Hey all! This is an old fanfiction I had planned long ago but only managed to crank out one chapter for. I have the entire story planned except for a few kinks that need to be ironed out, but I've lost steam for wanting to write out this entire fic. However, I may return to it, simply because the ideas I have for it inspire me a lot. This chapter is almost like a prototype, if I return to this story I'll remaster this chapter.

Before anyone asks: Yes, Pinkie is supposed to have wings. In some concept art for MLP:FiM, Pinkie was meant to be a pegasus where another wasn't, and this is going to be an integral plot point later in the story if I continue it. If you notice anything "amiss", it's most likely intentional, so just roll with it as the mystery is steadily unraveled.

Please R&R! I want to see if anybody would be interested in me fleshing out this fic and what anyone's current thoughts are on it.

Enjoy!

The only thing you can think about is that your head hurts. A lot.

You groan as you lift your head, then set it back down as you realize you're in too much pain to hoist it in the air. Even though you're laying on what you process as the fluffiest pillow you've ever met, your head just hurts and you don't know why. You rub your hoof on your scalp to try and soothe it a little, but that doesn't do much good. Ugh, you hate migraines.

Your eyes briefly flutter open, but not for long as they're witness to a harsh light. You attempt to open them again, and they water a bit. Geez, why does it have to be so bright in here? Someone better turn down those lights a bit or you're going to lose your already short temper.

Wow this headache is killing you. You give your wings a good stretch, only to recoil. Ow, ow, ow, ouch. What the heck's wrong with your wings? OooOOW they hurt, you really shouldn't have stretched them like that. They feel like they're on fire and they're nothing around to soothe them with. Great, you're in pain from head to toe and you don't think there's anyone around to help.

Speaking of, where are you anyways? Now that your eyes have adjusted to the light, you observe your surroundings. There's… white, everywhere. White walls, floors, furniture. You wonder for a moment if you've gone colorblind. Even that TV hanging up there in the corner of the room is in gray-scale. You bring your hoof in front of your face and sigh in relief to find it's still baby blue, and that you are indeed not colorblind.

As you survey the scene, you also find another color amidst the sea of monochrome. Red. On a table next to you is a gleaming silver tray full of bandages soaked in crimson blood. You squirm in your bed, but stop, as moving your back brings you mild discomfort. The sight of blood sends chills rippling up and down your spine. Your spine that also hurts along with the rest of your body, by the way.

Its about that time when you realize you're in a hospital. And judging by all the gifts and "Get Well"'s on the other table to your right, you assume you're the patient.

Well, this is just perfect. Your plot is stuck in a hospital with what feels like broken wings, spine, and a concussion, with nothing to do and the Wonderbolts auditions are going to be soon. And you're going to miss them.

Ughhh. You groan out loud once again. Whatever, or whoever, put you in this condition, they are going to pay. Especially if you miss those auditions, oh they are going to burn and you will make sure of it.

You grab a cupcake from one of the gift baskets and devour it, releasing all of your rage on the poor baked good. Mhm, man, it's delicious though. You bet this was made by Pinkie. She acts like a bratty filly at times, but at this moment, this amazing confection makes it all worth it. Well, almost worth it. You are definitely not looking forward to her constantly flying after you once you're out of here, and you know she's going to be pestering you about every detail on what happened, which you don't even remember. Augh, the joys of friends.

Calmed down by the frosted cake of tranquility, you try to think of what to do. What are you supposed to do in a hospital anyways? The remote to the TV is on the table to your right next to the goodies. You're juuust able to reach it, far enough away to where you have to move your back. Just moving it even an inch hurts though. And there's not even any good shows on TV right now. Perfect.

You can't stop thinking about those Wonderbolt auditions. You've been training for this ever since you were a little filly, and now you're in a hospital and don't even know why. Thankfully, the auditions are still a few months away… Or was it a few weeks..?

You glance around for a calendar but of course none is in sight. Not like that would help though, since you don't even know the date of the tryouts any more. You had that memorized better than your own birthday, which quite frankly you don't remember either. You really are forgetting everything, aren't you?

