Rainbow groaned as her vision turned from blurry to clear. She shook her head and blinked a few times before taking in her surroundings.
She was lying in a bed…a hospital bed. Her eyes widened and she frantically looked over her partially bandaged body. Both her wings had been bandaged, her right one more so than her left. Rainbow’s right leg was also bandaged, as was her left arm. The rest of her body was covered in lots of bruises, small cuts and plasters. There was a tube leading up to her lesser damaged leg, pumping who knows what in.
Phew, I didn’t lose anything, she thought.
Rainbow briefly closed her eyes, glad that she had all her limbs intact, before opening them again and glancing around.
The hospital bed was wide and had a light purple blanket pushed onto the floor next to it, meaning that somepony had moved it off her. There was a light blue curtain on her right side and a small window on her left. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and the warm breeze was begging her to fly in it.
She sighed and looked downwards.
“I see you’re awake,” a voice came from beyond the blue curtain, she visibly jumped slightly.
“Gaaaowwww. Leg, still hurts,” she winced as being startled caused her to move her leg very quickly.
“Are you okay?” the voice came again, only this time concerned. Hoofstep’s could be heard, galloping towards her. The curtain was pulled back by a light blue hoof and she was greeted with a familiar pegasus.
Rainbows’ eyes widened and she held back a squeal. It was Soarin. The Soarin. Him. He was standing less than a meter away from her without his uniform. Her breathing quickened and she would have run out of the room, if it weren’t for the fact that she was confined to a bed.
“Are you okay?” Soarin repeated his question, worry evident in his eyes and tone of voice.
“Uhuh…” was the only response she could muster. She was subconsciously looking him over, before shaking her head. “Yeah, I’m f-fine…” she tried to cover up her obvious mistake.
“How are you feeling? Need anything?” he asked.
“Uhhhh, no thanks, I’m fine…wait, how did I get here? I thought I fell asleep at Sweet Apple Acres…” she asked.
“Oh,” he blushed lightly. “Well, I was flying back from my friend’s house and I saw there was a lot of air space above an orchard, so I flew over it. Then, I saw a rainbow between two trees, I looked, and there you were, all bruised and shivering…” he paused and looked away.
“Continue please,” Rainbow gestured, and raised an eyebrow at his behaviour.
Soarin turned back blushed harder. “Well, I went over to you and you wouldn’t wake up, so I looked at your cutie mark and realised who you were. I had no idea where Ponyville hospital is so I took you here instead.”
“Thanks. I’d probably be dead if you didn’t come along…Where is here exactly?” she asked, keeping her composure as Soarin took a few steps closer to her.
“Rainbow Falls…”
“Rainbow- wait, what? You flew me all the way from Ponyville to Rainbow Falls? That’s crazy, all the way? No stops?”
He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, all the way no stops. I did have to pick up a blanket to wrap you up in though, I’m sure you almost had hyperthermia.”
“Oh,” Rainbow blushed in embarrassment from one of her idols keeping her warm. “Thanks. Say, how long till I can fly again?”
“I don’t know. I’m not legally related to you in any way, and it’s not like I am close friends with you, so they wouldn’t tell me. I should probably go and tell Doctor Bandage that you’re awake. You’ve been unconscious a while,” Soarin pulled back the rest of the curtain as he walked over to the door.
“How long?” she called.
“About two days,” he replied before exiting the door. Rainbow’s eyes widened and she shook her head.
Two days? Two whole days? I’ve been here for two days? Do my friends know I’m here?! My parents? Or Scootaloo, does she know I’m here? I hope so; they’ll be worried sick if not. If they knew, wouldn’t they be here though? I haven’t seen or heard them. Fluttershy and Sootaloo are probably worried sick not knowing how I’m doing. Heck, all my friends probably are…
A stallion entered the room, followed by Soarin.
“Soarin! Do my friends know I’m-“ she was cut off by the doctor, as he made his way over to her with a clipboard in his aura.
“Ah, Ms Dash, you are awake. We have much to discuss,” Doctor Bandage sat next to Rainbow on a chair next to the bed and started to examine her wings, whilst Soarin just stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do.
“Hmmm, your left wing appears to be healing, but not so much on you right wing. The right wing has several fractures and-“
“Do my friends know I’m here?!” Rainbow interrupted. The doctor looked up at her with disapproval before taking off his glasses and resting them on the bedside table.
“Who might you mean?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Princess Twilight Sparkle and-“ she listed off all her close friends.
“Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle knows, she’s the one that helped make sure you were getting the right treatment, which of course you are, I mean, we are one of the most qualified hospitals in Equestria,” Doctor Bandage stated as Soarin shuffled his hooves. “Of course, she wasn’t the only one who helped out, your friend here helped out as well. I dare say, if you stayed there any longer, you would already be dead,” he chuckled lightly when Soarin tried to conceal a blush.
Rainbow smiled and looked at him. “Thanks again, Soarin.”
“It w-was nothing…” he stammered and avoided her gaze. His wings were unfurling slightly and he was fidgeting with his hooves.
“Right, now, I need to talk to you about your injuries,” Doctor Bandage said and turned to look at Soarin.
“Oh, right,” Soarin started to make his way towards the door.
“Wait, he can stay…” Rainbow said loudly. Soarin pried himself away from the direction of the door and made his way to Rainbows’ bed, where he sat down.
“Okay, so Ms Dash, how are you feeling? Does anything still hurt?”
“Yeah, I’m better, although my leg still hurts a bit.”
“Don’t worry, that’s expected, you do have a nasty cut, and you did fracture a couple of bones,” his smile turned to a slight frown. “Now, the damage and bad bruising of your legs indicate that you will have to stay in bed for a while.”
“Urrrrrggghhh!” Rainbow groaned loudly. She did not want to be confined to a bed when she could be out flying and meeting her friends.
Doctor Bandage blinked at her behaviour. “As I was saying, you will be confined to a bed for a while. Now, due to the bad damage on two of your legs and the bruising on another, once you can have the casts off, you will have to learn to walk again-“
“Learn to walk again? How do you forget that!?” Rainbow exclaimed as the doctor continued.
“It’s not a matter of forgetting, it’s a matter of having a lot of bone fractures and being confined to a bed for a long while. You will be very weak when you leave and will have to stay with a friend at all times, until you are stronger and can walk again,” he stated calmly.
“But she’s a pegasi! She practically lives in the sky,” Soarin added a valid point.
“I am not making her living arrangements, she will have to stay with a friend for a short while, to ensure she doesn’t fly or put too much pressure on herself,” he paused and sighed, “Now for your wings, I regret to inform you, that the damage on one wing means you are highly likely to never be able to fly again,” he stated calmly.
Rainbow’s eyes widened and her ears flopped down.
No flying…that meant no Wonderbolts.
Her dream was crushed. Her lifelong goal, waste or time. If she never flew again, what would she do with her life? She certainly wasn’t becoming Fluttershy or Twilight any time soon. Maybe she could take up scooting, but even that wasn’t as good as flying. Her cutie mark, a waste. Her talent was flying related; it couldn’t be any other way.
Flying was her life, her passion, her desire. Without flying, Rainbow Dash was well, a rainbow without the dash.
“Oh Dash…” Soarin muttered under his breath. Then he remembered something. “Wait, you said highly likely…meaning that she might be able to fly again?” he asked with hope. Rainbow looked up at the doctor, hope evident in her eyes, as tears were held back.
“Well…mhmm,” he grumbled,” Yes, you might fly again. It is just highly unlikely. Frankly, you have some of the worst internal injuries I’ve ever seen on a pony. You, Ms Dash, are incredibly lucky you still have your wings and that you didn’t break your spine or get any internal bleeding. If you ever do learn to fly again, it could take months, even years. I don’t know myself; I’ve never had experience with this kind of thing before. Just don’t get your hopes up,” he smiled.
“Oh…” Rainbow uttered.
“Say, does she need any professional to teach her?” Soarin questioned.
“Not really a professional, just someone who’s good at flying. Although, there are special clinics that can help to teach ponies to fly, they’re just quite expensive.”
“Hmm, okay then…” he pondered.
Doctor Bandage glanced at the two ponies before sighing. “Now, I hate to break the meeting, but you, Ms Dash, need lots of rest if you ever want to fly again,” he turned to Soarin. “And visiting hours are over. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave now. Don’t worry, you can see her again tomorrow,” he smirked.
“Oh, okay then,” Soarin turned to Rainbow, “Bye, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow…”
“Yeah, bye…hey, can you tell my friends I’m all alive and not unconscious anymore?” she flipped her fringe out of her face.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll do that.”
“Thanks!” she shouted back as Soarin left the room, followed closely by the doctor.
Rainbow frowned realising the blanket was still off to the side, out of reach. She complied, and just moved over next to the side with the radiator as best she could. She sighed, and accepted the fact that the next few days and months would be a challenge, one of which she was going to overcome.