Come save me from walking off a windowsill, or I'll sleep in the rain...
Twilight woke to the sound of robins chirping just outside her window. Spike had opened up the red curtains earlier that morning, and sunlight streamed in through the opening, landing on her face. She yawned, and stretched out her limbs, giving a sigh of satisfaction. She blinked her eyes a few times, hard, to chase away the drowsiness, then rolled out of bed. The wood floor felt soothingly cool to her hooves, so she trotted down the stairs into the kitchen, where her assistant Spike was cooking hay cakes for breakfast. He turned around, holding a plateful of the golden-brown cakes when he saw Twilight.
"AACCK!" he yelled, throwing up the plate. The hay cakes tumbled into the air, tossing and turning. Spike deftly caught the plate and held it under each of the round cakes, making a perfect stack.
"Great Celestia, Twilight. You scared me!" Spike giggled, slowly raising a claw in her direction. "Just look at yourself!"
With a gentle flow of magic, the alicorn levitated a mirror to herself. Her hair was almost as bad as the first time she met Pinkie Pie! Her highlights were all over the place. She looked a bit like a clown with a rainbow Afro.
"You're right, Spike," Twilight laughed, setting down the mirror and picking up her hairbrush. She ran it down her mane in long, sweeping strokes. "This is quite possibly the worst case of bed-head that I have ever seen!"
Spike chuckled and poured them both glasses of orange juice.
"Dig in," he said, passing Twilight the maple syrup. She sat at a stool and gladly accepted the bottle. After pouring some on her hay cakes, she began to eat.
"Wow, these are really good!"
"Thanks, Twi! I'd hoped you'd like them!" The little dragon beamed. They ate in a pleasant silence after that. Twilight was just washing down the last of her breakfast with her juice when there was a loud rapping at the door. The lavender pony stood and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"Coming!" she said, walking over to the door. It opened with a soft flare of magenta light. Spike peered around her legs at their unexpected guest.
"Oh, it's you, Rainbow! What-"
"Yeah, hey, okay. Hi, Spike. So listen, Twilight. Cloudchaser and I are going to have a race in Ghastly Gorge. Flitter's reffing. You wanna come?" asked the pegasus.
Twilight blinked. "Ghastly Gorge...? Oh yes, that's the place where-"
"-where I held that contest for all my possible pets. It's super dangerous. Cloudchaser dared me, and you know I can't say no to that. Anyway, you in or not?" Rainbow dash interrupted impatiently.
"Rainbow, that place is not ideal for flight. Think about all the winds that would be in a place like that! It would be so easy to get thrown off with the air moving at such speeds!" Twilight responded.
"Pfft, like you'd know. You've had your wings for what? A few months? I dunno. Time flies..." Rainbow snorted, then faced the princess again. "Well, I'm off. Later, egghead!"
Twilight and Spike watched as their hasty friend faded into a blur.
"I hope she doesn't hurt herself," said Spike.
"Me too," sighed the alicorn.
~•~•~•~•~
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow OW..." moaned Rainbow. Nurse Redheart scowled as she carried her stretcher into the emergency room.
"Just shut it, will ya?" she grumbled, before unceremoniously dumping the injured pegasus onto a bed.
"My wing..." she whimpered. The nurse sighed. Tentatively she examined Rainbow's wing, which had several large, dark bruises and was bent at an unnatural angle. She grimaced.
"It definitely doesn't look good. I'll talk to the doctor." She left without another word. A few minutes later, the nurse re-entered, with the doctor in tow. He whistled, an airy, low, sound. Nurse Redheart was definitely not wrong. This was not good. After an examination and lots of painkillers for the pegasus, he stood and examined his clipboard.
"Well, I'm sorry to say this, Rainbow, but although it will eventually heal, your wing will never reach full functionality. It's going to be hard to unfurl. Flying is impossible. And for one so young and active... It's tragic." He frowned, seeing Rainbow Dash's anguished face.
"I'm sorry," he said.
The sound of shameless sobs filled the area. Nurse Redheart excused herself from the room, on the verge of tears herself. Everyone knew how crushing it must be for the pegasus.
"My life is ruined..." wailed Rainbow Dash. She didn't stop crying until she fell asleep.