Chapter One: Just Walk it Off
Chapter One: Just Walk it Off
If one more pony walked into Smolder's room with a balloon, she was going to scream. Or set fire to the room. Either seemed like a good option today. Professor Fluttershy coming by in the morning the day after her accident to bring her a bag of gems (that she couldn't eat on doctor's orders but, hey, the thought was what counted)? Cool. Professor Fluttershy coming by a couple weeks give or take a couple dozen (days bled together in that stupid bed) after her accident with a stuffed otter to keep her company? Smolder had to fight against burning it to ash along with the stuffed kitten, the stuffed bunny, and the angler fish plush.
Like, who would be the target customer for an angler fish plush? Honestly, that'd probably be the one Smolder would spare. It was ugly. An ugly plush was kinda cool.
The dragon grunted, leaning back against her pillows as she looked around the hospital room. She appreciated the sympathy cards, the stuffed animals, the balloons. Well, she appreciated where the heart was when they were given to her. It was cool. It was just that ponies tended to be a rather squishy and sentimental bunch. She supposed it only natural for that same softness to rub off on Spike or Silverstream. But... but things were rough. Real rough now. No amount of cards, hugs, plushies, or sheets could hide the two elephants in the room.
She glared down at her legs. It was hard not to look at them, with her bed being inclined to a sitting position. Doc said it had something to do with circulation to the brain or whatever. Medical mumbo jumbo. If she were a betting dragon, she'd put money on the world wanting to mock her just a little more.
'Hey, Smolder, look at your legs,' the world seemed to chant. 'Look at how useless they are. How utterly pathetic you are.'
The dragon growled, choosing to aim her rage at the only thing within burning distance: the card Principal Starlight Glimmer had brought by that morning. At least the mare had decided to throw some humor along with it—a dozen Homework Passes, just in case—but the card itself was just... sappy. A good twenty signatures of freshmen and sophomores she barely knew and juniors she wished she didn't. A thumping, prodding reminder of everything that had gone wrong. It had been nearly a month, and she hadn't even been able to scab over since each card was like a paper cut. Reopening the wounds. 'Sorry about your legs.' 'We're thinking about you.' Great. That won't change anything, so let's just move on from that shall we?
Grunting and eyeing the closed door to her room, Smolder rubbed her arms. At least they had that typical scaly feeling to them. If she didn't think about it too much, why she could have sworn that she was a normal dragon laying about in bed on a normal lazy Saturday. But everything was far from normal now. At least the normal she would have liked. She couldn't get out of bed if she wanted to. Well, she supposed she could, but it would only lead to her lying on the floor crying and screaming. Again.
It was all one big cluster of crud. Whether she had visitors or not, her thoughts always drifted back to the practice fields. It was dumb, and no amount of passing hours could change that. If you get crippled from the waist down, you should have a good story to go with it. At least, that's what she had always assumed. She hadn't given the idea much thought because, duh, she was too cool and awesome to ever have to worry about something like that happening. But life had a way of deciding things were getting a bit too boring and liked to change things up on those days. And, boy, with her it loved to be dramatic about it too.
The last steps she might ever take had come during cheerleading practice because of course Smolder would go and cripple herself doing something so lame. Okay, so maybe cheerleading wasn't the lamest thing in the world—with Coach Dash at the helm, and her friends by her side, it actually could be fun—but it wasn't an epic battle against insurmountable evil. It wasn't a noble sacrifice in the heart of a raging storm. No, it was a dumb stunt. A stupid move of her own design.
"Alright, girls!" Coach Rainbow Dash shouted, giving her whistle a few quick blows to get everyone's attention. "Great practice today. Give yourself a pat on the back."
Smolder nodded and gave Ocellus a hearty slap on the back, making the small changeling squeak and trip forward. Still, the smile she flashed back at Smolder once she regained her footing rivaled the sun's rays in brightness.
Yona lifted her hoof, trying to pat herself on the back, but her yak girth made the task impossible. Luckily, as always, she had Smolder there to have her back. Literally. She socked the yak in the shoulder. "Nice base as always, Yons," Smolder commented, stretching her arms over her head and rocking back and forth on her feet. Her knees popped a little with each movement. After the amount of flips she'd had to land during practice, those little pops could not have felt better.
"Thanks, Smolder!" Yona responded. "Yona thinks you are very agile and strong as well."
Smolder puffed out her chest. "As if that's news." Smolder flashed a winning smile at a trio of ponies as they talked among themselves. One was a Pegasus with a blue coat and a pink mane, while the other two were unicorns with brown coats and white manes. Smolder wasn't sure what their names were, but she knew they were new to the cheer team this year. "Lookin good on the vaults there, newbies!" she called out to them.
