Silence can be Deafening
It was, for the most part, a normal morning for Rainbow Dash. She was bored, so she tried thinking up things to do for the day. As she flew above Ponyville, she came up with several different little stunts in her head that she could pull off without breaking a sweat. It wasn't much, but it kept her occupied, that was... until she laid eyes upon her close friend Twilight.
Her heart skipped harshly, and she swallowed hard as she slowed and evened out her flying the more her friend drew closer.
"Oh, uh... h-hey, Twilight," she greeted awkwardly, and somewhat nervously, as she now found herself flying beside the alicorn.
Twilight herself had jumped at the sound of her name being called, before staring back at Rainbow for a few seconds, as if surprised to see her there. She then quickly averted her eyes back down to the bustling streets below. She bit her lip, seemingly at war with herself over what to say next as a sudden warmth filled her cheeks.
"H-hey, Rainbow," she eventually greeted back. "Um... hey, um, listen. Do... do you have got a sec?"
"Actually... I do," Rainbow affirmed with a smile. She remained wary of Twilight's strange, almost fidgety behavior, but ultimately put it aside for the time being. "Ugh, I've been bored all morning."
She dropped her shoulders exaggeratedly and lowered her head in dismay. Twilight, who redirected her gaze back to her, couldn't help but ease up, and even let out a soft giggle at her friend's reaction.
"My morning has been pretty bland so far too," she replied, with a look of relief. Feeling a bit more confident, and with lingering butterflies still swirling in her stomach, she asked, "Then how about we do something together?"
"W-wait... R-really?" Rainbow's heart started racing at the invitation. The two of us, she silently gulped, doing something... together...? Her smile fell from her face, as her face broke out into a crimson blush.
"L-like what?" she tentatively asked.
"Weeell, for starters, we could go grab some breakfast. I haven't eaten yet and I'm pretty sure that you haven't either," Twilight teased.
Breakfast, Rainbow repeated in her head, gulping nervously. C'mon, Rainbow, it's not even that bad! It's just breakfast with the pony you—! Y-your friend. She's just your friend. She paused for a second as she began to lament.
I can't believe that I don't have the courage to tell her. I'm supposed to be super cool, but here I am being so lame right now...
Rainbow sighed as she started to turn halfway, downtrodden. "Maybe next time, Twilight," she murmured.
Twilight's flying slowed to a hover, a hint of disappointment creeping into her voice.
"I-I thought you... you would have liked to?"
"Sorry, Twilight. I just... I don't really feel like it right now," Rainbow insisted coolly. "Truth be told, I'm not even that hungry."
A long and uncomfortable moment of silence set in between the two as Twilight stared with a hurt look of betrayal back at her friend. But she... said she was bored...
With a heavy heart, the alicorn princess didn't say a word as she all of a sudden left. She turned and flew down to the street below, before cantering off with her head hung low.
Rainbow was left with a heavy heart of her own, and a sense of deep regret as she watched her friend walk off, eventually losing sight of her as she disappeared behind some buildings.
The sound of her stomach growling broke through the heavy silence.
It had sent a pang across her heart, watching her leave... and only caused her frustration levels to rise.
Maaan, so uncool...! Look what you went ahead and did, featherbrain... She sighed, looking ahead dejectedly. I guess I'll just... fly around. Gotta do something to regain my confidence... Something that'll make me feel cool again, and get her off'a my mind...
It was then when Rainbow Dash decided what she wanted to do that day.
She decided to race all of the ponies that claimed they were faster.
She did so on a track that she previously thought of for a training route. The track swung around trees and buildings in Ponyville. In some places, the route would require a pony to pass right through an alley between two houses and swivel through lines of trees.
The only requirement was that a pony would have to be a pegasus to compete, obviously Rainbow's doing.
"Faster than me? Ha!" she'd declare, and before she knew it, ponies from all over Ponyville had come to watch and even race her. Rainbow, on the other hoof, knew that nopony would ever be able to beat her. Knowing this, she gladly accepted all of the challenges these ponies could throw at her. One after another, she won every single race. Yet, this didn't surprise her. Every race went the same: start, fly fast, maneuver around obstacles, fly fast again, and land at the finish line. This "event" was made possible once Pinkie Pie found out about it. Once she found out about something like this, everypony knew.
