Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Discharged

It had been one week—seven very long days—since Rainbow Dash had landed in the hospital. Twilight had spent absolutely all her free time studying up on magics that might restore Rainbow's wing as well as the intricate anatomy of pegasus wings. Of course, she always made time to visit the ailing pegasus at least once a day.

Her diligence was paying off. She already had a rough idea of what needed to be done, but the doing was going to take a herculean effort and, if past experience was any indication, about a million tries to get it right. It was simple, in theory. Much like changing an apple into an orange, she needed to find something that wasn't a wing and turn it into a wing. Then she would need to use a spell to breathe life into the wing so that Rainbow Dash could have the proper control she would require. In between the two she would have to attach the wing to Rainbow Dash. That would be the trickiest part…maybe.

Sighing and putting the book aside with her magic, Twilight Sparkle looked up and had to blink a few times to clear her vision. While that didn't really work, shaking her head seemed to do the trick. She had clearly spent too long reading without giving her eyes a break. Slowly she climbed to her hooves, joints popping and muscles stretching the entire way. How long had she been lying there reading?

"Spike?" Twilight called out as she looked for her baby dragon assistant.

"Something you need?" he eagerly asked as he leaned down the stairs that climbed to the loft.

"Do you have the time?" the studious alicorn asked as she stretched, liberating her muscles and joints from their stagnation.

Spike knew exactly what she was asking about, even if she was doing it in a roundabout way. "We have about an hour before noon," he claimed as he looked out a nearby window to find the sun's position. "There's still a little time before we go visit Rainbow Dash."

Twilight sighed as she looked around. She was still stiff from reading for so long and there wasn't enough spare time to attempt to fine tune the potential spells she would be relying on. That meant one thing: a few minutes of downtime. Her nature could not let that stand. Something productive had to fill that time. She looked to the side as she rubbed her chin in contemplation. After a moment, she suddenly smiled as she set her hoof back to the floor.

"Let's go pay Rarity a visit!" Twilight insisted as she grabbed her saddlebags in her aura and attached them.

By the time Twilight had her bags secured, Spike had the door open. Twilight had to do a double-take. It was quite impressive that Spike had descended the stairs that quickly. Must have been the power of love, she mused with a small smile and a roll of her eyes. Spike's crush on Rarity was both adorable and exhausting.

In no time Twilight trotted into the Carousel Boutique alongside Spike. The sound of the entry chime stirred the fashionable unicorn from her work at a sewing machine. "Welcome to the Carousel Bou…" she listlessly began to greet, but stopped short as she turned to find her friends. "Oh, hello," she said with a bit more energy as she set her tape measure and glasses aside.

"Hi Rarity!" Spike enthusiastically greeted, seemingly oblivious.

Rarity didn't look quite like herself and neither did her work. They both looked fine and acceptable, but were missing that passionate flair. "Are you holding up okay?" Twilight asked with a genuine concern in her voice.

Rarity considered lying and saying everything was just fine, but she opted for honesty instead as she shook her head. "Poor Rainbow Dash's plight has had a rather…negative effect on my creative process," she admitted. "I still get orders in, but I haven't been able to even begin to design any new dresses."

"I actually wanted to talk to you about Rainbow Dash," Twilight explained with a gesture of her hoof. "I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of what it'll take to make her a new wing. I was hoping you could help."

"Anything!" Rarity exclaimed with a huge smile.

Twilight couldn't keep a straight face. Rarity's eager smile was just too contagious. "Well, I'm going to need somepony to sew a pegasus wing or three," she elaborated.

The elegant unicorn glowed as her eyes sparkled. "Twilight, darling, of course I can do that!" she enthusiastically volunteered. Rarity immediately started to gather bolts, threads, and other supplies to get started on the new task.

"You shouldn't put too much effort into it," Twilight cautioned. "They…won't actually be going on Rainbow Dash."

The materials dropped haphazardly on the designing table. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand you, darling."

"Consider them practice, for both you and me," Twilight Sparkle elaborated with a sheepish smile. "I actually need you to do one other favor for me."

Twilight's apprehension gave Rarity pause. "I'll help, if I can," she volunteered a bit more reluctantly.

"I need somepony to, um… Try them on, so to speak," Twilight vaguely requested.

