"Fall in," Drill Sergeant Stonehoof bellowed. He watched as his recruits followed orders, lining up in front of him and standing at attention. Stonehoof walked along the line, and stopped as he caught sight of a bandaged filly standing at the end.
"Cadet Dinky, remain where you are." He turned around. "The rest of you, hit the obstacle course. Movemovemove." He watched them fall out of formation and begin running for the obstacle course as ordered. He then turned back to Dinky.
"Now," he said in a calmer and more casual voice, "what are you doing out here?"
"Reporting for training, Drill Sergeant," Dinky replied, giving a salute.
"Let's set formality aside for a moment and talk pony to pony. Now, you are not allowed to train. You are on medical leave."
"But... but the hospital let me go."
"Being discharged from the hospital doesn't mean the same thing as being cleared to return to duty. You are still injured and need time to recuperate. You should enjoy it since you saved Canterlot."
"But I didn't," Dinky snorted, looking away. "Princess Luna caught Shadowbolt, saving Twinkle and Wind. It was them who had the parasprites. Princess Celestia scared off Poison Prank. In fact, if it hadn't been for me getting hurt, Celestia could have caught Poison Prank. I didn't do anything but run away and get blown up." She slumped down, staring at the ground between her hooves.
"Aren't you the one who recognized the parasprites and caught them?" Stonehoof asked.
"...Yeah..."
"Didn't you manage to send a letter to Princess Celestia, alerting her of the danger and thus allowing her to save you and Luna your friends?"
"...Yeah..." Dinky raised her head a little, but still did not look at Stonehoof.
"Weren't you also the one who distracted Poison Prank until the princess arrived."
"No," she said, giving him a look. "I hit her with a sack of flour and she threw a bomb at me. I got her dirty, and she tried to blow me up. I'm lucky to be alive."
"A fair point." Stonehoof moved forward, placing a hoof on an uncovered portion of the filly's back. "What I'm getting at is that you did a lot for a filly. If you had been an actual guard, you probably would have gotten a commendation."
"If I were an actual guard," Dinky responded, "I would have been big enough and strong enough to stop Poison Prank by myself."
"Maybe some day you will. But pushing yourself too hard too fast will only make you take longer to recover. Worse, you might tear something open or even get an infection. The best thing to do for now would be to let your body recover and find something else to keep you busy."
"Okay." With a sigh, she got up and started walking off. Stonehoof watched her go, then went to find his trainees.
Dinky returned to her room and let out a snort of frustration. She did not want to be just sitting around in her room. After being in the hospital and cooped up in bed for weeks, the last thing she wanted to do was continue to stay still. Beside which, it caused two major problems for her. One was that the healing of her burns and cuts were itching like mad. She wanted so badly to find a way to scratch at them.
The other was that she could not stop thinking about what had happened, and she hated it. Canterlot had been threatened, as had her friends, she had been attacked and nearly killed, and the pony responsible had gotten away. Worst of all... she felt like she had been useless.
That was the real problem for her. It had been a little under two years since she had become Celestia's most recent personal student. It was also over a year since she had defeated Poison Prank and save the school. Since coming to Canterlot, she had learned a lot about all sorts of things, including magic and strategy. She had also gone through extensive physical training. Although still small for her age, she was stronger than she used to be, with more muscle than when she was younger. There also had been training in armed and unarmed combat.
All of it had been a waste. The time came when she had the chance to use it, to do some real good, and she ran. She ran and she hid. The most she had been able to do was to write a letter asking for help.
Dinky the coward, she thought. Look out for her, criminals, she might run away and tell the princess what you were doing. That would strike terror into the heart of evil. Look out! She's got a quill! She could almost hear the laughter. It sounded like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
Never again! No longer was she going to run, or hide. She was going to fight, to protect others, to win.
"But how?" the filly asked herself with a sigh. Walking over to her bed, she reached out with her magic and grabbed the stuffed dalmatian. "What should I do, Bubbles?"
The stuffed dog floated in the air, its glassy eyes looking at the pony. It had the blank, but oddly friendly, look on its face that most stuffed toys seemed to have.
After letting out a sigh, Dinky set the stuffed animal back down onto the bed. She walked closer to the edge and looked at it. Instead of climbing on and laying down, she walked around her room a little more. Stopping at the closet she pulled out the Mare-Do-Well costume.
It had been in the closet and not worn since she had batted Poison Prank at the school. Now it was too small for her to wear. Even more so with her having gained additional muscle from exercise and especially at the moment with the burns and bandages. Taking it with her, she set it on top of the desk.
A knock drew her attention to the door.
"Ruby?"
"Surprise," Ruby said with a smile from the hall.
"What are you doing here?" Dinky asked, smiling back at her friend.
"By request of Princess Celestia and consent of Princess Twilight Sparkle," the grapefruit red filly stated, "I, Ruby Pinch, am hereby assigned to be a nursing aid to one Dinky Hooves."
"What?"
"Basically I'm here to play nurse to you until you get better. That means I help change your bandages, keep you from over-exerting yourself, make sure you take your medicine, and even keep an eye on your diet."
The last one made Dinky groan out. When she had gotten free of Poison Prank's magic, the filly had hit the road hard enough to fracture her jaw. The doctors had decided that it was not bad enough to need to be wired shut, but she had to stick with a diet of soft foods. There were also painkillers and antibiotics she had to take throughout the day to help with the pain of burns, breaks, bruises and cuts as well as to prevent infection.
The annoyance suddenly gave way to excitment.
"Wait," Dinky said, "you mean that you're going to be here with me all summer?"
"Yeah."
"Neat... Now if there was only something fun to do while you're here."
"My main purpose," Ruby replied, "is to make sure you get better. Now, it's time to change your dressing. Now come on." She then led her friend to the bathroom to remove the older bandages and put on some fresh ones.