The orange pony walked up the hill and sat next to Rainbow Dash.
“Hey Rainbow Dash?” She asked looking up to her hero.
“Yea squirt?” Rainbow Dash responded, staring into the sky.
“Why do you want to become part of the Wonderbolts so badly?” Her eyes lit up. “Is it just to show how fast you are?” Rainbow Dash looked down at the gleaming pony.
“Well Scootaloo, the Wonderbolts donʼt only represent speed and skill like what most ponies think they do. They also represent honor, loyalty, and bravery.” Scootaloo moved closer to Rainbow.
“Wow, really?”
“Yea,” Rainbow snickered. “In fact, the origin of the Wonderbolts is a story to be told across Equestria, but itʼs one thatʼs often overlooked.” Scootaloo jumped up with excitement.
“Do you know it, Rainbow Dash?” She asked.
“Do I know the story? Ha!” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and hovered above the ground. “I know the story like I know the skies of Ponyville. My grand dad would tell me the story whenever I got really sick. And his father to him, and his father to him, all the way back to when they first formed.”
“Oh, well uh,” Scootaloo dug her hoof into the ground. “Would you mind telling me?”
“No problem kiddo.” Rainbow Dash sat back down on the ground. “Every Pegasus pony should know this story. Just sit back and get comfortable while I tell you about the origin of the Wonderbolts.” …........................................................................................................................................................
It all started over a thousand years ago in a town that we know today as Fillydelphia. So long ago that Princess Celestia wasn’t even ruler of Equestria yet. At the time, it was Princess Dawn. Surprisingly, she had no blood relation to Princess Celestia or Luna, or which we know of. Either way, Dawn was a kind ruler: a ruler who would gladly risk her life to protect her land and her ponies, as were all rulers of Equestria.
So, our story starts right after the big fire. As you may or may not have heard, that fire burned down hundreds of thousands of acres, and in the process burned hundreds of houses and killed a few hundred ponies. It started in the middle of the night in a small neighborhood, when three best friends came back from a night of shenanigans.
“You see, I live by a certain moral code,” said the first stallion with his head up high.
“A moral code?” said the second stallion, laughing to himself.
“You know we just spent the night stealing, right?”
“Yea, but I only steal items that I truly need, like this bread,” said the first stallion gesturing to his saddlebag. “My mom has been getting progressively sick over the past few days, even to the point where she canʼt get out of bed.”
“Stealing is stealing, no matter which way you look at it,” said the young Mare walking with them. “I donʼt understand how you guys can be okay with it.”
“We just are, okay? Plus, we’re good at it,” said both of the stallions at once. The first stallions name was Wonderbolt, and he was walking next to his cousin, Shadowbolt. Behind them was their friend Light Dancer.
“So why do you steal then?” Asked Wonder. Shadow smirked.
“I do it for the thrill, the adrenalin!” He said as he burst high into the air. He was looking around when his eyes met the yellow and red glaze that covered his village.
“Guys, something is happening,” he said in a more hurried, serious tone. “What is it?” Asked the other two ponies, looking up at their frightened friend.
“Look over there, over the trees where our village is.” The other two ponies hovered into the air and their eyes met at the same place as Shadow’s. Their village was ablaze.
“Guys, we need to get help, now!” yelled Wonder to his friends. “Light, go notify the fire ponies, Shadow and I will try and see what we can do here.” And like that, Light went off back towards the town they just came from while Wonder and Shadow went off towards the fire. Now, they were not colts anymore, but they were still quite young, so they would not be able to do much about the fire, and deep down, Wonder knew that. They flew into the flaming vortex that was engulfing the houses.
“Shadow, we need to get everypony out of here!”
“Screw that, Iʼm going to help my mom!”
“Shadow, we need to do this. Iʼm sure our parents are fine.”
