Freakin Ponies: Hybrid Dashie
by Silvergunner

To all the other ponies, it was another happy day in Ponyville. Almost everypony went about their normal daily business, be it chatting, working, shopping or attending school. Everypony but one single pony.

Darkness left her mind as her dreams ended and she opened her eyes. She was gazing up at the ceiling of her bedroom, wishing in one way she hadn’t woken up at all. She leaned over and checked the clock. It was 11am. She had planned to meet her friends at the Bakery two hours from then, but she didn’t feel like getting out of bed. She just wanted to stay there and waste away undoubtably how most of Ponyville wished she would.

Finally convincing herself that simply lying there wasn’t going to do very much good for her cause, she forced herself out of her bed. She gazed around and saw the sunlight stream through the windows into her cloudtop home. Grabbing a hairbrush she half-heartily adjusted her mane and tail hair, before throwing the thing aside and leaving her home for yet another awful day.

She jumped from the clouds and landed on the ground in the midst of Ponyville. No-one noticed her, either because of Pegasi flying and landing were commonplace occurances in ponyville, or of course they were ignoring her on purpose. Rainbow Dash didn’t care about either. The less interactions she had with the ponies around her the better in her own opinion.

Less than a fortnight had passed since the day of Luna’s grand drug rave, and the infamous events that happened afterwards. However, to Rainbow Dash, the loud music, hazy atmosphere, high speed pegasus racing, and unexpected group hugs seemed like an eternity away. She and her friends had freed the ponies from the mass drug addiction by shutting down the supply, of narcotics, and won some frame from the town. But because of the lack of drugs, Ponyville had reverted to how it was before Princess Luna held her first rave. To other ponies it was a good place to be, but to Dashie comparing it to the eighth circle of hell wasn’t too much of an exaggeration.

Today was yet another day that felt like an eternity to Dashie. Although it was one of the two days per week she did not have any work shifts, it meant there was nothing distracting her from what was around her. Her mind was open to the dystopia filled with faked smiling faces that surrounded her.

As she walked through the main street with dozens of other ponies surrounding her, everything was a blur as paranoia surged through her mind. She noticed to the left a bunch of fillies were laughing happily, probably at some joke one of them had made. Or was she the one they were ridiculing again? She flicked her head away towards the right, and gazed upon a group of mares chatting politely about the weather not been too great lately. But was it secretly a nasty complaint about her work again? Driving her gaze away from them, she looked ahead and froze.

In front of her stood the two most cruel and vindictive mares in all Ponyville. A minty green unicorn and a pale yellow earth pony were snickering at her. She sighed and closed her eyes. She would have preferred anything to happen to her that day rather than endure another lecture filled with hate from Lyra and Bonbon. She felt that even been crafted into and then used as a crude, living doll would be a less painful experience.

The green unicorn pointed at her and let out a cackle. “Oh look who it is Bonbon! Ponyville’s most well known under-achiever!” she exclaimed. “I mean, even an amateur could have prevented that rain storm yesterday!” she added.

“Oh, she couldn’t at all have prevented that storm happening, Lyra” the yellow mare replied. “She obviously had more important things to be doing at the time” she added, before miming drinking from a glass bottle. Both her and Lyra snickered to each other, as these words of hate filled Dashie’s mind.

It was too much for her. For two weeks she had to deal with comments like this flowing through her mind, and her limit had been breached. “Stay away from me!” she yelled at both of them and charged at them both. As they gazed in surprise at her movement, her anger made her force out both her front hooves into their faces. They both managed to jump out of the way in time, Dashie’s punches meeting only the air.

Dashie lowered her hooves to the ground and stood there trying to return her breathing to a normal rate. What little energy in her body she had expended in snapping at those two. She looked behind her to see both of them chatting intensely with malevolent looks upon their faces. Dashie could tell just like last time she had spoke back, they were more than likely making up a lot of new lies and rumors about her. That confrontation and the idea of a “Bad Rainbow Dash" was probably going to be the talk of the town for the next few weeks.

