You wince as the wheelchair hits another rock, biting your lip as pain shoots through your leg. Much to your annoyance, the nurse pushing you down the hospital path chuckles slightly.
"Maybe this will help you remember not to attempt stunts like that in the future?" She scolds. "I swear, this is the third time this week! You really ought to be more careful..."
You merely cross your forearms and ignore her as she babbles on. While she did have a right to lecture you, as this is indeed the third time you've come in for the same hind leg fracture, you've already received this talk from the head nurse: Redheart. You feel a slight flitter in your stomach just thinking about her, but you quickly quell it, attributing it to motion sickness.
"... in fact," Nurse Plaster droned on as she stopped at the end of the path, "I'm starting to wonder if that troublesome weather mare is a bad influence on you!"
As much as you'd love to ignore that comment, she pushed the wrong button at the wrong time. Seething, you wheel around to face her as you step off the wheelchair.
"Look, I know you're not exactly her biggest fan, but she's survived more than you could even dream of!" You bark defensively. The nosy old mare clearly takes the hint of what she could and couldn't get away with around you, as she clamps her mouth shut.
With a satisfied snort, you turn away, and start down the path with a painful limp. You only needed to get home and rest for the rest of the day, and then you'll be back in business. No dumb fractured femur is going to keep you down for longer than that!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Three Months Prior -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Hey, you!"
You stopped in your tracks, still around a mile outside of Ponyville, and swiveled your head skywards once you heard the strange beckoning. You were no stranger to the reputation of the pony behind that voice. In fact, she was the main reason you'd even left your hometown.
"I'm up here, dummy!" She shouted again, prompting you to look up. And there she was: the great Rainbow Dash.
You've always had your fair share of daydreams as to what she would look like in person, but none of them even came close to what you saw that day: her mane flowed in the wind like a prismatic mountain brook, and her cocky smile and relaxed, toned figure painted her into the likeness of a restful panther. Her eyes, however, presented something else entirely. They yearned for adventure, and hungered for a worthy challenge. All while glinting like light amethysts in the afternoon sun.
You find that the breath has been siphoned from your lungs, and your heartbeat is rocketing as your knees grow weaker and weaker. Your throat becomes so dry that you'd swear you tried to swallow a bucket of cinnamon. She seems to notice, much to your dismay, as she cocks her head to the side with a concerned look.
"Hey, pal, you alright?"
No, not even. Your face feels fresh from an oven, and the sound of her voice isn't really helping your condition any.
"I-... uh... I was looking for you, actually..." you stammer stupidly, before kicking yourself in the shin.
"Subtle," you grumble to yourself, "real subtle..."
You feel relief, however, once her smile only grows.
"Lemme guess," she chuckles, rubbing her chest proudly with a hoof: and examining it for dust, "you've heard about my awesomeness, and after journeying across Equestria, you want me to teach you the ways of coolness?"
You feel your jaw slacken slightly as you just stare at her, mind all but blown as she'd hit the nail on the head.
After noticing your silence, she looks back down at you. It doesn't take a second for her smile to drop into a shocked expression.
"Wait, really?!"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Present Day -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You smile at the memory as you near the edge of town: it had taken little persuading after that for her to start teaching you all she knew, and you'd taken to doing stunts like a cat to warm milk. As the tricks got harder, however, your expertise began to lack immensely. But, you didn't come all this way to quit now, so you kept on trying.
Unfortunately for you, though, these stunts you keep attempting tend to land you in Ponyville General more often than not. It's even gotten to the point where you have your own room reserved for every other day, directly under the care of nurse Redheart.
Sure, it hurts each time you crash, and maybe you've broken most every bone in your body at least once, but you are determined to become a great hero someday: and heroes don't come out of nowhere.
Besides, it's not like your numerous visits to the hospital didn't have their upsides as well: good food, warm cots, friendly staff. And, most notably of all, Head Nurse Redheart.
You've certainly enjoyed the countless chats you've had with the dedicated nurse, as each of you didn't really get much of a social life. You feel partially responsible for the lack of action in her life, but she lights up like a star whenever she sees you in the waiting room. She’s one of the few ponies you feel comfortable calling a friend.
You smile again as you remember the first time you were sent to her care...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Two Months Prior -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You shout in pain as the foal next to you pokes the leg you're holding curiously, startling everypony in the waiting room. The mother apologizes profusely, but you quickly assure both her and her teared-up son that it's nothing to worry about.
Eesh, some ponies can be so sensitive. Besides, it's not his fault that you hurt your foreleg by jumping off a cliff. Rainbow should really be more clear as to when it’s an actual dare, and when it's a joke. Either that or you need to work on not zoning out in her eyes when she's talking, but hey, they're distracting!
"Anon?"
You smile, and lift your good leg. "Here!"
The receptionist looks over to you, and frowns nervously at the sight of your foreleg. "Uhh... shouldn't you be in the emergency room?" He calls over.
You wince painfully as you look down, seeing the bone nearly poking out of your skin, and look back up with a shrug. "I didn't think it was that serious."