The trio exchanged glances. One of the unicorns helped the other pull sticks out of her hair and brush off her skirt. The pegasus, meanwhile, shot Smolder one of the better 'Eat manure' glares she'd seen. The dragon couldn't help but chuckle at that one. 'Now there's one I need to invite to grab a soda after practice,' she thought. 'I like her already.'
"Alright, girls," Coach Dash called. "Competition's in a few days. We're looking good for the 'mane' event, but the small group drills could use some work." The pegasus hovered around the group in a large circle. Even in these moments, Dash's speed surprised Smolder. What was to Coach Dash a few flaps of her wings was another pegasus' sprint. Rainbow Dash kept circling near Smolder's group as she continued, "Now, I heard it through the apple orchard that Celestia's School has decided that pyramids should be the name of the game for the small group comp. We got the tricks and the flips, we got the muscles!" Rainbow Dash swooped down in front of Yona and flexed her forelegs. The yak returned the motion, nearly ripping her top for the third time that week. "The problem is I have a lot of you who are complete badflanks at pyramids. That's not a bad problem to have, but I gotta whittle it down to a couple groups."
Coach Dash landed and adjusted her hat. "Underclassmen and Juniors" she called as she walked near the unicorn and pegasus group. "This is your chance to prove you've got the legs to carry this school forward into continued awesomeness." The group nodded, glancing at their flanks and forehooves. Smolder smirked. Guess the fresh meat hadn't heard of figures of speech. A serious stare washed the smile away as Coach Dash approached her group. "Seniors. It's time to defend your crown."
Smolder crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. She may not have been as tall as Yona, but she was pretty darn sturdy for a dragon. "It's as good as ours, Coach."
Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. "Now, it's gonna be hard to pick the best out of so many awesome cheerers," she explained. "So, I figured the easiest way would be to do some friendly competition between the teams."
Smolder's ears perked at the word 'competition'. "I'm listening, Coach."
"Can always count on you to follow your greed, Smolder." Rainbow Dash patted the dragon on the shoulder with a wing. "Kidding, girl. Don't get your tail in a knot." Smolder rolled her eyes. "It looks like most of you are already in groups of three. I'll take some fours too for this comp, but at Celestia's, they'll be looking at trios. There's no guarantee you'll be with the group you're with now, but I have a feeling you have good instincts in choosing your partners."
Smolder glanced around at her teammates. Of course. They'd kicked butt from their very first practice. They'd been a pretty pathetic group against weak competition in some of those opening friendlies, but as time went on and the number of practices climbed close to the triple digits, they'd developed their own style. It was fast-paced, it was flashy, and it was all theirs.
"Now," Rainbow Dash said, "we'll start in five minutes. Take time to plan your routine. Remember, this is the first round. Don't waste all your good moves here."
"Yes, Coach," Smolder responded along with a few others.
"Five minutes, starting now ladies." Rainbow Dash flew off, leaving the underclassmen groups to squabble amongst themselves. Smolder laughed.
"Look at them," she said, pointing to the group with her thumb. "This is gonna be a cakewalk."
"Yona not so sure," the yak replied. She pointed to the group of ponies. "They are all very strong. Not like yak, but still I've been watching. They are good."
"Got a crush on one of 'em? Don't worry, Yona." Smolder patted the yak on the back. "I won't judge you."
"No!" Yona sputtered, her face turning red. "Yona is just saying she is good. Yona loves Sandbar very much, thank you."
"Whatever you say, big girl." Smolder turned to the changeling. "Ocellus, what are you feeling? What do your bug senses tell you?"
Ocellus crossed her arms, running a hoof across her pink ridges. "I don't know, Smolder. Let's keep it simple. We have seniority, and we did go a bit hard on our push-ups during practice today. We don't want to burn our shoulders out before the competition."
"Well, that's why you're the flyer. All ya gotta do is pull off a few good flips. Think you can handle that?" Smolder asked, giving Ocellus a poke in the side. The changeling giggled.
"I've been practicing a lot. I think I can handle it," Ocellus said.
"Great!" Smolder crossed her arms. "So, we go for the classic. I'll get on Yona's back. Ocellus, I'm gonna lift you up. When I tap your back, Yona, you rear back on your back legs. I'll jump and give Ocellus a toss and jump myself, cut a couple flips, then we each land on top of one of your forehooves."
Yona nodded, but Ocellus exchanged a glance with the yak.
"Yona can do it," Yona said, before nodding to Ocellus. "Ocellus doesn't look sure."
