Where is the hope, when you need it?

The next day, Nurse Redheart wandered into the room to find me limp on the floor, scalpel next to my head. I had collapsed yet again from blood loss, and was on the verge of death this time. She gasped and rushed to my side, pressing the button on the bedside to call for the doctor. He rushed in and sat me up to get my blood moving again. The cuts had sealed over since they weren't as deep as the first set. Thankfully.

A few minutes afterwards, I woke up and stared at them for a few seconds before everything made sense again and I realized what had happened last night. I was both embarrassed and ashamed of myself. "Rainbow Dash! We were going to let you out today. I guess you're still in good enough conditions to be sent home anyways....right, Doctor?" Nurse looked over at him. He merely nodded and helped me up. "Pack your things and you can go. Be careful next time, sport." He said to me, nudging me to my bed. I didn't say anything, just grabbed the few things I'd had with me, and galloped out as fast as I could without feeling the pain.

As I wandered back home, I thought to myself why I'd made Fluttershy run. Wasn't she comfortable with what we were doing, or had she known I was using her? Oddly enough, I had a feeling she'd still be partially on Twilight's side, because she and all of them, know my ways. I jumped up and flew the rest of the way, not expecting to come crashing into Spitfire. "Whoa!! Hey there, Dash. Why're your legs wrapped up?" She took awhile to get the picture, and shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts a bit. "Whoa there, Nelly. Before you go in, let me search through your saddlebags." She raised a hoof. I backed away. "Uh. No....you can't-" she forcefully stripped me of the bags and dug through them, pulling out three scalpels and a surgery knife. "NO." She stared at me.

I sighed. "I'm sorry....it's just...everything is so blurry now..." I looked away from her fierce orange eyes, unable to see how furious she was. It hurt. "Dash, c'mon. Don't you have friends-" I broke down crying. "NO. Friends don't exist to me! They all left me because I'm such a big fucking failure!! I deserve to die!!" I moved towards the edge of the big cloud my home sat on. "You can't stop me if I tried right now, no way." I stared up at her, tears streaming down my cheeks, catching in my fur.

"Sure I can. I'm a Wonderbolt. That's why I came here. I thought we needed an extra member.."

The surprise caught in my throat. My knees buckled, and I fell sideways, off the cloud. I didn't have enough time to react. It seemed like the ground was coming at me at the speed of sound. I shrieked, but suddenly, I was floating. I had landed on top of Spitfire. She'd saved me. She cared that much about me to save me. "Why do you want me to join the Wonderbolts, I'm nothing special."

"But you are the fastest flier in Equestria, aren't you? That's plenty special for my tastes." I blushed. I was special. To Spitfire! Suddenly it seemed like things were getting way better. "Kid, your cheeks are redder than fire." She smirked. "You gotta little crush on me or somethin'?" She sidled over to me, arching her eyebrows and touching her muzzle to mine. "I think I'm going to like you more than I expected, sport." She slipped her tongue over my mouth, and flew away, leaving me to get ready. Instead, I fell sideways and lay there, staring blankly ahead as if I were an immobile pony. She'd kissed me.

Spitfire had kissed me.