"Do you ever miss flying dad?"
"Yes I do, I wish I could still fly, wish you would stop hiding your wings."
"But dad! You dont know what its like at school they tease me all the time, calling me a clown!"
"Do you think I don't know what its like to be mocked?! I lost my wing Bolt! I lost my life! I lost my own father!"
"I'm...I'm sorry dad, I didn't mean to make you angry."
Nurse Redheart looked at the filly who sat in the corner of the clinic with her tired eyes. In front of her she saw, a young filly, dark leaf green pelt, a lighter mane that had a bright yellow streak going through it, dark lines ran down her cheeks from where tears had left a trail, her eyes -one a deep blue while the other a dark green, looked longingly at the nurse, longing for an answer, longing to see a dull golden pegasus walk again. The nurse blinked, her steel blue eyes looked from the room she had just exited, to the filly who sat next to another nurse.
"Ok, but unconscious."
That was all nurse Redheart could say. She couldn't bare to think that the pony who was unconscious on a steel table in the examination room might never be able to fly again, couldn't bare to think that he might only be able to see out one eye, couldn't bare to think that he had risked his life, for a complete stranger. The Redheart looked at the other nurse who sat next to the filly, before she nodded her head in the direction of the room she came from. Reluctantly the nurse got up, gently nuzzling the filly as she left, before she followed Redheart into the examination room. Gently Redheart closed the door once the other nurse was inside.
"How is Bolt?"
"Ok, but unconscious." The nurse repeated.
"His wing?"
"A cast is holding it together."
"His hea-"
"Bandaged and cleaned, the cut didn't need stitching, although I'm a bit worried about his eye."
"What about it?"
"It was cut, presumably by the same thing that hit his head, although its a shallow cut, I'm worried it won't heal properly."
"Rocks."
"What?"
"All the damage he and the filly sustained are from falling rocks. The sonic rain-boom caused a rock slide. She was up there because of a dare, but even she doesn't know how he got there, or why he was even there in the first place."
"He's lucky that rock didn't do more damage to his eye or else he would have be creating a fashion statement with an eye patch." Redheart gave a soft laugh at her joke.
"You have a weird sense of humor Red."
"Some one has to in this place." There was a beat, before Redheart spoke again. "Ok lets get that filly home, then we can start moving Bolt to a proper bed, after today, he's gonna need all the rest he can get."
The other nurse gave a gentle nod, before she exited the room. Redheart looked over to the table that Bolt lay on. He had been turned onto his right side, his left wing forced open by the cast, his tongue hanging gently from his lips. His body was a mess with an array of different materials and colours that covered his body. Redheart gave a soft giggle at the sight of Bolt on his side as his tongue hung from his mouth.
"A silver lining in any cloud." She said to no pony in particular.
As if the line was a voice password to a safe, Bolts chest was filled with air and then emptied just as quickly. Redheart quickly cantered over to the stirring Bolt. Gently she placed a hoof on top of one of Bolts. She knew exactly what was going to happen next and no pony should have to go through it alone.
To Bolt, waking up on his side was nothing new, he slept in that position every night. What was new though, was seeing a mare stare straight back at him as he opened his eyes, newer still was the pain that attacked every corner of his mind. Bolt started taking deep breaths, trying to calm his body and mind down, trying to force his mind to think of something else other than the pain he felt in his wing and head, but it didn't help, his mind locked on the pain that seemed to throb with every breath. He locked eyes with the mare that was in front of him. She was the most beautiful mare he had ever seen, but he felt like he had known her for years. Her eyes seemed to burn into his skull as she stared back at him, while Bolt attempted to squirm away from the pain.
I'm hallucinating. There is no mare in Equestria that could be that beautiful.
