Chapters Most Pegasi could only dream about becoming a Wonderbolt. For most, the young and the old, it was an unreachable goal; only the best fliers in Equestria could become a Wonderbolt. Rainbow Dash was in the minority that was selected to begin the rigorous training at the Wonderbolt Academy. Every summer she would go to the school, and go through excruciating trials. Still, Rainbow Dash always loved a challenge ever since she could remember.
One day, Rainbow Dash went to Spitfire's office to talk to her about her training. The orange-colored Pegasi was sitting behind her desk, looking over thousands of papers.
"Ma'am, can I talk to you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Spitfire didn't even bother to look up at her student. "Make this quick, Rainbow Dash. Several new recruits will be joining the academy soon, and I'm up to my ears in paperwork."
"Well, it's about my training." Rainbow Dash began.
"Are you complaining, cadet?" Spitfire asked.
"No, no, no. Of course not. It's just that...well...it seems too easy for me, ma'am." Rainbow Dash said quickly.
Spitfire finally looked up and frowned. "Too easy? One hundred laps around the school, wing-ups from dawn till dusk, obstacle courses that most Pegasi would dread, is "too easy" for you?"
Rainbow Dash backed up slightly, taken aback by Spitfire's outburst. "What I meant to say, ma'am, is that I think I'm ready for the advanced training."
Spitfire settled back into her seat and went back to looking at her papers. "Out of the question, Rainbow Dash."
"What? Why, ma'am?"
"Because advanced training is too dangerous for those that aren't ready."
"With all due respect, ma'am, I am ready."
Spitfire looked up again. "No, Rainbow Dash, you only think think that you're ready. Just like every other recruit here. I tried to take a cadet out of beginner's training too soon, and you know what happened to him? He nearly got himself killed and was in traction for two whole years. You've got lots of potential, Rainbow Dash, but that's exactly why I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."
Rainbow Dash sighed in defeat, but then suddenly was grinning from ear to ear. "Ma'am, can I make you a deal?"
"What sort of deal?" Spitfire asked.
"What if I take advance training for an entire week, and if you still don't think I'm ready, then you can put me back with the beginner's."
Spitfire leaned forward. "A lot can happen in a week." She warned.
"Please, ma'am? You have my solemn promise that I will back out if things look too rough."
Spitfire ran a hoof through her mane. "Fine, Rainbow Dash, but only a week. Nothing more."
Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly and saluted Spitfire. She rushed out of the office, bouncing up and down like an overexcited filly.
So, the next day, Rainbow Dash showed up at the advanced training, which was run by Soarin. Needless to say, most of the recruits there did not seem pleased to have a rookie among them, but Rainbow Dash was too excited to notice as she joined the lineup. Soarin began pacing up and down.
"So, let me remind you, foals, that this isn't going to be easy. There will be pain, there will be days when you want to quit, but let me say this: I don't abide quitters in advanced training." Soarin explained.
Rainbow Dash was surprised. She had never seen this side of Soarin before. He'd always been the calm, level-headed one among the Wonderbolts. She just hoped this wasn't the only surprise that awaited her.
"Today, we will be using the flaming hoops. Everypony must fly to that pole and grab the horseshoe. You might get burned, but being a Wonderbolt isn't without it's risks. Now, do I have volunteers?"
All of the ponies looked up at the flaming hoops. Twelve large rings that had been lit on fire, with the flames rising. Most of the recruits began to recoil, and Rainbow Dash knew this was her chance to prove that she could make it. She boldly took a step forward.
"Sir, ready for the hoops, sir." Rainbow Dash said loudly.
"Excellent, Dash. I like this enthusiasm for a rookie. Get up there." Soarin said.
Rainbow Dash flew straight up towards the start of the flaming hoops. She looked down at Soarin, who gave her the signal to start. Giving a large gulp, Rainbow Dash took off through the hoops. She whizzed past them, feeling the heat of the flames up against her wings. She quickly grabbed the horseshoe and started back.
Perhaps she wasn't paying close enough attention, or perhaps she had slowed down when she shouldn't have; but Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a sharp pain in her wings and turned to see what was going on. All she could see was her beautiful blue feathers were now on fire. The pain was nothing like she had felt, as if thousands of warm, sharp knives had been driven into her back and were digging at her flesh and bone. The heat was just as bad, as if she were sitting inside of Equestria's hottest fireplace.
Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and the young Pegasi was soon hurling towards the ground at an unstoppable speed. All the recruits, and even the fearless Soarin, could do was watch on in terror.