Start, fly fast, maneuver around obstacles, fly fast again.
Start, fly fast, maneuver around obstacles, fly fast again.
Start, fly fast, maneuver around obstacles, fly fast again.
Rainbow Dash repeated these lines in her head over and over, up until she passed the finish line. Over and over again.
It was nearing night when Rainbow Dash at long last, felt the fatigue of racing so many times begin to set in. Most of the ponies had gone home to their own homes. But her? No, not until she had Twilight off of her mind. She would stay and race until each and every pony had left. Before another race began, she looked around and took a moment to take in every little detail of her surroundings.
Heh, all because of me, she thought, brimming with confidence.
After admiring the field of ponies, Pinkie called her onto the stage she had put together.
Once on stage, Rainbow really began to see just how many ponies had actually shown up to watch her race. Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Carrot Top, Rose, Muffins... The Cutie Mark Crusaders were there, Scootaloo in particular looking to her excitedly, in anticipation of what she was about to say. She even spotted her closest friends seated near them. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and... Her eyes slowly grew bigger. Twilight...
Her confidence quickly dwindled at the sight of the pony who meant so much to her, who seemed almost disinterested in seeing her perform. It then hit her.
She's not still bummed out about earlier... is she?
Her ears flopped, and she peered away ashamedly, feeling a sense of guilt begin to set back in. Darn it, now's not the time! she cursed, doing her best to try and suppress the thought. I'm cool, I-I'm awesome, I—!
"I wanna see everypony clapping those hooves for the one and only, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie called out to the crowd, snapping Rainbow from her thoughts. As Rainbow herself turned back to the crowd, it now seemed to be way more than just Ponyville there to watch her perform.
After the crowd quieted, Pinkie gave the microphone to Dash.
"Heh..." Rainbow swiftly put on a brave face. "It's nothing. All of those ponies never stood a chance!" she boldly exclaimed. "Just sayin'. They were easy! I need a challenge for once! Nopony is good enough for me. I might just be racing for nothing, I mean, if nopony is good enough to even give me a challenge, than why bother trying? Either I end this right now, or you ponies need to step up your game. 'Cuz I will not 'go easy'. That's something I can't do. Either you can keep on failing at this while I keep winning without even trying, or you can actually give me a challenge for once. Because right now, you all are just a big bunch of losers."
Unlike me, she told herself, dropping the mic as she walked off stage. Everypony was baffled by the sudden outburst of Rainbow Dash's harsh words. Pinkie was left on stage watching as her friend walked away.
"Can't even give me a challenge." Rainbow repeated bitterly, shaking her head.
"What was that all about?" wondered Applejack aloud, alongside the rest of the murmurs throughout the crowd.
"That didn't sound much like the Rainbow Dash I know," murmured Fluttershy in agreement, a little shaken from the speech.
"Perhaps just all this racing's gone to her head," Rarity put forth. "I sincerely hope that we don't have another Mare-Do-Well situation on the horizon—"
"No," Twilight swiftly denied, speaking up for the time since taking a seat. She gave her head an insistent shake. "She would never. She learned her lesson, she..."
The others all looked at her worriedly as she slipped back into silence.
What's gotten into you... Rainbow Dash?
A stallion walked over to Rainbow and challenged her to a race. Thinking that somepony would finally give her a proper challenge, she happily accepted it... not knowing that it was secretly a setup.
The pony that had just challenged her to a race wasn't completely in it for the race, but for something far more sinister.
Rainbow wouldn't have a clue, until it was too late.
After getting to the starting line of the track, Rainbow noticed the worried look on Pinkie's face.
Why does she look so worried?
All of a sudden, a loud whistle sounded beside her. Her legs pushed off the ground as hard as they could, her wings flapped as fast as they could, and her eyes fixed upon the path ahead of her.
