-3 hours later-
I close the window, having shown Dash a lot of gameplay. I'm having a great time with my favorite pony, but I feel like I'm boring her, despite her constant signals of happiness. This has always been an issue with me. I'm super paranoid about boring people with things I find interesting, whether it be a new song or a new video game. I feel as if I constantly have to entertain them to an absurd degree. Speaking of music, I am about to show Dash quite a bit of that.
"Hey, what gives?" The disgruntled mare moans, clearly annoyed that I had closed the game, "I was watching that!"
"Sorry, I just heard you go quiet and I thought that I was boring you…" I say, my voice trailing off towards the end, "Hey, how's about we tell each other a little about ourselves."
"What, like you don't already know enough about me?" Dash jokes, smiling to show there's no harm intended, "But seriously, what would you wanna know about me that you don't already know?"
ARE YOU LESBIAN!? COME ON ASK THE DAMN QUESTION!
NO! I'm not gonna bring that shit up! At least…not yet…
Come on, you've been wanting to know this since you first saw how the community portrayed her. It wouldn't hurt just to ask…
Shut up brain, I'll ask her later.
"Max?" I snap out my thoughts, only to see a rainbow-maned Pegasus waving her hoof in front of my face, "Yoohoo, you there?"
"Sorry about that." I say, now firmly entrenched back in reality, "Guess I kinda spaced out there a little, heh." I awkwardly scratch the back of my head, feeling beads of sweat trace their way down my face, "Anyways, yeah; I wanted to know when you first started liking the Wonderbolts."
"Aw man, I can still remember that day!" Dash reconciles, "I was only, like, six years old and I saw this poster for them in Cloudsdale. I begged my mom all day to take me to the show, 'cause they looked super cool. So anyways, she gave in eventually and I went to the show."
"And?" I inquire, waiting for her to finish the story.
"It was so awesome, like nothing I'd ever seen." Dash falls back onto the pillow, "The speed, the control, everything about them was just so cool! I even got a picture of them signed by their leader back then; Icy Breeze."
"Sounds awesome!" I grin, happy to see her smiling for once, "So then you started training to become a Wonderbolt, right?"
"Yeah! I trained every chance I could get!" The excited mare remembers, "I even joined the Junior Speedsters to get ahead of my game!"
"That's cool, I wish I was that committed to my dream." I chuckle.
"What do you wanna be?" Rainbow asks, sounding genuinely interested.
"I want to be a DJ or an electronic music producer." I explain, "But every time I hear a pro DJ's song, all I can think of is 'how do you make those sounds' or 'I can't do this!'. It's like, I feel like I'm crap compared to everyone else."
"Well, let me hear what you've got." Dash asks, "Maybe you aren't as bad as you think you are."
"Sure, let me pull up FL." I say dejectedly, clicking the icon on my desktop.
"What's FL?"
"FL Studio is what I use to make music on the computer." I explain, the program just now popping up in front of me, "Pretty complicated, huh?"
"Wow, and I thought electronic music was easy…" The mare looks speechless at the large amount of buttons, switches, and sliders on screen.
"I haven't even opened the project yet." I grin, wanting to see her reaction to my song.
I quickly navigate to open my song and watch her jaw drop at the sheer amount of stuff on screen. From the synths to the patterns, everything here is in place.
"Jeez, that looks pretty complicated…" Dash looks at me with a hint of respect, "Can you play the song?"
"Sure, here we go." I frown, ready for a mediocre response.
The sounds of my hard work fill the room, coating it with a Swedish House-esque melody synth. Dash seems to be enjoying the song, so I smile.
The drop hits, and the minimal guitar sounds make me feel a little crappy because, well, they sound pretty crappy, but Dash still seems to be enjoying it. I can't believe she likes this, I really can't.
Eventually, the song ends and Dash turns to face me. On her face is a wide smile.
"Dude, that was great!" She exclaims, "I could totally get down to that in a party! You seriously think that's bad?"
"Well, the guitars were pretty crappy, I've heard better pluck synths." I frown, still feeling weak, "I still think I'm a weak producer."
