Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Prognosis

At the sound of the front door opening, the nurse looked up to find a bevy of ponies entering. Spotting the yellow mare with the pink mane, she knew exactly what they were here for even before they reached her station. Just minutes ago she was barely able to follow regulations and keep mum about Rainbow Dash's condition. Now the pathetic-looking pegasus brought a princess with her!

Above my pay grade, she quickly decided as the group approached the counter. "I'll go see if her doctor is free to speak with you," she asserted before any of them had a chance to speak. He can cite regulations to them, or tell them what's going on, she thought as she left the counter. Either way, I wash my hooves of the situation entirely.

"Wow," Twilight Sparkle marveled as she glanced to her friends. "Do we really come here for Rainbow Dash that often?"

"I'm still worried," a wide-eyed Applejack fretted as she trotted in place. "What if-what if they come back with…bad news?"

All eyes quickly descended upon Fluttershy as the worry in the group seemed to overflow. "Oh, um…" the demure mare stammered as she felt everypony ask the silent question. "A-all the n-nurse said to me was th-that Rainbow Dash was in…" Fluttershy had to take a small break to breathe in and out as she gathered her thoughts and courage. "Very serious condition."

"Well then, that must mean that she is still with us, at least," Rarity surmised. She had tried to sound confident and reassuring, but there was an edge in her tone and hitch in her voice.

"Uh-umm," Fluttershy spoke up again. "It's not… I mean…" Unlike many times before when she spoke so softly that everypony ignored her, this time she had the full and undivided attention of her friends. "I saw it," she said so lowly that even though her friends were right next to her and listening, they could barely make out the words, "when they pulled Rainbow out of the water…"

Before she could continue, the nurse interrupted. "All yours," she asserted as she pointed a hoof at the group of mares.

"You must be Rainbow Dash's friends," a tawny unicorn doctor greeted. Normally he would ask them to go somewhere private to discuss such sensitive matters, but seeing how the waiting room was all but completely abandoned, it would do just fine. "I'm told you want to know more about her condition."

"Yes!" Twilight eagerly replied. "Please," she added as an afterthought.

The doctor let out a chuckle as he gave Twilight a small bow. "Far be it for me to deny a direct request from a princess."

Twilight Sparkle had to suppress a groan as well as the desire to roll her eyes. She was really starting to get annoyed at how some ponies treated her differently. At least her friends hadn't changed, and most of the citizens of Ponyville were settling back into their normal relationships with her.

"Please doctor, can you tell us how Rainbow Dash is doing?" Twilight urged him to continue.

Again glancing about the waiting room to ensure that no stray ears would hear, he frowned. "Rainbow Dash is in surgery as we speak. She is bleeding internally and externally. She is fighting for her life as we speak."

"Is she…going to make it?" Twilight Sparkle tentatively asked.

The doctor sighed as he shook his head. "I can't say for sure. Quite frankly it's nothing short of a miracle she survived the fall at all," he rambled just a bit. Finding several teary eyes staring back at him, he cleared his throat, "In my experience, Rainbow Dash is quite the fighter. I believe she will be able to pull through."

"I see," Twilight replied, trying and utterly failing to hide the worry in her voice. "Thank you. You should get back to doing whatever you can to help her."

"Right, well I—"

"Wait!" a tiny voice interrupted as Fluttershy made her way to the front of the group. "I-I mean…her injuries…"

"Well…" he hesitated before sitting down. "Right now our main concern is to stop the bleeding and to repair her collapsed lung. Provided they don't kill her, your friend should make a complete recovery from those wounds. She also has several broken bones. Again, in time they should mend. More dangerous is her concussion. It is very serious and it may manifest in all sorts of temporary or permanent problems. Memory, cognition, hearing, vision…there is really no telling what all could go wrong, and by the same token it might not cause her any ailments at all."

"Her wing!" Fluttershy demanded in a shout loud enough to startle the idle nurse.

The doctor frowned as he looked away from the group. "If Rainbow Dash is very. very lucky, none of those injuries will create a lingering problem for her. We have some of the best surgeons in Equestria seeing to that. Her right wing, however…" he trailed off as he struggled to find a way to gently break the news. "When she hit the water, that wing must have absorbed the brunt of the force, possibly sparing her life. It—her wing—was severed on impact."

