A few days later, Rainbow Dash was finally going to have the surgery. Of course Windy Whistles was hovering over her daughter, refusing to let her go without handing over every good luck charm she could. "Now don't forget your lucky horse shoe, your lucky four leaf clover-"
"Mom, do you really think this is necessary?" Rainbow Dash complained, groaning as she took the heavy horse shoe.
"You can never have enough good luck when you go have surgery." Windy Whistles tittered, flustered. She brushed a hand over Rainbow Dash's forehead.
Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to smack her mom's hand away, afraid to hurt her feelings. "It'll be fine. Remember what Dr. Callie said? It's an easy procedure." Rainbow Dash reminded her.
Windy Whistles managed a weak smile. "I'll try not to worry so much. But you know me."
"Yeah, I know." Rainbow Dash smiled.
Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer entered the room just then converging on the bed. Windy Whistles hustled out of the way, giving them room. "Good luck, Rainbow." Sunset murmured, giving her friend a hug.
Twilight gave her a tight hug. "You'll do great, Rainbow. I'm sure of it."
"I bet you could do the surgery, you nerd." Rainbow Dash teased.
"I'm no orthopedic surgeon." Twilight laughed, flattered.
"That's my job." a familiar voice answered, as Dr. Calliope entered, a broad smile on her face. "Ready for your surgery?"
"As I'll ever be." Rainbow Dash nodded.
Dr. Calliope looked over at Windy Whistles. "I need you to sign some consent forms for the surgery. And after the surgery, you will need to have some rehab."
"Rehab? How long will that take?" Rainbow Dash looked concerned. "I want to get back to soccer as soon as possible."
"Six to nine months, depending on how well you do. Plus recovery from the surgery." Dr. Calliope explained.
"Six to-That means my season's over!" Rainbow Dash wailed, horrified.
"Well, you'll need it to make sure you can play." Dr. Calliope reminded her.
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Fine." She sighed.
Windy Whistles signed the consent forms and handed the paperwork over. "Oh, Dashie. Come back to me." She hugged Rainbow Dash so tightly that Rainbow Dash felt strangled.
"Mom, please, I will be fine." Rainbow Dash gave a pleading look to her friends.
"Come on, we need to give her some room." Sunset Shimmer suggested.
Windy Whistles finally let go of her daughter, sniffling. "You better do just fine in this surgery, Dashie." she whispered, starting to bawl all over again.
"Oh, Mom." Rainbow Dash sighed.
"All set up. I'll get these forms filed and have a nurse come in to get you prepped for surgery. They'll take you up to the operating room and give you something to sleep and when you wake up the surgery will be over. You'll be in some pain, but we can give you something for that." Dr. Calliope assured her.
Rainbow fiddled with the frayed edge of the blanket. "Pain?" she whimpered. "I thought we were trying to get rid of the pain?"
"We need to do the surgery to fix it, therefore you need to go through pain." Dr. Calliope explained. "I'll see you in the operating room." She left the room.
Rainbow Dash groaned. "This is awful." she complained.
"We'll be here for you." Twilight assured her.
A nurse entered the room and prepared Rainbow Dash for the surgery. "I'll take you to the operating room now." she told her, raising the rails on the bed.
"See you when you get back." Twilight hugged Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, see you when you get back." Sunset Shimmer hugged her.
Rainbow Dash was wheeled to the operating room and was lifted onto the operating table. An older man sat at the head of the table holding a mask as people bustled about the room. "Ready to start?" he asked the other people.
"Go ahead." another voice responded.
"Ready?" he asked Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash nodded nervously. "Count backward slowly from 100."
"100...99..." Rainbow Dash started, slowing down as she continued. "98...ninty..." Rainbow didn't finish as she drifted off to sleep.
"Okay, she's out." the anesthesiologist declared, and the surgery began.