"Thanks for stating the obvious, Captain," Smolder mumbled. "What gives, Bug Girl?"
Ocellus' wings drooped and she sighed. "It's... it's nothing."
Smolder raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, and that's not a lie at all. Seriously, am I going to have to report you to Professor Applejack? That could drop your Honesty grade to a B."
"Don't do that!" Ocellus gasped, her eyes widening. "I, I... I just don't know. We usually do that trick early in our sets. We've had a full day of practice. I can do a flip, but you throwing me as well? That takes a lot of push. Not to mention that landing's putting a lot of pressure on Yona. Literally."
Smolder shrugged. "I think we can handle it."
Yona nodded in agreement. "We strong. You light. It will be good."
Ocellus sighed. "Fine, I guess we can do that."
"Then it's settled," Smolder said. She looked over to the pegasus and unicorn team, who were finishing their routine planning. A simple, boring pony pyramid. The dragon rolled her shoulders. This was going to be easy-peasy. "Alright, girls, let's do this thing."
"What the hay was that, Ocellus?" Smolder hissed the moment their group was out of earshot of Coach Dash and the other squads.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ocellus repeated, her wings pressed tight against her exoskeleton.
"Smolder should not yell at Ocellus," Yona argued, looming over the dragon as only she could. "You hear Coach Dash. Our routine was good."
"But it could have been great!" Smolder growled, glaring at Ocellus. "If we just stuck both our landings."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ocellus repeated again. "I-I didn't have time to transform into something more aerodynamic to get the flip right. I can try it again, maybe? I think I can pull off the flip, it's just hard to change in the air like that. That amount of momentum is hard to control as a changeling."
"Ocellus still stuck landing," Yona said with a roll of her eyes. "Just land on all fours instead of one. Relax scales, Smolder."
Smolder took a deep breath. "I know. I know. I'm not mad at you, Ocellus. I'm just... frustrated." She glared across the field to the pony trio. They were smiling and high-hoofing each other. It was karma. They were really freakin' good. Better than Smolder and her friends could hope to be. To boil her blood a little more, she noticed them waving and smiling and posing and just generally showing off to the group that had gathered in the bleachers near the practice fields. Coach Dash's 'friendlies' were infamous around campus for getting a bit cutthroat, so you could always count on their being a crowd— popcorn and all.
And, man, as if their skills weren't worrisome enough, those ponies knew how to work a crowd. The unicorns would shoot sparkles and magic stars and lights at the audience. Meanwhile, the pegasus mare's skirt could not be any shorter or tighter, and she knew just the right poses to make her figure pop. Smolder could practically see the boys—and some of the girls—in the bleachers drooling from here.
Including...
"Oh, come on..." Smolder muttered, crossing her arms as she glared at the top row of the bleachers. There, where he always sat to watch her cheer, was Gallus the griffon. He had his head in a book, or rather he had had his head in his book. Right now it sat on his lap, and she noticed him glancing up quite frequently towards Little Miss Showoff Skirt who was walking along the grass in front of the bottom row of the bleachers, winking all the way. Of course, Gallus made sure to look over to Smolder and her friends and give that stupid smile of his and his trademark lazy wave. She waved back, her cheeks flushing while she fought to keep the frown on her face.
She didn't have to fight long. After five seconds of reading, he was right back to stealing glances at the mares. Smolder leaned against an oak tree trunk and crossed her arms, deciding the puny pear trees on the other side of the hoofball field deserved to burn in the wrath of her glare. She was going to watch those trees burst into flames if it was the last thing she did.
When the leaves remained intact and sadly unscorched, Smolder sighed and glanced down at her body. The purple tank top and skirt looked good, she guessed. Professor Rarity had said the colors did a great job of complimenting her scales, and Smolder had to take the Queen of Fashion's words as fact. But was it enough to steal his attention back? She reached down and pulled up her skirt a little, twisting her foot and flexing her leg.
"What is Smolder doing?" Yona asked. "Have cramps? Need yak massage?"
Yeah, if she wanted every bone in her body broken. "I'm fine, Yona." Smolder sighed and let the skirt fall. She turned to Ocellus. "Sorry for yelling at you earlier."
"It's okay, Smolder. You were upset. I get it," Ocellus replied, flashing her a soft smile. "I think we can do better next time. I'm thinking maybe something big but avian so the landing can stick a little better."
"Question," Smolder said, glancing at the pony trio, then Gallus.
"Go ahead," Ocellus said as she took a sip of her water.
"Do I have nice legs?"
