"Good afternoon, please take a number and have a seat- oh. Hello Miss Dash." A voice rang out as Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Fleetfoot and Spitfire burst through the Ponyville Hospital doors. Nurse Redheart looked up from behind the front desk and shook her head. "Well done, you almost lasted a month without coming to visit me this time!" Dash chuckled sheepishly.
"Hey Nurse Redheart... I was doing pretty well, wasn't I?" She led the others to a row of stiff plastic chairs and sat down. Soarin raised an eyebrow at his brightly coloured companion.
"So I take it you come here often?" Rainbow blushed.
"Well... Yes." She wiped her nose. "What can I say, I'm a loyal patient."
"Too loyal if you ask me." Nurse Redheart snickered from her seat behind the desk, turning to look at the Wonderbolts. "There was one week, when Rainbow Dash came in every day! For such a great athlete, you get hurt a lot." Dash sank lower in her seat.
"In my defense, I was trying to perfect my Sonic Rainboom... In Sweet Apple Acres. Surrounded by trees to crash into." She grimaced. "Maybe not my best idea..."
"Don't worry girl, one time Soarin over here was trying to show us some stupid move he came up with," Fleet jerked her head at the stallion next to her, who groaned. "He ran face first into the ground and knocked himself unconscious!" She began laughing hysterically, nearly falling out of her chair. Soarin moaned, covering his face with his hooves.
"And don't forget when he got too close to Blaze when she was doing her fire-spinning routine!" Spitfire nudged Soarin. "How long did it take your fur to grow back?"
"Well-" He spluttered. "Ha, remember Dash's story? Little-miss-rainboom crashed into trees?!"
"Sorry dude." Rainbow shrugged at him, smirking. "Your stories are better."
"I was beginning to think you had left town Miss Dash!" A friendly voice broke through the laughter. The four ponies looked up, spotting a unicorn stallion standing in front of them. "What have you broken this time? Yourself, or a building?"
"Oh, hey Doc Stable!" Dash waved at the doctor. "But I'm not hurt this time! He is." She pointed at Soarin, who smiled weakly. The doctor raised his eyebrow at her.
"Your nose is telling a different story." He turned around and trotted back down the long hallway he had come from. "Follow me." Soarin stood up and began trotting behind him. "Both of you." Doctor Stable called. Dash groaned loudly, before standing up and following the two stallions down the hallway. He led them into an examining room and instructed Soarin to sit on the table.
"So, what seems to be the issue, Mister..." Doctor Stable pushed the glasses back up his nose, trailing off.
"Soarin."
"Heh. Soarin. Like Sore in. As in hurt." The doctor laughed heartily, wiping his eyes. "Ah, doctor jokes. They get me every time..." Soarin widened his eyes at Dash, who scrunched hers in return.
"Right..." The Wonderbolt brought Doctor Stable's attention back onto him. "I had a bit of an... accident earlier, and I think something happened to my wing." He stretched his right wing out, grimacing. The doctor jotted some notes onto a notepad and pressed a button on the wall.
"Well Mister Soarin, I'm going to get Nurse Redheart to take you for an x-ray. That way we can see what's going on in there." He poked Soarin's wing. Nurse Redheart stuck her head in the room, smirking when she saw Dash, who was still sitting with her face scrunched up, smudged with blood.
"You called?" She turned her attention to her superior, who was still poking Soarin's wing.
"Ah, yes! Could you please take Mister Soarin to get his wing x-rayed?" He passed her the notebook and turned his attention to Rainbow. Nurse Redheart nodded and gestured for Soarin to follow her. As they left, Rainbow stood up.
"Hey Doc, I'm actually fine. I was just here for him!" She beckoned to where Soarin had been seconds earlier. Her convincing tone did nothing however.
"Have a seat on the table." Doctor Stable pulled a new notebook out of a drawer and set it on the counter.
"But-"
"On the table."
"Bu-"
"Table. Now." The unicorn looked sternly at the pegasus on front of him. With a sigh, Rainbow hopped onto the table.
"There. Happy now?" She grumbled, crossing her hooves.
"Yes, but you won't be." Doctor Stable examined her nose closely before nodding. "You're nose is broken, so I'm going to have to set it."
"Nah, you don't have to. I'm fine." Dash leaned back from the hooves reaching towards her face.
"On the count of three." The doctor placed a hoof on either side of Rainbow's nose. "One." Dash gulped.
"Wait, is this gonna hurt?"
"Two."
"Is it?!" As soon as the words left her mouth, a white-hot pain shot through her nose. "Holy crap dammit!"
"Finished!" Doctor Stable cheerfully let go of her face, before turning to a first-aid kit. Dash generally brought a hoof to her nose, sighing.
"Ok, I have to admit, it feels better now." She pouted at the unicorn bustling around in front of her. "But you said on three! Not two. But when did you go? Not on three, that's for damn sure!" He shrugged at her.