Dashie gazed at the ground and saw a puddle at her feet from yesterday’s aforementioned rainfall. She saw her face looking back at her, with dishevelled hair from her anxiety and darkness underneath her eyes from lack of sleep. She wondered if what stared back at her was the face of a bad, violent person who got into confrontations with others. And that person was slowly becoming her.

Her mind flashed back to the first time she had problems like this. She had talked to her friends Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. They had helped her through it all and she had come out feeling a lot better about herself. But this time was different. Although they were her friends, she was paranoid they would side with Lyra and Bonbon and end up shunning her like the rest of Ponyville did. However one of them she knew she could possibly rely on.

She dashed through the streets of Ponyville furiously, heading for the bakery swiftly. She wanted to get there before the others as the pony who resided there was the only one she felt she could trust. There had been a few bad incidents in the past there involving dodgy cupcakes and rolling dozens of twenty-sided dice, but these thoughts weren’t on Dashie’s mind. Very soon she was banging on the door, waiting impatiently for her friend to come to the door.

The door opened, and through it a pink mare with curly hair was standing there. She burst into a huge smile before approaching Dashie. “Dashie! How nice to see you!” she exclaimed, embracing her in a lightweight hug.

“Its great to see you too, Pinkie Pie” Rainbow Dash replied. For the first time that day, a smile spread across her face.

“Well don’t dilly-dally, Dashie! Come on in and i’ll get us some tea!” Pinkie replied, literally pulling her friend through the door and slamming it behind them.

Rainbow Dash didn’t mind the attention from Pinkie. She knew she could trust the Pink mare because, unlike the others, she had positive feelings towards everyone in Ponyville. She was the last person to possibly take sides in a conflict.

A few minutes later they were both sat in Pinkie’s vast lounge. Unusually it had changed quite a bit since Rainbow Dash was last there two weeks ago, rescuing Spike the Dragon from Pinkie’s Gaming Dungeon. Originally there was a large space in the middle of the lounge for party events, but it was now occupied by a large and ornate dining table with matching chairs, set for two diners. The floor was covered in crimson, woolen rugs, and the windows now had heavy scarlet curtains. And all around, Dashie could smell a strange aroma. It seemed famillar, but at the time she couldn’t put her hoof on what it could be.

Pinkie Pie took a ornately decorated teapot upon the table in front of her and proceeded to fill two pink porcelain mugs with the steaming semiopaque liquid. She handed one mug to Rainbow Dash, and took the other in her own hooves. Dashie thanked her, and the two of them sat there sipping their Earl Grey tea for several minutes. The silence was broken when pinkie cleared her throat, making Dashie jump. "You've been awful quiet today Dashie-washie" Pinkie said to her. "Is something the matter?"

Rainbow Dash sighed and took a long sip of tea. "I think i'm turning into a bad person, Pinkie" she said. As her friend listened carefully, she went on to describe how bad she felt, how she felt the rest of Ponyville were treating her like a demented outcast, and the troubles she had experienced with Lyra and Bonbon. Pinkie's face changed to one of grim surprise when she heard how her friend had lashed out at the two gossips after they had thrown one insult too many.

Pinkie sighed. "Well Dashie, to me you're not a bad person. You're just undergoing a lot of stress" she said to her friend. "You need to find a way to handle the stress on your days off work" she added.

The blue pegasus nodded. "Got any ideas of what I can do?" she asked.

"Well, one thing that works is to have a creative outlet. Something that you love to make in your spare time" Pinkie replied. "Fluttershy loves her animals, Twilight has her books, Rarity likes making clothes. And as for me, I absolutely love baking!" she exclaimed.

Dashie shrugged. "I doubt i'll find anything I can be any good at. I'm a complete screwup at everything it seems" she said.

"Oh cheer up you silly filly!" the pink pony replied, and nudged her friend's shoulder. "Think outside the box" she added.

Dashie gazed around the room. Ideas of what she could possibly be any good at filled her head every time she set an eye on one of Pinkie’s many trinkets, but were then discarded as she considered them unfeasible. However the more she looked around, she found herself feeling more and more curious about what she saw around her. "Pinkie, off topic, how come you redecorated in here?" she asked her friend.

