbow, so I guess I'll go on ahead and send them in. I'll be right back, dear." The blue unicorn departed, leaving the door open for the visitors the walk in. Two Pegasi, cyan and gold, made their way inside with worried eyes. "Hey, Fireball." Spitfire murmured, giving her daughter a hug. "How's it going?" Sky just shrugged in response. "Fine, I guess. Scope said that I could be discharged today." The one-winged pony responded, briefly returning the hug. Rainbow Dash offered a small smile. "That's good, right? You'll be out of this place soon, and that gives us an opportunity!" Now Rainbow's eyes sparkled with excitement, and whenever Skyfire turned in question to Spitfire, she saw that her Mom's general demeanor had changed to one that was happier and hopeful, leaving Sky to be even more confused. "What do you guys mean? What kind of opportunity?" She asked them, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion. Spitfire grinned in excitement. "Well, hon, I did some research and found out that the hospital has a pony who can make prosthetics. I asked Mrs. Heart Scope to see if she would look into it, and turns out that she knows him personally. She said there would be no promises, but she could try. Can you believe that?! Honey, you might actually fly again!!!" Skyfire suddenly felt as if she were soaring, not just flying. She might get a wing back? She might fly again? Sky quickly snatched up both of the mares into a tight hug, her heart fluttering with hope. She could actually fly again!! Quickly she released both Spitfire and Rainbow, eagerly looking between the two of them. "Oh, please, tell me everything!!!!" She begged them, feeling the happiest she had ever been. "Starting with this; who in the name of Celestia is Heart Scope?" Spitfire and Rainbow exchanged a quick look. "Well, you already know her. She's Nurse Scope!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air. Spitfire nuzzled her daughter's cheek happily. "Isn't it great?!" "I'll tell you what's great, and it's that Skyfire may be officially discharged from the hospital this afternoon." All three Pegasi looked up to see Doctor Wingbeat standing there, with a smile on his face for once, and Nurse Scope beside him, who was wearing a knowing smile as well. Spitfire walked towards him, with Rainbow Dash trailing behind her. "That's great, Doctor. Really. Where do I sign the paperwork?" Spitfire asked him eagerly. Wingbeat nodded, gesturing with his hooves. "Both of you, if you could please step into my office." The pair of Wonderbolts trotted out of the door, following the Doctor, leaving Skyfire and Nurse Scope - Heart Scope - in the room. Skyfire watched the unicorn mare as she began to disconnect Skyfire from the various machines, thinking to herself as the screens slowly faded to black. This nurse had agreed to try and help her out. She had agreed to try and give her her life back. This nurse was a miracle worker, and was properly named Heart Scope. With brief hesitation, Sky cleared her throat to get her attention. "Nurse Scope?" The pony looked up from double checking all of the cords, pushing some of her forelock out of her face. "Yes, dear?" "Just... Thank you." Nurse Scope grinned as she stood up, stretching out her legs. "Of course, Skyfire. There's no need to thank me." She responded, quickly removing a tube from one of Sky's forelegs and wrapping some gauze around the tiny hole it had left. Skyfire rolled out of her hospital bed cautiously, setting one hoof down at a time, and stretched out her own legs before stepping over to the Nurse on shaky legs and giving her a quick hug. Nurse Scope smiled at her before turning to leave. "Good luck, Skyfire. And remember, you're not meaningless." With those final words, she saluted Sky and stepped out of the hospital room door for the last time. Sky gave a tiny wave to the unicorn before walking over to the mirror and spreading her wing out to it's fullest extent. Her small smile seemed to vanish instantly, to be replaced by a slight frown. I just hope that everything will work out okay... Spitfire walked up behind Skyfire, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "You ready to go, champ?" Skyfire took one long, last look in the mirror before turning away. "Yes." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nurse Scope set her clipboard on the receptionist's desk, offering Inked Quill a smile as she did so; Skyfire had been her last patient of the day, and she was heading home now for some much needed rest. Quill smiled back and took the clipboard and pen into her mouth. "How was your day, Mrs. Scope?" The Earth Pony asked as she removed the records from the board and placed them into a filing cabinet, then taking the clipboard and pen to set them under the desk. Nurse Scope answered as she wrote her name on the sign-out sheet, "Good, but very busy. What about you?" "Just the same. Is that all for you today?" The receptionist responded. Nurse Scope nodded. "It is! I'll see you tomorrow, Quill." "Alright, Scope, I'll see you then!" The Nurse waved before turning around and trotting away, towards one of the stairwells. Descending quickly, the unicorn reached the hospital's basement in a mere matter of minutes. As soon as she was on the lowest floor, Scope turned left and trotted down another hallway, approaching a door that had 'Morgue' etched into it. Before she even entered, she could already hear the two ponies inside having a rather one-sided conversation. "I'm telling you, Rigor, this invention's going to save lives, I know it!" "Either that, or you'll loose another hoof that I'll have to patch up. Again." "Nonsense! So anyway, all you have to do is-" Scope opened up the door to find just the ponies she had been trying to find; the white and heavily scarred pegasus stallion, Injury Prone, was standing next to a rather dangerous looking contraption, having a conversation with Rigor Mortis, a tan Earth Pony mare whose ears were folded back in concentration as she worked at her own table. When Scope entered, however, Rig's ears perked up. "Heart Scope? What're you doing down here? I haven't seen you in weeks!" Quickly wiping off her hooves with a rag, she trotted forward to meet her old mentor in the center of the room. "At last, someone else to see! Heart Scope, you must see my newest creation!" Jury whooped, following up Rig. Scope smiled and offered them both hoof bumps. "I'm sorry, Jury, but I don't have any time right now. However, I could use a favor from both of you." Rigor arched an eyebrow. "Sounds like it's story time. Come on, I'll get Ya some coffee." With a flick of her tail, she turned around and started walking towards the break room. "So, I have this patient named Skyfire..."
