The Dimensional Traveler's Guide To Rainbows, And Other Troubles

by benxlabs

Chapter 9: Wake Up And Smell The Antiseptic

Chapter 9: Wake Up And Smell The Antiseptic

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You know, I really hate hospitals. I really hate doctors too. They're all just a bunch of crappy liars and trolls. Oh, this shot isn't going to hurt one bit? Psyche! And then they'll laugh their butts of while you scream in pain. Oh, we're just going to put you to sleep and when you wake up everything will be okay? Psyche! You're never waking up ever again. Psyche! You do wake up, but you're stuck in a bed surrounded by crying babies feeling like your stomach is still cut open!

Well, I guess I should really stop complaining. Especially since there were no crying babies in sight, and no shots to scream about. But that didn't mean I wasn't in pain. I still pretty much felt like there were multiple holes in my stomach and arms. I must have looked like a block of red Swiss cheese back then. I guess I was lucky to even be alive. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine.

"You're such an idiot!"

I winced. There was something worse than crying babies in this room.

"Good morning Dash." Letting my eyes roam around the room, I noticed that she was sitting in a chair next to my hospital bed.

"Good morning, my flank! You're lucky to be alive you doofus!" Her eyes were red, and there were dark marks under her eyes.

"Heh, well, did I look cool at least?" I chuckled, and immediately regretted it as another spasm of pain went through my body.

"No! Well, maybe just a little bit, but that's not the point!" She crossed her arms and glared at me.

"But say, why am I here anyways?" I realized that she had no way of getting to the hospital. So how had I ended up here?

"It's a long story..." Rainbow Dash's eyelids fluttered a bit as she struggled to keep them open. Her head nodded a few times as she leaned forwards onto the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the mattress.

I sighed. Had she been awake all this time? It was probably pretty inconsiderate of me to sleep for all this time, keeping her up all day and night. But my question still stood. Why was I in a hospital?

The door to my hospital room creaked as it opened just slightly. A light knocking followed shortly after.

"Come in." I replied wearily.

A man wearing a business suit came in. His face was wrinkled with concern, and his black hair, which had perhaps been raven black at one point, now sported fine streaks of silver.

"Father...." The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I immediately clapped a hand over my mouth, trying to cover up my mistake.

He came over to my bed, kneeling down so that we were face-to-face. His eyes, unlike before, were not empty and dead. This time, as our eyes met, I saw a new light sparkling in his eyes.

"We've got some catching up to do, eh?"

My eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I don't really understand, but..." He wrapped his arms around me. "Welcome home."

As he pulled away, he whispered: "And...I'm sorry."

My mouth opened and closed, trying to mouth words, but nothing seemed to come out. Ever word I tried to say seemed to catch in my throat, and I couldn't even manage to make a sound, lest I should trigger an onslaught of tears and pain.

"After your...departure...your mother and I...we were deeply saddened. Perhaps we felt angry at times, but as time passed, we realized that we perhaps were the ones at fault. I wished for you to succeed, I wanted you to be able to do big things in the future, but my ambition perhaps...blinded me to your own feelings...and, perhaps, I said things which I should not have." His halting speech, interlaced with pauses and breaths, seemed to resonate with raw emotion. He hid nothing from me. He did not coat his words with honey, he told me what was in his heart.

"No...I'm sorry." I couldn't hold it in anymore. If I was to cry, so be it. "What I did was selfish and dumb. In my mind, I was the victim. I thought of myself as a tragic martyr, suffering alone in the world. And perhaps another part of what I felt was guilt. I felt responsible for the death of my friend. My only friend. But, I've seen the world now. I know that what I did was inconsiderate and ignorant. I'm not the only sufferer in the world. In fact, what I thought was pain was probably paradise in the eyes of those who were truly suffering. My life was fortunate, my life should have been happy. I was spoiled, I was a brat. So...I'm sorry for what I did."

We both were silent after that exchange. We said nothing, merely sharing each other's companionship for a time. Then, my father chuckled.

"Well, I guess we're even now."

I smiled a little too. "Yeah, I guess so." As I leaned backwards into my bed, I felt my eyelids weighing down once again.

---

I was a Pegasus again. I was back in Equestria. And I was flying, soaring through the air. As I looped through the air, I heard a timid shout coming from below me. Fluttershy sat on a bench below us, cheering me on. I smiled and shouted back my acknowledgement of her encouragement. Rainbow Dash gave me flight lessons most days of the week. I had gradually increased my confidence in the sky, but I was still a bit scared of heights. Even now, as I looked down towards the ground, my stomach seemed to do a little flip-flop like I had done moments ago.