Pinkie giggled. "Well, you know I was always after people to role-play with? I found a way around it" she said. "Turns out theres a lot of guys who like roleplaying as well. And are willing to pay money to take part in it as well"

"You mean… you've got into World of Equestria-craft?" Dashie asked.

Pinkie giggled again. "No, i've turned into a dinner guest for hire" she replied. Dashie gave her a confused look. “Basically some stallions are lonely and want to have a nice candlelit dinner with an attractive and charming mare. So I combined my cooking skills with my skills as a hostess, and now I pretend to be their girlfriend while having dinner with them” she smiled.

“Sounds... feasible I guess” Dashie. “Certainly a unique idea for a restaurant. And one that works with your interests and skills as well” she added.

Pinkie nodded. She finished her tea, then looked at the clock. "Oh dear me! I have a client coming!" she exclaimed suddenly. Looking at Dashie she sighed. "Normally i'd ask you to leave in order to keep my client confidential… but if you want you can stay and finish your tea. I'm pretty sure you know my client anyway…" she said.

Dashie was about to ask who it was, but was interrupted by a tall red stallion exclaiming "Eyup!". She looked up and smiled as she saw Big Mcintosh, Applejack's brother, looking at them both. "Pinkie, why is Dashie here?" he asked her.

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, she's just here to watch us two play along" she said. She then got up, moved over to the stallion and kissed him on the muzzle. "When you're ready, i'll go change into my adventuring clothes" she giggled. He nodded, and Pinkie left to get dressed swiftly.

Leaning back on the sofa, Dashie gazed over at Big McIntosh. "So... You get together with Pinkie often?" she asked him.

The stallion nodded. "Hell yes. Her dates are dang good" he said, smiling.

"Dates?" Dashie asked, confused. "I thought you were just here to dine with her"

Big Mac chuckled. "Pinkie Pie does this thing called the Girlfriend Experience. She pretends to be my girlfriend for the course of the dinner” he said. “Nothing touchy-feely – just more intimate conversation and a lighter atmosphere”

"Oh Mac..." came a seductive voice from the stairway. Both Big Mac and Dashie Turned their heads and gasped. Standing there was their friend Pinkie Pie, but in a completely different appearance from usual. She was wearing a soft purple ankle-length dress and a red hairband. Her hair was straightened so it dropped to her thighs. "Thought I'd put on something a little special for you" she giggled.

"Oh my... Dang..." Mac stuttered as he gazed at her. Pinkie lowered herself onto four legs and trotted over to him, before gazing into his eyes. "Girl, you look dang amazing" he exclaimed.

"I thought you might like it, you big hunk you" Pinkie replied, giggling.

Rainbow Dash giggled and gulped down the last of her tea. “I’ll leave you both to it now. I’ll be back when the other are here” she said.

Pinkie nodded. “See you soon” she said to Dashie as she left the room.

Rainbow Dash decided to leave for her cloudtop home while she waited for Pinkie and Mac to finish having dinner. In her head she thought about what Pinkie had suggested about finding a creative outlet. She thought about it until the time came for the meeting with all her friends. She left her home and landed outside the bakery just as Mac was setting off home, looking all dazed and happy.

Not long afterwards their friends had arrived and they had enjoyed tea and cupcakes together for a few hours. Like normal, Rarity was the most talkative of them all, with Pinkie and Twilight injecting in whenever they could.

Dashie stayed quiet however, gazing at her supposed friends. The rush of happiness she had from fondling herself was starting to wear off, and the paranoia was returning. In front of her were several ponies of which she didn't know were friends or foes to her. Although Pinkie had said there wasn't anything making her turn nasty, Dashie felt that suspecting her friends was the first step on a path to self destruction.

It was a potential path she had to avoid. And she was willing to do so at any cost.

After the get-together had concluded, the Ponies left one by one until only Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were left. As the blue pegasus was about to leave, her pink friend put her arm around her in a friendly hug. "Find yourself a creative outlet and de-stress please Dashie-washie!" Pinkie whispered into her friend's ear, before letting her go. Dashie waved half-heartedly at Pinkie, then left the bakery behind, preparing to go home.