Once Rainbow Dash had hit the ground, everyone seemed to snap out of it and rushed over to her. Soarin's immediate attention was on Rainbow Dash's severely burned wings. The feathers were singed beyond recongition, and were covered with blisters and burns. There was no way her wings would ever be the same again, and Soarin knew it.
"Somepony find the medics and hurry!" Soarin ordered.
One of the recruits flew away hurriedly, while Soarin could only shake his head sadly. Knowing that even if Rainbow Dash survived, her potential as a Wonderbolt was dead and buried.
Rainbow Dash was taken to Cloudsdale Hospital and Wonderbolt Academy contacted her parents to tell them about the accident. Rainbow Blaze and Rainbowshine were able to get word to their daughter's friends before they left for the hospital; just by the tone of Spitfire's voice, the two knew they'd likely need all the moral support they could get.
In the hospital waiting room, everypony was quiet. Twilight Sparkle was pacing, Applejack sat next to Fluttershy who'd hardly responded to anything since arriving, Rarity calmly flipped through a fashion magazine, while Rainbowshine and Rainbow Blaze sat at opposite ends of the waiting room, each lost in their own thoughts. Pinkie Pie, unfortunately, was stuck babysitting Mr. and Mrs. Cake's twins.
Out of nowhere, the silence was broken when Rarity began bawling. Twilight gave a weak smile and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"It's all right, Rarity. This is difficult for all of us, but-"
Rarity calmed down slightly and wiped away her tears. "Oh, that's not why I'm upset, darling. It's this article I was reading. It says that sky blue is out of season. I'll have to rethink my Beautiful Blues collection for the boutique."
Twilight could only stare at Rarity, mouth slightly agape. Rarity gave her a confused look in return.
"What? It was going to be a good sell, I guarantee it!" Rarity said.
"How can you possibly think of fashion at a time like this?" Fluttershy asked quietly.
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked and Twilight gestured her head towards the next room. "Oh, pish posh. Rainbow Dash will be just fine; likely she only chipped her hoof. That's a shame though, really; do you think we should take her to the salon after she's released?"
Twilight was about to tell Rarity the severity of the situation, when a nurse came running into the waiting room.
"Where are the parents of Miss Dash?" The nurse asked, panting slightly.
Rainbow Blaze and Rainbowshine walked up to the nurse, who took them to a quieter area of the room.
"We need your permission to operate." The nurse quickly said.
"O-Operate?" Rainbowshine repeated.
The nurse nodded. "The burns on your daughter's wings are so severe that she could develop a serious infection if they aren't removed."
"You want to amputate our child's wings?" Rainbow Blaze asked, his voice beginning to rise.
"Sir, please keep your voice down. It's the only option at this point: her wings or her life."
Rainbowshine and Rainbow Blaze gave each other a saddened look, before Rainbow Blaze turned to the nurse again and nodded. The nurse quickly left without another word and the Rainbows returned to Rainbow Dash's friends.
"What did the nurse want?" Applejack asked.
"She needed our permission to operate on Dashie. Th-They need to amputate her wings." Rainbow Blaze explained.
There was no time for the news to sink in, as Rainbowshine started to wail. Rainbow Blaze gave an embarrassed look and wrapped an arm around her.
"Shine, please. Why don't we sit down." Rainbow Blaze suggested.
Rainbowshine shrugged her husband off violently. "This is all your fault! You always pushed her when she was a filly, telling her how she had to be the best flier in all of Equestria! She wouldn't have gone to that academy if it wasn't for you!"
"It was her dream! Not mine!" Rainbow Blaze shouted.
"This is why I divorced you, Blaze! You insisting that everything was what Dashie wanted, when it was you who wanted to be a Wonderbolt!" Rainbowshine argued.
Realizing that this was getting out of hoof, Twilight stepped between the feuding parents. "Mr. Blaze, Ms. Shine, this is not a time to fight. Rainbow Dash will need you both once she comes out of that operating room; not her parents at each others throats."
"With all due respect, your Highness, that is all my ex-wife is good for: arguing." Rainbow Blaze said.
Rainbowshine huffed and walked away to a corner of the room. Twilight sighed in defeat as Rainbow Blaze walked away.
In the operating room, Dr. Ember had just begun the surgery on Rainbow Dash. Taking his scalpel, he made an incision into the charred flesh. He laid down the scalpel and picked up the bone saw, cutting away at the first wing bone, having the nurse sponge away at the blood when necessary. Having successfully cut away at the bone and muscle tissues, he carefully handed the first wing over to the nurse and then started work on the second wing which was even worse shape; her wing bone even managing to become singed by the fire and making it more difficult to cut it off. Though, after cutting the bone away, it was easier to remove and she had minimal blood loss. After handing the final wing to the nurse, he started to stitch up the incision.
