• Published 3rd Feb 2013
  • 10,893 Views, 190 Comments

Sister Dash - Black Kyurem



Rainbow Dash's friends are sentenced to community service in Canterlot for an old incident that unintentionally deceived everyone in Ponyville.

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It's the Hard Knock Life


~ Day 4 ~

It was second day of toiling community service for Twilight and her friends. They had to put up with the snobby, rich, and sophisticated ponies of Canterlot, who demanded one hundred percent perfection. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity alone had it rough, not being able to use magic or wings to make things easier. And although Applejack was no stranger to hard work, putting up with the sophisticated Canterlot ponies was making her terribly irate. Even Pinkie Pie lost sight of trying to have fun from listening to the constant yammering of rich ponies, mostly having demanded her to stop dancing around.

Twilight had to scrub and polish a giant golden statue of Princess Celestia, using only her hooves without her magical horn. It was bad enough to not be able to use magic, but she also had to put up with constant criticism from wealthy Canterlot ponies, who expected absolute perfection, even from a Ponyville ruffian.

"You're not using enough elbow grease," said Jet Set. "That statue is supposed to sparkle and shine, just like our grand, magnificent leader."

"That's easy for you to say," grumbled Twilight. "In case you didn't know, I can't use any of my magic to help."

"Well, who made you Celestia's prized pupil?" sneered Upper Crust. And both the rich ponies walked away, their noses in the air. Twilight immediately broke down.

"It's no good," she sobbed. "I can't put up with this any longer. It's too much."

"Come on, Twilight," said a unicorn guard supervising her. Yet he didn't sound harsh at all like the princess. "You've gotta keep at this. Princess Celestia says it's for your own good."

"Yes, but does that mean listening to those awful Canterlot ponies?" Twilight cried. "They think I'm nothing!" The guard patted her on the back.

"It'll be all right, Twilight," he said, trying to sound even the least bit sympathetic. "Just pull yourself together. I'll give you five minutes."

---

Both Applejack and Pinkie were working in a fancy kitchen alongside Canterlot ponies. But despite them both working their hooves off, the snobby, sophisticated bunch continued to criticize their skills, mainly because they were from Ponyville and believed such bakery could not match up to the pride of Canterlot.

"The Grand Galloping Gala will be hosting this bake sale," declared a Canterlot unicorn. "Therefore, each and every baked good must be perfected."

"Pinkie and ah are the finest bakers in Ponyville," retorted Applejack. "Ah think you'll be fortunate that we're helping y'all."

"Bleeeaaaach!" Another Canterlot unicorn starting sputtering on a nicely-baked apple fritter Applejack had previously prepared. "What's... in this?!"

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud," steamed Applejack. "Ah followed yer recipe exactly! What in tarnation is wrong now?!"

"This stuff tastes like... commoner's filth!"

"Well, no wonder we can't our baked goods exactly right," snorted the first unicorn. "Of all the bakers to lend their hooves, we get stuck with lowly, uncouth Ponyville misfits!" Applejack looked ready to explode, while Pinkie's curly mane and tail deflated.

"We have a right to complain to the princess herself for your atrocious baking!" snarled the second unicorn, and both of them walked away in a huff. Pinkie Pie let loose with a stream of tears.

"It's not fair!" she cried. "We're stuck here doing work for ponies who don't even care!" As Pinkie bawled loudly, Applejack threw her hooves around her.

"Aw, Pinkie Pie," she murmured. "Ah admit, this is gettin' too rough. We gotta find a way outta this. Ah still can't believe the princess herself would do this to us... all because of a... cowardly act we pulled on poor Rainbow..."

---

Fluttershy's part in community service seemed to be more forgiving. She was helping Fancypants, the most influential pony in Canterlot, tidy up the castle courtyard to prepare for an upcoming garden party. As Fluttershy worked hard, garden critters continued to admire her presence and occasionally gathered around.

"Fluttershy, I must say you have a natural talent with animals," said Fancypants. "I am most impressed."

