Surprise looked at her uniform, fastening the goggles over her eyes. Her pearl white wings flared and she made sure there were no loose feathers, she needed to look perfect. She gave a satisfied nod, flapping her wings a few times to get some blood in them. The slow flapping quickly accelerated into and angry buzz and she lifted off the ground without pushing off. She looked back at the twin blurs on her back and flashed a grin of determination. She slowed the beats and then increased them, repeating the exercise until she could feel the blood pumping through her veins.
The pegasus let out a heavy sigh, looking back at the door to her dressing room. The roar of the crowds was indescribable, full of joy and anticipation to see them.
Them. Her bright grin turned into an angry scowl. Nopony ever gave her any recognition. She was just a background pony, never noticed by the screaming fans. They wanted Spitfire and Soarin'. The two had taken control, dominating over the other Wonderbolts to the point where they were falling apart. It wasn't a month ago when the two hotheads and gone too far changing the routine and Fleetfoot had quit. They had cast her aside in a routine, causing her to snap at them about their attitude before storming off, abruptly throwing her uniform at Spitfire.
Now that the team had lost a member, things were rapidly escalating. She had seen Fire Streak lose his cool more than once at Soarin', which was stranger for the normally gentle stallion. Blaze and High Winds could often be seen grumbling about being pushed about, Lightining Streak and Misty Fly had taken a vacation, returning two days ago, Rapidfire had lost it with Spitfire one morning and was now on a forced break for a few performances, Silver Lining was visibly upset during practice and Wave Chill had outright stopped talking.
"Mares and Gentlecolts, please welcome your favorite pegasi! The one, the only, the Wonderbolts!"
Surprise sighed, moved a hoof and spiked her mane up in its usual flare before running out of her room and leaping into the air, her wings beating. She flew out of her assigned spot from memory and the other Wonderbolts joined her. They flew in an arrow, Spitfire at the lead and then dove down, their trails a blazing mixture of storm clouds and lightning. The blonde mare's muscle memory was amazing and she swerved from the triangle, Misty Fly in the other as they were the ends of the group. She made a sharp turn and they both headed for each other before pulling up, flying skywards at breakneck speed.
Spitfire shot away and the rest of the Wonderbolts split into two groups, a cloud starting to gather from their trails. As they performed aerial tricks the cloud grew bigger until it dominated the top of the stadium, obscuring the sun. Surprise and Misty Fly were above the cloud now and they looked down at it.
Misty Fly turned to Surprise, her bright blue shock of a mane bobbing in the breeze. "Ready?" She asked, holding out her hoof.
"Ready." Surprise answered, high hoofing the mare and then angling herself downwards in sync with the mare. Her wings flared and she started buzzing, hurtling downwards.
The two pegasi extended their forelegs in unison and then they breached the cloud. Lightning crackled and surged into her body, bouncing along her in waves. She flew out, still charged and then swerved up, spinning the cloud until lighting shot around and she spun around them, avoiding the sizzling bolts. She started doing loops as the crowd cheered and roared their approval, stamping their hooves on the ground and jumping on the bleachers.
Surprise swooped upwards, the static rings going along her form, starting at the tip of her nose and going to the very end of her tail. She stopped when she was just above the cloud, having gained more charge from the opening and then she thundered down, the waves increasing in speed. When she was visible to the crowd, the waves were going so fast that she wasn't visible underneath a sheet of lightning. She enjoyed this, the warm tingling in her spine and wings, the whipping of her tail as she sent rings of lighting into the crowd and the wind in her mane. This was nice.
Surprise was suddenly thrown from the air as something crashed into her. the lightning shifted and burned into her wings, setting fire to the feathers and spreading to her uniform. With a scream, Surprise plummeted, her eyes seeing a hoof with the Wonderbolts uniform covering it, charred black with a plume of smoke and an ember blazing on it as she blacked out, smoke trailing from her blazing form.
~~~
Beep
Surprise grunted and turned away from the noise, trying to savour her sleep.
Beep.