In her home in the clouds, Dashie sat on the tiled floor against a wall. Next to her a record player had a sad, slow and rather old song playing. Luna had loaned her the record as a bit of a joke, but Dashie was finding it was making her even more depressed. In her right hand, she had a carving knife. She had stolen it from Pinkie's kitchen, and was tempted to plunge it into her heart, and end her suffering there and then.

Suddenly the song on the record player changed. A loud and erratic guitar solo started playing. The sound made shivers run down Dashie's spine, and she dropped the knife and stood up. She listened to the song all the way through, and a smile cracked upon her face. She wound back the record to repeat the song, and found herself miming the motions of playing a guitar.

In her mind, she imagined herself as the guitarist playing that song in front of a crowd of other ponies, all of them cheering. Breathing in deeply, Dashie knew what she had to do next.

Outside was still daylight, so she dived down from her cloud top house and landed in Ponyville market. She ignored everyone around her and strode forward to a small store she knew of. Almost in a trance, she had slammed a bag of bits on the stall owner's counter, slung a huge box over her back, and then returned back to her cloud top home as swiftly as she could.

She unwrapped the box and smiled at what she saw in front of her. An Electric Guitar, an Amplifier, and a book on how to play the instrument. She felt she now had the capability to play like a real rockstar.

Unfortunately the plan had resorted in a Pyrrhic Victory. She was now beginning to enjoy her spare time, starting off with simple songs before moving onto more complicated techniques. But her thoughts on her guitar meant her work was beginning to suffer slightly. She began making small mistakes in cloud placement, and this only increased the amount of complaints she was getting. She mostly avoided the confrontations however by spending most her free time in her room with her beloved guitar.

And her happiness didn't last. Twice a week she visited her friends, and it meant she had to go through Ponyville to get to Pinkie Pie's bakery. The amount of abuse she had hurled at her by Lyra, Bonbon, and their group of cronies was increasing, but she was learning to ignore it. Until one day when everything went wrong for Rainbow Dash.

She had spent all night trying, but she could just not get the hand of the bar chord technique. She had eventually given up in order to get some sleep for the next day, and wasn't feeling too good about herself. When Lyra and Bonbon had complained to her that day, she felt so bad about herself she had to dash away before she burst into tears.

Pinkie was sweeping outside the Bakery when Dashie arrived, her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Dashie!" she exclaimed, placing a front leg around her friend's neck and hugging her. "Lets get you inside for some tea" she said, and pulled her friend inside once again.

However this time it wasn't just the two of them together. Dashie's heart sank when she saw Applejack sitting there on the sofa. She didn't want any pony to see her breakdown like this, especially not her friends. Pinkie was an exception as Dashie felt she was more like a sister to her than a friend, considering the help the pink pony had given her recently.

Pinkie pushed Dashie onto the sofa next to Applejack. "I'll get us some Earl Grey" she said, and scurried off to the kitchen.

Applejack looked at Dashie. "Dang girl, you seem in a bad way. Wanna tell me whats bothering ya?" she asked her.

"Lyra and Bonbon. Complaining again. And I can't even do my favourite hobby properly anymore…" she sighed.

"I'm pretty sure you're a good flyer there girl" Applejack replied. "For example, after that Drug Rave Race I saw…"

"Thats not my hobby, Applejack" the blue pegasus replied. "I… I wanted to be a guitarist… but I can't get bar chords right…" she sighed.

Applejack gazed at her and smiled. "Well girl, you're looking at one of the dang finest banjo players in all Ponyville!" she replied. She stood us as Pinkie returned with the tea, tugging Dashie up with her. "Hold the tea girl. We've got a few things to grab" she said.

"Okay then. Just get back before it gets cold!" Pinkie replied, smiling.

When they were outside, Applejack climbed on top of Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie told me you have been undergoing stress recently. We're going to change that today" she said to her friend. "First stop, Sweet Apple Acres!" she said.