Rainbow Dash was a cruel teacher. Her training left no room for rest, and I often finished up my training feeling like a log, ready to just drop down to the ground and never move again. Today, we had started off with basic bog strength training. We ran around the perimeter of Ponyville a few times, and right as we finished, she ordered me to tie some sandbags onto my legs. As I tried to flap my wings, I felt the heavy weights keeping me down. But nevertheless, I was expected to fly.

I beat my wings over and over again, harder and harder, but all I could manage was a weak hover. I could tell Rainbow Dash was displeased with my weakness, so I smiled weakly and chuckled nervously. She growled and proceeded to take me into the sky. There, we practiced various aerial maneuvers like flip-turns and loop-de-loops.

I was dead tired, but that didn't mean I was defeated yet. I would have my final showdown with her today, and we would see who was the faster flyer. I didn't have much of a chance, but it was worth a try. If I lost, oh well. If I won, then...I grinned.

And so it was decided. We would start from Cloudsdale, and we would race towards Ponyville, where we would finish in Twilight's Library. The rules were simple. Whoever got there first won.

“Ready, set, GO!” Rainbow Dash shouted. I gave my wings a few hard flaps as we both zoomed off. The space around me seemed to stretch into thin stripes, and everything became a blur of color. My eyes became squinted as my face was battered by the gusting wind. I flapped my wings harder and harder, finally looking back after a few minutes.

Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight.

My heart almost leaped out of my mouth. A fresh burst of adrenaline fueled my ever-speeding flight. I was winning! I had left Rainbow Dash in the dust, and I was in the lead! With a big smile plastered on my face, I dashed forwards to victory. Ponyville soon came into sight, and I dived towards the library, heart beating at a frenzied pace.

Crashing through the door and rolling to a stop on the ground, I brushed myself off and ignored the pain I was feeling in my body.

"I win!" I shouted triumphantly, throwing both my arms into the air.

“Not so fast, hotshot.”

Rainbow Dash was relaxing on the couch, grinning at me smugly. My heart fell as my jaw dropped from disbelief.

“W-what? How did you-?”

Rainbow Dash's grin stretched even wider as she jumped over to my side. She punched my shoulder, saying: "Man, did you really think you could beat the fastest flyer in Ponyville? Like, come ON! I was like, halfway here before you even flapped your wings even once! You're just that slow, I bet even Tank could beat you in a race!"

"W-" I spluttered. Fuming, I desperately tried to think of a comeback. My face burned from embarrassment. Finding no way to counter her attack, I slumped to the floor with a defiant growl.

For some reason, Rainbow Dash found my actions to be hilarious. She started giggling, but her giggle soon evolved into one of her full-out "bwhahahah" laughs. And her laugh was pretty contagious too. Pretty soon, I found an insatiable mirth rising up in myself too. As I burst out laughing, I found that the rest of the gang was there too. And pretty soon, they were laughing alongside us as well. The sounds of our laughter echoed throughout the library. It was a beautiful sound.

---

When I woke up in the morning, I was greeted by a pre-recorded message that I had long memorized by heart.

"Wake up, you dumbo!"

"Hey, I'm already awake, so quit your yapping!"

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and scowled, as was her custom when she was annoyed. But her annoyance could not take root, not for long at least. After all, today, apparently, was the day that I was to begin my recovery.

After eating a meager breakfast of pitiful hospital food, I was heartlessly thrust into a wheelchair and wheeled off to my personal torture chamber.

Rehabilitation is one of those things that really drives home one message to you. As you run on the treadmill, lift weights, take long, meaningless, but unnecessarily and strangely tiring walks, it really makes you realize one thing: You're weak. It doesn't matter how strong you were before, but as soon as the hospital is done with whatever shenanigans they planned on doing to you, and they set you on the road to recovery, you find out that it's back to ground zero.

I almost didn't recognize myself as I looked at that emaciated, pale, skeleton of a specimen of human. The glazed eyes, the dark shadows, and the protruding bones all combined to create an image straight out of a charity advertisement. And indeed, I gave a start when I realized I was looking into a mirror and not a window into another room.

At first, I didn't believe it. I jumped back from the window, recoiling at the sight of some horribly maltreated child. But strangely, he recoiled as well, an expression of shock and panic on his face. A cold lump began forming at the bottom of my stomach as I slowly waved at the gaunt, slender figure.

The slender man waved back at me.

Staggering backwards a few steps, I slowly reached out with my hand. Brushing against the cold hard mirror, my hand slowly slid back down to my side, leaving long white streaks, like the claw marks of some desperate animal.

But as my hand returned to its place by my side, another hand clasped it in a warm and confident grip.

"Hey, you don't wanna be late on the first day, do you? That's totally not cool."

A strange force tugged at the corners of my mouth. I couldn't help myself. Smiling, I turned to her and continued walking on.

"Yeah, let's go."

As the sun shone in from the skylights, I could see nothing but sunshine and rainbows ahead of me.

And also, a Rainbow beside me.