Rarity raised an eyebrow as she gave Twilight an uneasy gaze. "Now, when you say 'try them on…'"

Twilight sighed as she looked away and shyly pawed at the floor. "I am going to require quite a bit of practice with the spell to get it right for Rainbow Dash. I'm going to need somepony to be, um…"

"A test subject," Rarity spat.

Twilight gave Rarity an uncertain smile that said both "sorry" and "please" at the same time. "I need a pony that doesn't have wings," she explained as she stretched her wings out for emphasis.

Rarity sighed as she reminded herself that it was for Rainbow Dash. "All right," she relented. "So long as I don't end up with some weird wing permanently attached to my back."

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that won't happen," Twilight Sparkle reassured her reluctant lab-rat. After a second she amended her statement with a rocking motion of her hoof, "Ninety-five."

A small whimper escaped Rarity's throat. She had been joking about that, but apparently it was a real risk. Taking a longing look at her shoulder while it was still unmarred by some sort of Frankenstein wing, she took the plunge. "I-I'll do it. For Rainbow Dash."

"Great!" Twilight smiled before turning around and heading towards the door. "Just let me know when you finish the wings and have some free time."

"R-right," Rarity reluctantly agreed. She still didn't much like the idea of being the subject of experimental magics. "I take it you are going to go visit Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes," she confirmed before turning to Spike. "Spike, why don't you stay here and help out Rarity?"

"I would absolutely adore a helping-hoof from my little Spikey-wikey!" Rarity enthused as she approached her design table.

"Anything for you, Rarity!" Spike eagerly volunteered.

"I'll leave it up to you two," Twilight said as she departed.

Having used up her free time, the studious pony hurried off to take care what had quickly become her daily routine. Since the hospital food wasn't exactly Rainbow Dash's favorite, Twilight stopped by the café every day to pick up lunch for herself and Dash. Hopefully her news today would bring Rainbow Dash out of her funk.

When Twilight first visited the cyan pegasus the day after the horrible accident she was…bad. Crying, hurt, angry: she was completely and totally inconsolable. Even the news that she and the rest of her friends were hard at work coming up with a way to fix her wing couldn't really calm her down. After that first day she spent the next day or two on an emotional rollercoaster. Dash would be sad one minute, angry the next, and then in denial another minute later. More recently she just lied there in the hospital bed doing a whole lot of nothing. It was as if she had lost hope.

At first everypony visited Dash every day, but already that was starting to change. Aside from Twilight, the only pony to visit her every single day since the incident was Fluttershy. Applejack visited her when she could, but the farmer simply had too many responsibilities to make it to the hospital every day. Rarity hadn't been to the hospital in two days. She claimed to have been swamped at the boutique, but Twilight suspected that Rarity simply couldn't stand to see Rainbow Dash like that anymore. The worst was Pinkie Pie. The party pony tried everything in her bag of tricks to cheer Dash up. When that failed, she improvised. When that failed, the pink pony broke down crying herself and gave up. She hadn't been to visit Rainbow Dash in three days and, honestly, hadn't been seen outside of Sugarcube Corner much, either.

As Twilight entered the hospital she made a mental note to visit Pinkie Pie before returning to her library. Not much managed to rain on the party pony's parade, but she drew her happiness from the joy of others. Being unable to bring a smile to a pony that desperately needed one—not to mention a dear friend—must have been a living nightmare for her. She could probably use a friend about now.

Walking into Rainbow Dash's room, she found an unexpected sight. Not only was Fluttershy there at Dash's bedside, Applejack was there. "Hey girls," Twilight greeted with an uneasy smile. "I didn't know everypony would be here. I only brought lunch for two."

"Hey Twi," Applejack greeted with a forced smile.

"Good afternoon," Fluttershy absentmindedly muttered. Most of her attention was locked on Rainbow Dash as she wore a concerned expression.

The rainbow pony was clearly not having a good day. She didn't even look up at Twilight. Her gaze was focused a million miles away. At least her injuries seemed to be healing well. Her front right leg was no longer in traction, though the enormous cast that wrapped around the leg and all the way over her shoulder was still there. Virtually all of her torso was still wrapped in bandages, but the stitches on the side of her head were looking…well, they were easier to look at, at least.

Rainbow's despondent expression belied her mending wounds. Her wing was gone and that was the only injury she cared at all about. It was also the only injury that wasn't going to improve with time.

Twilight floated two paper sacks out of her saddlebag. She placed one on the table next to Dash and set the other one in Rainbow's lap. "I brought you a daisy sandwich and hay fries," Twilight spoke with a forced cheer in her voice.

