Grounded

by DauntlessRainbow

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Sad, Romance, Drama, Spitfire, Applejack
Length: 2597

Rainbow Dash relies on her wings for most of her activities, but she hat happens when she loses them?

Rainbow Dash suffers an accident leaving her injured, and worse, flightless. Now she must find a way to adapt and cope with her change of lifestyle. With her partner Applejack, she might just endure the torturing recovery ahead of her.

Published 2024-01-10 05:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-01-10 05:20:00 UTC

The Fall

“Soooo are you sure you don’t want to come?” A blue mare wagged her tail playfully while following her partner in tow. “I’d get you front row tickets and everything! You can come see me be awesome!” She rambled on and on with excitement.

“I already told you Dash, I’d love to go but farm work is unfortunately mighty busy and at the current time I cannot afford a second off schedule” The work pony answered enthusiastically, trying not to hurt her partner’s feelings. “Besides, will all the blabbering yous gon’ do once ya get back, it’ll be like I never missed the event at all!” The mare laughed to herself as she kept walking.

Rainbow Dash pouted at that comment in annoyance. “I don’t ramble that much! Do I?” After getting nothing but another snicker from the other mare, she took to the air. “Fine, be like that AJ! I guess you’ll just have to miss the coolest most awesomest Wonderbolt performance that has ever been performed in the history of ever!”

Applejack smiled warmly and slowly pulled Rainbow down by the tail until they were face to face. “Aw come now Rain, don’t be like that… you know I wouldn’t wanna miss it! Any other day and I’d be there, no question.” Applejack gave Ranbow a soft kiss on the lips before letting go, and as if the pegasus was a ballon, she softly floated upwards.

“Ok ok fine, but you’re not just missing out on me! When’s the last time you’ve paid Twilight a visit?” Rainbow Dash protested once more, still attempting to convince her marefriend to come along.

“Sorry, apples don’t buck themselves” Applejack simply kept working, and upon seeing that there would be no convincing that mare, Rainbow Dash simply chuckled and flew to the train station.

This is it! The single biggest performance of my career! The Wonderbolts have trained for months just for that one maneuver, it all relies on me getting it perfect. Last thing I want is getting embarrassed infront of Twilight! That would be a disaster. Rainbow sat in the train in silence, taking in the surrounding scenery. It was weird to her, she has taken this train route hundreds of times now, but every single time it seems like she just finds new beauties in the fields and mountain ranges.

After a few hours of relaxation, she saw it. The sky line of Canterlot always seemed mighty to her, but even from afar she could see all the preparations for the games and the performances that would take place in the city. As she stepped off the train, the first thing she saw was a poster advertising the main event; the great Wonderbolt show! And exactly who was the main face of the poster? Oh yeah… It’s game time! Rainbow Dash grabbed her Wonderbolt gear and flew to the palace.

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Cheers filled Rainbow’s ears as the Wonderbolts took to the sky in synchronized fashion. She could feel the wind beating against her mane while they were doing the initial fly over to get the crowd excited.

“The sky is looking a bit grey today, you sure we should stick to the flight plan? We could always revert to our regular performance” Soarin’s voice pierced through the wind, catching the ears of Spitfire who looked up at the sky in contemplation.

“Only if all of you are comfortable keeping to the plan, especially you Crash, you think you can work in some extra wind?” Spitfire looked back at Rainbow and they performed their third flyover.

All the other Wonderbolts nodded, signaling they were ready to keep going, Rainbow Dash on the other hoof was not so sure, her part was the most complex, and the strong winds did scare her a bit. But I can’t let the team down now! They all want to impress the crowd, and it’s Twilight’s big day! Go big or go home I guess… “Yeah I’m all good”

And for the next 10 minutes they displayed several professional maneuvers, some extremely dangerous, but all incredibly awesome. Until it was time for the big closing act.

Spitfire and Soarin began flying in perfect unison as they drew some figures in the sky with their tail streaks, soon they spread apart, formed a loop and began closing in on each other until they stopped at the very last second, in which a sudden rainbow streak blew past both of them.

Rainbow Dash flew through the sky at record speeds, creating sonic rainbooms all across her path. Ok it’s all going like it’s meant to… good, now time for the big show stopper!