Ocellus spit out her drink, much to Yona's mooing disappointment. "W-What?"
"Smolder has great legs," Yona said, wiping the water off her face. "Why Smolder ask?"
"Yeah, they're great," Ocellus said. "Wait, why are you asking?"
"It's just..." Smolder growled. "I mean, look at them. And..." The words caught in her throat as she glanced up at Gallus. She stared a bit too long. He waved. She didn't wave back. She looked away and cleared her throat. "Just forget it."
"Yona sure Gallus not paying attention to other mares," Yona said. "Gallus always looking at Smolder during practice. Yona is certain that Gallus likes Smolder's legs if that's what Smolder is wondering."
Ocellus nodded. "Can confirm. He is always staring at you, Smolder. And trust me, what he feels looking at you is totally different from them."
Smolder frowned, smoke rings puffing from her nostrils. "And you know this how, Little Miss Psycho?"
"Psychic, Smolder," Ocellus said, nudging the dragon herself this time. Smolder didn't even sway. "And changeling, remember? We can read emotions and feelings. And love... yeah, let's just say that's a smell as strong as they come."
Yona laughed. "Ha! Ocellus say c–"
"Don't even, Yona. Gah, are you still twelve?" For a creature still grasping Equestrian, Yona seemed to adapt the vulgar quicker than the pronouns. "Wait." Smolder's eyes went wide. "Did you say love?"
Ocellus nodded, frowning. "Yeah. Like I've said all the time. Like before the dance last year. And before the dance the year before that. And like I'm going to say before this year's dance. Smolder, you and Gallus like each other. And every year it gets stronger and stronger and I swear I don't think I can take it sometimes."
"What Ocellus take?" Yona asked. "Love?"
"No," Ocellus said, giving a nervous laugh. "It's the pining. It's like nails in my gut, I swear. A screeching bat yelling at you two to just talk to each other already!" Ocellus threw her hooves over her mouth and blushed. "Sorry. That got a little out of... look, let's change the subject. "
"Yes, please," Smolder said, rubbing the back of her neck. Could it still be called a blush if it popped up and didn't go away for, like, five minutes?
"Yona thinks Smolder and Gallus should kiss already."
"I said 'Yes, please!' Can we just change the stupid subject?!" Smolder fell back against the trunk. "Scales, why'd I have to say anything? Look, let's just... let's just think through our routine. I think we're good if we do the same trick with a little more flair and land it a little better. But... man, we could do better. Let's go bigger."
Ocellus nodded hesitantly, and Yona gave a nod as well. "Yes. Do that thing Ocellus does."
"But what should I do?" Ocellus asked. "Eagle? Hawk? Albatross?"
Smolder looked at the three ponies. They were laughing now, giggling as one of their own made a joke.
"Ocellus can do a griffon."
"I mean... I guess I could," Ocellus replied. "That'd be a little heavy for you to hold up, wouldn't it? A griffon has a lot more weight than a normal bird
Smolder glanced down at her feet. "Maybe, but I'm feeling strong today." She glared back across the field. "I think I can pull off a stunt."
Yona raised a hoof. "Yona wants to do something bigger."
"Big? Like what?" Ocellus asked.
"I think Yona can handle whatever you throw at her. And she can throw Ocellus very high."
"No. No way," Ocellus said, shaking her head. "I'd probably just panic and soar off."
"Hmm..." Yona placed a hoof on her chin. "Yona have an idea!" The yak smirked at Ocellus.
"Oh, no, what's that look for?" Ocellus asked. "I don't trust that look."
"Smolder wants to show strength for Gallus, yes?" Yona said.
Smolder blinked. "Reading a bit more into that than ya should, but... yeah, showing strength would be good."
Yona nodded. "Then yak should be flyer."
"Flyer? Like, we throw you? Do you want us to get killed?" Ocellus asked.
"No, Yona stay on ground. Yona be the catcher." Yona nodded to herself, "But who said there only be one yak?"
"Wait, what?" Smolder shook the word salad out of her ears. "I'm not following."
"Trick the crowd. Yak still be base, but Ocellus can be yak too. Start with Smolder on the back of Yona Yak. Ocellus Yak jumps and flips into Smolder's arms. Everyone thinks Smolder lifts yak in the air." Yona grinned. "Trick crowd. Like magic. It's simple, but it will look cool."
"Huh... that… that actually could be pretty cool," Smolder said, scratching her chin. "A bit too simple though. Gotta wonder if it’s good enough..."
"Wait, good enough? What about safe enough?!” Ocellus blinked rapidly, shaking her head. “Back up. I what? I turn to yak?! Then Smolder lifts me. What in the wide world of Equestria are we talking about?!”
