Chapter One - The Bearer of Bad News
On the Wings of a Dream
By
littlepiegirl
Chapter One – The Bearer of Bad News
It’s funny, isn’t it? How one minute you can feel nothing, then the next it's like the ground has been swallowed from beneath you. Emotions are so complex to some, yet so simple to others. At least some ponies knew exactly which they were experiencing; she, however, wasn't that fortunate.
They say there’s a thin line between love and hate, but what about other feelings? Surely they held a connection, like laughing and crying, because that would’ve made more sense.
But in all honestly, she didn’t know what to feel. She felt nothing, which some would say is rather strange for a young filly. Instead she decided to stare, just gaze deeply at that one spot on the light, turquoise, titled floor. It was a nice turquoise mind you, like Ponyville’s lake in July.
She’d refused to listen to the monotone ramblings of the doctor pony. The filly had pretty much zoned out into an unresponsive state after he’d said it.
Those words. Those three words. Those words if said to another wouldn’t have created even the slightest of reactions, but when directed at her – that was different entirely.
She replayed them again and again in her mind, each time never losing the piercing stab into her heart. You’d have never of thought three words could change your life, your future, so much.
You can’t fly.
They had rolled of the doctor’s tongue with such ease; she had considered giving his jaw a swift buck. But what was the point? He was only doing his job in the end. He was just the messenger of her inevitable fate. Perhaps other Pegasi before her had bared this same burden? However, when the stallion spoke again it seemed like only a pipe dream.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this,” he explained, expressionless. “But, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
There it was, her last glimmer of hope trod and spat on, then left to rot forever. She’d become a waste of a pony, useless, in the space of a fifteen minute doctor’s appointment. Yet, she’d have the rest of her life to remember how it had ultimately destroyed her spirit.
At least somepony had shown emotion towards the situation. Even now, the filly was glad that when she couldn’t speak, this pony could find the words.
“Whataya mean 'never seen anything like it'?” her company bawled, the chair screeching against the floor as she rose from it. “There’s gotta be something you can do!”
The rainbow mare’s anger had been simmering since entering the hospital. It only took a comment such as this one to finally release it. It couldn’t be helped. Sure, she was reckless for the most part, but she was true and kind, and most importantly, she was loyal. That was the one thing the filly needed most in this world now, somepony by her side.
She glanced at Rainbow Dash, imagining what it felt like to walk in her horseshoes. To be amazing and fearless, to have no boundaries, to be … free. Right now, she felt anything but.
By the doctor’s instruction, Rainbow returned to her seat. No amount of arguing would cure this problem, and she understood that. The young Pegasus knew it pained her older counterpart not to continue the verbal onslaught, but it was no-pony’s fault after all. She just wanted to blame something, anything.
The doctor revealed an x-ray from a filing cabinet, sparking the pair’s interest. He inspected it one final time, before holding the black paper to a bright lamp in his magic. The filly’s eyes took a moment to adjust from the temporary blindness, making the x-ray blurred and distorted. She soon realised it was a pair of Pegasus wings. They were hollow and radiating a white mist from the grey bone structures. She thought it could be the wings of a ghost or the pony of shadows (if they were a Pegasus).
“This is the x-ray we took last week, if you remember?” he exclaimed, whilst opening an extendable metal pointer. Rainbow Dash nodded timidly.
The orange filly grimaced at the memory of the horrid whirring machine gazing down on her like prey. All the while silently judging her medical state, giving information she never wanted to hear. Yes, she remembered. She hated it.
The doctor tapped the metal pointer against the page in a circle motion and announced, “As you can see, your bone structure is completely normal for a pony of your age.”
Rainbow grunted in annoyance. She was impatient of hearing excuses about how things were “normal”. Obviously, they weren’t.
“This can’t possibly be a contributor to your condition, which is fascinating really.” The filly was glad to see he was getting a kick out of this. Next she’d be hauled off to an experimental facility, like some unidentified creature.
He focused the pointer and their attention to the dark, transparent areas. “I’ve come to the conclusion that you have abnormal muscle growth around the wing area. Such as, the base, converts, basically across the entire structure.” All this medical jargon wasn’t easing her confidence.
“This is the part I can’t get my head around. Your muscles are in perfect condition, but … they are in the opposite position to the anatomy of a normal Pegasi wing,” he confessed, scratching his head.
