A Shattering Punch

Rarity carefully pulled the curved needle through the blue hair-covered hide of her unconscious friend. The sinew thread was woven between the two edges, pulling together flesh that was never meant to touch: the top and bottom of Rainbow Dash's upper left foreleg.

-- -

As her friend snored like a horse, Rarity ran her hoof over the smooth shape she'd helped build. Round, symmetrical, the stump was perfection. Not that Rainbow would appreciate it.  Most ponies didn't appreciate the removal of their limbs, even if they were aware of the necessity.

"Nurse, I'm done here," said Rarity, and left the operating theater for the showers. "Oh, and don't dispose of the hoof just yet; she said something about mounting it as a, ugh, trophy for her mantle."

Did cloud houses even have fireplaces?

-- -

It was taxidermied for preservation, that compound fractured foreleg of Rainbow Dash, bone splinters still shoved rudely through the hide at nauseating angles. It was carefully mounted on a shield-shaped piece of varnished Ash tree. Below it read a bronze plaque, "Here be the hoof that saved the life of Princess Twilight Sparkle, a shattering punch at supersonic speeds."

Rainbow Dash ambled through the marketplace, headed for the Apple cart. Her gait had changed, but her stump still moved when she walked. Oddly, it still sounded like four hooves hitting the ground on each cycle.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "How in Tarnation are ya doin' that, Rainbow?"

"Doin' what, AJ? I'm just having a stroll. Ooh, that one looks good!" Rainbow pointed with her stump at a particularly large apple. The sound of a hoof striking an apple was followed by that apple tumbling to the ground. "Oops, don't know my own strength," she said, smiling.

Applejack's frown deepened.

Behind a nearby bush, Pinkie giggled quietly around the spitball straw she held between her teeth. She prepared the coconut halves, as it looked like Rainbow was ready to put her "phantom hoof" back down on the ground.

Best prank ever.

--end-