"Ocellus can be light, yes?" Yona said. "Ocellus tell Yona changelings can change weight whenever changelings want to."
"I-I mean, yeah. Kinda. That's..." Ocellus held her forelimbs together, eyes darting around the field. "That's a lot of work though. A lot of magic. A lot of focus when you're flipping in the air."
Smolder waved a claw. "Please, Ocellus. You're the most magical changeling I know!"
Ocellus blushed and nodded. "Yeah, but... I don't know. I'm not used to that form. Just changing form takes a lot of magic. Messing with the weight around that body..." She shook her head. "I don't know, girls."
"Yak is big, strong," Yona said. "Yak legs break boulders. Yona can catch Ocellus."
"What about Smolder? I mean... no offense, Smolder, but I doubt you can break boulders with a single punch."
"Wanna try me, Bug Girl?" Smolder punched Ocellus' shoulder, before eying the grass. "You're right though. We have time to practice though, right?"
Yona shrugged, biting her lip. "Arctic Blaze's team just starting. We have a few minutes, maybe. Not sure if enough to get the trick right. Maybe Yona should just do a normal pony pyramid?"
Arctic Blaze, huh? Smolder looked over at the pegasus and frowned. Now her enemy had a name.
"Yeah.” Ocellus whimpered. “Maybe... maybe we should just do our last routine, but I can land the flips. I promise I can do better this time."
Smolder shook her head, watching the pegasus begin with a fancy flip. "Nah. We got this. We gotta do something cool.”
"But what if it goes wrong?" Ocellus asked.
Yona nodded. "We fall. Yona probably breaks rib. Yona has many more." She looked over at Smolder concern etched on her face. "But Smolder break many more under yak weight." She rubbed her hoof through the grass. "Maybe Ocellus right..."
Smolder glanced over at Gallus. The griffon was back to reading his book. "We'll be fine. I trust you, Ocellus!" Smolder grinned at the changeling. "Trust me, we're gonna nail this trick."
"We haven't even practiced the trick yet though!" Ocellus threw her hooves skyward. If only Smolder had been listening, but at that moment, she had her eyes on the battle, not the war.
Smolder frowned, the show playing out on the practice field cutting her off. The pony trio bounced and flipped with ease. Smolder scowled as she watched their routine intently. Their pyramid could not be any more flawless in execution. The unicorns lit their horn to provide the pegasus with more and more height as they tossed her up and down, up and down. Then, when the mare had to be almost a hundred feet skyward, she pulled her wings in and free-fell! She reached out at the last second, a green glow wrapping around the pegasus and slowing her just enough to land a handstand atop the two unicorns.
The crowd roared. Smolder scowled at Gallus, who put his talons between his beak and let out a loud whistle before clapping away.
"No. We're doing it," Smolder growled
Ocellus' eyes grew wide. "What part of 'We haven't even practiced' do you not understand?!"
"I understand it, but it's a lame excuse. We're the best group here. We can do this, and we are doing this." Smolder took a deep breath, pressing her claws against her forehead, scratching along the scales. "Look, If anything goes wrong, I'm the one getting hurt. Not that I plan to, because this is going to be the most kickass routine in this school's history!” Smolder pumped her fist. "But, you'll be fine. We've got this." Yona and Ocellus exchanged worried glances, then looked back at her. The dragon crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?"
Ocellus took a deep breath. "I-I guess we can give it a shot. If you're both sure."
"Yona liked the idea," said Yona, though the tone of the yak's voice showed that she wasn't as certain as her words. "If Smolder says it's safe..."
"We're gonna kick those juniors' flanks, girls." Smolder held her claw out for Yona and Ocellus to place their hooves over. "Pass the test," she started
"Beat the rest," her friends finished in a monotone.
Coach Dash fluttered over to Smolder's group, smiling. "You guys are up next! Can't wait to see what you came up with!"
Smolder's friends took their places at the center of the practice field. Smolder took a deep breath and looked into the stands. She didn't know what was worth, the pegasus mare from the pony group sitting back with her legs crossed and a sly smirk on her face on the bottom row of the bleachers, or Gallus with that goofy grin on his beak giving her a thumbs up from the top row. She stared down at her feet, frowning.
"What's wrong, Smolder?" Coach Dash asked.
"Nothing." Smolder took another deep breath. "Just... nervous." She glanced over to Yona and Ocellus. "Let's do this. Let's give 'em something they can't ignore!"