Ugh, whatever, you'll remember all that junk later. Right now just thinking about the Wonderbolt auditions is getting you excited. Ohhh man, it's going to be just flat out awesome once you and Pinkie get out there to rock the crowd. All of your friends will be there to watch, since the tryouts are actually taking place just outside Ponyville. They did this instead of in Cloudsdale to show that they're wanting to see pegasi from all over instead of just the main hub. When asked why Ponyville and not a larger city like Canterlot, they respond with, "If you're good enough to join our squad, then you should at least be fit enough to fly out here!" And that's one of the few reasons why you look up to the Wonderbolts so much. Of course the best fliers still come from Cloudsdale, but it's a move that will win the respect of all the rest of Equestria.

Also because of this you lucked out on location and don't have to give the extra effort of travel. You've already spent all that effort on Pinkie, ironing her out on this routine. It's a miracle you've been able to tolerate her this long, she keeps slacking off and giggling when she should be training just as hard as you. At least her saving grace is she's as serious about this as you are. Geez, she was the one begging to do a double audition with you until you caved in. She just needs to put more focus and effort into her performance.

Whatever the case, you two are going to own this and the Wonderbolts will be begging at your hooves for you to join. Just the thought of it is making you squeal, though in doing so causes you to shuffle a little, thus moving your back, thus sending you into a world of pain, thus anchoring your drifting mind back into the hospital bed.

You pray you're going to get out of here soon. You want to train for the auditions so bad right now, and considering how you seem to be forgetting almost everything else in your life, your probably need a refresher on the routine. Hopefully Pinkie still remembers it, if she's even been paying attention to it at all.

As you eye the remote, you guess there's nothing better to do while you wait.

After about an hour and a half of watching reality TV, you're bored out of your mind. You are about to seriously go insane if some action doesn't happen soon. And just thinking of you maybe having to spend weeks in here while you recover… You ponder if driving that scalpel over there into your brain would be an easier way out.

You jump when the door to your room suddenly opens. Oh, thank Celestia, there's still some life out there. You praise the heavens for the miracle on hooves that gallops over to your bedside with a basket in her maw. She gingerly places it on the edge of the bed, with that precise care and grace she does with everything.

She lets out a light gasp when she sees your opened eyes, like she didn't know you'd be awake. "Hey, Rainbowdash… How are you feeling..?" She speaks in her hushed tone as usual. She looks intently at you with a soft smile on her lips, as if she's expecting good news.

"Well, pretty crappy if you ask me." You only speak the iron truth with these words. The yellow mare visibly winces and turns her gaze towards the floor. "O-Oh… I'm sorry…" Bah, you should've known you'd get a negative response from her with that. But hey, what can you do with Fluttershy?

"Nah, it's alright, I'm just gonna rest up here for a bit and be back in action soon enough. Can't wait to get to training again!" You stretch out your arms and wings to prove that you're ready to bust out of this joint, only to curl back up in pain on the bed as you remember almost every bone in your body is broken.

"R-Rainbow! Are you alright?" Flutter beings to panic. "Ugh, what do you think?!" You involuntarily snap back. The yellow pony flinches. Aw, man, you knew you were gonna regret those words right as they were coming out of your mouth. But everything just hurts and you really wish you could just curl up in a hole and die right about now.

Fluttershy frantically prances to and fro, until she finds a non-bloodstained rag and runs it under cold sink water. She places it on your forehead while spluttering out apologies for nothing, like, "Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow, maybe this'll help, I'm sorry…" You will admit, the chill towel against your aching head feels really good. You're able to relax a little, but not that much, since the rest of your body still feels like it was dragged through a bed of needles.

"Alrighty Flutter, I feel better now." You really don't, but you don't want to upset Fluttershy any more. She already overworks herself and stresses over everybody else. You genuinely worry at times that she's going to have a stroke or something from high blood pressure. You find it ironic you're the one in the hospital, and yet you're worrying about everyone else.

