The Town of Friendship

The five ponies instantly began running through the great expanse in front of them, desperately seeking somewhere safe. They were caught between a rock and a hard place, as they had left the high canopy of the forest behind them, and before them lay the largest meadow anypony had ever seen. So they could do nothing but run and keep pushing forward. The blue Pegasus urged them onward with great anxiety in her tone, though she tried to keep a fearless face.

Finally, after a good hour of solid galloping, they found a spot deep in the meadow where the earth opened and a small cavern yawned in the hillside. They tucked themselves inside, and tried to make it appear as if nopony was there. They each quivered as they heard a great buzzing sound. “Stone Way and his flight brigade,” the blue newcomer whispered, “we’ve gotta keep a low profile! Everypony hush!”

They stood as still as statues for what was the longest thirty seconds of any of their lives. Time itself seemed to slow down, and Twilight felt like she could hear each individual heartbeat of the ponies next to her. She pressed closer to Applejack, looking for some kind of friendly comfort, and, to her pleasant surprise, she found some. It was rather nice, and she felt safe. To be truthful, she felt a lot safer with all of the others there. This must be what true friendship is like, she told herself, I just hope we reach the town soon!

When the buzzing subsided, the blue one stood and shook her wings out. Then, she took a huge risk and peeked out of the mouth of the cavern. Finding nopony there, she bent back in and smiled. “It’s okay, everypony,” she said, “they’ve gone.”

“Pardon me, but who in tarnation are you?” Applejack asked.

“Me? I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flyer Equestria’s ever seen!”

Oh, dear, Twilight said to herself as she rolled her eyes, a braggart. But, she decided not to judge Rainbow too quickly. After all, they had only known each other for a little more than an hour. Maybe the bragging came from some underlying fear of mistrust and disloyalty. Maybe Rainbow Dash was a scared pony at heart, who just wanted what they all did: a chance to learn about friendship.

“So, where are you ponies headed?” Dash asked.

“We’re goin’ to the Town of Friendship!” Apple Bloom squeaked.

“The Town of Friendship?” Dash asked, “what the hay’s that?”

So Twilight took it upon herself to tell the newcomer all about their destination. She knew they would need Dash’s speed and power of flight on their journey, so she talked the town up. She made it sound like the most wonderful place in Equestria, and she was pleased to see that Dash’s smile grew wider as the story progressed. It seemed that Rainbow Dash could be easily moved into joining their group, and Twilight felt like she had accomplished her small goal.

“A town that teaches friendship?! What an awesome idea!” Dash said when she finished, “I haven’t had a friend in…well…I can’t remember how long it’s been!”

“You’ve had friends before?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yep, back in Cloudsdale! Boy, those were the days…”

Twilight gave her a confused look. “I don’t mean to be blunt, but…you look to be about my age. How is it you had friends out in the open if Lilly was ruling?”

“Oh, it wasn’t out in the open,” Dash said, “I was part of the underground network in Cloudsdale. There were so many ponies who had friends, and it was an amazing thing. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a purge of the city. I just wish it was still around. It took my mind off of prostituting myself endlessly.”

“They had prostitutes in Cloudsdale, too?” Applejack asked.

“You’re darn right we had ‘em, and it was awful, too! We would stand on clouds, trying to look as alluring and attractive as possible. I felt like a statue, just constantly being stared at. Unfortunately, word got around that I enjoyed a lot of…shall we say…different things when it comes to sex, and I became Cloudsdale’s hottest commodity.”

“Rainbow Dash, you aren’t a commodity,” Twilight said, “you’re a pony. Have some self-respect!”

“I do have self-respect! I’m just telling you the way it was, and I had become incredibly popular. Stone Way was one of my constant clients. I don’t know how many times I had sex with him, but it must’ve been in the hundreds.” Here she stopped and Twilight swore she saw tears in her eyes. “He…beat me when we were together. That’s why I have all of this.”

She turned and unfurled her wings to reveal a plethora of scratches and bruises all along her back and flank. The other ponies all gasped in shock. Even Twilight, who had endured the same emotionally painful occupation, could never hope to put herself in Dash’s horseshoes. She had never been beaten by anypony, and she silently thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t Poor Rainbow Dash looked as if she had been through the Saddle Arabian war.

“He loved to whip me. He said he garnered some kind of sick pleasure from it. So today, while we were in the middle of going at it, I just decided that I didn’t want that life anymore, so I flew off.”

“Good for you, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight congratulated, “that’s no life for any mare.”

“You’re right,” Rainbow said, “and now that I’ve been informed of this Town of Friendship, I’d like to get there. It sounds super awesome!”

“Great! You can join up with us! I’m Twilight Sparkle, an ex-prostitute of Canterlot, and these are my friends Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Rose Hoof.”

“Great to meet all of you!” Dash said warmly, “and I’ll definitely take you up on that offer. I can’t wait to get to that town and learn all about what friendship is and what it has to offer to the average pony!”

“Alright,” Twilight said as she noticed the sun beginning to set, “we’ll camp here for the night, and then move forward in the morning. Okay?”

The ponies all nodded and hunkered down for the night. Twilight slept next to Rainbow Dash, and the two former prostitutes shared stories about their lives. When Twilight told Dash all about herself, the blue Pegasus was driven to tears. “I can’t imagine having a brother ripped away from you,” she said, “and then being forced into prostitution after watching the death of your own parents-“

“Stop, Dash,” Twilight said, “I don’t need you relaying everything I just said.”

“Sorry,” Dash said sheepishly, “but I just can’t imagine it.”

“And I can’t imagine sleeping with somepony who beats you and abuses you,” Twilight said, “my heart hurts for you, Rainbow.”

“Oh, it’s okay. The point is that I’m now free of that life. I’m free to choose my own destiny, and to find my own friends, and maybe, someday, a stallion who’ll love me for me, instead of my body.”

“I think we’d all like to have one of those,” Twilight said.

A moment passed.

“Twilight?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it wrong that it still felt really good when I did have sex with Stony Way?”

“Sex is supposed to feel good,” Twilight said, “I can’t think of a time when I was in the middle of it and I wasn’t moaning and screaming with pleasure. The part I dreaded came afterwards.”

“You mean the part where you feel extremely dirty and you hate yourself because you feel like you’ve betrayed some principle you were taught when you were a filly?”

“Yeah…how’d you know?”

Dash turned and gave Twilight a sympathetic look. “Because I was taught the same things you were. I love the idea of falling in love and pledging yourselves to each other and having that be the catalyst for physical intimacy. But…I guess that’s just not meant for ponies like you and I.”

Twilight looked at the ceiling, not having a response to that statement, because it was so true. She felt a special bond growing between she and Dash, and she was ecstatic at the new development. Even so, she felt an enormous burden weighing down on herself. She felt like she now had to succeed in order to retain her newfound friendships with all of these ponies. She not only had her brother to please, but everypony else as well. Oh, please, she said mentally to nothing in particular, just let us reach the town. We need to get there. If we don’t, then Equestria itself might never revert back to the way it was.