Getting from the Bakery to Sweet Apple Acres usually took 15 minutes walking. For Dashie and Applejack, it was a tenth of that. Applejack hung on for dear life as Rainbow Dash accelerated at high speed over the streets of Ponyville. When they reached there, Applejack rushed inside the farmhouse for a minute, before returning with what looked like an old, battered Acoustic guitar.

Applejack jumped on top of her friend again. "Next stop, your guitar!" the countryside pony exclaimed. Dashie nodded and they flew up to the cloud tops. Applejack dashed into the house and grabbed Rainbow Dash's electric guitar swiftly, before climbing on top of Dashie's back for the third time. "Now back to the bakery!" she exclaimed.

Dropping down from the clouds and zooming across the heads of the ponies on the main street, they arrived back outside the bakery. They landed and made their way into the lounge again to see Pinkie waiting patiently. She looked up as she saw them both entering, carrying the guitars. "I assume Dashie is going to be given a good talking to? she asked.

"More like a good teaching to" Applejack replied. Sitting down on a sofa, she took her acoustic guitar into her front hooves and rested it on her lower legs. "When you're ready Dashie" she said to the pegasus. Rainbow Dash sat next to her with her guitar in her front hooves. Over the next hour they played together, with Applejack teaching Rainbow Dash how to curl her hoof enough to perform a bar chord correctly.

With this major objective completed, Applejack started strumming the chords to a Ponytalica song that Rainbow Dash had learned to play from her guitar book. The pegasus started playing the lead section to the song. As the music surged from her guitar, Dashie began feeling strange. She played even more furiously before jumping on top of the sofa like she was performing on stage for real.

The song ended, and Pinkie burst into applause. "You two are just brilliant!" she exclaimed. "Hey, you'll beat anyone at that silly talent show they are talking about" she added.

"What talent show?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, a bunch of ponies are running a talent show a week today. Its more a popularity contest than anything else" Applejack yawned. "No-one I know is entering…"

Pinkie and Applejack continued to talk about what ponies could be at the talent show, but Dashie wasn't listening. She was imagining herself in front of hundreds of ponies strumming on her guitar like a real rock star. She gazed over at the two of them and cleared her throat. "So, are they still taking entry forms?" she asked them both.

Pinkie and Applejack looked at each other. "You sure you want to do this Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asked. "You probably won't win…" she added.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "You told me I had to find a creative outlet, Pinkie. I found one. And now I want to use it to fulfil a dream i’ve now got thanks to you"

Applejack moved over to her. "Well then girl, good luck to you" she smiled. "‘fraid I can't enter as i'm busy with Big Mac that day" she said.

"Oh no worries, i'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash can pick half a dozen band members from all our friends" Pinkie replied. Dashie smiled and hugged them both.

The next few days did not go as well as Rainbow Dash had hoped. She had thought some of her friends would be especially willing to help her, but she had no luck. Fluttershy wasn't interested in Rock music, Rarity was entering the contest with her own act, and the others couldn't play musical instruments. In an act of desperation, Rainbow Dash managed to find a qualified vocalist within Derpy Hooves. She gave her several pages of lyrics for songs they planned to perform, and asked her to practice them.

Over the course of the week, Rainbow Dash spent her spare time practicing a selection of songs ready for the contest. Applejack and Pinkie Pie visited her quite often to see how she was getting on, and giving her their encouragement. However, Derpy never turned up to a single jam session. Dashie only hoped that she would be learning the lyrics ready for the contest that Friday.

It was only backstage that Friday evening that Rainbow Dash learned that Derpy Hooves had let her down. The pegasus stood there stunned, guitar in hand, unable to respond to the news. She was devastated - her act was ruined with less than fifteen minutes before she was due to go on stage.

She slumped onto the floor, and gazed up at the ceiling. This had been her chance to fulfil her dream, and now it had all fallen apart. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were right - it really wasn't worth entering the contest in the first place. After all, what she had seen on stage before her wasn't been well received by at least two members of the audience.

When Rainbow Dash had arrived, the whole venue had loud music blasting throughout. She had looked up at the stage and seen Princess Luna sitting there with Vinyl Scratch next to her, both behind a set of decks. She should have known that Luna would have performed one of her Electronica song remixes at a talent contest. However, unlike at the drug raves, the audience weren't jumping around happily as the neon lights flashed and floor shook from the bass notes.

