Rainbow Dash laid in bed, staring out the hospital room's window. Her arms rested on her stomach, holding a book against her. It was a Daring Do adventure book. In fact, it was the same book she had read the last time she had been here. It was the same book that had been the first of the Daring Do books she had ever read, even if it wasn't actually the first in the series. It was that fact which had made it her favorite in the whole series.
She did not really feel like reading it.
In honesty, she really didn't feel like doing much of anything. After she finished crying and her friends had left, she felt exhausted, but couldn't get to sleep. Lunchtime had come and gone. She had gotten some food, but hadn't eaten. She didn't feel hungry. Well... that wasn't true. She was very hungry, starving in fact. But for some reason, eating didn't actually seem worth the effort. So her food had just sat there until someone took the tray. Some time after that (she had no idea how long, not bothering to keep track) the book cart came by. Dash had asked for the Daring Do book... but... When she looked at the cover, there was no real thrill in reading it. So it just ended up resting against her as she continued to stare out the window.
"Hey Rainbow Dash," a familiar voice said. Rainbow Dash's ear gave a twitch at the sound. She slowly turned to look at the door to her room. Standing there was a small purple and green dragon. He stood half behind the doorway, one hand gripping the frame as he leaned in.
"Hey Spike," Dash said, barely above a mumble. "Came to see me too, huh?"
"Yeah. I would have been here with the others when you woke up, but Twilight asked me to make sure someone didn't try to skip school to come see you." With that, he moved to the other side of the doorway, turning and raising an arm as though presenting someone.
An orange pegasus filly with magenta mane popped into view. She grinned widely, bouncing in place. The filly ran into the room and leapt at the bed. The small wings fluttered, trying to help the young pegasus fly before she landed. Before she even finished touching sheet, she ran toward Rainbow Dash, giving her a hug.
"You're okay! You're okay!" the filly squealed, hugging Dash as tightly as she could.
Rainbow Dash looked down at Scootaloo. The little filly was her biggest fan, though probably not physically. Dash had become a like a big sister to the young pegasus in all but blood at this point. Looking down at the smile, the last thing Dash wanted to do was make Scootaloo sad as well.
"Hey there squirt," she said with a smile and returned the hug. "'course I'm okay. It's gonna take more than a little tornado to stop me." She pushed the smaller pony away a little, using one of her hooves to ruffle the filly's mane. Scootaloo let out a little laugh as her head was rubbed.
"I was so scared," Scootaloo said. "I saw miss Twilight running through town and carrying you magically. By the time I caught up, she was at the hospital and someone said you had to go into sur.. shur... suh... That they had to operate. After waiting FOREVER, someone came out and said that they had to... uhm... amp... aplu... amphu... some really weird word I don't know. I tried to ask what it meant, but no one would tell me. Then Miss Twilight had Pinkie walk me home because it was really late and I should be in bed. And when I got up, Spike was waiting with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to make sure I went to school instead of skipping to come see you."
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Sounds like you had a busier night than I did. I got to sleep through the whole thing."
"So, you're really okay?" Scootaloo tilted her head as she asked, raising one of her eyebrows.
"Come on, squirt. Who's the best athlete in Ponyville?"
"Rainbow Dash."
"Who is the best big sister a filly could ask for"
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Who not only has one of The Elements of Harmony, but one that guarantees she will always stick by you?"
"RAINBOW DASH!!" Scootaloo shouted, as did Spike. The sound of the young dragon got the attention of both of the pegasi. Spike looked at them as he gave a nervous chuckle.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "Guess I got carried away in the excitement."
"It's cool Spike," Rainbow Dash reassured him. She turned her attention back to Scootaloo. "Hey, tomorrow is Saturday, so there's no school. If you're not doing anything else, you can come spend some time with me. I'll even read to you." She picked up the book from where it had slid over to her side and lifted it up for Scootaloo to see.