Rainbow Dash muttered her thanks as she just stared at the bag in front of her. Fluttershy stepped in, taking out the sandwich and fries and setting them in front of Dash. "Aren't you going to eat?" the yellow pegasus coaxed in a motherly voice. "It looks really yummy."

"Ah don't suppose yah heard?" Applejack prodded as Twilight set out her lunch.

Twilight shook her head as she took a bite of her own sandwich.

"They're dischargin' RD!" the farmer claimed as she stomped a hoof. "She can't even walk on her own yet!"

Twilight coughed as some of her food went down the wrong pipe. "Wh-what!?"

Applejack pulled her head to the side, silently indicating towards the door. Twilight reluctantly left her meal and Rainbow Dash as she followed Applejack out into the hallway. "What's going on?" Twilight whispered once they were isolated from the two pegasi.

"They're already getting the paperwork and everythin' done. They're gonna kick her out anytime now!" Applejack fumed. "She ain't ready to leave! We can't take care of her like this! She needs somepony to look after her twenty-four seven!"

"Why are they pushing her out so soon?" Twilight asked as she peeked back into the hospital room. Amazingly, Fluttershy was getting Rainbow Dash to eat—even if she did have to resort to hoof-feeding the cyan pegasus.

Applejack sighed, drawing Twilight's attention back on her. "They're hoping Dash'll cheer up if she ain't cooped up here," she regurgitated what she'd been told by the nurses. "Ah told 'em the only thing that'll make her happy is getting her wing back. They don't pay no mind!"

Twilight perked up a bit when Applejack mentioned Rainbow Dash's wing. "I've actually made some progress with my spell," she eagerly announced. "It's not much, but I'm hoping it might lift Rainbow Dash's spirits a little."

Applejack nodded as they headed back to Rainbow Dash's room. Surprisingly, Fluttershy had managed to get Rainbow Dash to eat her entire sandwich and half her fries. Twilight was impressed at how well Fluttershy was able to handle the distraught pegasus. Usually Twilight counted herself lucky if she managed to get Dash to eat half a sandwich.

"So…are you looking forward to getting out today?" Twilight asked.

"I guess," Dash muttered.

The lackluster response didn't shake Twilight too much. She'd hoped for something more enthusiastic, but a lot of their conversations had gone like this in recent days. "I have some good news of my own! I've been making some good progress with the spell to fix your wing!"

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash perked up. "R-really!?" Dash tentatively asked.

"I've got a plan of what needs to be done," Twilight confidently claimed as she approached her barely-touched meal. "I just need to refine the magic and find the right mix of materials. I should be able to make a working wing before you're out of that cast!"

"You're sure?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Dash had already gotten her hopes shattered once. A week ago Twilight promised to find a spell to restore her wing and turned around in the same breath and said that she didn't even know where to start. Rainbow didn't resent Twilight for it. The studious pony was only trying to help out in her own way. At the time Rainbow Dash thought that Twilight was just lying to try and make her feel better, but now the alicorn seemed to be living up to her word.

Could it really be true? Did Twilight really forge a spell to fix her wing?

"It should work," Twilight assured. "The little details might take a while to work out, but it should at least get you airborne."

Rainbow Dash let a scintilla of a smile touch her lips. "You really mean it?" she asked disbelievingly. "You're really gonna come up with a spell to get my wing back!?"

"Well, sort of," Twilight qualified as she held up a hoof. "It won't really be 'your' wing, but it will be 'a' wing."

What little hope had settled in Rainbow washed away. "Not…my wing," she muttered. "Will I still be able to fly like I could before?"

Twilight hesitated. She was confident she could get Rainbow Dash a new wing and that she would be able to fly again. But to fly like she used to—sonic rainboom and all—Twilight just wasn't so sure. "I-in time," she stumbled uncertainly, "maybe."

Rainbow Dash again fell silent as she looked away and hung her head. It should be enough that she would be able to fly again, but…it wasn't. Selfish or not, she wanted to fly just like she used to. It wasn't just that she wanted to be a Wonderbolt and anything short of awesome wouldn't make the cut. Everypony adored her because of her epic flying abilities. If she just flew like everypony else then all of Ponyville would stop adoring her. Scootaloo would disband her fan club. It was as if…as if everypony would stop loving her if she couldn't fly like she used to.

"We will get you back in the sky, Rainbow Dash," Twilight assured.