"My bad. Now, let's get you cleaned up." He wiped the blood off of Dash's face before rolling up a tissue and shoving it up her nose. "There! See, it wasn't so bad, was it?" Dash hopped off of the table onto the floor.
"I guess not..." She winced as her still-tender back hooved hit the ground. Doctor Stable raised an eyebrow at her.
"Something else bothering you?" He asked.
"Nope! Alright, it's been fun catching up but I've really gotta run-" Dash turned towards the door, ready to make a break for it, but the unicorn behind her telekinetically shut the door.
"Get back here." He ordered, using his magic to levitate Rainbow up onto the table. "There we go. Now, let me see your back hooves."
"Why? There's nothing wrong with them, just regular old hooves..." Dash chuckled nervously.
"Let me see."
"Why?"
"Because I'm a trained medical professional." Doctor Stable reached towards her hooves. "Also, because I said so." His hooves got closer and closer to their target. Dash squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip. Almost there... The doctor's hooves were now inches away...
"No! I can't do it!" The pegasus shot into the air, waving her arms wildly. "I just don't like ponies touching my hooves..." The unicorn furrowed his brows.
"Okay then... What if I give you a..." He glanced around the room, his eyes landing on a small basket by the door. The contents were usually reserved for small foals, but he could make an exception. "Oh! How about I give you a nice sticker? Then could I look?"
"No."
"A lollipop?"
"...No."
"A yo-yo?"
"I'm not really into yo-yos."
"What about a..." Doctor Stable scanned the basket of goodies, his eyes landing on the only thing he hadn't offered. "How about a bouncy ball?"
"..."
"An extra-bouncy one." The doctor prodded.
"Fine." Dash dropped out of the air, landing back on the table. "But give the ball to me first." The unicorn levitated a red bouncy ball over to the stubborn Pegasus, who snatched it out of the air. He then reached for her left hoof, moving slowly and cautiously. Once he had successfully obtained his target, Doctor Stable let out the breath he had been holding. He had been half-expecting to be kicked in the face, but the bouncy ball seemed to be distracting Rainbow Dash.
"Well, Miss Dash..." He looked up at the mare on the table. "From my observations, you appear to have badly bruised both of your back hooves. Do you have any idea why this may be?" She examined the small red ball that was in her hooves.
"Well... I may have kicked a rock earlier..." She chuckled weakly. "A boulder to be precise..."
"Why..." Doctor Stable shook his head. "Why would you do that? Actually, I don't think I even want to know..." Rainbow shrugged. "What I do know however," The doctor continued. "Is that I want you to rest your hooves for at least a day."
"Well, that won't be a problem!" Rainbow pointed at her wings. "I've got these babies, I don't even need hooves!"
"Actually." The tan stallion hesitated. "I'm going to check you in to stay here."
"What?! I don't need to stay in the hospital!" Dash flipped her mane over her shoulder. "I'm good to go! Ready to roll! Another saying that means get outta here, that I can't think of right now!"
"It's only for one night!"
"Yeah, one night that I could be doing something awesome! Now I'm gonna be cooped up in a boring old hospital..." The cyan mare moaned. "This is totally lame."
It's just a precaution! I want to make sure you're hooves don't get any more inflamed, and no offense, but I don't trust you not to hurt yourself again!" The doctor sighed as his impatient patient whined. "The amount of times you come here, all with different injuries... It's just better if you stay here."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Rainbow crossed her hooves in front of her chest, frowning at the pony before her.
"Well... What if I give you another bouncy ball?" Doctor Stable rolled his eyes, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Hmm... I'm listening..."
"Well, what have we got here?" Nurse Redheart squinted at the screen Soarin was seated behind. She had run an x-ray, and was now checking the results, the Wonderbolt waiting with baited breath.
"Please don't be too bad, please don't be too bad, please..." He muttered under his breath. Being a professional athlete, he knew his career could end with an serious injury.
"Doesn't look too bad." The nurse informed him. Soarin let out the breath he had been holding, sighing in relief. "However, you probably won't be thrilled about it either. I mean, I've seen worse, but I've also seen better. You're lucky, but also unlucky-"
"Luna's underpants!" Soarin cut her off. "Would you just tell me already!?"
"Fine! Geeze, some ponies..." Nurse Redheart huffed, swiveling the screen around for Soarin to see. "It appears that your wing joint has suffered some multi-layer bruising, and the Deltoid Major," She gestured towards a tendon in the lower wing. "may have been slightly strained. You should be fine in a couple of weeks."
"That's great!" Soarin grinned. He had been preparing for the worst, dreading what he was going to hear.
"Providing that you don't use your wing at all for at least two weeks." The nurse finished.
"What?!" Soarin's jaw dropped. "But I live on a freakin' cloud! What am I supposed to do?" Nurse Redheart shrugged.