"That would be awesome!" the filly squealed, practically dancing in place on the bed. "I can come by after lunch, then hang out with you until dinner. Ohohoh. Maybe we can get Miss Rarity to bring Sweetie Belle and Miss Applejack to bring Apple Bloom. Then the six of us can all have a slumber party and stay here all night. Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"I don't think that the hospital would go for that." Dash gave a shake of her head as she grinned. She glanced around then leaned in toward Scootaloo, whispering. "Listen, I have a couple bits in the drawer, and Nurse Redheart mentioned they had some oatmeal honey cookies fresh from Sugar Cube Corner. Why don't you do me a favor and go grab one for each of us." She gave a little wink.
Grinning, Scootaloo hopped off the bed and opened the drawer. She grabbed the bag of bits before running past Spike and out the door. As soon as the filly was out of sight, Rainbow Dash sagged. She let out a massive sigh as she looked down, feeling exhausted. She had no idea that pretending to be happy could wear a pony out quickly. It suddenly made sense to her why Pinkie Pie would crash so hard when becoming sad. There was no way the pink pony could fake being that happy for that long, and if she was that happy, then it makes sense she could be that sad as well.
"So how are you really doing?" Spike's question had caused Rainbow Dash to jump and look at him. Had she actually forgotten that he was there? She had just seen him there a second ago.
"I feel like my wing is still there," she finally responded. "Keep thinking that I'll be able to fly as soon as I get out of here." She flopped back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Then I remember what happen and....Twilight says that I'm still in denial. Also said that she would look to see if she could find a spell that would let me re-grow it. Doesn't remember seeing anything like that before though."
"Come on, Rainbow," Spike said, "If anyone can find a spell to help, it's Twilight." While Rainbow Dash had been staring at the ceiling, he had walked over to the side of the hospital bed. He pulled himself up on the side, bracing against the bed frame. He looked up at her, still smiling. She looked at him a moment, then looked away.
"Yeah," she mumbled, "I guess so." The two of them stayed where they were for a moment, not saying anything.
The silence was broken by the sound of approaching hooves. Scootaloo returned with the bag of bits and three cookies. Moving past Spike, she put the bag on back in the drawer. She then turned to the other two, giving them the cookies.
Spike took his excitedly, tossing the whole of it into his mouth. He let out a small noise of excitement as he chewed, enjoying the soft gooey cookie and the hint of the honey with the oatmeal. Scootaloo didn't eat hers quite as quickly, needing to take actual bites of the cookie, but she still munched it as quickly as she could.
Rainbow Dash took hers as well, and just looked down at it for a moment. She had tried the baking from Sugar Cube Corner, be it made by Mister Cake, Mistress Cake, or Pinkie Pie. They had the best baked goods in all of Ponyville (unless it included apples, then you had to go to Applejack's family), and being friends with Pinkie, Rainbow Dash had gotten to try nearly all of them. If it wasn't for her constant training, she probably would have eaten a lot more of them and ended up a pegasus that was too pudgy to fly. Although now, she couldn't fly anyways.
Noticing that Spike and Scootaloo were watching, Rainbow Dash smiled and took a bite of the cookie. It didn't taste as good as the cooking usually did. In fact, it didn't really taste like anything. There was no sweet tangy honey taste or the taste of grains from the oatmeal that she noticed. The thing tasted like paper. Not even high quality paper either, but the cheapest type available that a filly would buy for school.
Since she was being watched by Scootaloo and Spike, Rainbow Dash smiled as she continued to chew, letting out a small noise of pleasure. She continued to to eat the cookie, despite not being able to enjoy it. It was really weird to feel relieved when she finally finished it.
"Excuse me," a white earth pony with pink mane called from the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, but it's time to change your dressing." She looked Spike and Scootaloo. "It...might be better that you two wait in the hall or something."
"I should probably head home anyways," Scootaloo said. "See you tomorrow. I promise." She gave Rainbow Dash a hug, squeezing the large pony tightly. The young filly hopped off the bed, and headed for the door, giving one last wave before disappearing.
"I guess I should get going too," Spike added. "If Twilight is looking for a way to get you your wing back, she'll probably need my help." He gave Dash one last pat before dropping from the side of the bed to the floor and leaving.
"What a cute filly," the nurse said as she walked over. "Is she your little sister?"
"Yeah."
"How is she taking the news about your wings?"
"She doesn't know yet." And if Twilight's plan works, Rainbow Dash thought, she will never need to.