//------------------------------// // The Big Blow // Story: The Final Beat // by rainbowspirals //------------------------------// Time passed by fast. No one expected what was about to come. Not the crowd, not the mane six, not Celestia or any other princesses, not Rainbow Dash herself. As she stepped out into the clear view of the crowd, she heard cheers from every direction, sound exploding and ringing heavily in her ears. Everypony was so excited to see what she had to pull, not noticing any drop of sweat on Dash's forehead as she was containing the pain of nervousness, and strict motives to not disappoint. Okay, you can do this. You're so awesome, everyone loves you! You just gotta stick to what you learned. You've practiced for weeks now, Dash. Just stay calm. The punk music in the background silenced the crowd, creating a deafening silence between the audience as suspense neared the blue mare. Intense atoms filled the atmosphere of the arena. Come on. 3, 2, 1... Dash walked off the edge, creating a gasp between each mare, filly, and stallion. Just when everyone thought it was over, a blue spectacle emerged from the ground, shooting up into the air at terrific speed. Gathering confidence with every metre, Dash performed stunts over bushes, clouds, and the light of the sun. Backflips, frontflips, a pull of her dazzling dress revealing confetti and little stars Pinkie plastered inside that exploded at the right moment. The audience watched in awe, cheering and throwing flowers. Dash zoomed around the plastic seats of the ponies, almost coming in contact. She formed a fast wind amongst all present and continued to shock everypony spectating. Dash smiled to herself, no one else noticing the pride she contained within her. Alright, time for the rainboom, signature move, she told herself. Without flaw, the rainboom was created which made the audience roar louder than before. A rainbow hurtling across the arena created a wonderful view the ponies adored. Awesome! She continued to dive into the ground before reviving herself, surging through the air majestically. Whirling around the princesses, Dash winked at Celestia and whizzed around some more. The ponies did not get bored, they continued to analyse Dash's every move as she darted around, performing the craziest of stunts and tricks that they have never seen before. I think I'm actually getting somewhere, she thought to herself. She pulled out some spare rainbow confetti and little stars, suns, and moons with glitter and sprinkled the audience with them. Scootaloo was noticed by Dash in the distance, so she high-fived with her along the way. Now, this is the moment I wow them even more, and show off my most amazing crazy trick yet! I bet no one will see this coming, she thought. She was right, no one did in the end. As she floated in the air, not moving to any side, she got ready to pull this spectacular feature of the performance, a way to wrap it up fantastically, aiming for the best scores. I've done so well, even if I mess this up a bit it won't matter, but not that I will anyway. --- As Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she was hit with the blinding, snowball white light of the cold room. She blinked a little bit, while feeling lightheaded. "Hello?" She called out. No response. Dash proceeded to tilt her head to one side, noticing medical equipment, some of which was now a part of her. Confused, she continued to analyse the situation. "What happened?" She whispered groggily. She felt like she was lightly tied down to the bed she found herself in, while covered with a fresh, white blanket. She attempted sitting up, but the multiple wires and intense pain she felt in her hip and back stopped her almost immediately. She felt lighter yet so dizzy and uncontrollable. She had no idea what was happening, and began to freak out. In front of her to the right, stood a metal door with a blurry window in the centre. Above said exit, a sign glaring at Rainbow Dash read: Emergency Room Suddenly, a pony dressed in a doctor coat and nurse hat waddled inside the room carefully, holding a tray of what looked like a meal and additional equipment regarding medicine. A bottle of what looked like hard drugs and possibly morphine shadowed the crystal plates beside it. The friendly-looking pony looked around the room before picking Dash as her target. "Hello dear, are you feeling any better?" The kind voice asked. Although sweet, Dash couldn't help noticing how the voice rubs roughly on her. "What?" Rainbow asked. "What happened? Tell me! Why can't I move, why am I in this place...what happened, where are my friends?" She pleaded. The nurse walked over cautiously, placing a hoof on Rainbow Dash. Dash, however, shrugged it off viciously. She was not happy. "Darling, listen..." The nice-looking yet evil nurse began. "First, I need you to eat, and I have to give you a morphine shot. Are you in pain?" "A bit. And what food? I'm not hungry," barked Dash. "It will help the morphine, plus, you have to eat a couple of these vitamins. It will help if you eat," the nurse explained. The white mare put the tray on Dash's bed. "It will also help you with the news," Dash looked at the nurse. "What news?" "Your friends will be here soon." "I said, what news?" "Honey...please wait." "I NEED to know!" Dash pleaded. "Please calm down." The nurse took the tray off of the medical bed and gathered the needle with the morphine. She carefully prepared the injection tool. "I will now give you a shot so you don't hurt," she prepared. "Please look away," Dash did as she was told, reluctantly. Carefully, the nurse, with gloves, prepared the injection area followed by the procedure itself. Feeling a sting followed by feeling the liquid flowing through