Chapter 10: I'll Take it by Force

Rainbow Dash bounced her ball against the hospital wall for the hundredth time that day. She watched angrily as the surface deflected her toy in the wrong direction, and it flew across the room, landing on the floor with a dull thud. Out of reach. Again.

Dash sighed. This seemed all too familiar. Just like such a long time ago when she had been grounded from flight, and gotten into reading of all things, she felt utterly helpless and bored. But this, oh, this was much worse.

Though her cracked skull and most of her broken bones were healed easily with small doses of unicorn magic, one front leg still remained immobile, and her entire body was shaken with immense pain every time she moved her spine.

Not only that, but her wings had been virtually shattered in the crash, almost to the point where the doctors were about to amputate them. Dash was extremely grateful to Twilight, as, knowing how important flight was to the Pegasus, her friend had convinced them to do everything they could to help her.

However, though Twilight had done her best, Dash still felt useless. Her beautiful factory was in jeopardy right now, and all she was doing was sitting around bouncing around a ball, while her second-in-command did all the dirty work.

Though she trusted Dr. Atmosphere to catch the three runaways, she knew he wasn't being very successful at his job. If they had already been disposed of, she would have been sent word of it.

Figures. If you want the job done right, you gotta do it yourself, Rainbow Dash thought sadly. If only I could... She sighed, glancing back at her poor wings, heaped with bandages and plaster casts. I'll never be able to help in time. Either Hide will get the job done, or my life's work will be shut down forever. I don't seem to have a say in the matter.

There was a knock at the door, and a pink mare bounded excitedly into the room, followed by three less enthusiastic companions.

"Hey Dashie! I brought you a present to cheer you up!" Pinkie placed a pink and blue gift box on Dash's lap.

Rainbow smiled and tugged at the ribbon. She gasped when she opened up the box. "The new Daring Do book?! No way! I forgot that came out yesterday... And I preordered it and everything, I was planning on staying up all night to read it the day it came out..."

"I know!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "I saw the mail mare deliver it to your house last night, and I thought I'd bring it to you! I know you planned on reading it last night, but now you can stay up and read it TONIGHT!"

Dash smiled and tried to hug her friend as best she could from her spot on the bed. "Thanks Pinkie."

Twilight tilted her head, confused. "I just thought you'd be... More excited to see it. This is A.K. Yearling's book we're talking about! You'd normal be exploding all over the room by now!"

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I know... I'm excited to read it, I really am, I just... Have other things on my mind. I wish I wasn't stuck here at the moment. I have important things to do."

"Important things to do? Like sleeping?" Laughed AppleJack. "No offense sugar cube, but you don't do much on any other day. What makes this one so special?"

I don't do much on any other day? If only they knew... She thought, recounting the numerous times she'd snuck away from her friends to attend to her duties at the Rainbow Factory.

She looked down, refusing to answer AppleJack's question. Her friends were oblivious to almost everything good she had accomplished in the past few months, and she couldn't tell them one bit. They'd think she'd gone mad.

Fluttershy stepped forward to the bed. "I hope you don't mind, but I've been taking care of Tank for the past few days... He seemed lonely without you, and since pets aren't allowed in the hospital..."

"Of course Fluttershy, I'm glad he's in good hooves. Seems like he might be there for a while though." She sighed, once again.

"Oh come on Rainbow Dash," reassured Twilight. "Cheer up! You'll be out of here in no time!"

"No time is not soon enough. You don't understand the half of it..."

The alicorn shrugged. "The doctors are doing their best. If they could go any faster, they would."

Dash didn't answer.

Twilight handed her a folded piece of paper. "From Rarity," she explained. "She said she was really sorry she couldn't be here to cheer you up. We sent her word of your accident, and she sent back her best wishes."

Rainbow Dash nodded, quickly scanning over the note.

"Dear Rainbow Dash,

I heard about your accident, and I am extremely worried about you, darling! I wish I could be there to help you, but this temporary store in Canterlot is a huge step for me! Customers have been just rolling in to get their dresses for the Spring Gala! I promise I'll be back next week, and I'll be straight in to see you! It must be killing you not to be able to fly for this long! Oh, if only magic could heal everything... You have my best wishes, darling.

Get well soon,

Rarity"

I'll be straight in to see you next week! Dash sighed. That gave a pretty accurate description of how long she was going to be in the hospital. Her wings could take months to heal.

She scanned over the letter again, the last sentence catching her eye. Oh, if only magic could heal everything...

She looked up at her four friends, her gaze settling on Twilight.

"Hey Twi, can I talk to you? Alone?"

Twilight gave her a confused look, then shrugged. "Uhh... Sure, I guess. Girls?"

The three nodded and left the room.

"Pinkie!" Dash called quickly. "Can you get me my ball?"

Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically and passed the ball onto the bed.

When the door shut for the last time, Dash looked up at her friend and smiled.

"You can heal me... Can't you?"

Twilight was surprised by this question. "What? No, Rainbow, it could cause horrible after affects! It could even kill you! Only very small doses of magic are to be used for healing. Fixing your wings would take far too much!"

"I don't care, I'm desperate!" Dash pleaded. "You're an alicorn! You can do much better than those stupid unicorn nurses! You're way stronger than them!"

"Rainbow Dash! They know what they're doing!"

"Not to my standards. So they can heal a broken bone, or a cracked skull. Big deal. I want my wings healed, and I want them healed right now."

"But... As I said, there could be after aff-"

"After affects, smafter affects! It's fine! I can handle it!"

"You could die!"

"It's worth the risk!"

"Rainbow Dash! I am NOT healing you." Twilight said sternly, opening the door to leave.

At a last resort, Dash threw the ball at the open door, slamming it closed. "Twilight! Please!"

"No! I will NOT put your life in danger so you can fly again!" She opened the door once again.

Think! Think, Rainbow Dash! There's got to be some way you can get to her! She paused, an idea forming in her head. Though it hurt her to do such a thing to poor Twilight, there was no other way. She had to do it. For the Factory.

She sighed. "Fine, you don't have to heal me. Just... Can you bring Fluttershy in for me? I want to talk to her for a moment."

Twilight shrugged, still confused. Fluttershy obviously couldn't heal Dash's wings. "Alright."

She closed the door, and a few seconds later, the shy yellow Pegasus entered the room. "You... Wanted to see me?"

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. "You're good friends with Discord, right?"

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Why?"

"Could you bring him in to see me someday soon? I want to ask him for a favor."

She smiled. "Oh, of course! I'm sure he'd be happy to come see you, and maybe even cheer you up a bit."

Dash grinned. Oh, he'd cheer her up all right. And so would Twilight. If she couldn't have what she wanted, she'd have to take it by force.

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