Start, fly fast, maneuver around obstacles, fly fast again. Win.
The air of dusk rushed around her.
There is nothing that I can't do.
She banked into a right turn.
He's so far behind me!
She had to bank left and quickly lean back to the right.
Eat my dust!
Rainbow saw the finish line through a line of trees and started flying faster. Soon she'd be in an open field to fly as fast as she liked to reach the finish.
Oh yeah. I'm the best!
She banked into a final turn before the straight. Rainbow saw a pony holding something out onto the track. She didn't pay it much attention, until it hit her face. She lost momentum trying to reach her hooves up to cover her eye. She was too focused on winning and trying to cover her eye that she didn't notice the pony coming onto the track to sabotage her chances of winning. At the last moment, Rainbow saw the other pony and quickly dodged around her in time.
No...! Was the last thing she could think about before hitting the tree. Instinctively, she leaned her head back and tried to reach her hooves forward in time. She slammed her chest and neck into the rugged bark of the tree. The next moments after that was blurry. She couldn't quite recall what happened next. There was the sound of hooves running toward her, and frantic voices in the air.
All she knew, was that she was hurt. Badly.
Rainbow woke up in incredible pain. She didn't quite know why.
W-What's going o-on? It... hurts so bad.
Rainbow could barely hear anything what with the blood rushing through her head. Other than the beating of her heart, she heard a slight ring and... Talking?
It was faint, but it was there. Rainbow couldn't move her head—she didn't even want to with how much pain she was in. So instead she tried to calm herself down long enough to hear what the pony was saying.
"I'm sorry girls, but Rainbow Dash has undergone a horrible injury and—"
Sounded like Doctor Horse to her, as it struck a semi-familiar cord with her... But he was soon cut off by a second, much more familiar-sounding voice.
"Will she be okay?" Applejack asked, demanding an answer with her distinct, country accent.
"She will be okay," Doctor Horse assured her softly, hoping to calm Applejack and the rest of them down as best he could. "But, she... may not be able to speak."
"What do you mean she might not be able to speak?" Rarity demanded, her voice teetering as though she were on the verge of tears.
Seems like the girls are all here. Wait... I can't... speak...?
Rainbow Dash's thoughts ceased. She went deathly still.
No. Nononono. No. This can't be... No!
Rainbow Dash tried to speak, but to her dismay... nothing came out.
N-no, I... I h-have to be drea... Wake up! C'mon, n-no!
Rainbow tried throwing the sheets off the bed, regardless of how much pain she was in. She just wanted to leave and... go somewhere nopony would find her.
With all of the noise resulting from her kicking, the doctor came in through the curtain, followed mere moments later by her six friends, who all proceeded to look at her with saddened expressions. The doctor himself looked at her with a grim look. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity looked like they were all about to cry. Spike stood frozen in place, bearing a stunned look of surprise on his face. Pinkie took a moment to sit down, her face bearing the most saddened expression than the others, with her mane quickly losing its poof... now looking more deflated than anything. Applejack stumbled back and held her hat against her chest. She looked down at the ground when she saw how banged up Rainbow was. There was a big cut on her neck where the doctor had performed surgery, and there remained several small specks of dried blood on her neck around the wound.
All of them seemed to be frozen in place. Had Rainbow Dash just stopped time? Was that even possible?
These questions were proven wrong once Doctor Horse spoke back up.
"Rainbow Dash, I'm not sure whether you heard or not but... You are not able to talk. It's the only major side affect from your crash other than the obvious pain and hearing issues. Your hearing should improve throughout the course of, um..." He glanced down at his clipboard. "A week. By the end of next week, your hearing should be back to normal. You do have a minor concussion, which should be gone in no time, and a broken wing from the impact. As for your fall, you were lucky there was just dirt and no rocks. With all that out of the way, how are you feeling right now?"
Rainbow just stared back at him with a blank expression.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he winced as he hastily apologized. "You should be able to leave the hospital in a couple days. You've already been in here for about a day. So, once you are out of here, take it easy. Really easy, okay? You are very lucky to have survived that crash at the speed you were going. I'm surprised you only broke a wing. Oh, and as for your wing, it has a small fracture by the joint and should be all healed up in a few weeks or so."