Bolt lifted a shaking hoof, letting it slowly work its way towards the mare, his other hoof was planted firmly to the table, thanks to the hoof of the spectral mare keeping it down. Slowly his hoof made its way to mares face, gingerly he placed his shaking hoof on her face. She smiled at Bolt as his eyes grew wide once he realized he wasn't hallucinating. Gently he let his hoof move around the back of her neck. Suddenly a thought popped into his head, his entire body seemed to agree with the thought, seeing it as way to distract from the pain. Bolt closed his eyes, quickly pulling his hoof towards him. Much to his satisfaction, he felt soft, moist lips come into contact with his, if only for a moment, but to Bolt that moment would last forever in his memory. He let his hoof drop from behind the mares neck, his eyes still closed.
"If I die, I'll at least die happy knowing I kissed the most beautiful mare in Equestria."
Bolts voice surprised him, it was low and raspy, as if his vocal cords were rubbing against sand-paper. Bolt kept his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable punch of a hoof, but it never came. Slowly Bolt opened his eyes. The mare still stood in front of him, on her face was a mix of shock, pleasure, disgust and total surprise. Her cheeks were beginning to turn a light shade of red. Suddenly she stood up tall, her face of mixed emotions turned to a neutral half-smile, but her eyes exposed her true feelings. In the steel blue eyes Bolt could see what looked like joy, mixed with anger. Bolt gave her a smile. His body still trying to squirm away from the pain.
"Any way in which I can get this pain to go away?" Asked Bolt his voice still low and raspy.
"You have to just wait it out, another thirty seconds or so." A voice as smooth air delivered the answer.
"Does that mean that I'm going to be dead in thirty seconds?"
"You trying to get another kiss?"
"Is it working?"
Bolt smiled at the mare, then suddenly as if a switch in his head was flipped, the pain started to fade, he gave a long sigh as the pain filtered out his body and into the air, a dull pain remained in his wing and head. Bolt looked at the mare.
"What is that stuff?"
"We had a unicorn create an anesthetic that renders all pain null, but one of the draw backs is that as soon as the anesthetic wears off, all the pain that you experience while it was working hits you at the same time -thankfully, only for a minuet." She paused. "Now, I'm sure with the pain gone your able to think clearly. So let me fill in the blanks before you hurt your-self."
Bolt nodded his head, it was true, suddenly he wanted to know where he was, how he had got there and most importantly, what was for dinner. He started to look around him, attempting to get his bearings.
"You are in the clinic in Ponyville, you probably have no memory of what happened, or how you got here. You have multiple lacerations, a head and eye injury and last but not least, your wing i-"
Suddenly Bolt flailed his hoofs around as he was trying to turn his head so that he could see his back. After a futile attempts to turn his head, he looked back at the mare, fear in his eyes.
"I still have my wings right? Say I still have my wings!"
"Relax! Its ok, you still have them, but your left wing is broken, its a complete fracture."
"I..oh wow, ok... Sorry for yelling, its just...I'm neurotic about my wings, with them being over sized and all. Its more of a curse than anything else."
Why am I so open with this mare? Thought Bolt, knowing he almost never talked about his wings to any
pony.
The mare looked over at the cast on Bolts battered wing. Her eyes tracing the length of his wing, slowly her eyes grew wider and wider, a look of surprise on her face.
"You know, I never even noticed them being bigger until now. You must really love flying." Bolt started to laugh, but quickly stopped. His skull throbbed with every jerk of head. He took a long deep breath before continuing.
"You know, to be completely honest, I hate flying." The mare tilted her head slightly, showing her confusion.
"I thought you pegasus ponies love flying."
"Yes, most do. But not me and its because of these wings."
"Just a second ago you were worried you didn't have them anymore."
It was true, a moment ago, Bolt was screaming at the nurse demanding to know if he still had his wings. Bolt swallowed. His mind searching for an excuse as to why he was worried about the curse that was attached to his back, but was unable to think of anything, so he changed the subject.
"So, I'm in Ponyville, that much I gathered, but I don't know the name of the mare who seems to have saved my life."
"Redheart. Doctor Redheart to you." She lied, not knowing why.