Flutter nervously backs off, "Ok… If you're sure…" She returns to examining the tiles on the floor again. This would probably be a good time to strike up conversation, especially since you don't want her to leave and have you stuck here for hours by yourself. The last thing you need is more time alone with your thoughts.

"So, Fluttershy… Anything exciting happening around here?" She looks back up at you with a puzzled expression across her face. "Uhm, well, no… Not much has happened really since you've been in the hospital…"

You know, speaking of the hospital, you honestly don't remember how you ended up in here.

"Say, how long have I been in here anyways?"
"Oh, uhm, about a couple of days. This is the first time anyone's seen you awake, actually. We were all really worried about you, y'know… Especially Pinkie…" She looked away as she said those last words.

You wonder why Pinkie would be so concerned about you, but whatever. Probably because she'll be worth nothing if you aren't with her for the auditions. "Ah, well, I'm awake now, and be sure to tell every pony that too. Seriously, encourage people to come in and visit me, it gets real boring around here. I'm about to die of boredom and I've only been awake like, an hour and a half."

Fluttershy gives one of her cute giggles at that, "Alright, I'll be sure to do that… And I'll be sure to visit you a lot too…" Pff, she didn't even need to mention that last part. You already know she's going to be checking up on you 24/7. I mean, she checks up on you every other day even when you're not in the hospital. But, of course, you don't mind.

"So, Fluttershy… Do you know how exactly I ended up in the hospital? Whatever happened, I think I might've got a concussion, since I honestly can't remember for the life of me…" You motion towards your head, the aching of which still has not yet let up.

You see her body tense up. "Y-you don't remember..?" Oh, wow, she looks horrified. You're kind of scared to know what happened now.

"Uhm, yeah, I just really don't remember. Mind telling me what all went down..?" You can't stop the obvious uneasy expression that creeps across your face.

She just keeps staring at the ground.

"…Fluttershy..? Seriously, don't leave me hanging over here." Your tone sounds joking, but the nervous laugh you let out betrays how you're freaking out on the inside.

After some apprehensive shuffling of hooves, she finally looks up at you. She starts to speak, but sighs and turns away. Her neck faces you while her eyes remain fixated on the floor tile.

After a few brief moments, she finally draws a deep breath,
"You fell during the Wonderbolt auditions and broke your back and wings"
She exhales.

You sit there like dumb livestock for a minute, not quite processing what you just heard. Once you finally start realizing the weight of Fluttershy's words, you nervously laugh and shake your head, "Haha, nah, quit trying to pull my leg, I haven't even gone to the Wonderbolt auditions yet. They're still like, a couple months away, and me and Pinkie still have those few kinks in our routine to smooth out-"

"Rainbow, you fell."

Fluttershy was serious. Whenever she straightened her back and stood tall, mustered up enough willpower to not stutter for one sentence, you knew it had to be true.
But that doesn't mean you have to believe it.
Which you don't.

"Heh, yeah right, you seriously think I'll believe that I fell? I've been practicing for years and years, there's no way-"
"I'm not joking, you fell in the middle of the routine-"
"No I didn't, stop messing around-"
"Do you really think I'd lie to you?!"

That silences you. She has a point. She would, or could, never lie to you about anything. A feature of which you hate at this moment.

You can't think of any comebacks, so Flutter takes the remote and changes the channel. She stops on the sports network, which is in the middle of broadcasting live coverage of the Wonderbolt auditions. Mares and stallions of all kinds sit in the stands and watch in awe as one pegasi after another swoops here and there. You can see the toned muscles rippling underneath their glossy skin, wing flapping after wing.

Spit flies as the crowd goes wild, cheering at athletes perform a show they've trained their entire lives for. The members of the Wonderbolts are a tad more defensive on signs of approval, only tilting their heads to slight nods of yes and no. More often the latter.

While most are probably dazzled at the amazing feats being performed this day, all you can think about is how you're in a hospital bed.

You're supposed to be out there.