"Hey, Doc? When you're finished, will we be able to talk with'er?" Applejack asked.
"Yes you may," the doctor replied kindly before turning, and walking out of the curtains.
"Hey, Rainbow. You... you have got to be careful. Y-you... could have died," Twilight said, reprehending her while doing her best to hold back her tears.
After Twilight spoke up, Rainbow realized just how lucky she was. She really could have died. She didn't like to act weak in front of her friends—much less Twilight of all ponies... but she couldn't help herself. She too started to cry, silently.
"Rainbow... I don't know what to say... you... just..." Rarity began to cry as well. "I'm sorry. I-I have to go."
Rarity pushed her way past the curtains and disappeared after they fell back into place. The other girls began crying, letting the situation finally sink in. Most of them were too busy crying to even talk. Rainbow couldn't blame them, as she was doing the same. Nothing she could do in this moment would change anything that happened earlier.
Her friends soon left. Rainbow had wanted them to stay, but they were all too devastated to even see her like that.
Rainbow woke up at, what seemed to be according to the clock on the wall, midnight. She was in too much pain to fall back asleep, so she just watched out of her window at the clouds slowly drifting across the path of the moonlight.
Just like how that pony flew in my way... she remembered.
Rainbow's anger started to rise, feeling herself grow ever agitated. Though, she wasn't completely sure who to even be mad at.
Dangit! I shouldn't have been so selfish. I should have slowed down instead of trying to go around that pony, but noooo. I just had to prove how cool I am! I'd rather have risked my own life than... than confront Twilight about how I truly feel... Yeah, she scoffed, I'm so cool that I couldn't even agree to spend a little alone time with the mare I like... Hay, like she'd ever agree to go out with a featherbrain like myself, especially now... Rrgh... I'm so dumb! She slammed her head back against the pillow in frustration. Now I have to live with my mistakes...
She sighed. She wanted to scream, yell, or do something in an act of her own anger. She was mostly mad at herself at this point. Yet, she did nothing, she just blankly stared at the moonlight on the floor.
I'm sorry, everypony. I'm sorry, Mom... I'm sorry, Dad. I... I'm sorry, Twilight... I'm sorry I let you all down. If I could, I'd go back and...
Rainbow didn't know what to do differently. She sighed once more.
I don't know.
The next few days in the hospital were mostly the same: doctors and nurses came in to check up on her, give her food, and help her walk around for a little while. After three days of the same routine, Rainbow was finally able to leave the hospital. The only requirements were for her to go back every week for a checkup and to take it very easy.
After all... in her condition, what was there to do?
Every time she passed a pony while walking through Ponyville, she'd notice them giving her ugly looks. Ones that would cause a pony to go crazy.
Rainbow knew exactly why. She didn't know how to stop it though. Every pony would either give her a look, or quickly walk away, muttering things under their breath.
What hurt her the most was when Scootaloo didn't even glance at her. She just continued on by, trying to pass unnoticed.
Rainbow would have done something in that moment if she could have. Instead, she was stuck standing in the middle of the path, watching as Scootaloo passed by.
Rainbow was hurt. Not just physically, but mentally as well. She didn't know what to do anymore.
What was she to do, anyways? Was there anything worth doing anymore? Could she somehow get her voice back?
A million questions were running through her mind as if it were afire, but very few answers. Her whole world was set on fire at this point.
There is nothing that I can do.
Rainbow began running as far as her legs could carry her, ignoring all pain she was in... Soon it would all be gone. She ran until she was out of Ponyville. She finally stopped when her hooves refused to budge another inch. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she laid down on her back. She set all four of her legs to her sides and closed her eyes.
Rainbow lay there in the dirt and bramble of the Everfree Forest. She couldn't help but stay there, waiting as time passed by. She could almost hear time. Or even see time. She found it quite soothing in a way that wasn't easy to describe.