The cyan pegasus lifted up higher and higher until she reached the apex of her flight path, but much to her dismay, a huge gust of wind pushed against her as she was making her turn. Rainbow pushed back hard in that awkward position to keep her flight straight, but she had already lost some speed. I slowed down, I can’t finish this trick at this pace, I’m going to have to speed up even more!

Rainbow Dash began her descent with a violent acceleration, and with the wind now on her back, she was speeding up a lot more than intended. Damnit! The wind picked up again. As she looked forward, she realized she was running out of room, with Canterlot’s looming mountainside moving closer.

She quickly realized she could not finish her stunt and began to bail. She tugged on her wings as hard as she could, just trying to change directions, but the wind locked her in a tunnel, unable to move.

The mountain side began edging closer and closer every second, Rainbows heart began pounding on her chest as panic consumed her body. PULL UP PULL UP PULL UP!-

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Spitfire and Soarin began flying in perfect unison as they drew some figures in the sky with their tail streaks, soon they spread apart, formed a loop and began closing in on each other until they stopped at the very last second, in which a sudden rainbow streak blew past both of them.

Spitfire couldn’t help but admire her co-worker’s speed, there really was no one like her in the entire world. She watched the streak speed up at tremendous rates, and soon began the rise. C’mon Crash! You can do it!

Cheers filled the city as ponies watched the sky turn into a rainbow filled mess, but the cheers were silenced once a strong gust of wind passed over the whole city.

All the wonderbolts wobbled in place due to the strength of the push, but formation no longer concerned Spitfire, who stopped in place in order to get a better look to what what going on. And then she saw it, fear overtook her whole body, and she quickly waved over her whole team who all came to her side.

Each wonderbolt shared their expression of horror once they noticed the situation. “She slowed down! We have to do something! She has to bail the stunt” Thunderlane was the first to speak up, but no one could really do anything.

Soon, Rainbow began accelerating. That idiot! she’s actually trying to save the stunt, just bail for the love of- Soon all the cheers turned to quiet, turned to a mass of horror screams as the crown began to realize what was about to come. Panicked commands were shouted by several wonderbolts to some air troops.

None of that caught Spitfire’s attention, all she could really do is watch in horror. She watched Rainbow fight for her life at the last moment, try to fly up and dodge the rocks up ahead.

A boom just as loud as one of Rainbow’s rainbooms resounded in Spitfire’s ears as the side of Rainbow’s body clipped against the rock, her body bouncing off the surface.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Spitfire’s wings kicked into gear as she flew faster than she every had before, she headed toward the falling limp body, in an attempt to catch her comrade. She flew with incredible speed, scratching at the sound barrier for the first time in her carreer. She could see the cyan body getting closer and closer as she pushed herself harder.

Thud

Spitfire froze in the air, she couldn’t really think about anything at that moment. Her head was pounding, her heart beat like never before, her lungs felt like they were ripping apart.

A single tear rolled down Spitfire’s face as she looked below her. The sight of a motionless pegasus on the forest floor tunneled her vision, she saw nothing else, heard nothing else, felt nothing else. That pain she was feeling was insignificant to what she was looking at.

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Applejack bucked and bucked for hours nonstop, only every once in a while did she take a break to glance at Canterlot’s silhouette in the distance. “Bet she’s having some real fun right about now, the closing act happened a couple hours ago so she’s probably in her post game party with the bolts”

She continued bucking until the sky turned dark and she could barely tell the path she walked from the bushes surrounding her. Sweat rolled down her face as she bucked the final tree of the day. She collapsed to the floor with a satisfied huff and lay there completely motionless, letting all the aching of her body take over.

She watched her brother, Big Mac, take away the final baskets of apples. I think I’m too tired to crawl back home… Applejack took her hat off and placed it on her chest, letting her eyelids close. She slipped into a deep state of a tired rest.

The next morning, Applejack bitterly opened her eyes, the morning sun piercing over the canopy above. “Wow, I actually fell asleep out here! Must’ve been plum tuckered!” She slowly rose to her hoofs and made her way back to the farmhouse.

Bet Rainbow’s wondering where I’m at right now. Coming back home, I’m gonna give that filly an earful! She knows she shouldn’t get wasted. Applejack trotted back home calmly, thinking of different ways to scold her partner.