Ocellus nodded and the three creatures took their places. Yona knelt down, hooves pressed to the ground, as Smolder climbed up on the yak's back and bent her knees, spreading her legs to balance her weight along the yak's extra large tank top. In front of her, Ocellus got into position, taking a deep breath, still in her changeling form. "Ready," she whispered.
"Coach Dash!" Smolder called, waving the pegasus over. "Could you move one of the hay bales over here?"
"Scared you'll fall?" came a snide voice. Was that Arctic Blaze? Or was it one of those unicorns? Smolder scanned the crowd, but couldn't find a smirk among the ponies. If she found out who...
"Sure, Smolder." Coach Dash slid a hay bale over, placing it near Yona's hooves.
"A little farther back." Smolder waved her claw, Dash listened and pulled it back. Then pulled it back some more. Then Smolder waved her claw again. Finally, Smolder gave a thumbs up as Coach settled the hay bale a good five feet away from the soon-to-be pyramid.
Ocellus looked at Smolder, eyes wider than usual. "If we fall, Smolder, there's a good chance we miss that!"
"A) we're not falling. B) it's not for catching us. It's for you to get a running start."
"What?!" Ocellus squeaked. "No! This is dangerous enough, I'm not–"
"Do you want to win?" Smolder snorted. "Or do you want to be a loser?"
"That a bit far, Smolder," Yona grunted.
"Am I wrong?" Smolder threw her arms out, met only with silence. "You screwed up our first run. It's time to redeem yourself!" She made a note to apologize for that later. Definitely too far. But the words seemed to stick as Ocellus narrowed her eyes into a determined glare, nodding silently.
"Are you going to do a routine or just bicker?" This time Smolder was certain it was Arctic Blaze. The pegasus smirked at her, both sets of legs crossed as she leaned back. "Come on, we're waiting."
"Yona not like that pony."
Smolder smirked and patted the yak's back. "Now you're getting it." She raised her arms high. "Alright, girls! Let's go!" Smolder called. "2, 4, 6, 8!"
"Friendship School is really great!" On cue, Ocellus ran forward. Not fast enough. Not loud enough. Not cool enough. But the routine had to start somewhere before it could grow into awesomeness.
"Faster, Ocellus!" Smolder shouted, wobbling for a moment before regaining her footing on Yona's back. As Ocellus neared the hay bale she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Smolder held her own breath as blue magic suddenly sparked from the changeling's exoskeleton like dozens of worms wriggling in the rain. Even from several feet away, Smolder could feel Ocellus' magic radiating like a ray of light across the field. Smolder clapped her hands, bracing her knees, moving her right foot forward, and curling her toes against Yona's matted fur. Ocellus bounded closer and closer. Smolder could see the fire in the changeling's eyes as she readied herself to jump. Smolder raised her claws, nodding to Ocellus that it was her time to shine. Jump and transform. That was all she needed to do. Then Smolder would catch her, everyone would gasp and scream. Ta-da! First prize! Simple.
Even playing out in her head, though, the routine was anything but simple. She half expected Ocellus to jump onto her claws as a miniature yak that somehow weighed like a dozen bricks. Or maybe she'd pull it off and transform into a house-sized yak that weighed as much as a tissue. The latter would be the coolest thing ever, but the latter... that could end in a separated shoulder. A bit late to change that now, though. She reached out with her claws, ready to grab hold of Ocellus
Surprisingly, the jump went fine. Ocellus got plenty of extra air, her forehooves clearing the hay with ease. That was about where the list of 'things that went fine' ended. Though Ocellus was able to get enough air for a changeling, she did her yak transformation a little early. Her back hooves knocked the hay bale and sent the bale sliding into Yona. That was more than enough to knock Yona back and off balance. Smolder fell flat on her face in the grass, the world nothing but green against her nose. It had lasted only a second, but it felt like an hour. Time slowed eve more as Smolder looked up.
Ocellus flew higher than expected, spinning end over end, flailing in the air. If the changeling had kept her eyes closed, maybe things would have ended with a busted nose at worst. But Ocellus did open her eyes. She did look down and see only Smolder beneath her. In that instance, Smolder could see the panic rushing through Ocellus' mind, and in that moment, all flips stopped and the changeling dropped like a stone.
Later, Ocellus would say that she panicked and though she thought she was releasing the yak form, in that moment she'd messed up and re-added the whole yak weight thing. Smolder wasn't about to try to understand how that magic worked. All she knew was that it sucked for Ocellus. It sucked that the girl had been thrown into that crappy situation and in her panic made it worse.
It sucked for Smolder too, but she'd come to accept that she had only one creature to blame for this: herself.
If only she hadn't pushed Ocellus to do this trick.