“I canʼt take the risk, you help them if you want, but Iʼm going to my house.” Shadow took off towards his house and left Wonder floating there, speechless. He knew there was no time to dwell on Shadow right now, so he burst into action. It was obvious that the location that the fire started was gone, so he flew to the houses close to where the fire was. He flew down the road, knocking on all the doors screaming about the fire, telling everypony to get out of the house and head for the town. After he started to see a steady stream of ponies pouring out of their homes and down the street, he flew to his house.
When he got to there, his worst fears became a terrifying reality. His house was engulfed in flames, and he watched as part of the roof cave in on itself. He burst in through his parentʼs window, which was on the second floor, and saw that part of the ceiling rubble was on the bed. He flew through the smoke and saw the top half of his mom underneath the rubble. His Dad was not in the bed. His mom had blood dripping from her mouth, while her lifeless eyes watched the burning wall to her right. …...............................................................................................................................................................
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Scootaloo, distraught from what she just heard. “You never said anything about dying!”
“Yea, I probably should have mentioned that. But listen, dying is just a part of life, and when youʼre a Wonderbolt, you need to embrace the dangers that lie ahead of you.”
“I know, but...” Scootalooʼs face dropped and her ears lowered. “I have had bad experiences with death.” A tear started to roll down her cheek. Rainbow Dash moved in closer to Scootaloo and put her wing around her.
“I know kid, but you have Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, their families,” Rainbow paused. “You have everypony to be there for you. Most importantly, I will be there for you.” Scootaloo looked up at Rainbowʼs smiling face and flashed a slight smile.
“Thanks Rainbow,” she said as she gave Rainbow a big hug.
“No problem kiddo. Now, do you want me to keep telling the story?”
“Yea,” she said wiping away the tear.
“Alright then, now where was I?” …...............................................................................................................................................................
“MOM!!” screamed Wonder through the smoke. “Mom, please be okay. Mom!” Wonder knew that his Mom was gone even though he did not want to admit it. Tears started to roll down his cheeks, each one falling to the burning, fiery abyss below him.
“Wonderbolt,” screamed a voice from downstairs.
“Dad!” screamed Wonder. “Where are you!?”
“Iʼm downstairs, hurry!” He yelled. Wonder quickly flew downstairs, but there was so much smoke he couldn't see anything. The smoke was getting intense and started to burn his eyes and was making it increasingly difficult for Wonder to breathe. He was forced to close his eyes for the time being.
“Dad!” he coughed into the fiery void that used to be his home. No answer. Wonder was beyond terrified when he heard some coughing. He listened for the coughing again, and when he heard it he followed the noise which eventually led him to his Dad, who was pinned underneath some rubble. He opened his eyes, which at this point was extremely painful for him.
“Wonder,” his Dad said. “Your mother and I, we’ve always loved you very much. Please, donʼt ever change who you are.”
“Dad, no!” Screamed Wonder. “Youʼre going to be fine, stop talking like that!” Wonder tried to lift up the rubble but was unsuccessful.
“Wonder, I have lived a full life and I want you to live yours. You need to get out of here, there’s not much time.” The fire was raging, more parts of the house were coming down.
“No Dad, I wonʼt leave you! I love you!” Yelled Wonder, his eyes closed shut, tears continuing to flow.
“There is no more time for me Wonder, go now!” His Dad yelled at the top of his lungs. Wonder opened his eyes just a bit to see his Dad one last time. Wonder could see the emotions running through his Dads eyes. He could see sadness, he could see pain, he could see every negative thing there was to see... All except one. Wonder did not see any fear in his Dad’s eyes.
Wonder looked around but could see no escape route. There was too much fire to go back upstairs, and the different doorways were blocked. Wonder knew there was only one way out.
“I love you Dad,” he said as he closed his eyes again. Wonder put his front hoof above his head and shot straight up, bursting through the roof of his house. As he broke the roof of the house, he felt something cut into his leg, but he ignored it. He flew high into the air and heard his house come crashing to the ground. He tried to open his eyes again, but it was still quite painful for him to do so, so he only opened his right eye just a little bit. He flew out of his neighborhood and saw Light Dancer following the fire ponies, all of whom were using magic to carry copious amounts of water.
