A Lesson in History

by MrTyreste

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Other, Spitfire, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2205

Rainbow Dash does community service at an old folk's home and discovers an interesting pony

Rainbow Dash is careless, so careless that she destroys the post office in one of her "awesome" stunts. So when she is sentenced to community service at a retirement home, she begins to hate how uncool it is.

But when she meets a certain pegasus, that changes for good.

Published 2012-07-25 11:54:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-25 11:54:02 UTC

A Lesson in History

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?!" Twilight Sparkle yelled as a cyan pegasus flew overhead.

"Twilight, you gotta see this! I found a way to do two sonic rainbooms at once!" She screamed as she flew faster and faster.

"You're getting dangerously close to the post office! You could hurt somepony!" Rainbow wasn't listening as she went into a nosedive, finally bursting into the familiar sonic rainboom. Unfortunately she began to lose control as she flew head first into the building.

"Rainbow Dash!" The owner yelled.

"Oh boy..."

-

"Community service? I have to do community service?!" Rainbow Dash pleaded, a set of hoofcuffs around her hooves.

"Just because we're in Ponyville doesn't mean there are no consequences, Miss Dash." A stern looking police officer looked down at her. Rainbow Dash just smiled sheepishly back. "You are to spend one week looking after an elderly citizen. You will take care of every need he has, and your debt to the town will be settled." The officer looked over to the owner of the newly renovated post office.

"Does that seem fair, sir?"

"Absolutely, though I would prefer to send the little ruffian to a dungeon myself." He said smugly. Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at him.

"You watch it, you're on thin ice." The officer glared at her, and she put her tongue back into her mouth as quickly as she hit the building.

The officer pony levitated a piece of paper over to Rainbow Dash, followed by the key to her hoofcuffs.

"Be at this address tomorrow at 5 AM sharp." He said.

"5 AM?! But that's-" The officer pony glared at her.

"Perfect." She squeaked out.

-

"Twilight, what am I gonna do?" Rainbow Dash walked beside Twilight on their way to the house just outside of Ponyville on the edge of the Everfree forest below Cloudsdale. Rainbow was nervous, she had barely looked after anything until she had Tank. An elderly pony was a whole different ball game.

"Just serve your time, Rainbow. There's really nothing to worry about. You know, old ponies are a wealth of information." Twilight Sparkle began. "Just look at Granny Smith, she helped with the founding of Ponyville." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but that's Granny Smith. This will probably be some old stallion who can't even wipe his own-"

"Oh look! We're here!" Twilight knocked Rainbow over the head with her hoof.

"Ow!" Rainbow cried. "What was that-"

"Good luck, Rainbow. I'll be back to walk you home at five. Have fun." Twilight dashed off as the door creaked open.

"Let's get this over with-" Rainbow couldn't finish her sentence as a pair of grey hooves pulled her into the house. Rainbow tried to see what was going on as an elderly pegasus grabbed her around the neck in what was possibly a hug.

A deadly hug, but a hug nonetheless.

"Well hey there, Spitty, ain't it a bit early for you to come by here? What are you up to?" The old stallion felt of Rainbow's mane, and quickly dropped her to the ground.

"My mistake, you ain't my neice." He grumbled, then raised his ears fast. "Help! I'm being robbed! Call the guards! Call the princess! Call the pastry chef! Call the-"

"Would you please be quiet?!" Rainbow Dash yelled over his as he ran around the house. Finally after knocking several knick knacks into the floor, the old stallion fell asleep on the floor.

"Worst. Week. Ever." Rainbow Dash sighed.

-

"So, volunteer work or community service?" The old stallion asked after his sudden nap on the kitchen floor.

"Uh, community service." Rainbow Dash said over the pile of sheets in her hooves. The stallion just snorted.

"Only way you young fillies will help out an old coot like me these days, huh?" He grumbled. Rainbow Dash grunted as she dropped the sheets onto his bed.

"For your information." She called to him from the bedroom. "I am a star athlete. I've been training for the Wonderbolts for years, and I-" The stallion just snorted again.

"Here's some advice, drop it." He said coldly. Rainbow Dash flew into the room appalled.

"Excuse me?" She asked him, a burning anger on her face."

"It'll do you no good, trust me. You can train and train all you want, but in the end-"

"Just shut up!" Rainbow Dash cried. "I know I can do it! I just!"

"You're screaming at an old stallion, you crashed into the post office, and I heard about your little escapades as a hero in Ponyville. You only want one thing, to be admired." He said to her. "You're just not good enough."

Tears welled up in Rainbow Dash's eyes. She had dreamed of being in the Wonderbolts ever since she was a little filly, and now this old stallion was telling her she never would. It hurt her. It felt like a nail had pierced her heart as she started to sob. Unable to take it, she flew out of the house as quickly as she could, barely missing Twilight on the ground below her.

"Rainbow! What are you doing?!" Twilight called out, only to be drowned out by Rainbow's sobs. "Oh no, she's going to violate her probation. Why didn't you stop her?" She yelled at the old stallion, who only pointed to his glazed eyes. "Oh, sorry." She said sheepishly.

"What in the hay is going on here?" A pegasus slammed down onto the ground in front of them. She had an orange coat and a mane that resembled fire. "Great uncle Thunder, are you ok?" She ran up and hugged him.

"Seems I scared off another one." He frowned.

"Are you being all cold again? You know you have to be nice to ponies, even if they're not related to you." She smiled softly, and then turned her attention to Twilight Sparkle.

"Hey, I remember you! From the Best Young Flier competition and the Gala. And if I'm right, you were with Dash during tornado season." She giggled. "Boy, you sure get around. Not in the perverted way, of course, but-" Twilight smiled and made a dismisive gesture with her hoof.