Alone, all alone. Rainbow felt alone, like there was nopony else, anywhere. She was completely... alone.
Other than the faint boom of thunder far off in the distance, there wasn't much sound either. She would have thought that she was going deaf if she were in the mood. But for the time being, she didn't pay much mind to it. She enjoyed it while it lasted, seeing as how there wasn't much to be enjoying in a time like this.
Soon after, Rainbow fell into the grasp of darkness and sleep.
Twilight made her way to the hospital, where she thought Rainbow would be. Instead, she was surprised to hear that they had already let her go. Funny enough, Twilight had received no mention of her, and she hadn't seen her around either.
Twilight made her way to where her friends were situated to see if they knew anything in regards to Rainbow's whereabouts.
"Anypony know where Rainbow Dash is?" Twilight asked her friends, slightly panicked. "I went to the hospital and they said they released her."
"I don't know," Applejack was the first to reply, with a simple shrug. "I'm pretty sure Dash is out doin' somethin'."
The rest of the group stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Finally somepony else spoke up.
"M-maybe Rainbow Dash wanted to have some time to herself, I mean, she... did just lose her voice," Fluttershy uttered.
Upon hearing this, the others looked down in a moment of silence, reflecting on Rainbow's condition.
Fluttershy noticed her mistake and quickly apologized. "Oh, I... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring it back up."
An even longer pause settled in, growing more and more awkward as each second passed.
Twilight sighed audibly, keeping her eyes down to the ground. She then found herself slouching in the chair and fixed herself accordingly.
"Should... Should we go... look for her?" Rarity asked.
"I think it's best we should," agreed Applejack. "I know I'd want somepony I knew nearby—If I was in her condition, that is."
"Well, w-we better look now, before it gets too late," said Twilight, who was already getting out of her seat.
The others started getting out of their seats and giving their forelegs a stretch.
A deep worry started seeping its way into Twilight. She could tell something wasn't right, just couldn't figure out what.
The rest of that night, the girls spent most of it in silence, not wanting to say something that might upset the others as they searched the town for their lost friend.
Rainbow Dash woke to the slight sting of rain hitting her eyelids. It was still dark, but she could tell it was sometime early in the morning. The sun would be rising soon, and she still lay in a puddle of rain water.
Didn't even work. Rrgh, I can't do anything right! Rainbow jumped out of the water, wincing at the sudden pain in her wing. She brought a hoof up to her chest and checked to see how her cut was healing. The stitches had been torn out, but it seemed to be fine for the time being.
Rainbow miserably made her way back out of the forest and back into Ponyville. Her legs were completely covered in mud and dried blood. Her chest was also covered with blood, and some water from the recent rains. As for her face and back, they were covered in dried mud too.
She finally made it back into Ponyville when another pony saw her.
Scootaloo... Rainbow wanted to run and go hug her. Instead, she was stuck, frozen in place, as if time had stopped. Scootaloo ran off, leaving Rainbow alone.
P-please, come back... I-I need your... help.
Rainbow fell. She couldn't get back up, even if she wanted to. She was in too much pain. She could even feel herself slowly leaving... herself. It was a feeling one would get when dying, she'd have said, if she ever got a chance to.
...finally...
Rainbow woke up in the hospital, again. This time though, she wasn't in any pain.
She was about to get up when she heard talking, again.
"Rainbow Dash needs help. We have to get somepony down here to help her. Do you know any of her family that could come here to Ponyville?" The same doctor from her last hospital visit said, obviously frustrated and worried about his patient's well being.
While listening, Rainbow heard the sounds of Twilight crying.
Oh no. Now look what I did.
"I-I'm sorry, I just... can't handle this," Twilight managed to get out.
After a couple minutes of Twilight and the doctor talking, Rainbow got restless. Sitting there, all muddy and dirty really made her go crazy. She had to go clean herself somehow.
Rainbow finally got tired of waiting and got out of the bed, walking out of the room. As she walked, pieces of dried mud flaked off her coat. There were more thicker parts of mud that wouldn't shake loose, she'd have to worry about those later. Right now, she just had to see Twilight.