"It's broken." He states blankly.
"Yeah?"
For some reason, the receptionist finds it necessary to massage his brow. You can't help but wonder at the odd fellow, and you hope he doesn't suffer from these headaches often.
"Nevermind," he groans, "Nurse Redheart will be in to see you short--"
"Don't bother calling, Bell, I'm here now."
You turn to see the source of the feminine voice, and quirk your brow at the sight of the owner. She was a rather attractive mare, with a soft pink mane and ivory coat, and you make a mental note of her manestyle. More specifically, how you think she should just let her mane fall naturally, instead of keeping it in a bun.
Then again, that might just be the result of you constantly clinging around Rainbow.
She gives you a weird look, like a teacher who just caught you throwing spitwads at the bratty kids in class, but who doesn’t know if they should scold you or award you. Shaking her head with a slight chuckle, she walks up to you and extends her hoof.
“Something tells me I’m going to be seeing a lot of you, sir.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Present Day -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You chuckle humorously as you remember that the first time you saw her, you had broken the exact same leg you had gone in for today. You twist the doorknob, and unceremoniously enter your own personal suite. The inside of your house is humble at best, and can be generously described as ‘lived in’. And while you might not be the tidiest of ponies, but at least you can keep your home clean enough to navigate.
Carelessly, you sweep some old clothes off your couch- which you note as odd, given that you don’t remember the last time you even wore clothes -and plop yourself lazily onto its welcoming cushions…
… before immediately regretting that decision, as your leg protests your actions vehemently.
Groaning in pain, you still jump slightly when you hear a knock at the door.
“Come in, RD,” you call lazily, “you should know it’s not locked.”
The door slowly glides open, and you swivel your head to peek at the Pegasus entering your humble abode. She’s hung around many a time before, granted, but you still can’t help repeating your least-favourite habit:
“Apologies for the clutter, but you know how it is. Still moving in, yadda yadda…” Rainbow chuckles slightly at your deadpan, before her face takes a more serious setting.
“Look, kid,” she starts. Uh-oh, whenever she begins like that, it’s never been good news. And you choose to ignore the fact that you’re a year older than her.
“I appreciate that you want to work as hard as you do to be awesome, but this--” she gestures to the cast on your leg “--is hardly the first time you’ve had to wear one of those because you fouled on a stunt, and it’ll only hurt more each time you break something.” She bites her lip, and starts to back away. “Now this doesn’t come easy from me, but you need to slow down, kid, or the next injury won’t be as pleasant as this one.”
Suddenly, you feel aggravated, and your brow furrows. “You want me to quit?”
She grows defensive. “No! I just… you’re getting hurt too much, and you don’t need to push yourself to this extreme.”
Your face remains stern, but you feel your muscles relax a little bit. You can see her point, but she’s asking you to take a step back, and even though you’re not sure why: the very thought of pulling back now is unthinkable.
“Fine, I’ll rest for the night, RD.” You sigh irritably, lowering your head onto a throw pillow. “But I should be outta this cast by tomorrow afternoon…”
You pause just long enough to hear her stutter in disbelief, before smirking to yourself. “... And at that time, expect to see me at Ghastly Gorge, because I’m jumping it.”
“WHAT?!” She shrieked, jumping into the air with eyes that bored such a fierce glare into you that it caused you to cower slightly. “You literally just got home from Ponyville General, and you’re thinking of jumping the GORGE?!”
You lift up a pillow to protect yourself as you cringe. “Uh... yeah?”
For a second, all you hear is her furious snorts, before the click of four hooves landing on the wooden floor greets your ears.
“Fine,” she sighs.
Surprised, you glance over the pillow. “Uhh… fine?” You repeat, doubting your own ears.
“Fine,” she confirms: her expression blank, and her tone cold. “If you want to be a complete idiot, and get yourself killed, then I’m not going to stop you. But realize this,” in a blink, she was face-to-face with you, and the anger that burned in her eyes took up most of your vision: “there are some ponies in this town who will die inside if you screw up this time, and get yourself killed.”
In another blink, the front door slammed shut, and Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen: leaving you in a pile of confusion.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Next Day -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You gingerly place your rear hoof on the ground, leaving the other three on the skateboard you’re planning on using. It wobbles a bit beneath you as you ready yourself to kick, taking a deep breath as you gaze down the ramp: Ten yards of drop before it cuts upward, hopefully providing enough inertia to propel you over the gorge and safely onto the pad on the other side.
Sweeping your head to the side for a moment, you look over to a cloud a few yards away, on level with the platform you’re perched atop of. On it, Rainbow Dash eyes you with a dead expression, the only factor giving her face life being the slight moistness of her eyes.
Giving her a confident smirk, you kick off, and soon find yourself careening down the slope. You’re about halfway down when the board starts to wobble, and you barely leave the jump when everything goes horribly wrong. The skateboard disappears from under your hooves, and the world becomes a blurry vortex as the canyon wall draws closer.
You barely hear somepony scream your name before you black out.