//------------------------------// // Dot and Spot // Story: Readings on Dashing, Literature, Mom // by Stellafera //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash hated that door. She also hated the ground. Additionally, she hated her backpack, the temperature, air in general, breathing in general, and to top it off, she had a very strong opposition against the welcome mat grinding against the her hooves. Dash's slow, laborious walk to her bedroom was disrupted with the volley of Firefly's drawled out voice. "Don't take your anger out on our doorway, Dashie." It was the most terrifying noise she knew, but also one that she could combat. "I'm not angry." "Also, the rug is stupid, mom." Following the silence, Rainbow Dash determinedly completed the route to her bed, which was full of blankets at least. She was far too angry to do homework. In fact, just to prove to herself that she could try, she brought out the book again. There were words. No, go back to the sentence. Sound it out. This takes too long. The clock keeps ticking at her when she's not working, though. Shut up clock. Fine, clock, whatever. Rainbow Dash tried again. And Dot said to Spot- She looked back at the clock. No. Back to the sentence. One step at a time. And Dot said to Spot- And Dot said to Spot- And Dot said to Spot that- Like she said, homework was too hard. Yet- sitting here was also pretty hard, so Rainbow Dash had to admit defeat and return to the outside world. She slinked over to mom's big cloud chair and batted her hooves around the general vicinity. The strategy succeeded, and Firefly turned to Rainbow Dash after her eyes finished scanning stuff in the newspaper. "I get the sense that you're trying to inform me of something?" "What the hay does 'inform' mean?" "It means to tell somepony about something you know or an idea you have. So, what are you informing me of?" Rainbow Dash giggled and figured she better spill the beans with this funny new word. "I'm informing you that my homework sucks!" "Rainbow Dash!" "Don't lie mommy, you use way worse words all the time." It was always fun to win arguments. If she didn't have to go to school, she'd spend all day facing off against her mom and it'd be so much better. Schools should do that instead of give us books, Dash reflected, and made a mental note to inform the teacher to bring in her mom so that she could argue with her and learn lots more words. After that moment of invention, her mom returned to the conversation. "Yes, I guess I do. But why are you so mad at your homework?" Time to unleash the bomb. "Because I hate reading and it's dumb." "What about this newspaper?" "You can do that 'cuz you're smart. I hate reading because it's hard and dumb and I can't do it." Firefly seemed to have to think about this one. "Do you think it would help if I read with you?" Now that was a good comeback. Rainbow had to think about that one too. It probably couldn't cause anything bad to happen other than wasting her time, which already happened. It also could make the story easier. Alright. "Maybe," she said, flicking her tail to follow. Rainbow Dash beat her way back to the bedroom quickly and pushed the clock behind a dresser so that it'd stop making noise. Hopefully mom wouldn't notice. Turning around quickly with the book spread out, she began, And Dot said to Spot- "That's the beginning?" Firefly asked, her face looking lopsided with confusion. Dash saw Firefly's eyes dance across the page, probably reading it. Right in front of her own daughter! Rainbow Dash rolled her own eyes and groaned pointedly towards the ceiling. "Then why aren't you starting at the beginning?" She had to be incredibly patient now. If Dad saw this, Rainbow bets she would've gotten ice cream. "Mom, it took forever to get here. I don't want to start again." "Did it make sense to you?" Patience is really difficult. No wonder why grownups give you stuff for it. Nopony gives you anything for reading, though. Funny how that works. "No, it didn't. That's why I wanted you here." "I promise it'll be easi-" "I don'twanttoSTARTAGAIN!" Silence. Rainbow Dash scudded her foot against the cloud, making it feel cold and wet. She also felt kinda cold and sad herself, so she stopped swinging her hoof into the floor and moved her eyes up. "...I'll start again if you help me." "And I'm sorry." Firefly looked even more happy than before. Rainbow wasn't sure why that was if she just said something mean to her, but okay. Dot was a pony who had a lot. She said the words slowly, but her mom was way better at motivating her than the clock was. Stupid clock. It deserved its fate. Spot was a pony who did not. "Just to keep track here, what did Dot have a lot of?" Firefly asked. "Oh! Dot had a lot of..." Huh, that was a pretty important question. "I bet Dot had a lot of stuff that she owned. Like in that picture over there", she said, gesturing at the top of the page, "she had a piano and stuff." This was some good stuff. Rainbow continued, "But Spot didn't get any of those cool things. Her parents probably don't have a job like you and Daddy." She wanted to find out more. Dot, who had a lot, thought that Spot was worse, because Spot did not and had no money in her purse. "See Mom, Dot thinks Spot is lame. And... because... Dot... Spot... And... because... And because..." Rainbow Dash frantically looked up and down the words. She was doing so well. What went wrong? "Because Spot what?" "Because Spot had no money in her purse." A pause. "What's a purse?" "A purse is-" But by this point she was a step ahead. Looking breathlessly into her mom's round purple eyes, Rainbow Dash shouted "Wait! It's that bag the money's going in! You have one, don't you?" "Mm-hmm. I put the money in there so I don't lose it." Rainbow Dash was feeling pretty proud of herself. She could do this. And Dot said to Spot- Her ears flopped down. She recognized that sentence. It was the one she was supposed to start on. And she was doing all of her hard work with the ones before it. "Is that the one you're stuck on?" Firefly's voice was annoying. Rainbow didn't want her help. "I'm so slow..." she muttered. She swore she heard that clock again, ticking at her. It was supposed to be destroyed for good. Her mom's eyes widened, and when Firefly spoke, Rainbow Dash snapped at attention. It was the Big voice and you had to listen to it. "Rainbow Dash, you have to listen to me right now. If some ponies in your class are faster than you, that doesn't make them better than you." She heard this before. All of her teachers said that. It just made her feel worse because they always said it to her. "Listen to me, Rainbow Dash. I can prove that. Reading wasn't easy for you, but you did it anyways. Because you have guts, Rainbow Dash, and guts are what make you an awesome pony. " That part's different. "Never forget that you are an awesome pony." Then Firefly tried to nuzzle her face, but Rainbow isn't really into the touchy stuff and pulled towards the book. The speech was nice but it didn't help much. The fact was that she still wasn't done reading, and she should be done, and she wasn't. "I still hate reading." Rainbow Dash added. It was the truth, and nopony ever got in trouble for the truth. Firefly looked sad. "How about we finish this page, and I can talk to the teacher? It is getting late, anyhow. What time is it-" please don't look at the clock please don't look at the clock Firefly checked her watch. "Ah, yep, that's definitely past prime time for homework." Rainbow Dash glared intently. Now she was eying some pillows on her bed for punching purposes, but that wasn't going to help much. After all, it just used up more time and she didn't have much of that after spending it all doing nothing. "You know, a lot of it was just talking, though. It's not your fault." This made her feel a bit better, so she started again. -And Dot said to Spot that "You must be sad, since not having much must feel so bad. Yes, it really must be gloomy, for you to not be as lucky as me." It was getting late, though, and Firefly said that she'd talk to the teacher after that one, so Rainbow Dash stopped. Spot shook her head and laughed a big laugh, "You think you have half the luck that I have?" "My mom and my dad and my brothers and friends, they are all with me to the very end." "If you only like ponies for the gifts that they keep, then you are the one who should truly weep."