She opened one eye and tried to see what was trying to torture her with sleep deprivation.
Beep.
"BUCKING SHUT UP!"
Her voice roared and she grabbed her pillow, sitting up and whipping it at the infernal beeping. It collided with the heart monitor and knocked it over, shattering the screen. She was panting and soon the pain caught up with her and she groaned, falling back against the bed and banging her head on the wood frame. Swearing loudly, she sat back up and looked behind her, intending to pound the frame with her hooves.
Her eyes took in her wings, sitting erect as if she was having a *POMF* moment and swathed in bandages, the visible feathers burnt to a crisp with blackened flesh showing through where there was no fur or feathers. She breathed ragged pants as she calmed down, shooting daggers at the heart monitor with her golden eyes. She looked around and discovered she was indeed in a hospital. "Who the buck messed up my stunt?" She snarled to herself, pulling the covers off and looking down at herself, rage fading to horror.
She was wrapped from chest to back hooves in bandages, not to mention the fact that she was without a robe so she was pretty much naked. Even her cutie mark was covered, the lighting bolts crossed in an X hidden beneath tight and itchy bandages. "Whoever did this to me is gonna regret it when I break their FAUST DAMNED FACE!" She bellowed, slamming her hoof down on her bed and wincing when a jolt shot up her leg and tingled right to the end of her tail.
Nurse Redheart trotted in. "Surprise you really should calm down. You were burned badly in that accident. All the others had similar accidents, you're lucky some of the crowd, Spitfire and Soarin' came to help. They're all resting in a separate room. I was informed of your... last reaction to waking up from being knocked out. So we kept you here and I can see that they were somewhat right, you do have a temp-" A bandaged hoof connecting rather painfully with her jaw silenced her.
"Shut up lady, I wanna know who pushed me, because I would most likely be home and resting right now if I hadn't been shoved into my own lightning field." She growled, not even looking at the slightly trembling alabaster mare beside her. She jumped from the bed and very noticeably limped forwards, eyes set with determination. She stopped for a moment to rest her shaking legs, took a step and her front leg folded beneath her and she stumbled with a whimper of pain.
Nurse Redheart was by her side in an instant, helping her up and taking her back to the bed and supporting her back onto the bed. One hoof lifted the injured pegasus's leg while the other ran along the length, soothing the pain. "I'm afraid you'll be confined to bed for at least a month before we let you walk again." She remarked, stopping her treatment and looking the pegasus in the eye. "It'll be a lot longer than that before you're allowed to fly, much less perform." She said, dodging the swipe Surprise took at her.
Surprise glared back. "I'm gonna get out and go find whoever did this to me and that's final!" She snapped and made to move before something pushed her back and an angry glare was in her face. "You're not going any where." the nurse ordered before getting off, the glare still on her face.
Surprise grumble something obscene and lay down. She closed her eyes and heard Nurse Redheart leave the room, but she didn't say anything. After the door closed the golden orbs snapped open and she let out a loud roar of pure rage. Nopony opened the door, as she was just venting off some steam. When that didn't work, the blonde pegasus slammed her hooves on the bed and managed to tear a nice clean hole in it after a good beating. It helped a bit, but she was still pissed. "When I find out who did this, they're gonna be in a coffin." She vowed, giving up her useless venting and laying back down again. "But who could've done it?" She mused, expression switching from rage to wonder.
Surprise shot up again, wincing slightly as she recalled Nurse Redheart's words. "Spitfire and Soarin' weren't injured, but the rest of us were. Either some crazy fans decided to try and murder us all, or the two idiots tried to..." Her eyes went wide and nothing but fury filled them. She started beating the bed again and 2 minutes later she was being dragged away from a pile of splinters, torn fabric and stuffing by three nurses.
"When I get my hooves on them, they're gonna sleep with the fishes! Ya hear me? THEY'RE SCREW-" She stopped when something jabbed her in the side rather painfully and she slipped into unconsciousness, her mind whirling with rather harsh thoughts.
