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Her Dreams Give Her Wings
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Equestria Daily
Monday, April 15th
Crash Course!
After famous Wonderbolt starlet Rainbow Dash had an accident at one of her shows, it is now proven that the accident was fatal for the elite flying team's most popular member. Official papers from Cloudsdale Hospital state that Rainbow Dash's wings are in terrible condition. Reports on when she will be able to fly again is currently unknown. (Read more on page twenty-five.)
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, tossing the newspaper into the box of old things, fishing out her old Wonderbolt uniform. A bittersweet smile formed across her expression, and she held onto it, screwing her eyes shut and trying to remember the days she'd effortlessly glide through the sky, skim across the clouds, perform Sonic Rainbooms...
...those days had been long gone.
Placing the uniform into the box, tears suddenly formed in her rose eyes. Phantom pain coursed on the sides of her body, and she didn't want to look - really, it was the last thing she wanted to do - but somehow, her gaze had fallen down.
She wasn't like how she used to be.
Where her wings used to be, they were gone.
They had been for a while now, almost a year.
She could easily remember hearing the doctors as if it were only yesterday.
"The bones in your wings are completely shattered, ma'am. They have no chance of healing. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you'll never fly again."
Those were the words that used to be in her nightmares.
Never being able to fly again was one of Rainbow Dash's uncontrollable fears, and she was genuinely worried about it from time to time, but she had always considered it as irrational. She was a pegasus, how could she not be able to fly?
"Now, I'm afraid there's only one way to heal your pain. We'll have to amputate your wings, in order to relieve of the stinging of your broken bones."
And now, she was nothing.
She stepped down from the Wonderbolts before the surgery, and afterwards, it only went downhill from there. Not being able to fly out the window on a flight when she was upset or frustrated only increased her anger, moving had become more difficult - she wasn't used to being on her hooves 24/7 - and the memories of the crash that had caused the whole downward spiral of events haunted her.
It was too much.
The mare who thought she was invincible, the amazing Rainbow Dash, had attempted a Double Rainboom - which would've been two Sonic Rainbooms in a row... and she had failed. The power and speed was too much. She had collapsed right into the ground, a crumpled mess, broken and bruised. According to the hospital papers, she was in coma for three weeks, and it only got worse from there.
Of course, everypony else was saying it was better, but they didn't know the pain that Dash was going through.
Fortunately, she was good at hiding her true emotions.
Unfortunately, she couldn't keep it in for too long.
This was when it finally snapped.
Gritting her teeth, with hot tears billowing down her cheeks, Rainbow Dash scooped up the box of old Wonderbolt memories - both good and bad - and tossed it right into the trash can by the bed. Then, she bit her lip, let out a light growl and finding no other outlet for her current mixed emotions, she reached out, slamming her hoof against the wall in a wicked punch that left a few chips on the wallpaper.
She slumped onto the floor, in a crying mess.
Why?
Why did this happen to her?
Nopony deserved this kind of torture, to be robbed of what they had since birth, and yet, Rainbow had been suffering from it for months now.
She heard a voice - murmurs, but she ignored them. Curling up into herself, like a scared foal would, the pegasus (former pegasus?) shivered and shuddered. Everyday, she wished that this was just a bad dream, that the crash never happened, she still had her wings...
But alas, dreams were far from reality.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was lifted up off of the floor, and felt a warm, comforting, sweet, snow-white, lavender-scented embrace around her.
It was an embrace she knew very well.
"R-rarity?" she choked out, returning the powerful hug and flickering her gaze up to look deep into concerned sapphire eyes. "Wh-what are you-"
"Shh," Rarity murmured, as she looked straight at Rainbow Dash. "I know what you're going to say, dearest, and I'm here because I heard what was going on. I know what's wrong."
Dash sniffled, furiously wiping away her tears. "I - I'm f-fine," she fibbed. "I just had a bit of a breakdown." She stammered over her words, and took a minute to think. Damn that stupid crash, not only did it take her wings, but it destroyed some of her brain cells too. Literally. Ever since it had happened, she had been a stuttering, forgetful mess.
"Isn't that what I'm here for?" Rarity questioned, with a halfhearted smile.
Although, it was quite difficult to smile when the mare she loved most was broken.
