I've always been taught about the dangers of lightning. Everypony knows how dangerous it can be when struck by it. I never really imagined what it would feel like, because those ponies who were struck by lightning never made it out of the hospital doors.
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The whole world seems to melt around me. Colors and shapes darken by the second as my life flashes before my eyes. All in all, the sheer pain coursing through me is too much for even me to bear. After my last futile effort to stay awake, my vision burrs and blackens into a sleep without dreams.
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Suddenly, everything stops... the pain, the howling winds, the rain... all stops in an instant.
Strangely, I can still feel my body, but every time my brain tries to command my body to move, my body refuses to respond. My vision is a complete blinding light enveloping my entire peripheral vision, almost like looking at the sun without my shades.
I can hear voices... very quiet whispers...
Am I in some sort pony afterlife? What happens now? Was ... all this ... just a ... dream?
I want to cry, but I simply couldn't.
The voices in my head very gradually get louder and louder, but more muffled. To a point I could just barely make out the words being said, but the fragments of words doesn't make any sense.
My vision slowly dims down to a manageable light and my ears release a small *pop* before my vision returns to me entirely. What I see next completely caught me off guard. Instead of Cloudsdale, I am on a small grassy patch in what seems to be a massive forest.
All I can do look around with my eyes. My limbs still refuses to cooperate with me, even if it means trying to move hoof they won't budge. Despite the pain rushing back to me, I can only give a long moan.
"oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww."
The voices I heard before now are clear enough to me to understand what they are saying.
"...she's alive...there is still a chance..."
"...but we need to get her out of here NOW..."
*Flash*
"...we can't. She's too injured right now. Even the smallest movement could damage her body..."
"...but in 'dis typhoon smack dab in the Everfree Forest?...not to mention them creepn' monsters crawln' about..."
*Thunder clasp*
"...gee, I hadn't noticed...it's just that I don't want to put her and the others in danger. The electricity in her is still live, so even touching her could result in a fatal shock..."
"...what about magic?...we can just float her to the hospital..."
"...that is a possibility, but like I said we can't risk permanently damaging her body..."
*Flash*
"...what about teleportation?..."
"...that is probably the better choice...Twiley, I need you to go to Ponyville hospital and prepare a place for her...when I send her away, you better be there to catch her and very gently put her into a bed...Pinkie Pie and Applejack, I know you girls can run fast...I need you to find the rest of our search party and tell them where Rainbow Dash has landed...Fluttershy, because of your medical experience, I need you and Rarity to go with Twilight...once you arrive at town, there are herbs and medicine that need to be found around town...I need you two to work together with Nurse Redheart to form an ailment...Fluttershy should know what those ingredients are..."
"...yes...sir..."
"...any questions?...no?...then let's move..."
"...YES SIR, Shining Armor..."
*Thunder clasp*
The howling winds and the roaring thunder remind me of my pain. Instantly it becomes unbearable again, and I fall into a coma.
"...hang in there, Rainbow Dash..."
Being in a coma sure isn't easy. It isn't like falling asleep, but almost like forced sleep or hypnosis. In my remaining subconsciousness, I am trapped in a dark void that envelopes my entire body. Its gripping essence forms around me and starts to constrict tighter and tighter. To a point it is so tight that I could feel my very life being squeezed out of me. With a final effort to escape, I let out the loudest shrill that could escape my throat.
..."GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"...
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"...gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"
I instantly jolt upright. Cold sweat emerge onto my mane and fur as breathing all of a sudden becomes so hard...
...what a nightmare...
Taking the moment to calm down, I come to what remains my senses to scan my surroundings. It seems like I'm at the Ponnyville hospital... again. Even the room and bed seems familiar. This must be the same room the day I got into that flying accident (and the day I became an egghead, which I more or less regret). Then again, all the rooms in the hospital are practically the same.
Besides the room, I also notice quite an audience around me when I awoke from my nightmare. Of coarse Doctor Stable and all my friends are here, but also a few other notable ponies as well, such as Shining Armor, Spitfire, and even Princess Celestia. Besides the crowded room, there are all sorts of different medical equipment and machinery in the room, most of which are in some way attached to me. My front right hoof is attached to an IV, my wings are held firmly in place sticking out to the sides, my head and front left hoof wore a metal ring attached with wires to a machine nearby wiring and making all sorts of weird noises, my back right hoof is held up in a splint suspended by a wire from the ceiling, and my right flank is injected by what seems to be a much larger IV, but attached to a machine with a tank filled with pale liquid.
After a bunch of looks, wide eyes, and an awkward pause, I try to say something...
"...ohhh... my head..."
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Everypony shouts in unision, followed by a lot of sighing of relief.
"We were so worried you didn't make it, Rainbow Dash... You were out for a good five hours."
"... ugh ... what happened?"
"You were struck by lightning while performing your 'revised' Sonic Rainboom. We saw you fall to the ground, and we tried to save you. But you were going so fast and the wind pushing us around, we couldn't reach you before heavy clouds rolled in and we lost sight of you crash into forest."
"We saw the whole thing. I immediately called my Royal Search and Rescue Pony Party to find you as fast we as the sun and moon would let us."
"And We Did Find You! Thanks To My Pinkie Senses!"
"We thought ya' were a gonner fur gud' by the time we gotten' there. Shining Armor reassured us dar' was still time."
"It was my brother who organized the rescue and getting you here. He saved your life!"
"Thanks, Twiley. It is my job to protect and aid those most in need, anyway."
---
"Now, now, everypony. We don't want to tell her everything."
"Why? What's wrong, Doc?"
"You see, when you were brought here, you were teaming with live electricity. It certainly was a shock (no pun intended), as something this serious almost never occurs. Those metal rings on you slowly channel the electricity out of you to that machine that stabilizes the electricity. When you fell, you smashed through a lot of foliage before landing really hard on your back right hoof. The injecting on your flank gives you the required doses of medicine Fluttershy to ease any pain that you might have. You're very lucky you have a lot of friends who got her over in a jiffy. You're lucky you're even alive, able to talk, AND have retained your memory."
"Wow, thanks girls. I guess I owe my life to you all."
"You're very welcome. It's the least we can do."
"Unfortunately..."
The very moment he said that everypony fell silent.
"Unfortunately WHAT?"
"Unfortunately, the damage was already done. I am not so sure about your brain able to interpret things, so I don't want to overload your cortex."
"I can think and hear fine, Doc."
"Good, that's what I was hoping to hear. You're wings, however, are a different story."
"My wings? What about them? They seem fine to me."
"That is where the lightning struck you. Because they received the blunt of the lighting, they suffered major neural damage. If you haven't already noticed, you shouldn't be able to feel them."
I try to make an effort to move them, but they just stay in their spread out position.
"I am very sorry, Rainbow Dash. I truly am, but judging from your wing's condition..."
"NO MORE FLYING FOREVER?!"