While Fluttershy just hung her head, the other four looked completely aghast.

"There isn't anything we can do," he somberly continued. "I'm sorry to say it, but Rainbow Dash will never fly again."

"That can't be true!" Pinkie Pie refuted. "Dashie can't just not fly! Her whole life is flying!"

"Look here, doc," Applejack fumed. "That answer just ain't gonna cut it and I ain't gonna just sit here and take it!"

"Surely there must be something you can do to make this right," Rarity pleaded. "Why, Twilight Sparkle here is one of the most marvelous unicorns Equestria has ever seen! Her magic is legendary. There simply must be something you can do."

Despite the praise, Twilight was hanging her head in defeat. "This is just so horrible."

Seeing the yellow one openly weeping while the pink one tried to console her, the doctor turned again to the forlorn alicorn. "While it is…rare for this sort of injury to happen, it is not unheard of. Rainbow Dash will need her family and her friends to help her adjust to the life of an earth pony." Not receiving any sort of reply, he continued, "If she has a cloud home, you will need to find a way to accommodate her down here on solid ground." He emphasized the point by stamping a hoof on the floor. "It's never easy for a pegasus to adjust to such a drastic change. All of you will need to be there for her and help her through this."

Twilight looked to her ailing friends before setting her stare on the doctor. "Are you absolutely certain that there is nothing that can be done to save Rainbow's wing?"

"Princess, we don't even have her wing," he bluntly stated. "You will have to find the courage to accept this and find a way to move forward."

"I see," Twilight muttered as her gaze fell to her hooves. "Just…take good care of her."

"We will do our best," the doctor assured as he got up and turned away before casting one last glance at the girls. "Be strong, for her."

For what must have been several minutes the only sounds were those of Fluttershy's sobs. All five ponies were simply overwhelmed with the news and they were all struggling to even let the news sink in. Rainbow Dash being unable to fly was simply unfathomable. She was a daredevil at heart and she spent more time flying than she did standing, walking, and running combined!

With the exception of Fluttershy still sobbing in the same spot she'd been in, and Pinkie Pie doing her best to comfort her, the rest of the group had found their way to the waiting room's furniture. After many more seconds of relative silence, Rarity cleared her throat of the emotion constricting it, "I suppose Rainbow Dash can stay with me at the boutique. She can use Sweetie Belle's room."

"Don't be ridiculous," Twilight chided. "You can't put Sweetie Belle out like that. Rainbow Dash can have the spare bed at the library."

"Yer both being ridiculous," Applejack snapped. "We got plenty of room over at Sweet Apple Acres. Dash can have her own room and she won't be puttin' anypony out."

An audible growl drew attention to a certain pink pony as she stepped away from Fluttershy. "What in Equestria are you girls doing?!" she snapped as she leapt in the air, limbs flailing.

Twilight shrunk a bit at the outburst. "We're…trying to figure out what we are going to do to help Rainbow," she stated the obvious, not quelling Pinkie's indignation at all.

"You're all acting like Dashie will never fly again!" Pinkie scolded. "So what if the doctor says it's impossible. What does he know?! We've saved all of Equestria what, two times? Three? Five?! Well…a lot! There has to be something we can do!"

"Pinkie," Applejack muttered sympathetically.

"No, she's right!" Twilight Sparkle interrupted before Applejack could say anything else. "What are we doing? We're giving up and we haven't even tried yet!" she asserted as she got on her hooves, feeling a renewed energy course through her. "I'll send Princess Celestia a letter first thing in the morning to see if she knows of any magic, or techniques, or…whatever that might help. You girls should brainstorm and see if you can come up with any ideas to get Rainbow's wing back."

For the first time since Fluttershy had stumbled into the library earlier that evening, Twilight found herself smiling. The smile seemed contagious as even Fluttershy stifled her sobs. It was hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe everything would be all right after all.

Comments

[Diamond Sparkle]

Poor Rainbow.