An awkward silence followed, each pony unsure of what to do next. Redheart started pawing the tile floor, while Bolt became incredibly interested with his fore hoofs. Bolt looked up at the mare, as if by magic she had the same thought, and looked at Bolt, their eyes locking.
Say something Bolt, anything, just don't give her an opportunity to leave!
"Mind telling me how it is that I managed to break my wing?"
"As well as cut your head and eye open?"
"My eye?" Bolt asked, already forgetting the description of his injuries from earlier. Redheart sighed.
"Close your right eye."
Bolt did as he was told, suddenly his world was plunged into darkness. He let out a surprised yelp, before his eye shot open again. Immediately he wanted to feel if his eye was still there, but was stopped by Redheart as she put her hoofs on top of Bolts. She looked him in the eye, before calmly saying:
"Its ok Bolt, you still have your eye, its just been bandaged up. I'll take the bandage off in a week or so."
Bolt let out a long sigh, the day already starting to take its toll on his fragile state.
"Ok, ok, thats good I guess."
"Look its getting late, I hav-"
"Don't go, not just yet."
"Oh? Why should I stay?"
A flicker of a smile appeared in Redhearts face. Bolt took a deep breath, it was now or never.
"If you stay I'll buy you dinner." Bolt closed his eye, waiting for the sound of rejection.
"Hmm...I'll think about it." Bolt opened his eye, surprised by the response.
"So..does that mean your going to stay?"
"Maybe, but only if you tell me why you kissed me."
Bolt smiled, the touch of Redhearts soft lips still held a strong memory in Bolts mind.
"Well...In all honesty I thought I was dieing. I've never felt pain like that before in my life, so seeing a mare as beautiful as you standing in front of me made me think that if I'm gonna die, I'm going to die with a smile on my face. Kissing you was one of the ways in which I could do that." Redheart raised an eyebrow.
"So what other ways are there for you to die with a smile on your face?"
Bolt cursed under his breath, he managed to talk himself into a trap. His mind raced as he thought of a way to get out of his trap safely.
"Well...I..no...um..its..."
Bolt gave up after seeing how Redheart was giggling at his failure to think up a way to escape his own trap, his cheeks starting to turn red, while Redheart recovered from her giggles at Bolt.
"So...how did I even end up in Ponyville clinic?"
"There was a sonic rain boom over Ponyville, the shock wave started a rock slide and it seems like you thought you were a hero, as you tried to save a filly from the falling rocks."
Floodgates opened in Bolts mind, a massive wall of memories, sounds and images crashed over Bolt. For a moment he lay on the table in stunned silence as each memory played its small piece in front of Bolts eye. His mouth grew wide and his eye wider as he remembered pulling a small green filly to safety while she lay on his saddle bag.
"Bolt? Equestria to Bolt. Are you ok Bolt?"
Bolt shook his head, then instantly regretted it as his head began throbbing again.
"Is she ok?" Bolt asked through gritted teeth.
"Who? The filly?" Bolt nodded his head slowly, careful not to cause himself more pain.
"She's ok, a broken leg, but nothing to serious."
"Ok, thats good, thats good."
Bolt said, distracted as he mind processed all the information floating in his head.
"You're a hero Bolt, stupid and utterly crazy, but a hero nonetheless." Redheart's smooth voice cut through Bolts thoughts.
"Thanks doc. But hey! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here. So thank you. Thanks for saving my flank."
Redheart laughed. A smile on her face as she turned to walk out the door.
"Its my job Bolt."
Bolt gave a half laugh, before remembering something he wanted to ask the "Doc"
"Hey, do you still want to go out for dinner?"
Redheart stopped, she was half way out the door and was about to close it. slowly she turned around, her steel blue eyes met Bolts gaze, a soft smile on her face.
"yeah, I'd like that."
She turned and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.
"YYEEESSS!" Bolt screamed, before throwing his hoofs over his mouth. He could feel how his cheeks quickly became warm, as he heard somepony giggling outside the door.
"Dad, how did you and mom meet?
It's a long story Bolt. One that would take weeks to tell you, but funny enough. It started in a hospital."