Rainbow Dash lay there as Happy Joy left them room. She turned her head to the ceiling, and tried to flap her wings. No dice, but the right one seemed to give a lot more than the left one. She tried again, putting everything she had into it. The right wing seemed to move more smoothly, whereas the left was limited to short, jerky motions. She let her wings fall to the side, the right one neatly folding while the left one was curled into a gnarled position. She felt tears well up inside of her. She did her best to bite them back.

“C’mon, Dash, not now…” she pleaded with herself. It seemed to work, but a single tear escaped her left eye, trailing down her face.

“Not now what?” A stallion said, walking in. Dash quickly turned a shade of mauve as she wiped the tear away.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to knock or something?” Dash icily said with a quaver in her voice.

“I don’t know...were you doing something I should have been required to knock before coming in?”

Dash shook her head, “No...who are you, anyway?”

The purple pegasus cleared his throat. “My name is Ship Shape, and I’m your occupational therapist!”

“Occupation...isn’t that like a job?”

Ship nodded. “Very good, Rainbow Dash!”

Dash smiled a little. Sometimes it was good being friends with an egghead. “But I already have a job,”

“Not in your current state,” Ship replied curtly, “you’re not much of a weatherpony if you can’t fly, now, are you?”

Dash turned her head away. “Guess not,”

Ship moved to the left side of Rainbow Dash. “Mind if I take a look at this wing?”

“Sure...go ahead…” and Ship Shape proceeded to lightly touch Rainbow’s wing. Scratch that, massage Rainbow’s wing. He lightly pushed and pulled on certain sections which made Rainbow Dash’s eyes roll into her head as she basked in the tender touch of her therapist. She still didn’t see what this had to do with occupations, but massages were nice. After a while, Ship Shape pulled away, causing Rainbow to raise her head, “where you going?”

“I’m afraid we’re done for today, Rainbow Dash. Nice meeting you,” he said curtly, walking out. Rainbow Dash was alone again.

A pony knocked at the door.

“Come in,” Rainbow Dash said half-heartedly. She then saw a very dear friend of her and the last pony she expected: Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia. She immediately tried to get up, but to no avail. She instead opted for bowing her head.

“That’ll do, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia giggled.

“Hey Rainbow Dash! How are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“Fine,” Dash replied, “the therapists are nice, so far...I’ve only met two of them, though…”

“Well, that fits with what I’ve read about this place,” Twilight said, “one of my periodicals said that this was the best place to come for physical rehabilitation! I’m so glad that I convinced Celestia to pay for it!”

Rainbow Dash glared as Celestia, “Don’t tell me…”

Celestia shook her head, “Don’t be silly. Your BiCare should cover all of this, Rainbow. I just...fudged the application a little,”

Rainbow Dash looked quizzically at Celestia.

“You see, the way the initials report read, it seemed like a suicide attempt. So I convinced the board that that tree had not been there the day before and you were flying the path by memory,”

“But it-” Rainbow started before Celestia put a hoof to Rainbow’s lips.

“You dare question the word of a Diarch?” Rainbow shook her head. Celestia sighed, then pulled away her hoof. “Good. I’m glad we came to an agreement.”

Twilight pulled out some books from her saddlebag and put them on Rainbow’s nightstand. “Here, I brought you the first couple Daring Do novels for you to peruse. Now you won’t get so bored!”

“Thanks, Twi,” Dash said, deciding not to mention how much trouble she was having reading at the moment, “it really means a lot to me.” Twilight’s eyes widened at that.

“I’m so glad that you like my gift, Dashie!” Twilight beamed.

“Welcome…” Dash said wearily.

“Let’s go, Twilight,” Celestia said, “I think Rainbow Dash has had enough excitement for today,” noticing Dash’s tired eyes.

“Wait, Princess Celestia,” Rainbow said, causing the alicorn to turn her head.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash?”

“Have you found a cure for brain damage yet?” Celestia hung her head low at that.

“I’m afraid not, my little pony,” and walked out with Twilight. Dash grabbed one of the books and started reading. Or rather, trying to read, her eyes jumping over the page randomly, the words not making any sense. She tried concentrating harder, to no avail. She angrily slammed the book down on the night table and fumed.

Stupid book!

Rainbow Dash felt tears welling up.

You stupid idiot! You can’t even read anymore!

Tears escaped her eyes.

This is all Celestia’s fault! If she only cured my brain damage, we could all go home happy!

Tears started flowing out, a bit of mucus escaping her nose.

Stupid tree!

She was yipping now, the salty tears slipping into her mouth.

STUPID BRAIN DAMAGE!

She started bawling in earnest at how unfair life had become recently. He tears only strengthened at the thought of her never being able to join the Wonderbolts. She lay in her bed, shaking and crying. Next Chapter: Flying High Estimated time remaining: 3 Minutes