"Doctor, shall I throw them away?" The nurse asked.
"No. Wrap them carefully and ask her parents if she will want to keep them." Dr. Ember ordered.
"Doctor, they're so badly burned. They don't even look like wings." The nurse said.
"We just robbed this mare of her dreams. Let's not rob her of memories, nurse."
The nurse nodded and wrapped up the burnt wings, and then left the operating room so that Dr. Ember could finish up his unfortunate task.
Flightless
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, blinking away her blurred vision. On either side of her bed, she saw her parents smiling down at her.
"We're here, sweetheart. Mommy and Daddy are both here." Rainbowshine said in a quiet voice; she bent her head down and nuzzled her daughter.
"Am I still at the academy?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Rainbow Blaze and Rainbowshine looked at each other, with the saddest looks that Rainbow Dash had seen from either of them.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Rainbow Blaze sighed and laid a hoof on his daughter's shoulder. "Dashie, there's something we need to tell you."
Rainbow Dash finally became aware of the bandages wrapped around her body. "What's with the bandages?"
Before Rainbow Blaze could answer his daughter; Rainbow Dash realized a new sensation, something she'd never felt before. It was as if something was missing, like some part of her had disappeared.
"Something's wrong!" Rainbow Dash cried out, panic setting in.
Rainbow Dash frantically kicked away at the sheets and arched her shoulders, preparing herself to fly. As quick as she jumped, she came down just as fast; landing in a heap on the cold floor.
"My wings! Why can't I fly?!"
There were those looks again on her parents faces. Rainbow Dash picked herself up quickly and ran to the mirror that hung on the closet door. Instead of her wings, all she saw was more bandages.
"Mom, Dad, help me out of this, will you?" Rainbow Dash asked urgently.
Rainbow Blaze and Rainbowshine made no move to help Rainbow Dash; they just kept shaking their heads and crying.
"Fine!" Rainbow Dash growled and began using her teeth to tear away the bandages.
"Dashie, don't!" Rainbowshine warned.
Rainbow Dash finally managed to rip off the last bandage. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see; charred feathers, burnt flesh. Instead, she saw nothing; nothing but two large stitches in place of her wings.
"No. No. No. This can't be real. It's a nightmare, I'm still asleep." Rainbow Dash muttered.
Rainbowshine approached Rainbow Dash, but was thrown back as her daughter pushed her away.
"Get away from me! You're not my real mom! I'm not really here! This isn't happening to me!"
Rainbow Dash ran from the room, deliberately throwing herself against the walls.
"Come on, Dash! Wake up! Wake up!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
She came to the nurses desk and grabbed onto Nurse Redheart, wrapping her arms around her.
"Nurse, please! Give me something to wake me up! I want to wake up!" Rainbow Dash sobbed.
"Rainbow Dash, you must calm down." Nurse Redheart said quietly.
"I won't calm down until I'm awake!"
Nurse Redheart finally saw that the bandages had been torn off. She gasped, and reached for a roll of bandages on the desk. When she turned around, Rainbow Dash was already racing towards the waiting room. Nurse Redheart hit the buzzer on the desk; locking the doors to the waiting room. Another nurse joined her colleague as they slowly approached Rainbow Dash. The young mare was backed into a corner, her eyes darting wildly in search for a wy out.
"Rainbow Dash, please. You have to come with me and get your bandages back in place." Nurse Redheart whispered.
Rainbow Dash looked towards the ceiling and suddenly leaped into the air. The other nurse grabbed her legs and pulled her down quickly; laying on top of her to keep her still.
"She needs to be sedated! Now!" The nurse ordered.
Nurse Redheart went over to the desk while the other nurse held the panicked patient in place. Nurse Redheart returned and stuck a needle into Rainbow Dash's hindquarters; it took only seconds for Rainbow Dash to fall fast asleep.
"What in Equestria has happened?" The nurse asked.
Nurse Redheart sighed. "Isn't it obvious? A Pegasus has just lost her wings."
Nurse Redheart and her colleague carried the sleeping Rainbow Dash back to her room and placed her in bed.
"Will she do this again?" Rainbowshine asked in a whisper.
"She shouldn't. It was just a mixture of shock and the anesthetics. She'll be fine." Nurse Redheart assured.
Rainbow Blaze frowned. "Mentally or physically?"
The nurses said nothing and left the parents to watch over their sleeping daughter.