"Yeah," Dash muttered in response.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Applejack spoke up. "So… Where are we putting Dash? We got room at Sweet Apple Acres, but we ain't got nopony with enough free time to see to her like she needs."

"Um, Rainbow Dash can stay with me and my animal friends," Fluttershy offered. "I don't mind."

"Ain't you got enough critters that need looking after?" Applejack queried.

Fluttershy shook her head. "It's not too much trouble."

"What do you want, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked as she put her half-finished sandwich aside.

Rainbow Dash looked between the farmer and the animal caretaker before shaking her head. "I wanna go home."

All three ponies lowered their heads as they felt a pang of sympathy. "We can't let yah do that, sugarcube," Applejack denied. "What'd happen if you fell?"

"I'd rather fall than stay down here like some…earth pony!" Rainbow Dash snapped as tears stung at her eyes.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash's doctor greeted as he came in followed by a couple of nurses carting an empty wheelchair. "We've got your paperwork all settled and you're ready to leave."

In a dizzying flurry, the nurses swept Dash into the wheelchair and were rolling her out of the room. The next thing anypony knew; Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle were all out on the hospital's front lawn. It took them a moment to get reoriented.

"Hey! I didn't...finish my sandwich," Twilight lamented as she uselessly talked to the hospital's front door.

"So, uh, where're we takin' Dash?" Applejack asked, willing her ire over Rainbow's "earth pony" comment away.

Twilight huffed as she rejoined her friends. "We can take her to Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow Dash needs somepony that can make sure she's all right."

"I can do that," Fluttershy assured.

Rainbow ground her teeth. They were talking about her like she was some sort of invalid. Even if it was true, it still made her feel awful. She couldn't fly, couldn't walk…she apparently didn't even get a say in what would happen to her or where she would go.

Her thoughts petered out as she realized a sensation she hadn't felt in a week: sunshine warming her hide. Looking up into the sky, she saw the sun peeking out from some puffy, white clouds as a few birds passed overhead. Rainbow had never envied a bird before—being able to fly just like she used to. She never really took it for granted; she loved soaring amongst the clouds. Aside from her friends, flying was the single most important thing in her life.

That's when she realized it. Not being able to fly was nothing short of a living nightmare, but she still had something more important. Her friends. And here they were looking after and doing everything they could to get her through this disaster.

For the first time since she woke up in the hospital, she felt as though everything would be okay. Yes, she still wanted to fly again. But she had been telling herself this whole time she would give anything to be able to get her wing back. Now she knew how selfish she was being. She would never trade anything for her friends. She wouldn't give them up for the Wonderbolts, nor for all of the glory in Equestria, not even for her wing. If she had her friends, she could make it as an earth pony…somehow.

Still, she longed to be up there with the birds and the clouds. Even if she could only fly as well as Fluttershy, she would trade away a lot to be back up there. Just about anything short of her friends, really. Twilight's spell was enough. More than enough. If she got to fly again, just enough to take care of the weather, that was all she needed.

"T-Twilight," Dash spoke up as she tore her gaze from the sky. "Please…I-I need to fly again."

Twilight offered her a reassuring smile. "I know that. We all do," she claimed as she motioned to Applejack and Fluttershy. "We've already vowed to ourselves and to each other that we will get you back in the sky, whatever it takes. I'm not giving up and neither is anypony else."

Rainbow Dash's tears threatened to spill over. Had she not been stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg, she would have hugged Twilight. "Girls…" she muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"We will get you through this, Rainbow Dash. Together," Twilight assured as she gingerly hugged the injured pegasus. Fluttershy was quick to join in and even Applejack took part in the group hug.

"Ow…ow, ow, ow!" Rainbow Dash suddenly whimpered as the hugging quickly changed from heartwarming, to uncomfortable, to painful.

"Sorry!" the trio apologized as they shot away from Rainbow Dash.

They all offered apologetic smiles as Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with," Dash groused as Applejack got behind the wheelchair and began to push her in the general direction of Fluttershy's cottage.

"I'm going to go by Sugarcube Corner," Twilight waved the trio off. "Pinkie's probably going to insist on some sort of party."

"Great," the trio groaned, not one of them looking forward to a celebration.

Comments

[That Avi Nerd]

Aaaaaaannnnnndddd tracking. It'll be great to see where this story goes! Good luck, my friend!

[ChaserGrey]

Anyone else see in our near future?