When she arrived, she made sure to adjust her stetson before entering the building. She opened the door and made her way inside, walking all the way to the dining room. As she walked in, slowly each of the other 4 family members appeared at the dining table. Each one of them carrying a look of worry and sadness.

Applejack entered the room fully, and saw Spitfire sitting on the far end of the table. “Spitfire? What brings you on about?” She took a seat next to Sugar Belle to see what the pegasus had to say.

“Applejack, you’re the pony I was looking for. I think it’s my duty to let you know… Rainbow Dash- she- it-“ Spitfire struggled for words, clearly holding back tears and emotions. Applejack began to catch on to what was going on and her heart sank. Please don’t say what I think you’re trying to say. Spitfire cleared her throat and began over again. “There was an accident at the event, Rainbow suffered a failed stunt… she’s in the Canterlot hospital right now, in critical condition.”

Applejack’s head started spinning. Suddenly her tight schedule didn’t matter anymore, she just wanted to get to the hospital as quick as possible. She stood up from the table violently and looked out the door. “The next train to Canterlot doesn’t arrive for another 2 hours dearie” Granny Smith’s voice croaked, calming Applejack ever so slightly.

Sitting back down impatiently, Applejack took her hat off and looked at the pegasus across from her. “What happened? What went wrong? I thought you were in charge of diagnostics, how did you allow this to happen Spitfire?” She looked at Spitfire expectantly.

Spitfire looked down at the floor, completely full of guilt and remorse. “It was windier than anticipated, there was talk of cancelling the big stunt but the bolts unanimously decided to keep the original plan on track. It was all going well, until Rainbow Dash was going for the last loop, a large gust of wind slowed her down,” Spitfire swallowed, recalling the previous day, “She should have bailed at that moment, but you know how she is… she tried to compensate by accelerating at the decline, but the wind sped her up far too much, and by the time she wanted to bail… it was too late.” Spitfire rubbed her eyes, clearing the tears that were forming at the edges. “She hit the side of the mountain, she was instantly out free falling for hundreds of feet, I flew as fast as I could… I tried- I tried to catch her… but I was too slow”

Applejack shuttered, she couldn’t even imagine how horrible that sight must have been. She walked over to Spitfire and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I- I guess it wasn’t your fault… I need to see her” She once again took off towards the train station, sort of hoping that it would magically arrive sooner than scheduled, and of course it did not. She waited for the whole time impatiently, Spitfire eventually joining her in silence.

Once arrived at Canterlot, she ran as fast as her legs could take her to the hospital. Pushing the doors open, she barged towards the front desk. “Rainbow Dash, where is she? I must see her”

The unicorn at the other end looked at her with annoyance, “Please do not run in the hospital, go to the end of that hallway and you will find the emergency care there,” Applejack nodded and ran off to the path given, “WALKING!” The unicorn yelled after her, causing Applejack to slow down for a few seconds but going right back to her rush once out of sight.

Applejack walked back and forth down endless hallways, looking for the room her partner was trapped in. After a few minutes of looking she found a door marked ‘Rainbow Dash’ and when she looked through the window, she saw a group of unicorns surrounding a table. Rainbow… Please be okay.

Another unicorn approached her from behind as she was looking through the window. “Um hello, are you acquainted with this patient in any particular way?” Applejack flinched from the sudden voice and turned to look at him.

“Oh yes, I’m sorry I’m Applejack and… that’s my marefriend in there” Applejack apologized to the unicorn. “How is she doing? Will she be ok?” She looked at the doctor with a slight hint of hope.

“Well, frankly it’s a miracle she survived the initial impact, but despite all our efforts… she still might not make it.” The unicorn looked slightly mournful at his own comment. “But not to worry, Princess Twilight had put her best doctors on the case, we will do our best to keep her alive”

Applejack nearly broke down at the news, the thought of loosing her partner would be too much for her to handle. “Will she recover if she makes it?”

The doctor gives a heavy sigh, thinking deeply. “She might not wake up. She has heavy head trauma… and if she does, it is unlikely that she will be able to move much if at all… but one thing is for sure. During the accident, the initial point of impact was her left body, her wing was left completely destroyed… what i’m trying to say is that, she will not be able to fly again”