I awoke in a bed after what felt like days, though in truth it had only been about an hour maybe two. There were six ponies huddled around me. A purple face caught my blurry gaze. "Girls she's awake!" I heard the murmur of the others as they pushed I to look at me. The purple one smiled as she spoke, "Dash told us about what happened. I find it quite fascinating though not sure how a Pegasus can teleport." I frowned slightly as this mare babbled from one theory to the next before realizing she'd forgot something. "Oh sorry. I was rambling again. I'm Twilight Sparkle and you are?"
I looked around seeing Rainbow brush her mane back with a shrug. Looking back at Twilight I took a breath. "Call me Stormy, but the name is Dread Storm." I had came to the conclusion that if what I remembered was true the others were the friends I'd only read about. My history didn't do these mares justice. First was my shock that Twilight was actually quite energetic when it came to asking questions. Dash seemed to enjoy describing my embarrassing crash in a way that it sounded like I had done something very cool. Then when I heard her call it awesome I frowned. "What's so awesome about a busted wing?"
Dash laughed wiping tears from her eyes. "You didn't see what I saw. There's no way any pony could have pulled up and honestly I'm surprised you only hurt one of your wings." I blinked looking at myself. It was true on wing was bandaged. "Stormy, if I didn't know better I'd say you had to be my sister." At that the orange earth mare slapped her face with a hoof. The others muttered to each other. "Still I'm not sure you could keep up with me." I felt my pride surge inside of me. I wanted to prove to Dash just what lay inside me.
"Oh you don't do you? I accept your challenge! I bet I can drink you under the table any day and still fly straighter than you can." I grinned as Dash just gasped at my claim. the others were equally amazed. The orange mare looked at Dash with a grin and chuckled. She then looked at me. She leaned closer like she was going to whisper but her voice carried well.
"Sugar cube ah'd like to see that trick mahself. Iffen you can beat Dash at drinking and still fly then it might make her think a bit harder before she makes another boast. Name's Applejack and it's been a pleasure meetin' ya." She smiled at me an held out a hoof which I shook. I could tell she was strong and it felt like... Yes she was holding back trying not to hurt me more. I grinned as I put a little more of my own strength into the hoof shake. This surprised Applejack who just matched me with a friendly grin. I winked at the orange mare.
"Nice to meet ya. Oh I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" The others just watched as me and Applejack sized each other up. "I keep forgetting not every pony is as made out of sturdier stuff." This made the room burst into laughter from me, Applejack, Dash and the pink mare. From the sound of it this pink earth pony would have laughed at even the dumbest jokes. I quickly ran through my head. I'd been introduced to three of them. I could guess the rest f the names. I took a deep breath and recited sadly the names I knew from history class. "Pinky Pie..." The pink earth pony blinked and seemed to stop in mid bounce before rapidly shooting off questions about how I knew her name. It turned my gaze on the white unicorn ignoring the other Pegasus for now. "Rarity..." The white unicorn drew a breath then puffed herself up with a beaming smile providing her own explanation of how I could know about her. Now I lowered my eyes to the bed I as in as I whispered, "Fluttershy."
They were all staring at me now. I didn't have to look up to know it. I could feel the eyes on me. I barely heard the door open as the doctor from before entered. "I see you are awake now. Sorry about that but you had a panic attack." I slowly looked up leveling my gaze on him. He continued unperturbed, "Given what we found once we managed to get you out of that armor... I can't blame you. That was a nasty burn on your flanks. I've never seen anything like it before." He scratched his chin with hoof. He then looked t me. "I am Doctor Stable. Your wing was surprisingly not broken but you dislocated it and pulled the muscles with your landing." I frowned looking away. The pain of being branded was still fresh in my mind. I then felt a light hoof on my shoulder. "I'm sorry we couldn't save your cutie mark but we did treat the burns as best we could. Now for the wing we got the joint back in place but knowing miss Dash we decided to keep you for a few days to make sure it heals properly."
I had shot a glance at Rainbow only to see that she was rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. I held my gaze on t cyan mare. "What? I hurt my wing before when a trick didn't um..." She looked around quickly changing the subject, "Just hurry up and get better. Any pony that can hoof wrestle AJ has to be awesome." I nodded silently before looking at the doctor again.
"How... How much is this going to cost and where is my..." I heard my voice cracking and noticed now my mouth felt like I was chewing cotton balls. I cleared my throat to no avail. I was shocked when the doctor passed me a glass of water. I took it sniffing it before taking a sip. It was the survival training that had been drilled into my head combined with years of having to make sure I wasn't drinking something bad. It also wasn't smart to drink to fast in a case like this.
As I drank clearing my mouth of the dryness the doctor spoke. "Your stuff is fine. Fortunately it was labeled so we could get the armor off. The cloth was a bit different. We had to throw it away since it would have fallen apart trying to wash it." So my cloak was discarded and now I was in a gown that was barely enough to keep me warm even with the blankets on me. Not that it was that cold but I still felt chilled from it.
"It was my favorite cloak." I looked at the bed I was in. "It took me ages to find that." I felt a comforting hoof on one of my own. Looked over to see the radiant white unicorn gazing at me with a compassionate expression. "I know I shouldn't be surprised but it just feels... It feels like I was just told my wing had been cut off." I heard Dash say something in a hushed whisper though I couldn't make out the words. Rarity merely nodded and smiled.
"Visiting hours are over but you may return tomorrow to see your friend," said doctor Stable. The doctor looked at me pointing a hoof. "You need to rest and let that wing recover and given your test results I have instructed the staff to bring you foods to help with several deficiencies. You should be better in no time." I wasn't looking forward to this and he knew it from my expression. The other mares, whom later I'd be proud to call friends, filed out waving and saying their good byes. Then the doctor left leaving me to stew in my own thoughts. This was how my first day in Ponyville went and thus ended.
First I crashed into the ground hurting my wing. Second I freak out in a hospital and had to be sedated. Third I find myself bandaged up in a bed. Then finally being told to take it easy and eat stuff that wasn't exactly my choice of food. I can't say it was all that bad but it wasn't good either. I mean where was the beer, whiskey or ale. I'd have given almost anything for even a sip of spiced hard cider. Alright I admit I am a bit of a drunk, but I used to be much worse. The days seemed to move slowly but still passed quickly.