A small round of applause had erupted as Luna and Vinyl's performance of "Pegasi must Fly" came to an end. Both of them bowed and dragged their decks off the stage. Unfortunately for them, the applause wasn't loud enough to drown out the discontent at the act. Dash had frozen and quickly hurried out of view when she saw Lyra and Bonbon near the front of the stage, criticising the performances.

The next two acts ended up disastrous for the entrants. Rarity had come on stage wearing a very exotic looking dress. She then went on to perform a dance unfamiliar to most ponies involving a lot of jumping and spinning while sitting on the floor, whilst a headache-inducing europop song played.  She lasted about two minutes before she got fed up of Lyra calling her a "idiot", threw her tiara at her, and stormed off stage.

Trixie's amazing juggling act was similarly received on the scale of success. As the audience watched silently, she sang a short, repeating swedish song while spinning a leek around in her hand. Using her magic, two young stallions were been tossed around gently in the air. After approximately thirty seconds, Bonbon yelled at her to stop, and Trixie lost her focus. Both of her assistants fell to the ground, and Trixie's act was ruined. Using her horn, she fired a plasma bolt at Bonbon, shattering her wine glass. She was about to follow up with a second attack, but was pulled off stage by Luna and Rarity before things got nasty. Dashie sighed, thinking about how she had lashed out at the two of them. She just hoped she wasn’t going to turn out to be as prone to anger like Trixie was...

And now it was Rainbow Dash's turn. She stood up and gazed at the stage door. She had nearly nothing resembling an act, and the two vindictive mares were obviously eager to make fun of her. She was tempted to just turn around and leave without performing - to her it just didn't seem worthwhile.

"Girl, you really gonna go on stage by yourself?" came a voice from behind her. She looked around and saw Applejack smiling at her. "We're here to help you out" the orange pony added, pointing at her older brother Big Macintosh.

"Wait… you said you were busy together today…" Dashie replied.

Applejack nodded. "Big Mac and me play music in our spare time, and we were going to have a jam session. But when we heard about Derpy, we decided to come join you" she said. "I'm on bass, you on guitar, Mac on drums" she added.

"What about vocals? And what song can we all play?" Dashie asked them both.

"You're by far the best singer of us three" Big Mac chuckled. He pulled out a sheet of music and Rainbow Dash saw to her surprise it was one of her favourites. "We've all rehearsed ready. Its up to you now Rainbow Dash" he added.

Filled with energy and anticipation, Rainbow Dash nodded. She slung her guitar over her back and walked through the door and onto the stage with Applejack and Big Mac in tow.

Bonbon looked up and sneered. "Oh great. Look who it is Lyra. The biggest timewaster of all" she said.

"Oh don't discourage her - its going to be funny seeing how bad they are going to d…" Lyra started, but was cut off by a power chord surging through the speakers.

Ignoring their comments, Rainbow Dash began playing along to the song, with Applejack and Big Mac performing their parts. The whole audience stood in awe while they played. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to the microphone and tried singing for the first time. "Take everything from the inside and throw it all away…" she sung, and the whole audience felt her voice fill them with emotion. Lyra and Bonbon kept trying to shout insults, but were drowned out by the music.

"Because I swear its the last time i'll trust myself with you!" Dashie concluded, and the song ended. The crowd erupted into applause while her, Applejack and Big McIntosh bowed in response. She felt incredible - in front of her were hundreds of ponies who actually liked her. And all were outnumbering the two mares who stood at the front looking angry now that they couldn't be heard.

Pinkie Pie was right in that there was no chance they could have won the talent contest, as they eventually awarded Princess Luna the trophy. But it didn't really matter to Rainbow Dash. The whole audience were cheering her even when she left the venue, and in the days that followed everyone was greeting her and chatting with her. She even found herself becoming more talkative and socialising with people more often.