Both Doctor Horse and Twilight were surprised to see Rainbow standing in the hallway where they were talking.
Twilight gasped at the sight of her friend.
She ran up to Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly, ignoring how much it might hurt her. Rainbow stumbled back but soon returned the hug. It was nice to see a familiar face that didn't just walk away.
"Oh, R-Rainbow... Look at what you've done to yourself." Twilight stepped back and looked at her, wincing once she saw Rainbow's cut.
"Seems like you woke up earlier than expected," Doctor Horse sighed. "Princess Twilight?"
"Hm?" Twilight answered, still hugging Rainbow.
"Would you be able to give Rainbow Dash a place to stay for the time being—I don't want her trying to fly up to her house anytime soon," he added, glaring at Rainbow.
"Yes, I would love to be able to. How's that sound Rainbow?" Twilight looked back over to Rainbow, who wasn't completely paying attention.
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked once more.
Rainbow Dash jumped at the sound of her name. She stared at Twilight, tilting her head.
"Would you like to stay at my castle until you can actually fly yourself to your house?"
Rainbow nodded her head in response.
Are you kidding?! Heck yeah! I'd love to!
Rainbow noticed the slight reddening of her friend's face.
Where's the others? Rainbow half expected a response to that question.
"Okay, now that we have that out of the way, I need you," Doctor Horse said, pointing to Rainbow, "to go back into the room and lay down, okay? In your condition, you shouldn't be on your hooves, at all."
Rainbow nodded her head and walked back into the room before getting back onto the bed.
Twilight felt like she was in the way, so she asked, "Do I need to come back another time or...?"
Doctor Horse looked at Twilight, pondering the thought. "Uh, you could stay if you really want to. It's all up to you."
That was all Twilight needed to hear.
Twilight walked into the room Rainbow was in. She came to the side of the bed, reaching a hoof up to Rainbow's hair. The doctor left the two alone in the room.
"Hey, Rainbow. I-I'm sorry if I... If I'm bothering you." Twilight's eyes started to water, but no tears fell, not yet anyway. Her breath feeling as though it were stuttering each time she inhaled.
Slowly, one by one, her breaths began to even out. Calming herself down, Twilight tried to find the right words to say to Rainbow.
They sat in silence for a while when Twilight finally found something to say.
"L-listen, Rainbow, I... I haven't really had a chance to talk to you lately, and when we actually do," Twilight started crying, even after she had tried her best not to cry, "y-you... don't have... y-your voice."
Once the first tear fell, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. Twilight didn't care who was watching, she couldn't help herself. Her best friend, her love, was broken, not able to be fixed, ever.
Rainbow could only sit and watch as her best friend, her love, was being torn apart each time she saw her. It was pure misery seeing your friend go through something as damaging as this, and she could only follow Twilight's lead, crying.
The doctor soon came back into the room with a nurse.
"Rainbow Dash, would you like assistance in getting to the showers?"
Rainbow declined the help. She was Rainbow Dash after all.
The doctor and nurse came to the side of the bed and helped her down. They then led her to the showers and left her alone to do her things. Once they came back to the room, Twilight was already seated, calmed down a little.
"I... realize how distraught you must be," the nurse spoke up. "I-I had a brother of mine... that went through a similar crash as Rainbow Dash. He didn't... lose his voice, but he broke his leg in a way that it wouldn't heal properly."
Twilight's voice cracked when she spoke, "I-I'm sorry to h-hear about that."
"Yes, and I'm very sorry about Rainbow Dash," the nurse sympathized.
The two gave each other warm smiles.
"Alright, Twilight, Rainbow will be able to leave once we're done giving her a checkup—as long as you make sure to keep her from doing anything that might hurt her more. Got it?" Doctor Horse watched as Twilight nodded her head in agreement.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Rainbow Dash came back into the room, towel in hoof.
"Aren't you looking elegant!" the doctor said.
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile, she did feel way better, now that she had removed all of the mud off of her coat.