"Oh, yes," agreed Fluttershy. "I love taking care of animals. It's what I do."

"And these animals... you can talk to them and understand what they're saying, yes?"

"Absolutely." That's when an unpleasant feeling crossed her mind. Her own animals back at her cottage were no longer under her care. She sighed. "Um... Fancypants?"

"Mm? What is it, my dear?"

"I think thirty days here is a bit too much. I hate to think of my poor little animal friends back home. They have nopony to take care of them."

"I see. And you don't think anypony else from Ponyville is capable of handling your job?"

"Oh, I don't wish to doubt anypony. It's just that the animals love and understand me. I'm not sure how they'd be able to cope with anypony else." She then sniffled. "Oh... Oh, poor Angel... All alone..." She whimpered and cried.

"There, there, my dear," said Fancypants, attempting to comfort Fluttershy. "I'm sure that in the long run, things will all work out."

---

"My beautiful coat! It is wrinkled! Fix it!" A tall white stallion, sitting in a comfortable chair, chucked his small black jacket at Rarity, which landed on her face, infuriating her. The indignity! Of all the community service to be done in Canterlot, she had been assigned a position of servitude to the royal Prince Blueblood, the snobby, selfish, stuck-up mare that Rarity developed an animosity for during their first date. Rarity slapped the jacket onto an ironing board and proceeded to iron it. "Be more gentle! My coat is very sensitive. I don't want any rips in it." Rarity was having the most trouble keeping her temper under control, but who could blame her? But during ironing, she heard another complaint from Blueblood. "Hey! Where's my pedicure?" This distracted her, causing the hot iron to make contact with one of her front hooves. Rarity shrieked as her hoof jerked away in the searing pain that followed. She clutched her pained hoof, which now had a tint of red on its end as a result of getting burned. "If you're going to take a break, would you at least get me a drink, my dear?" said Blueblood, not seeming to care or notice Rarity's misfortune. Apparently, he just wanted to be pampered every minute. "Make it a tall Scotch." Rarity's face went red with rage and steam came out of her ears. That's when one of the royal guards supervising her held up a bucket of water with his magic. Rarity quickly doused her burnt hoof in it and winced in pain. "Why does service have to be so slow?" complained Blueblood. "Could've picked a better unicorn."

"That's enough, Your Highness," said a Pegasus guard. "These ponies are here under the supervision of Princess Celestia. And she has requested that her fellow ponies should be more cooperative and considerate." But this only earned the guard a frown from Blueblood. A unicorn guard returned Blueblood's jacket to him, but when Blueblood cleared his throat, the guard rolled his eyes and used magic to slip the jacket on him.

"Come, Your Highness," said the guard, escorting Blueblood from the room. The moment they left, Rarity broke down into a state of hysteria.

"Oh, why me, why me?!" she sobbed. "Of all the community service for Canterlot, I get stuck being a slave to the pony I despise!" Rarity wailed so loudly, that two guards had to go over and try to calm her down. "This is the worst possible thing that could happen to me! I've never been so miserable in all my life!" The guards were now worried about Rarity, giving each other nervous glances as if she was suffering from a mental breakdown.

---

After community service for the day was done, the five ponies were escorted back to their rooms. Apparently, Princess Celestia had assigned each of them to separate rooms as a means to up their punishments and had two guards each assigned to watch the rooms. But after two days of community service, each of the guards ended up listening to the ponies they were watching over crying from inside their rooms. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were wailing the loudest. The guards thought to themselves that Celestia's punishment had been taken a shade too far, or perhaps the ponies were just getting unlucky being stuck with the stuck-ups. But they ultimately decided not to question their princess, believing that it was taking a while for her to get over how mad she was with her subjects who bore the Elements of Harmony. All in all, it had been a miserable day for Twilight and her friends, save Fluttershy who was crying only because she was afraid that her beloved animal friends back in Ponyville would be lost without her, including her pet bunny Angel. When it was 9:30 at night, the five ponies eventually cried themselves to sleep. For many days to come, tomorrow would be another hard day.