“Huh?” Rainbow questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, take this muscle for example”— He indicated a light, grey blob under the main wing bone— “this should be up here, above this bone. It’s the same situation for each muscular pair, it’s like they’ve been swapped.”
She sat, letting the words pour though her mind, wondering why she’d been cursed.
“Assuming this is the correct diagnosis, I’ve come to a conclusion about why you have difficulty flying. Because of these exchanges, your wings have more power on the upwards beats. You’re not generating enough thrust and power on the downward flaps, therefore not enough strength to lift you from the ground. The force from your up beat is overpowering the down, keeping you stationary.”
Rainbow stared at the middle-aged doctor, formulating a response that wouldn’t embarrass her, and more importantly her flightless friend.
When she spoke again, her voice was riddled with remorse. “W-what do we … do?” The blue mare scowled into the floor.
“That’s just it, there’s nothing you can do. You could try exercises to strengthen your upper muscles, but this could take months, years even —” He walked over to place a hoof on the filly’s shoulder “— I’m deeply sorry, Miss Scootaloo.”
The sun was blinding as they walked out of the hospital. It was like the glorious weather was mocking her depression. She didn’t care for the sun, not now, perhaps never again. Some might say it was an over exaggeration, but it really was the worst day of her life.
When the filly’s hoof steps stopped, Rainbow glanced round to investigate. She was kicking at the dirt path, making clouds of dust. The older mare wandered over hesitantly.
“You alright, kid?” Clearly, it was a stupid question with an obvious answer. She didn’t know what to do, what to say. Would anything make her friend happy again? She had barely lasted a week being grounded with her own accident. Rainbow knew she was the wrong pony to give moral support.
Scootaloo huffed madly, continuing to stare down. “No.”
“How about I … buy you some ice cream from Sugarcube Corner?” She grinned awkwardly.
“No.”
“Oh come on, you know the big, banana split sundae?” – She ruffled the filly’s mane – “How can you resist that? It’ll cheer you right up.”
The young Pegasus couldn’t believe her elders ignorance. Was she not just in the hospital with her? Did she not hear? The anger swelled deep within her mind, making it spin and tumble. She knew better than to take this out on an innocent bystander, in this case Rainbow Dash. But why did she have to say that? The backlog of emotion overwhelmed her, before she snapped.
“Cheer me up!” she barked, coaxing Rainbow backwards a little startled.
“Ugh … yeah.”
“Don’t you get it? I-I …” She tried her hardest to hold back the tears, but they escaped, cascading down her cheeks and into the dirt.
Rainbow placed a hoof on the filly’s shoulder, trying to win her over with a smile. “S-Scoot, look, I know how you feel. When I hurt my wing –”
“No, you don’t 'know how I feel'! Y-you don’t know … anything!” she bawled, slamming Rainbow’s hoof away.
The blue Pegasus felt her heart rip, leaving a sharp pang in her chest. Scootaloo was right, what did she know? The words left her month dry and bitter, like being bucked in the teeth. She would have much preferred it if the filly had actually done that, instead of leaving her standing there wallowing in stupidity.
“Scoot?”
“Just … just … leave me alone!”
Scootaloo only had time to release a low gasp, before turning on her hooves. The dust glided on the light breeze, as she galloped off across towards the edge of town, leaping over a small hedge on the roadside.
The guilt acted as a thick haze, clouding Rainbow’s mind. She stomped at a rock on the road, relishing the harsh crack as it crushed under her weight. Why did she say that? At first she considered flying after her; however she couldn’t get the picture of the filly’s eyes out of her mind. They were black, anger ridden, even soulless looking. Scootaloo was heartbroken.
In the end, she decided to just walk aimlessly, going nowhere in particular. She’d promised Scootaloo she would take her under her wing, but she was useless sister. It killed Dash that she couldn’t help, couldn’t save her. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for the responsibility? But she couldn’t cast aside her loyalty so easily; it was after all, her ultimate strength.
“W-what do I do?” she sniffed, gazing up into the sky.
“Twilight!”
“Huh?”
“Twi, are you even listening?”