You're not meant to be in here, you need to be out there with your partner showing off everything you've ever lived for and earning those empty seats next to the Wonderbolts. But no, your wings and spine are broken, and so are all your hopes and dreams. All you can do is watch people live out their dreams, dance in the light if even just for those few, golden moments of performance. While you're in here, a broken, defeated mess. Every second you watch only crushes you even further…

You bite down on your quivering lip, and your body goes rigid trying to fight back tears. You don't even care about the burning pain and the broken bones any more, nothing hurts worse than the fact you're watching everybody spin and soar and show off for the Wonderbolts.

Except you.

You grab the remote and shut off the TV, brutally throwing the defenseless remote against the wall. You hear it crack and shatter, shards clinking as they litter the floor, but you could care less if someone steps their hoof on one. If anything you'd willingly roll in those shards if it would give you a different reason to be in pain.

But, all you can do is curl up in a ball and sob like a pitiful filly. You felt awful earlier but not near as crushed as you are now. Just, you'd been training for this ever since you could remember. Half of your life had been dedicated to this, but now you aren't even given the chance. You've gone up there and tried, but you weren't given a yes or no, just bloody wings and a broken back. Even a no would've been less soul shattering than falling in front of your idols… Falling in front of all Equestria…

There are no words to describe how devastated you are, but Fluttershy's able to get a good picture. All she can do for comfort though is lay her head next to yours and whisper, "I'm sorry…"

She stays there with you throughout your entire episode, and by the time you have no more tears left to shed, you feel sick. Your face stings, so that's another part of your body to add that's in pain. Once you're reduced to a miserable, sniveling filly, Flutter gets the rag from before and wipes your tears away. She gives you a motherly kiss on the forehead while murmuring, "There, there.."

You can't describe how grateful you are for Flutter's comfort right now. Literally, when you try to speak you choke on your own words. "Now, now, it's alright…" Thoughts are still spinning rapidly through your head and you can't think straight, so you give up on conversation and allow Flutter to keep nuzzling you.

Once the initial trauma has passed, you mutter the single thought remaining on your troubled mind, "…What am I supposed to do now?"

Fluttershy lifts her head up from where she was laying, and ponders for a moment. You can tell she's thinking deep about her choice of words, not wanting to accidentally hurt you any further. But really, at this point, if you were ran over by a steamroller you wouldn't be able to feel the pain.

"Well, Rainbow, I don't really know… Once your wings get better, maybe the Wonderbolts will hold auditions again in the future..?" You can tell she knows its pointless. The Wonderbolts aren't going to have any more auditions in the near future. The next set of auditions will probably happen when most of the current members are old and crippled, and by that time you'll be sitting in a retirement home with them.

You sigh. There's really no point in whining and moaning any more. You're never going to get a second chance at this, so you decide to just give it all up. Maybe you could work with Fluttershy and her animals, or take some baking lessons from Pinkie and cook up some killer cupcakes… Or you could become a wayward vagabond, traveling from town to town seeing the sights of Equestria, recalling the tragic tale of your downfall to those who shall listen…

"Hey Flutter, I've decided I'm going to sell everything I have and become a nomad. Travel 'cross the country-side and offer my help to those in need, that kinda stuff…" She just looks at you and softly laughs. Yeah, you don't believe what you're saying either. But that still doesn't change that you have no real point or goal in life any more. Just day after day of tweaking the clouds and working the factory…

Oh, no.

No, no, no, -no-.

You completely forgot about the factory, and more than likely every single pony and their grandmother in Cloudsdale has heard of your downfall. Once you check back in, it's going to be a point of no return. You fell and broke your freaking wings for one thing, and that right there will get you reprimanded and you'd be eternally grateful, and baffled, if they let you live after that.

But the fact it was in front of the Wonderbolts…
No, that it was in front of every single pony in the entire land…

Tears snake down your face once more. You're such a disgrace, such an awful, horrible disgrace. You've not only let yourself down but the entirety of Cloudsdale down as well. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

Still, just thinking about how ashamed your hometown must be of you is making you cry out even louder than before. Flutter is frantic and pleading what's wrong, but of course you can't answer. You just let the worst thoughts fill your head, how every pegasus up there is embarrassed to say that you originated from that city. Y'know, they're all probably going to start denying you ever came from there, and if you decide to roll back around not a single soul will hesitate to take you prisoner and exterminate you. Then they'll proceed to burn your birth certificate and release its ashes to the winds if they haven't done so already.