If only she had moved out of the way instead of trying to save the routine.
If only she had let Ocellus get hurt instead of her.
No. In the end, Smolder had no choice. No one to blame but herself. She forced the trick. And now she was going to pay for it.
She pushed her clawed toes deep into the dirt from her kneeling position and lifted her arms to catch the plummeting Ocellus. In the back of her head, Smolder told herself it was all going to be alright. Ocellus would change back into good ol' Bugbrain and Smolder would catch her and they'd all laugh it off over pizzas or something. As Ocellus neared her, still the size of Yona and falling as fast as a plummeting boulder, she found herself hoping that Coach Dash would fly in just in the nick of time and catch Ocellus or something. Because if that didn't happen ...
... Well, this was going to hurt. A lot.
Smolder knew it only had to be a few seconds at most since Ocellus had taken to the sky. Not enough time for anyone to put all the pieces together that this wasn't part of the plan and spring into action. If she looked to the side, maybe she'd see Coach Dash flying towards her. The fastest mare in Equestria, and at this moment even that wouldn't be fast enough. Ocellus had just screamed out maybe a millisecond before. Nobody could react that quickly.
She closed her eyes and braced her muscles as blue fur filled the entirety of her vision.
Smolder couldn't have picked a worse position brace herself. Ocellus hit her hands at an odd angle. The yak changeling's weight had, unfortunately, not been lessened at all, and the tons pushed down on Smolder's shoulders and sternum, pulling her back into an arch. The dragon's tail struck the ground, knocking the wind out of her and providing support to her legs that she didn't need. If her tail hadn't stuck, maybe her knees would buckle or her hips would get tweaked, but it wouldn't have turned out as bad.
Instead, her spine arched over the back of her tail, bending backward further and further until suddenly there was a loud 'pop' sound and she felt the back of her head slam against her own tail. At first, everything was numb and empty. Then the pain flooded in. The kind of pain that pushed Smolder's jaws apart but produced a scream so high and loud that it was completely silent. Just a squeak as all the air left the dragon's lungs.
Ocellus rolled off of Smolder the instant her fall stopped, switching forms in a flash of discordant blue, but the damage was done. Smolder could feel it in her back.
It was... a strange feeling. She could feel the fire, could feel the electrical jolts shooting up and down her spine, ricocheting around her skull. She clenched her teeth until she swore they would crack and tasted copper and dirt on her lips. And yet... it didn't hurt. Not like she'd expect it to. It all felt like a whole lot of nothing.
Someone was screaming. Someone was gasping. It was more than one voice—a whole lot of screaming and gasping and talking all bleeding together into a static drone. Shadows moved in and out of Smolder's field of vision. But to her, it was one big mass. A burning mass that pressed down against her spine and hit against her skull like a wrecking ball.
But one face stood out. A blue amongst the black. He was saying something, too. And while Smolder could see his lips moving, she couldn't understand the words. But she wanted to. She wanted to hear him. Wanted to know what he was saying. She reached her claw up. It felt weak but... yeah she could move it. He grabbed hold. The ringing in her ear she hadn't noticed until that moment faded as his voice trickled in.
"Smolder." He wasn't yelling like everyone else. Thank the makers for that. Screaming would just make everything hurt worse.
"Smolder!" She winced as Coach Dash's voice pierced through the fog. "Oh man, uh, stay there. Don't move. I'll get help!" With that, she flew off. Smolder scoffed. The teacher flying off to leave a bunch of kids with a hurt student? That was smart. Ow. Even laughing felt like another lightning strike to her spine. She definitely must have done a number on it.
"She'll be right back, Smolder," Gallus said. "Just... relax."
"I'm fine," Smolder muttered.
"No. No, you're not." He held her claw tight. "Just breathe, okay?"
Smolder nodded. Bad mistake. It was like a bomb had gone off in her skull. She shut her eyes tight and clenched her teeth. She could feel the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. No. No, she'd already screwed up. She wouldn't be seen as a wuss. She tried to suck the tears back in.
But... it hurt so much. Her cheeks were damp, her vision blurry as she stared up into Gallus' face. "Y-yona. Ocellus..."
"They're fine." His voice was soft. She could feel the heat of his breath on her face. He was close. "You took the worst of it."
"And yet I live," she said, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing and screwing up her spine even more. "How bad is it?"
"Bad," he said. "Really bad."
She chuckled. "Tell me. How bad? Griffon honest."
He sighed, looking at the ground. "Smolder... let's just say your back is bent all to Tartarus."
"You really know how to cheer a girl up," she said.