"I'm sorry, but who were you again?" The pegasus' jaw dropped in shock.

"How do you not remember me?" She lifted her hoof and pulled her mane back to where it stood up like a fire on her head, and Twilight instantly knew who it was.

"Spitfire!?" Twilight gasped. "I didn't recognize you without your costume and your mane down." She giggled and hugged her. Spitfire returned the hug and looked around her surroundings as if searching for something.

"Hey, is Rainbow Dash anywhere?" Spitfire kept looking around.

"Not anymore, she just took off. She was supposed to be helping Mister Thunder here for community service." She sighed.

"Oh, that's who you scared off?" Spitfire looked worried. "What did you tell her?"

-

"You WHAT!?" Spitfire shrieked loud enough that even Canterlot could probably hear it.

"What I said was the cold hard truth. That little filly ain't cut out for being a Wonderbolt." He folded his hooves and lifted his nose into the air. "It's not all games and glamour, you know."

"I know that, but this is Rainbow Dash we're talking about, uncle. This filly did a sonic rainboom and saved my life in Cloudsdale!" She stomped her hoof down.

"She what?" He sat up.

"When one of our friend was falling to her death, the Wonderbolts tried to save her, but Rarity somehow knocked them out with her constant flailing." Twilight began to tell the story. "Rainbow Dash then flew as fast as she could and broke the sound barrier, creating a sonic rainboom and saving your neice, the Wonderbolts, and Rarity."

The old stallion looked down at the ground, feeling almost ashamed of his actions.

"Dear Celestia, have I really become that heartless?" He trotted over to an endtable and picked up a portrait of a young couple in Wonderbolt costumes.

"Who is that?" Twilight asked.

"That's my aunt and uncle, Thunder bolt and Lightning Wonder." Spitfire took the picture from her uncle and held it in her hooves. "They were the first Wonderbolts." Twilight's jaw dropped.

"I swear, I still miss her." He sobbed.

"What happened to her, if I might ask?" Twilight asked. Thunder bolt motioned to an empty seat and grabbed a bottle of wine.

"It was about fifty years ago when I met the mare of my dreams, Lightning Wonder." He began. "We formed a fast friendship as a performance act. We'd perform tricks and aerial acrobatics all across Equestria. 'Go Wonderbolt!' they would cheer. A year later, I asked her to be my special somepony, and a few months later she became my wife."

"Aww." Twilight and Spitfire interrupted.

"After we had our first foal, ponies everywhere just started calling us the Wonderbolts. I suppose the name stuck, because a few more foals and performances later, we had our first audience with the Princess herself. She was so impressed with us, that she made us an official performance troupe, and we've been around ever since."

"So what happened to Lightning Wonder, then?" Twilight regretfully asked.

"Well, one day during a storm, she decided to race me to the other end of Cloudsdale. I accepted." He sighed and looked down. "Every day I wish I hadn't." Tears formed in his eyes.

"I won that race, but I lost her. Because when I crossed that finish line, I heard the loudest crack of lightning I had ever dreamed of." The tears began to fall as he continued. "When I looked behind me, she-" He was stopped by a set of hooves from a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane around his neck. It was Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sorry." She choked. He pulled away from her grasp and looked at her.

"No, I'm sorry. I said such hurtful things to you, but the reason why." He said. "When I look at you, I swear to Celestia I can see her." He smiled. "You look so much like Lightning, my wife."

"Did she have a rainbow mane, too?" Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"No, well she had red, yellow, and orange hair. I swear it's a rarity to have more than two colors in your mane, but all six? How is that natural? He smiled. The group began laughing.

"You took real good care of me today, Miss Dash, and for that I wanna give you something." He flapped his wings and flew to his bedroom.

"Hey! Law says I'm not allowed to take money from-"

"This is worth more than a few bits, Missy." She called to her. "Hold out your hooves and close your eyes. All of you!" He said, and they did just that, only Rainbow Dash was the only one with her hooves out. He placed something metal and heavy on her hooves and back away. "Open 'em!" He yelled. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in excitement.

"Oh my gosh!" She screamed. It was a large medal with the Wonderbolt symble adorned in gold in the center. Along the rim it read, "Follow your dreams, and fly to your friends." It was heavy, but Rainbow Dash put it around her neck and smiled.

"I want you to promise me something." He leaned closer to Rainbow Dash, who simply nodded her head and grinned. "I want you to get into the Wonderbolts. Not for me, not for Spitfire, and not for my wife. I want you to be a Wonderbolt because someone that passionate about it definately deserves it." He smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. She smiled and hugged him one more time.

"Hey, I want you to promise me something too." He looked at her quizzically. "Make this week as awesome as possible." She grinned.

"Oh, I plan on it." He flapped his wings and flew out the door. "Come on, Dashie, let's see what those wings can do!"

"Uncle! You should be in bed!" Spitfire flew after him, but Thunder just laughed.

"That's no fun, come on! I'll race all of you!" He laughed as Rainbow Dash flew after him.

"You're on! Last one across the Everfree forest buys dinner!"

"Bring it, filly!" And they were off.

-

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm not sure if I can call this a friendship report or what, but today has been simply amazing. I've learned an important lesson today about judging a book by its cover, or a stallion by his age in this case. I met the first ever Wonderbolt, or as you might know him, Thunder Bolt. At first I thought he was just a crotchety old stallion who wanted to hurt my feelings by saying I would amount to nothing, but really he just wanted me to be safe and live a good life. I wouldn't be lying if I said I didn't like doing this, but seeing as how amazing this guy is, I'll make an exception. Twilight was right, the elderly are a wealth of information, and I plan on being the best hat I can be just like he was.

Your loyal subject,

Rainbow Dash