A Grounded Rainbow

by Lionblaze103

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad, Romance
Length: 1382

Rainbow Dash can no longer fly.

Rainbow Dash finds out she has a genetic disorder, and she can never fly again. As she adjusts to her new life on the ground she will find things aren't as bad as she originally thought they would be.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-18 14:34:02 UTC

Support

"Twilight you look like. Have you been crying?" asked Rarity. "Yes, I have." said Twilight, giving a sniffle. "Are you sad Twilight?" asked Pinkie. "Because if you're sad then we can throw a party." she said.

"Pinkie." Twilight said. "And we can have cake, and games, and streamers." Pinkie continued. "Pinkie." said Twilight a little louder. "And we'll have lot's of fun, and you won't be sad anymore, and-" "Pinkie!" Twilight yelled.

Pinkie suddenly got quite, and looked sad. "I'm sorry Pinkie, but this can't be fixed with a party." Twilight said, making the mood even more tense. If Twilight had yelled at Pinkie for suggesting a party, then her friends knew this was serious.

Twilight took a deep breath before continuing. "Rainbow Dash has just gotten some very bad news." Twilight said, making the mood even more depressing. "She found out she has Aereo disease. It's a genetic disorder that affects the nerves in wings, making them stiffen at random." she continued.

Just then Rainbow's wings stiffened. "Like that." Twilight said. "There's no cure for it, but with the proper training she can control it a good bit of the time. It'll still happen though, so that means that Rainbow Dash won't be able to fly again." Twilight said, tearing up.

They all gasped, their own tears welling up in their eyes. Pinkie's mane had even deflated. "That means she will have to live on the ground from now on." Twilight continued, unable to hold back her tears any longer.

The others weren't either, and they all silently cried, even Spike. "We'll all give her support." choked out Twilight, pulling Rainbow Dash into another hug as they silently cried. Pinkie was the next to join in on it saying, "Don't worry Dashie I'll help out in whatever way I can."

Then came Fluttershy. "If it means anything you can live with me until you get a place to stay." she said, wrapping her hooves around her friend. "Ah- Ah know how much flying means to ya sugarcube." said Applejack, joining in. "If you want you can always come over for a cup of tea, and to talk about your feelings." said Rarity.

"I've never had wings of my own." admitted Spike. "But I think I know how you feel." he said, awkwardly trying to fit into the hug. "T-Thanks everypony. That means a lot." Rainbow Dash said, her voice shaking. "We're always here for you Rainbow." said Twilight.

Prologue

Rainbow Dash was doing her daily training regime, when suddenly her wings stiffened out, causing her to start falling. As hard as she tried to flap her wings, they were stuck like that.

Then just as suddenly, it went away, and she stopped herself from crashing into the ground. "That was weird." she said. As soon as she said those words her wings suddenly stiffened again, causing her to fall the rest of the 3 feet to the ground on her face.

"Ow." she said, her wings retracting themselves. "Maybe Nurse Redheart knows what's going on. I'll just fly over there, and maybe not." Rainbow Dash said, as her wings stiffened themselves again.

"Fine I'll walk." she said. As she walked, her wings retracted themselves. It didn't take too long, 5 minutes, but those 5 minutes seemed like torture to her. When she reached the clinic she walked into the lobby.

She walked over to the receptionist, who was reading a magazine. The receptionist put the magazine down as Rainbow Dash walked over. "I'd like to see Nurse Redheart." she said. "You know where she is." the receptionist said.

Rainbow Dash nodded, and as she started walking her wings stiffened yet again. What was going on here? When she reached Nurse Redheart's office her wings retracted themselves again. "What's with you?" she asked them.

She knocked on the door. "Nurse Redheart." she called. "Coming Rainbow Dash." Nurse Redheart called back, opening the door a second later. "How'd you know it was me?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Well who else visits me on a daily basis?" asked Nurse Redheart.

"Right." Rainbow Dash said, giving a guilty chuckle. "Have a seat. What can I do for you this time?" asked Nurse Redheart. "Well." said Rainbow Dash, taking a seat, "My wings have been stiffening su-" she cut off as her wings went stiff again. "Yeah. Like that." she said.

"Oh my. I think I know what this is, but for your sake I hope it's not." said Nurse Redheart. "What? What is it?" asked an anxious Rainbow Dash. "I don't want to come to conclusions yet, so I'll need to keep you here to do some tests." said Nurse Redheart.

Diagnosis

As Nurse Redheart went through the tests, she grew more and more restless. Finally after what seemed like forever Nurse Redheart let out a sigh. It wasn't a good kind of sigh either, it was the bad kind of sigh.

"I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash, but you have Aereo disease." Nurse Redheart said. "What?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused. "It's a disease, named after Captain Aereo, who was a pegasus guard of Celestia's 500 years ago." said Nurse Redheart.

"He was the first known case. His wings stiffened at irregular intervals, making it impossible for him to fly. He was determined to be a great guard anyways though." she continued. "But what does this have to do with me?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Just give me some medicine, and I'm on my way." she said. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but there isn't a cure. It's a genetic disorder. You won't ever fly again." Nurse Redheart said, looking away from her.

"What? What do you mean I'll never fly again?" asked Rainbow Dash. "The most I can do is give you some exercises so you can go longer without it happening. But your flying days are still over." Nurse Redheart told her as gently as she could.

"B-But I have to fly! It's always been my dream to join the Wonderbolts! How am I supposed to join them if I can't fly?" yelled Rainbow Dash, starting to tear up. "I'm so sorry." said Nurse Redheart, her own tears starting to form.

Rainbow Dash ran out of the office, not caring who saw the tears running down her cheeks. "Twilight will know what to do I'm sure of it." she said, trying to convince herself as she ran towards her friends house.

Friends

As Rainbow Dash ran to Twilight's she felt her wings stiffen again, but ignored it. When she arrived she was out of breath. She took a moment to compose herself, and then knocked on the door.

"Come in!" she heard Twilight's voice call. She opened the door, and found an empty room. "Twilight?" she called. "I'm in here." Twilight told her. She followed Twilight's voice to the kitchen where she was at the sink, cleaning a plate.

As she walked up to Twilight, she said, "I need to talk to you." "Sure Rainbow. You know you can always talk to me." Twilight said, still cleaning the plate. "Well Nurse Redheart said I have Aereo disease, and I was wondering-" she was cut off by the sound of the plate smashing onto the floor, and Twilight gripping her in a hug.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow." she said. "W-What do you have to be sorry for? You're the most powerful unicorn I know surely you can do something?" Rainbow Dash asked, but already knew the answer from her reaction.

"I'm so so sorry Rainbow." Twilight repeated as she felt something wet on her back. "Twilight." she choked out, unable to hold her own tears as they streamed down her face. They sat like that for a while until Spike came in.

"Twilight? Rainbow? What happened? Is something wrong?" he asked. "Yes there is." said Twilight, wiping her eyes. "Would you please get the rest of our friends." she asked Spike. "I'm on it." he said, giving her a solute, and running off.

"Come on we should wait for them in the front." Twilight said, ushering Rainbow Dash into the other room. All their friends arived one by one. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and finally Rarity and Spike.

As soon as they were all assembled Twilight said, "There's something we have to discuss."