The purple alicorn’s magic wavered from the interruption, almost dropping the copy of Fantasic Beasts and Were to Find Them. Her Pegasus companion had been tentatively distracting her from studying all morning. Not that she minded, her friends came first, especially ones that were in such distress as Rainbow was. Still, she really wanted to read that book. She shuddered, discarding the selfish thought.
Turning to face Rainbow Dash, who was fluttering back and forth near the ceiling, she smiled weakly. “Sorry Rainbow, but I’m not sure what to tell you.”
“W-well, I dunno what to do. She was really upset,” Rainbow gulped, gliding down slowly to rest against a bookcase. “I think she’s mad at me.”
The blue mare stared aimlessly into the mountains of books. For a pony that could control her feelings for the most part, her mind was overflowing in emotional thought. Scootaloo needed someone to look up to. What good of a role model would Rainbow be if she couldn’t even fulfil that?
“Rainbow, she’s only a young filly. What do you expect?” Twilight uttered remorsefully, crossing over to her friend.
“Ugh, still,” the Pegasus breathed, starting to lift some novels back onto their designated shelf. “It’s just … I’m not good with this kinda stuff, you know?”
Twilight wasn’t use to Rainbow’s self doubt. Clearly, this had been messing with her mind. “That’s not true; did you try to cheer her up? Talk to her about it?”
“That’s just it Twilight, I’m such a featherbrain!” she announced, jabbing the edge of a book into her skull. “I was so dumb, all I could do was compare it to the time I’d hurt my wing and stayed in the hospital for a few days. I was just yakking on about myself.”
Twilight stayed silent, making the Pegasus nervous. Finally, she spoke. “Yeah, you kind of are.”
“Twilight!” Rainbow turned to her friend reacting the book prodding into her side.
“L-look, think about it this way, what would you do if you found out you could … never fly again?” the purple mare queried, before blowing a layer of dust away from a shelf.
The thought was too unbearable to analyse. Rainbow’s mouth quivered when the possibility of the notion passed through her brain. What would she do?
“I-I …” she whimpered, taking a glance at her wing, then back to Twilight. “I don’t think I would ever smile for the rest of my life!”
Twilight nodded sternly, her gaze understanding and warm. “See, now imagine that feeling, that’s probably what Scootaloo is experience right now.”
Rainbow just stayed quiet. She expected a lecture from Twilight, but this was worse, this was toying with her feelings.
Wrapping a wing around the rainbow mare, Twilight sighed softly. “I’ve only had these wings a short while, so if I lost them it wouldn’t be the end of my world. But, to you, it would mean everything. It’s all about the thing you hold most dear,” she informed, looking to a picture of her friends sitting pride and place above the mantle. “It’s like Pinkie not being able to throw parties or me not doing magic –”
“O-or Applejack not farming apples or Rarity not being a … fashion freak?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but laughed. “Err, yeah, sorta.”
“Can you imagine? Applejack farming pears, it’s crazy!” Rainbow blurred, scratching her mane.
The pair went back to organizing books, both flying up to reach the top shelf. “Exactly, so we both know that it’s not Scootaloo’s destiny to fly, right?”
“I guess you’re right, Twilight.” Rainbow descended once more, grabbing her copy of Daring Doo she was about to check out for the ninth time.
Twilight followed, pondering in deep thought. “If you could somehow ... persuade her that flying isn’t part of her destiny or maybe show her flying isn’t “all that”, that might —”
“I know!” the Pegasus proclaimed, flying around in an arc before slamming out the door, leaving Twilight bewildered. The wooden door creaked in the breeze, revealing a fading, rainbow streak outside.
“Rainbow!” Twilight barked, although she knew the Pegasus couldn’t hear her. “I didn’t stamp that book! —” She stumbled to the doorway “—Rainbow Dash!”
Gritting her teeth, she continued to gawk into the now empty grassy patch in front of the library. Why didn’t that crazy mare ever listen to her? She hoped the Pegasus wouldn’t do anything stupid, but who was she kidding, this was Rainbow Dash.
“What’s all the shouting about? —” Spike tugged at Twilights mane, flinging a blanket over his shoulder “—I’m trying to sleep here!”
She huffed, deeming the dragon too lazy, since it was three in the afternoon, and he’d already had two naps already. She bucked the door shut with a low bang.
“Ugh, I have no idea, Spike.”