//------------------------------// // Pain Hurts // Story: Dashed Hopes and Reformed Dreams // by ChaoticHarmony //------------------------------// Chapter 14: Pain Hurts Her mind slowly recognized the large jumble of feelings that were mixed inside her skull, merging together and parting just as quickly in a pool of unconsciousness. As she resurfaced from that pool, the feelings slowly returned to her. She groaned as the pain was finally brought forth, somewhat muted by… something. She should be worrying about what was dulling the pain, but at this point she could only be thankful for its interference; the pain that licked along her body in time with her beating heart was bad enough. It was an odd sort of pain, hurting but not hurting at the same time, her numbness mixing with the burning ache. She groaned again as a particularly painful flare sent her hoof into a spasm, bringing more painful twinges in different parts of her body as it shifted on the mattress. She kicked out her legs uncontrollably, panic gripping her mind as she couldn’t move as far as she wanted, much less get up from where she lay. Her throat screamed out wordlessly, her mouth useless in forming the words of fear that she wanted to express. A muted pressure rested on her ears, vibrating slightly off-and-on as if her room had filled with shouting ponies. A sharp pain stood out from the rest, a cool feeling spreading from where it had come from. She felt her hooves slow in their maddening attempts to move along with her mind. Soon the darkness that filled her vision grew cold and somehow darker, consuming her thoughts and mind as she fell into the world of unconsciousness once more. --- After what seemed like days, she resurfaced from the world of uneasy dreams and feelings. She felt cold, trapped in a world of darkness no matter how wide she tried to open her eyes. Fear and confusion warred inside her skull as she attempted to stand up. In an instant, panic overpowered and replaced both emotions as she found that her efforts were in vain, her hooves being held down by some kind of strap. Her muscles ached more and more as she pushed and pulled against her bonds, but she merely continued her pointless struggle. The pressure on her ears returned, though much softer and more panicky than before. Her mind worked to make out the words, their sounds all mashing together as if her brain was a few seconds behind. A hoof stroked her mane softly, running through each of the colors individually. She felt the wordless scream build up in her throat, a few whimpers escaping her pressed-together lips as she threw all of her strength at the cloth that held her down. Suddenly the words snapped into clarity, hitting her like a hammer. “Dash, stop! They’ll put you under again. Shhhh, Dash. Calm down… Shhhh.” When she became stiff, the hoof hesitated before resuming its calm brushing. “That’s better; I thought I was going to have to get them again.” She felt her mouth flutter around as she worked to speak, her throat making small grunts that were supposed to be words. Frustration came, filling her as she tried again and again to speak out to her second-favorite Wonderbolt. “S-s-ssss-Soarin?” Happiness and relief flooded through her as she forced the name that had been pressing against her mind with painful force. The hoof patted her head before resuming its comforting strokes. “Soarin.” She repeated simply, content to just murmur his name and be in his presence for the time being. “I’m here Dash.” 000 She pulled him along the streets of Cloudsdale, if lumps of super-compacted cumulous clouds could be called that, ignoring his protests and efforts to flee. “Please, Spitfire, I don’t want to do anything else!” She looked over her shoulder at the terrified, grey pegasus, and smiled in a I’m-going-to-torture-you-all-day kind of way. As they rounded the corner, an expression of shock crossed his face and passed through his body, making his muscles stiffen and allowing her to drag him a little closer to her goal. Looming up at the end of the street, the bungee-jump building towered further into the sky, the small chords that hung from the side occasionally snapping taut, flinging the small shapes of pegasi into the air and back down again. She watched Wind’s eyes trace up the sides of the building, fear building faster as they followed another diver back down until they were obscured by the cloud-ground. The nervous gulp that came from the stallion could be heard even in the semi-crowded street. “What’s wrong, Wind?” She asked it innocently, her eyes shining with anything but innocence. “Haven’t you gone cloud-diving before?” “No, and I don’t plan to!” He added nervously as her smile grew wider. “We aren’t going there, right?” He looked up to the top of the building and then back to her, only to return his gaze fearfully to the towering cloud-structure. She turned around and drew him close, smiling at the quickening of his heartbeat as she put her muzzle to his ear. “Oh yes, Wind Cutter, we are.” Shock, wet and frigid, shot through his body once more as she began to lead him further and further from safety. She laughed as he tried to pull away again, using his momentum to spin around and grasp him with her hooves. She flapped her wings and pulled the two of them into the air, doing some loops and corkscrews that would have otherwise been unnecessary. Her laugh fell onto the pegasi below, who all looked up to see something akin to kidnapping, complete with the screaming victim that was held in the kidnapper’s hooves. Unfortunately for Wind, the ponies of Cloudsdale would always recognize and trust Spitfire, even if what she did sometimes was a little off. She was a famous pony, and famous ponies always act on the weird side. Of course, Wind, being unable to fly still, was forced to sit between the orange hooves with a pouting frown on his face. Instead of taking the “normal” way of entry and ascension, Spitfire opted for a more direct route to the top of the building: dodging the plummeting pegasi attached to the cords and shooting upward in a fierce fight with gravity. Being a senior Wonderbolt had its perks, giving Spitfire a sleek-yet-muscular body that easily zipped side to side in mid-flight. After what seemed like an eternity to Wind, they reached the top of the building, Spitfire laughing as she deposited the shaking pegasus onto the floor. “That… was… fun… right… Wind?” Spitfire panted as she gasped for air, beads of sweat sliding down her coat as she recovered. Carrying yourself up to such a height is taxing enough, but when you add another pegasus into the mix it adds a level of impossibility. It was a testament to Spitfire’s strength and integrity that she was able to achieve the impossible. A few moments of silence passed and she assumed that Wind was purposefully ignoring her. A grey hoof was held out to her, which she took a firm hold of and was pulled to her hooves, right in the face of Wind Cutter. “All right, Spitfire.” Wind flashed her daring smile. “Let’s get this over with.” 000 Author's Note: All right, I know that this chapter is like... WAY shorter than normal... but I think that this is a good place to end off to pick up for the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it!