He saw Light Dancer mouthing something to him, obviously filled with worry but he kept on flying. He kept flying and didn’t turn back. He closed his eyes again but were only greeted with the sight of his parents death and the fire that burned down his village. He couldn’t see where he was going, but he still flew. He flew until suddenly...
…........................................................................................................................................................
“Hi Scootaloo! Hi Rainbow Dash!” Said a happy Twilight trotting up the hill. “What are you guys up to?”
“Oh, I'm just telling Scootaloo here the origin of how the Wonderbolts started.” Said Rainbow Dash as she hugged Scootaloo. Scootaloo pushed away from her and sat down again.
“Yea, and she just got to a really interesting part! Please keep going Rainbow Dash!”
“But I just wanted to know if Rainbow wanted to...”
“No,” said Scootaloo interrupting Twilight mid sentence. Twilight could obviously see that Scootaloo was excited about this.
“Alright, I'll let you guys be to your story time,” giggled Twilight. “In fact, I would like to hear about this story. I mean of course I read about it in my studies, but it would be nice to hear it in a story form.” The purple pony sat right down in front of Rainbow Dash and waited for her to start again.
“Well Scoots, I guess you have a story partner. So, where we. Oh right! Flying through the air.”
…........................................................................................................................................................
Wonder kept on flying until every part of his body ached. He kept flying when suddenly, BAM! He flew straight into a tree and fell the earth unmoving. A few hours had passed and the light blue stallion was still not moving. Wonder gained a little bit of consciousness . He laid there in this half awake state, looking around him. He heard some growling from behind a few trees and saw a pack of Timberwolves jump out.
They walked over to Wonder and started to sniff him. Wonder was too worn out to fight back so he just laid there waiting for his fate to come. Just when he thought the wolf was going to eat him, he saw two strange looking ponies jump out of some bushes and toss something onto the ground. The smoke they created seemed to have irritated the timberwolves because they ran away after taking one whiff of it with their giant wooden snouts.
The two mysterious ponies stood over the semi-conscious colt and hoisted him onto one of their backs. Wonder was still quite dizzy and it seemed as though he would not be conscious much longer. All he was before he blacked out again was a black tail swinging behind a black and white pony.
Wonder woke up with a terrible headache. He could still picture his parents faces from the night before. He saw his mothers face and the blood that dripped to the ground that formed a tiny puddle. He remembered his fathers eyes. He remembered how his dad showed no fear, even in the face of death. He tried to sit up but heard a voice telling him not to.
“No young one, stay there. You have suffered a nasty fall and have broken your wing.” said the mysterious and strange looking pony. Wonder looked at his wing, but instead of seeing feathers, he saw bandages. His entire wing was bandaged up.
“When you fell from above, you landed on your wing fully extended and broke many bones.” said the pony walking over to Wonder. Wonder winced in pain as he lifted up the broken appendage. “I had to wrap up the entire thing. I'm afraid you will not be able to fly for awhile.” Wonder was trying to process all of this information at once. He had questions and wanted answers, but the only thing he got out was:
“You guys are some strange looking ponies.” The second pony looked to him.
“That might be because we are not ponies. You see, we are Zebras.”
“Oh, I've read about those before. I never really saw one in real life. Ugh, I have so many questions. First off I wanted to know what happened, where did you find me? Why did...” Wonder went on for a little bit, and what sounded like actual questions to him sounded like a stream of incoherent thoughts to the zebras.
“Whoa, slow down there,” interrupted the first zebra putting his hoof up in the air. “Take it one clean thought at a time.” Wonder took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.
“Where am I?”
“You are in the Everfree Forest, just a few miles outside of Canterlot.”
“Canterlot,” Wonder said quietly. “I must have flown for quite some time. Who are you guys and how did you save me?”