He sighed. "You asked."
"Please tell me my head's not still up my own ass."
"Nope. Close but your tail stopped it."
"I can work with that," she said. "S-should I move it to the lef—
"Don't move at all!" Gallus hissed, pressing his talons against his forehead. "Smolder, please stop making jokes." She could see now that, though he had smiled at her this whole time, beneath the warmth... there was fear. His eyes quivered, and his beak shook at the corners. This was bad. Real bad. He looked down towards her legs, and she saw his Adam's apple tense as he swallowed hard. "Smolder?"
"What?"
"Can you feel that?"
Smolder looked down as best she could and realized he had a claw pressed against her leg. His talon shook as he held it against her shin. "Anything?" he asked.
"Nope," she said. "Not a thing."
"Now?" He had moved his talon up to her knee, and still, Smolder couldn't feel anything.
"Nothing. Nada. Zilch." Her throat tightened and a chill ran down her spine. The thoughts tornadoed in her mind as her breathing grew heavy and the world turned a burning white around her.
She couldn't feel her legs. She couldn't move her legs.
Coach Dash leaned down next to her, running a hoof over her forehead.
She couldn't feel her legs. She couldn't move her legs.
The paramedics placed a brace around her neck, gently strapped her to a stretcher, and loaded her up in the ambulance wagon.
She couldn't feel her legs. She couldn't move her legs.
Gallus hopped in the carriage and sat down across from her. While the paramedics worked, he held tight to her claw. He never stopped smiling, never broke eye contact once.
The world fuzzed away into empty nothingness. And still the last thought was a panicked echo. A single thought that made even nothing itself uneasy. She couldn't feel her legs.
So begins a new story. As stated in the description, this story will be a romantic dramedy. Definitely will probably wind up being more 'drama' than 'comedy' (hence why I've decided not to include a 'comedy' tag) but one of the focuses I had when writing this was to include plenty of lighthearted and comedic moments—more than you'd expect from a story with this premise. Basically a story with a 'sad' premise that isn't... overly sad(?) Just kinda sad. Anywho, said lightheartedness might not be that evident in this chapter, but ya gotta start somewhere.
As of the publishing of this chapter, I have the first 8 completed—around 50,000 words total so far. Hopefully, this will give me a cushion to keep the posting schedule going. This is going to be a long one—hopefully, it'll also be a good one. Look for the next chapter to be out Monday (or earlier 
)
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In retrospect...perhaps a bad choice of words on Dash's part, given what's coming.
Yeah, I'll bet Ocellus and Yona both feel extremely guilty for what happened, regardless of who was or was not actually at fault.
Oh, but this fic's going to be a good one, I can already tell.
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It's where the force is exerted that matters, actually. Apply it in the right manner and in the right spot, and even the strongest of materials will still break. And having actually read the chapter, I can attest the nature of the injury is believably still enough to affect even a dragon so.
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Being resistant or immune to X doesn't mean Y cant wreck your day entirely. Extreme heat immunity doesn't remotely translate into a crush resistant spine.
Yowch, that’s all I can think after hearing the description of what happened to Smolder.
Well plushies usually get a pretty interesting looks despite it could be ugly they still wanted it my niece is like that she has weird stuff animals
Reopening the wounds. 'Sorry about your legs.' 'We're thinking about you.' Great. That won't change anything, so let's just move on from that shall we?
I wouldn't say words are useless or anything like that being negative doesn't help either and I get it I felt the same way too when I hurt myself and I couldn't do much and I get grouchy and annoyed too but being like that doesn't help anybody it just hurts not just only you but other people who you cared about
Aww I'm sure you do Yona and you guys are very cute together
Oh dear I felt like that's a little bit extreme
Ohh she jealous
Oh dear that's not good and what a way to start at the story so it looks like smolder is flashbacking about the day of the accident basically they were doing a couple of cheer dancing and smolder and the other two are getting their roof on with their cheerleading even though they kind of messed up a little bit and they were about to be next but Yona want to make the impossible which Ocellus feels this is a bad idea but smolder got very jealous and she really wants to go for it to get Gallus impressive her skill with her friends and it looks like they begin and it looks like everything was doing okay until literally everything collapsed Ocellus was panicking is still in her Yak form landing on smolder really hard and it looks like she's really hurts and Gallus trying to tell her to don't move but unfortunately she didn't have to because she can't feel her legs apparently something damaged her spine and now her biggest fear is coming in full force
I can't help but wonder: If dragons evolved to digest gemstones, might they have some essential nutrients? Could what's going on here be equivalent to, say, forcing a snake to eat a vegan diet?