"You're gonna have to stay here for one, maybe two nights. After that, you're on your own." She pushed the door open, waiting for the stallion to exit the examining room. "Sorry buckaroo, it looks like you're gonna be grounded for a while."
"This blows." He followed her into the hallway and back to the lobby. "I'm barely even hurt, why do I have to stay here?"
"Because." Nurse Redheart led him to the front desk and pushed a stack of papers towards him. "Fill those out, and I'll show you to your room."
"Hey Soar, what's going on?" Spitfire's voice called from the waiting area. She and Fleetfoot were still sitting there, looking at him expectantly. Soarin glanced between them
"Well, the good news is I'm just bruised." He began. "The bad news is... I'm grounded for two weeks."
"What?!" Fleet hopped into the air and darted towards him. "But Rainbow lives in a cloud! In the air! And we live in a cloud, that's also in the air!"
"I know." Soarin sighed heavily. "I have to stay here for at least one night, and after that... I have no idea." He turned to the paperwork and began filling it out sadly.
"Aw, don't worry too much." Spitfire stood and patted him on the back. "Just focus on healing, and you'll be good as new in no time." Fleetfoot wrinkled her nose at the captain.
"Why are you being so nice and supportive? When I hurt my wing, all you did was yell at me!" She huffed, crossing her arms. Spitfire rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, because his injury was an accident. You got hurt because you were being a dumb-ass, and decided getting drunk and picking a fight with the toughest stallion in the bar was a good idea!"
"Well, in my defense I was super hammered..." Fleet shrugged.
"Not much of a defense." Soarin snickered as he finished the paperwork. Nurse Redheart slid the documents behind the desk and beckoned for him to follow her.
"I'll show you too your room. Your friends are welcome to come to." The three Wonderbolts trotted after her, through a winding corridor. The nurse stopped abruptly in front of a door, Soarin nearly crashing into her. "Here we are, I believe your roommate is already in there."
"Roommate?" The stallion glanced at the closed door.
"Yes, he came in about half an hour ago. I think he crashed into a tree... Or a barn..." Nurse Redheart rubbed her face with one hoof. "Oh, I don't know. He crashed into something and has been out cold ever since." She pushed the door open, allowing the other three ponies to enter the room. Soarin looked around, spotting an empty bed by the door. He trotted towards it and flopped down, taking note of the curtain obstructing half of the room. That's where the other guy must be sleeping... He thought to himself, before his vision was suddenly filled with blue. "Huh?"
"That's your hospital gown, please put it on." Nurse Redheart's voice called towards him. "I'll let you know when visiting hours are over." The sound of her hooves clicking against the floor faded, signalling that she had left. Soarin pulled the pale blue fabric off of his face, revealing a very ugly hospital gown.
"Aw, do I have to wear this?!" He held it up for the others to see.
"This is not a fashion show, just put it on." Spitfire rolled her eyes as Fleetfoot glanced curiously at the curtain.
"Hmm, the nurse said he was passed out, right?" She began strolling towards the curtain, snickering madly.
"Yeah, but just leave the poor guy alone! Sounds like he had a rough day!" Soarin tried to reason with his wingmate, but gave up when he saw the mischievous grin on her face.
"I just want to see what he looks like!" Fleet tried to look innocent, but her giggling ruined the image. "And if he's sleeping, he'll never even know!" She crept closer to the curtain, grabbing it with a hoof. She pulled her hoof back, revealing a bed identical to the one Soarin was seated upon. The stallion craned his neck, trying to see past Fleetfoot.
"Well, know you've got me curious." He grumbled, hopping off the bed and joining her on the other side of the room.
"Awe yeah!" Fleet cheered, turning around and prancing away as she saw who Soarin's roommate was. "This is awesome! I love this guy!" Soarin leaned past her flailing hooves, and glanced at the bed. As soon as he saw the stallion, his stomach dropped.
"You have got to be kidding me." Soarin's roommate, out of all the ponies in Ponyville, was none other than Thunderlane.
"Oh, I just wanted to let you know Miss Dash is staying in the room across the hall!" Soarin barely noticed as Nurse Redheart popped her head into the room, too busy staring at the stallion before him.
"Whoa dude, I know he's good looking and all, but you're catching flies." Fleetfoot's hoof reached over and shut her wingmate's mouth, which had been hanging open.
"Thanks." Spitfire was the only one who acknowledged the nurse, who was now raising her eyebrow at them. She nodded once before shutting the door again.
"Guys?" The captain called, trying to get Soarin and Fleetfoot's attention. "Did you even hear what the nurse said?" When she got no reply, she sighed. "Well, I'm going to go see how Rainbow Dash, our friend who is in the hospital, is doing. Have fun with.. whatever you're doing..." And with that she was gone, leaving the other two still staring at the unconscious Thunderlane.
Fleetfoot shook her head, shutting her eyes before looking at Soarin. "Wait, was she talking to us?"