Perhaps the most amazing outcome from the event though was Princess Luna's reaction to it. She had come to visit Rainbow Dash the next day, and had asked her to perform at the next rave she was holding. Dashie led her to Applejack and Big Mac, and they agreed to form a band and perform for ponies all over equestria.

Once Luna had left, the three friends decided to visit Pinkie Pie again. They walked through Ponyville towards the bakery. Knocking on the door, Pinkie Pie opened it and happily invited them all in. Like her normal visits there, Rainbow Dash was looking forward to Earl Grey and polite conversation. She was surprised when she saw all of her friends there, with the room decorated ready for a party. Once she entered, everyone cheered and came up close to her.

"Congratulations!" Pinkie exclaimed, and all of her friends ran towards her. She felt as Twilight Sparkle and Rarity used their horns to levitate her in the air, and carry her around the room. Sparks of happiness ran down her spine as she felt like she was crowdsurfing like a real rockstar would have done. She looked behind and saw Big Mac and Applejack were also been carried around the room with everyone cheering.

Over the next several hours they ate cupcakes, drank wine, and overall had the greatest party Rainbow Dash had ever been to. However things did come to a rough point halfway through. The front door banged open and in walked two mares. Dashie gazed as she saw Lyra and Bonbon trotting in. But rather than avoid them with anxiety filling her system, she strode straight up to them boldly with a determined look on her face.

Lyra was the first to speak. "Why on earth are people paying attention to YOU?" she asked. "I mean, what did you do constructively enough to justify popularity?"

"You don't get it, do you" Applejack replied malevolently, walking up next to Dashie. "People are noticing Dashie because she made them all incredibly happy at that talent contest using her skills"

Bonbon stood silently at this. "You know Lyra… this country girl's got a point…" she murmured.

"What sort of point?" Lyra sneered. "She bashed her hoof against a guitar. Whats the skill in that?"

Bonbon looked angrily at Lyra then turned to Dashie. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I should never have treated you so nastily…" she murmured. She then turned to Lyra. "I'm tired of been satirical and bitter, Lyra" she said.

Lyra gazed in disbelief and anger at Bonbon. She shut her eyes silently for a moment, thinking things over. At the talent contest, her own moral mortality had been demonstrated to her, with her and Bonbon ignored by the crowd. She felt stressed, depressed, and lonely. She felt what Dashie had felt the last few weeks. Opening her eyes, she used them to gaze upon Dashie. "…i'm sorry…" she said, before suddenly bursting into tears.

Dashie moved forward and placed an arm around Lyra's shoulder. Lyra looked up to see to her gesturing like that to her. "Lets forget about the last few weeks and move on perhaps?" Dashie said to her, smiling. "You too Bonbon" she added. In front of her, the two nastiest ponies around had crumbled, and now she was free of all her depression and stress. She didn't hold any grudges, and was happy to look forward towards a better future.

Despite been begged by Rainbow Dash to stay and enjoy the party as well, Lyra and Bonbon took their leave once the apology was over with. The party continued for a while longer until it got dark, and one-by-one Dashie's friends left for their homes. Eventually it was only her, Applejack and Pinkie Pie left alone in the lounge. The three of them had been drinking heavily during the party, and were all slightly drunk.

Rainbow Dash gazed at her friends smiling. "You know, I can't thank you girls enough for all your help… for all your kindness… for all your love…" she said.

“Oh you’re welcome girl” Applejack replied. “Me and Pinkie love you too. And we are so happy things have turned out for the better. You deserve it” she added.

“Yea, she’s no longer a Dashie in Distress” Pinkie replied. All laughing happily at the weak joke, they put their arms around each other and fell asleep whilst embraced in a loving hug of friendship together.

It had been a strange few weeks for Rainbow Dash. She had undergone sheer hell from all of ponyville, but through the encouragement of friends and her own determination, she was now one of the most popular ponies around. She and her friends had saved all of ponyville from the grip of drug addiction with help from her flying skills, and now saved them all from hatred through help of her guitar playing skills.

She was no longer depressed. No longer stressed. She was now Ponyville's greatest rockstar, and as she slept she dreamed of the bright future that awaited all of them.

- The End -