“My name is Zéb,” said the first zebra. “And this is my brother, Punda,” he said gesturing to the zebra sitting in the back. “We were out collecting herbs for our medicines when we smelled the stench of the timberwolf's breath. We jumped to them and threw down a little bottle of what we like to call ‘Smokey Ash’, they hate the smell of it. Once they were gone we noticed you on the ground and well, we were not going to leave an obviously injured pony in the middle of these dangerous woods. I guess it was an act of Dawn that we found you.”
Wonder leaned his head down, absorbing everything they were saying. He was just lying there, helpless, and they just helped him like it was their duty to do so. He was thinking of what he could do for them when he remembered the fire. He shot out of bed but the immense pain in his wing brought him right back down.
“You must not fly, it will be awhile before you are able to do so,” said Zéb nudging Wonder back to the bed.
“But the fire, my village,” Wonder started to stammer as he broke out into a cold sweat when Punda interrupted.
“Are you talking about the fire that burned down the village on the eastern side of Equestria?”
“Wait, what did you hear about that fire, that was my home town.”
“I heard there is nothing left of it, and if it was not for a pony who warned everyone about it, a lot more lives could have been lost. Heard he hasn’t been found since the fire though.”
“He hasn’t been found because that pony was me,” said Wonder who was filled with relief that his plan saved many lives. He then started to think of his parents again and any happy feeling that he had was wiped away again.
“I need to get back there to see if my friends are okay,” said Wonder in a much more serious tone.
“I'm sorry, but it would take days, even weeks to trot there,” said Zéb looking apolitically towards Wonder. “Besides, you need your rest.”
Wonder sighed and leaned back against the bed. He tried to hoist himself up farther but winced at a pain in his lower body. He looked down and noticed for the first time that his flank was bandaged up.
“What happened here,” asked Wonder pointing to the bandage.
“You had a pretty nasty cut when we found you,” said Zéb. “It was still bleeding a little bit, but we cleaned and disinfected it. I won't lie, it will leave a pretty big scar, and right over your cutie mark also.”
“So I guess I'll be here for awhile, so I might as well see what I can do to help around here,” said Wonder, tilting his head back in frustration.
“What you can do right now is rest,” said Punda pushing him into the bed. “If you want, you can help later, but for now, rest.”
That is exactly what Wonder did. He stayed with the zebras and rested for a few days, and when he was ready to work, he helped out the zebras by cleaning up and gathering herbs they needed for different and new types of medicine. Every day, when Wonder would go out to collect different plants and herbs, he would stretch out his wing, no matter how much it hurt him. He needed to get back no matter the cost. He thought of his friends, Light Dancer and Shadow, the ponies running out of their houses carrying tiny fillies and colts on their backs.
This just gave him motivation to get back. He worked harder and harder every day, and eventually he was able to try flying again. He flew a little bit farther every day until he could burst into the air and go higher and faster than he was ever able go before. The time came when he decided he needed to leave.
“I just can't thank you guys enough for what you have done for me,” Wonder said doing a slight bow to each of the zebras. “If there is anything I can do to repay you, just tell me.”
“Well besides for what you have done for us around the place, the one thing you can do is always help a pony in need,” said Zéb. “It matters not what the circumstance is, if somepony is in trouble, do your best to help.” With that, Wonder said his final goodbyes to his saviors, and was off.
…........................................................................................................................................................
“He was off like I am off to go to the little Pegasus room, excuse me,” said Rainbow Dash flying into the forest.
“This is a really good story!” Yelled Pinky Pie startling both Scootaloo and Twilight Sparkle.
“Pinkie Pie!” heaved Twilight. “When did you get here?”
“Oh,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. She took a deep breath and said “I was working on making a new style of cupcake when my pinky sense hit me! My left eyebrow started to twitch which we all know means that someone is telling a story and I know that stories have words and you like words so I figured you would like stories so all I had to do find you and I would find my story which sure enough I found!” Pinkie Pie started gasping for air.
“Well, that certainly is... something,” said Twilight softly. Rainbow Dash came flying back.
“Alright, lets continue this thing,” cheered Rainbow Dash. “Oh, Hey Pinkie Pie! Now, back to Wonder.”
…........................................................................................................................................................