"Alright, Rainbow Dash, we will be done with you after we finish our checkup. I might have to redo your stitches on that cut you got there," the doctor said, looking around Rainbow's body. "Other than that cut and a few things to cover back up with bandages, I think you're good to go!"
Doctor Horse was obviously trying his best to cheer up the two, and he indeed seemed to be succeeding.
He grabbed a needle and some stitching material. As he came over to Rainbow, he motioned for her to get back onto the bed.
"This'll be quick and painless, I promise."
The nurse was checking a few drawers on the side of the room. She seemed to be looking for something.
The doctor used gauze to clear the seeping blood from Rainbow's cut. He then had to pinch the cut closed before he could start the stitching process. As he slid the needle into the cut and back out, Rainbow winced. She didn't wince in pain, but in fear. She hated needles, and seeing it go into her as easily as it did, made her uneasy. It didn't take much effort for the doctor to glide the needle right through the skin, and that was the part she feared.
Twilight couldn't watch, she'd get queasy. So she resorted to counting how many tiles were in the room. It was hard for her to get an exact count, but she got an estimate of nearly 350 tiles, give or take. It wasn't very fun, but it passed time.
Doctor Horse finished up. He cut the end of the stitch to make sure it wouldn't get in the way of anything.
"There we go, all done," he said.
The nurse left after grabbing something from a drawer on the far side of the room from Twilight.
The doctor then started checking Rainbow's blood pressure and temperature.
"Everything seems to be checking out fine. I just gotta bandage up your wing and you'll be good to go, got it?"
Rainbow nodded, feeling restless already. She just wanted to get out of there. She had been in there way more than she would have hoped. Visit after visit made the doctors and nurses worried for her health. They even began knowing her on a more personal level because of how many times she'd show up a week.
Every time Rainbow Dash got hurt, her friends would always manage to persuade her into going to the hospital if it was bad enough.
Doctor Horse gently reached for Rainbow's wing, cradling it as if it were a new-born filly. He was sure to carefully, but securely, wrap the bandage around her wing. It was wrapped in a way that was around her joint, and around her body to make sure it held still.
That didn't even hurt! I thought it was going to hurt!
Rainbow looked at Twilight with her eyebrows raised.
Twilight giggled, knowing what Rainbow was implying.
Once the doctor finished with the bandaging, he helped Rainbow out of the bed.
He wanted to make sure she could walk comfortably with it on. "Alright, does it cause you any discomfort or pain when you walk? If it does, just point to where and I'll be sure to re-wrap it to make it better."
Rainbow walked in a circle around the room. Nothing. No pain, whatsoever.
The only thing Rainbow felt was the dull pain in the background, a side affect from her broken wing and, still somewhat new, cut.
Rainbow nodded her head once again, signaling that it was great.
The nurse came in the room with some papers.
"Alright, once I finish up these papers, you'll be all good to go!" The nurse gave the papers to the doctor. She waited patiently by the door to the room.
A few moments passed as the doctor wrote things down on the papers. The squiggling of the pen and the ticks of the clock were the only noises filling the room.
Doctor Horse soon finished up and hoofed the papers back to the nurse, who was already heading out of the room.
"Okay, you two are good to go. Have a great day, Rainbow Dash," he said as he held the door open for them.
Twilight walked into the hallway and waited for Rainbow to follow.
Twilight held a hoof out to Rainbow, "C'mon, we should get going. It's getting late."
'Thanks for letting me stay here, Twi. It means a lot to me.' Rainbow had written down on a board she was given.
"Oh, Rainbow. It's the least I could do for you, really. If you need anything, just come tel— I mean, show me," Twilight explained with an apologetic smile.
I don't know how I could have saved myself back there. If I ever had the chance to go back, I'd be stuck on what to change, Rainbow pondered, every night she spent awake.
She blamed herself for what had happened on that day, but was it really her fault? Could it have been somepony else's fault? As for the answer, she would never know. What she did know, was that her life was flipped. One moment you're trying to be the coolest pony ever, and the next you're the luckiest unluckiest pony ever.
She would just have to get used to it from then on.