"You don't have to," Rainbow Dash managed. "I - I can t-take care of myself." She fought out of her loved one's grasp and staggered to her hooves, noticing that the unicorn was now a bit hurt. "R-really, Rarity, I - I'm not a foal."
"I know you aren't," Rarity replied as she stood up, her gaze never leaving Dash's broken expression. "But when I married you two years ago, I did make a promise, did I not? For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, through sickness and-"
The cyan mare glared daggers and stomped her hoof angrily in defense. "I'm not sick," she spat.
Releasing a deep breath, the fashionista reached out to hold her wife's hoof comfortingly, but Rainbow Dash recoiled at it. Rarity tried not to show her own frustration, and shook her head. "I can never help you if you keep pushing me out," she declared.
"I don't want your help, and I definitely don't need it." Rainbow argued as she began to storm off.
Just as she looked back, noticing her mare about to exit the room, Rarity spoke up, "Then why are you so upset?"
"I - I'm not upset," was the slow reply.
"You sure look like it."
A sudden moment of silence passed, only before Dash glared at her wife once more. "Why don't you just get off my back?!" she snapped. "I don't need help from you, or our friends, or anypony! None of you can change me back, so who even cares?!"
Rarity's expression fell, and melted into sudden realization. "Oh, darling, is that it?" she said softly. "You're frustrated because of ... that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Rainbow Dash muttered, as the tears came back. "How would you feel if you had your horn chopped off?" She sniffled and hesitated, "I'm not me anymore, Rarity. I feel lost."
The dressmaker pursed her lips, taking a moment to choose her words carefully, only before replying, "I understand what you're saying, but if you'd like my opinion on the matter, I never cared about your wings." She caught Dash's now slightly offended scowl, and backtracked on what she said. "I didn't care about them, because they had no effect on why I love you. Everypony who truly cares about you, Rainbow dear, your wings didn't matter to them either. They had no factor on why you have a special place in our hearts. Ponies love you for you, not because you can do fantastic stunts and you were an idol." Her pretty blue eyes met her wife's gloomy rose ones, and Rarity could see the pain. "Rainbow Dash, do you really know why I love you?"
Dash hesitated, and stammered, but before she could get any real words out, Rarity continued.
"I love you because you're a fighter, you're loyal, you're brilliant, and as much as you don't like to admit it, you have brains to back up your brawn. I know that if you go out at night, I could trust you, while some mares are unable to have that feeling of security with their partners. You astonish me with the secret logic you have behind your exceptional skills. Even when the going gets tough, you want to jump headlong into it. If somepony's hurt, you rush to help... but lately, ever since that crash, you haven't been yourself." Rarity stopped, taking a moment to catch her breath, only before giving into the finale of her speech. "And I don't expect you to walk out of something so dramatic with no scratches. But as I've said before, the clothes don't make the mare. That works for general appearance as well. Even if you had a grey mane, and you were stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, I would love you as much as the day I first met you."
Silence passed between the two mares only before the dressmaker added, with a bit of a shaky tone to her voice, "So, please, Rainbow Dash, don't let this injury be a major setback in your life. Don't focus on the pain, darling. Remember that everypony who cares about you, especially me, we love you for who you are inside."
Letting out a light sniffle, Dash stepped forward, wrapping her forelegs around Rarity and pulling her lover into a firm, tight embrace of tears and breathless laughter.
"I - I'm sorry," she sobbed. "You're right, Rares. You're so right it hurts."
With a bittersweet smile, Rarity comfortingly nuzzled back. "It's alright," she assured. "It's ok to cry, let it all out."
Burying her muzzle into the unicorn's silky soft violet mane, Rainbow Dash let out a shaky breath, only before faintly murmuring, "I love you too, Rarity."
"But I'll always love you even more, my darling Dash."
~la fin~
author's note: I wrote this for a fifteen-prompt challenge and thought it deserved to get posted on here ;~; It was inspired by Martina McBride's song "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" and the title is a lyric from another one of her songs, "Concrete Angel" - both of which are very beautiful tearjerkers.
I apologize for any feelz caused in the reading of this fanfiction.
Please let me know what you thought with a review.
(Also, this is dedicated to my friend, Paint Splat! Surprise, Ellen! Yeah, this was what was supposed to be Red Queen, but ponies invaded my brain and this happened. Hope you especially liked it!)