Dash's veins, she carefully realised her back pain came to a halt slowly. She relaxed, but not enough. She turned her head back, and noticed the nurse cleaning the needle, and then proceeding to washing her hooves by the sink. "Also, why am I in the emergency room?" Asked Dash, noticing the ER sign by the door once more. She was uncomfortable with the amount of privacy curtains and multiple tables with tons of equipment and tubing. "It's terrifying," she admitted. "You'll find out soon. Your friends are on their way to visit, then I'll let you know." The nurse came back to Dash, and took two pills from the vitamin container. "Here, take these, don't chew them. A cup of water is right beside you, I'll fill it up when you drink it all," she instructed. Dash stared at the red-coloured objects and slowly let them enter her throat. One by one, she swallowed, refilling herself with water. The nurse smiled, and received a weak smile from Dash in return. A few moments later, came a knock on the door. Her friends had arrived, with balloons, candy, and presents. What happened that they brought so much things? How long have I been here? I should have asked... "Ah, your friends are here! Would you like them to come in?" Asked the nurse happily. "Sure, but one question." Dash answered. "Yes?" "How long have I been here? In the...hospital." "About three days." The nurse replied sadly. What? The nurse proceeded to opening the door. Dash was greeted with five of her friends, crowding around her hospital bed. The nurse pressed a button on the side that carefully let one side bend upwards, putting Dash in an even more sitting position than she was in already. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle cried. "Are you okay? We haven't seen you for so long, since the...incident...at the Olympics," she said. Rainbow thought about it. "Really? What happened there?!" Dash begged. "You don't remember? That's sad!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie. The nurse cut in. "Dears, please don't let her know the details." Said the nurse. Dash immediately went paranoid. "Please tell me!" Pleaded Dash heavily, tears slowly forming, her eyes glossy. "Basically..." The nurse interrupted. "You had a...say...fall during your performance. Unfortunately, you were knocked unconscious, you weren't able to continue. Later, we had to bring you here, the day wasn't bright," she sighed, head down. "Let's just say that that unfortunately made you lose the competition," announced the nurse. Immediately, Dash broke down. I...lost? No, no, no! I need to find out what happened. I guess they'll tell me soon, but this is horrible... "Rainbow, Ah'm so sorry..." Cried AppleJack, the closest pony to Dash. "Please don't leave me, AJ. I have no idea what happened, and whatever they tell me, please be with me, don't leave," asked Dash. She began to realise that this was more than just a competition loss. Being in an Emergency Room, being unconscious for three days...something big had happened. "Never would Ah leave you. Ah'll always stay." AppleJack assured Dash calmly, making her relax. Dash felt like the other ponies knew more than she did, what was done in the ER. Having the privacy curtains around and just noticing a speck of blood by the sink and almost filled medical trashcan, she knew something was going on, and it was bad. "Honey, dear, you mean the world to us. You will get through this, and so soon you'll be back on your hooves. Don't stress, I'll make you a couple more outfits when you come home. In fact, I made you on for this visit," Rarity handed over a present bag, with a beautiful, sparkling outfit peeking outside from it. Dash took it sheepishly, smiling. "Thank you Rarity, pretty awesome!" Exclaimed Dash, although still feeling lightheaded. All the other ponies present smiled at Dash, wishing her to get well soon, as the nurse hinted that visiting time ended. As the final pony left, the door closed, leaving only the nurse and Dash in the room. "Can you tell me why I'm in the ER now, and why I see specks of blood around the sink?" Asked Dash angrily. "Yes, I can. It just might be...a lot to take in," warned the nurse. "I can take it," announced Dash with pride. The nurse thought otherwise, however, didn't say so, to not anger her patient. "Alright," she agreed. "On the day of the Olympics, you were doing your performance. It was spectacular, and your routine had many on edge. You were going to perform another trick, and we could see you preparing. You began to do the stunt and got a blow to the skull, sending you crashing to the ground," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Someone shot me?" She asked. "No, a hawk flew into you," Dash wasn't happy. "Anyway, you fell to the ground, from a really high distance. We thought you were alright, but you didn't even spread a wing when falling," Dash was shocked. "We realised you were already knocked unconscious. And so, you didn't get up. Ponies flew to inspect you, and discovered blood around the scene. Your wings were also badly injured, broken by the joint between your wing and side," Dash gulped, getting a horrid feeling about the pain she felt earlier, and why she couldn't move. "We took you to the ER right away, seeing as you were throbbing from your head badly, and other injuries too. Then, we had to perform emergency surgery by me and some other surgeons," "Wait, what? Surgery for...what did you do..." Dash growled. "Your wings were infected, throbbing, and bleeding," Dash began to cry. "Please...what did you do...tell me you performed surgery on my wings to remove some kind of tumor, please tell me you fixed them, please tell me my wings are okay," Dash pleaded. "I'm sorry," "What?" "We had to amputate your wings, Rainbow Dash."