You deserve it, but you can't ever return there. You can't shame them any more by showing your horrible face in that city again. You should just do them a favor and crawl into a hole and wait to die… Or, that scalpel is still over there, that would work nicely too…

You can't go through with any of those options at the current moment though, since you're still crying. Your voice is so hoarse it hurts though, and Flutter's still freaking out. "Rainbow, it'll be ok, shh, please, oh dear…" You bite down on your lip, swallow, and take a deep breath. Your breathing returns to normal, and Flutter returns to murmuring and nuzzling.

Well, there goes your life and everything you've lived for. What's happened has happened, so you decide to just let it all pass. Time to really stop crying over it and just move on.

Though… One thing that's still bugging you is exactly /how/ you fell. You acknowledge the fact you did, but, had all those years of training really prepared you for nothing? Something must've happened to make you mess up. You had that routine engraved into your skull.

"Hey, Fluttershy..?" Your voice cracks as you try to speak, which encourages Fluttershy's gentle, motherly voice, "Yes, Rainbow?"

"How… How did I fall?"

Flutter goes rigid once again. She doesn't speak for several moments, so you have to prod her again, "Flutter… What happened..?" She still refuses to give any sign of an answer, just continues to lay her head next to yours. You feel the heat of her body leave as she stands up and backs away from the bed. "Do you really want to know..?"

Well, no duh you wanna know. "Well, yeah. Could you please just tell me..?" You wish she'd hurry up and talk, since every word you speak kills your throat.

She avoids your eye contact and looks at the wall. "Maybe its for the best you don't know what happened…"

Hah, like you're taking that for an answer. "Fluttershy, I wanna know what happened, if you don't tell me then some other pony will…"

The sun had slowly been setting, and the monochrome room is now stained with shades of crimson and gold. Long shadows have stretched across the room, enhancing the medical tools and equipment scattered about. Fluttershy gains a stone aged, wise appearance, not unlike that of an olden mage who wishes they lead a more simple life. This gives the room a heavy atmosphere, and adds weight to all of her words as they eventually drip out one by one,

"…You and Pinkie were doing great. The other pegasi were amazing, but you two were brilliant. Especially you, you had nothing to worry about. If anything Pinkie was just a prop for your routine, there for special effects and to look pretty. Everypony from Ponyville, and pretty much everyone else in the stands, were rooting for you. Especially me, those lessons on how to cheer properly sure paid off."

A ghost of a smile cracks on her face, but is quickly whisked away. You can visualize the scenario she's painting though. It's everything you've dreamed of, perfect performance, everyone going crazy…

"Oh, but the Wonderbolts, I remember one of the team members was even cheering for you. I don't remember which one it was though, sorry." An apologetic look sweeps her face. "But anyways, yeah… You were for sure going to snag one of those empty seats next to the Wonderbolts… I was so happy for you, and Pinkie too…"

She's staring at the dirt on the floor, again. "…And then what happened..?" You give her a minute, and she recollects herself, though never locking eyesight with you.

"…You were about to get to your Sonic Rainboom. If everything you'd done before hadn't already amazed everybody there, this would. You shot up into the sky… So high, nobody could see, you were up there so long some were wondering if you were ever going to come down…"

"And then you did, falling so fast that sound couldn't even keep up to speed with you. I felt butterflies in my stomach watching you, thinking this is it… And it was…"

"You were coming down, way too fast to be able to stop. All of our eyes were on you, nobody was paying attention to anything else that was going on. Nobody saw Pinkie slowly flying in the way. I don't know what she was doing, I'm pretty sure she was planning something but I don't know what… Whatever it was, it was unexpected since once you noticed she was in the way, you jolted back."

"The force from how fast you were falling, then suddenly bending your wings back at an awkward angle, caused them to snap. We could all hear them crack, and it even caused a short Sonic Rainboom but it was crooked and misshapen. Then you fell, this time, real, uncontrolled falling. Pinkie flew after you and tried to grab onto you, but lost her grip. I think her briefly holding on to you slowed down your fall, so you didn't die when you hit the ground on her back."

Her face flushes, and her knees are a bit wobbly, "I… You looked horrible, I thought for sure you were dead. Everything that happened after that is a blur, I was just crying and running after you as fast as I could, as was every other pony… They immediately rushed you here to the hospital, and I threw a fit when they wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance with you, but got in to visit you as soon as I could…"

She trailed off, not noticing how you were faring to the news. All color had drained from your face, and your hooves are pressed tight against the mattress. You're visibly shaking, seething with rage with every intake of breath. That horrible, sick feeling rises in your stomach, telling you, "You know you never should've let Pinkie help out, you never should've, never never never…"

Fluttershy's mind returns to Equestria and realizes that you're about to go murder something. "Rainbowdash…" She couldn't pull any of her usual words of comfort on you. Don't get so upset… Over your life goal being destroyed? It isn't Pinkie's fault… That she flew in the way and almost resulted in your death? It'll be alright… How?!

You toss your head to your side away from Fluttershy. You'd turn your back against her, if it weren't broken into a million fragments by some now identified pink pegasus. Somehow you still manage to have tears left to shed, and thus you do.

You had accepted you failed, you accepted you are a disgrace, you silently accepted the possibility your wings may not ever even heal properly again, but knowing it was Pinkie's fault for all of this… That's the part that kills you. It's the part that's tearing you up inside, a pain far worse than all the broken bones and spines could muster altogether.

You just feel so… betrayed.

You hear a 'clip, clop' as Fluttershy steps towards your bed. Ugh, no, you don't want any more of her sappy words. You're never going to get glued back together after this, and she's just going to make it even worse. "Hey, Rainbow," She puts on her sweetheart tone and you're ready to snap back at just about anything she could possibly say, "I'll be going for a bit… I'll be back in a few hours, ok..?"

Well, that's actually something you like to hear. You should've known that Flutter knew you well enough to know when to stop poking her snout into your business, but the fact your entire world just collapsed is suppressing your better judgment. You're still sobbing so you just grumble something or other, and Flutter takes that as her cue to head for the exit.

As you hear the door slowly creak shut, you call out, "Don't bother hurrying back!" There's a 'click' as the door ends your sentence for you. You're pretty sure she heard that. At least, you hope so.

But then again you don't really know. Everything's just going wrong and none of this was ever supposed to happen. But you can't do anything about it now, all you can do is just sob out your pitiful life story into the pillow.

That scalpel over there still looks pretty appealing…

You heard Rainbowdash's last words as you were shutting the door. It hurt, pretty much the equivalent as if she just stabbed you. But you can't hold it against her, oh, you'd never do that. Especially not right now. Not after everything she just went through in that hospital room in under twenty minutes…

The thing that hurts you most is /you/ had to be the one to tell her all that. She would've figured out eventually, and it probably was for the best you told her then instead of her hearing from someone else… But still…

You're still standing outside the door. All you want is to go back inside and comfort Rainbow with all you have, but that would hurt her more than help. That and you really do need to get back and tend to the animals. If you don't feed them soon, you'll probably find an angry mob of critters petitioning at your doorstep.

You painfully begin to step away. Behind you, you wince as you hear a 'clang' from Rainbow's room. It sounds like she threw something, which you wouldn't doubt out of her. An impulse to run back in there and see what exactly she did is suppressed, and you keep your head facing towards the end of the hallway. As you trot along, you hear more clangs and bangs that become more faint as you reach the exit.

You glance nervously back at the hospital before heading home. You grimace at the thought of a nurse going to check on Rainbow, and getting impaled by one of her flying objects. You really hope she won't do anything as rash as that. No, she's better than that.

But then again, she doesn't have anything left to lose.