"Really?" Dash ask me, "You still think you're bad? That was great! I think you worry too much, man. Lighten up a bit, why don't ya?"
"Sure, I guess…" I sigh, "It's just that I have no way of getting known other that Youtube and Soundcloud, and those are both one in a million deals. I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you, but I just can't be. I need a smoke…"
I sigh again as I exit the room, my spirits depleted. Not even Rainbow Dash could make me feel better, damn… I reach for my pack of cigarettes and the lighter on the stove. Taking a smoke out of the box, I light it and place it in my mouth, inhaling deeply.
"That's the shit…" I sigh, having not smoked for at least a day.
Hearing a pounding on the floor behind me, I spin around to see Rainbow Dash staring at me with a confused expression.
"What are you doing?" Dash asks, looking mildly disgusted at the cigarette, "What is that smoking thing in your mouth?"
"A cigarette, helps me cope with the stress." I state calmly, blowing out a bit of smoke, "It isn't really good for me, though."
"What do you mean?" Dash asks, looking mildly concerned.
"It can cause cancer, yellow my teeth, give me awful breath, and shorten my life span." I frown as Dash's jaw drops in shock.
"W-Why in the world would you smoke it then!?" The rainbow pony asks, flabbergasted at my words.
"It calms me down a lot, helps me think." I sigh, knowing what comes next, "I'm also addicted to the stuff."
"Wait, what?" Dash asks, confused at my explaination, "how can you be addicted to something that's that awful?"
"Well, back in my second year of high school, about two years ago, my friend asked me if I wanted to try smoking." I tell my story, feeling the guilt rise up, "I tried it and I hated it, but I wanted to look cool, so I said it was great. He kept getting cigs and I eventually got addicted to the stuff in a cigarette. All the shit in these things is meant to be addictive."
"Well, what happens if you stop?" Dash asks, seemingly interested in the topic at hand.
"Well, I go through withdrawal." I say. Noting Dash's confused expression, I decide to explain further, "I get really angry, dizzy, and it's pretty hard for me to sleep. Oh, also, I feel the intense, and I mean in-freaking-tense need to smoke some more."
"It doesn't sound that bad." Dash says, waving a hoof at me as if to blow off my excuses, "I think you just lack conviction!"
"Bullshit!" I yell, angry at her for questioning my will, "Don't you ever say that shit! I tried to quit smoking two months ago! I got three weeks in and gave up, but sure as hell don't mean I'm weak!"
"I didn't say-"Dash backs away, scared at my sudden outrage. It's kinda funny, seeing this so-called 'ultra-brave pony' scared of me, of all people. I mean, I'm addicted to Reddit and used to work at a shopping center; I'm not exactly the most threatening guy in the world.
"I know what you were thinking." I huff, still angry at the mare for making such an outrageous statement, "You don't know SHIT about what I went through! Imagine being in a desert and being tied to a pole, just out of reach of the last cup of water in the world. Oh yeah, and this goes on for about two weeks. It's fucking miserable and I'm really pissed that you'd say I 'don't have the conviction'."
"I didn't mean it like that…" Dash says to me, looking rather hurt, "I'm sorry, Max…"
"Ugh, it's okay, I can't stay mad at you." I say, "Besides, I've got better things to do than make the best pony depressed."
Rainbow's cheeks light up a little, telling me that my comment had not fallen on deaf ears. I take the cigarette out once again a blow a puff of smoke in the opposite direction; away from Dash.
"I'm gonna troll some twelve year olds on Modern Warfare 3, wanna watch?" I suddenly announce, the idea popping into my head out of nowhere.
"What's 'trolling'?" Dash asks, "And what's Modern Warfare 3?"
"Modern Warfare 3 is a game infamous for the incredibly high concentration of annoying twelve-year-olds that play it online." I grin, knowing that I'm gonna have fun with this, "Trolling is the act of making someone as mad as possible, usually by messing with them to a high degree."
"So, it's sorta like pranking?" Dash asks, a smile growing on her face, "I think I like it!"
Oh boy, this is gonna be fuuuun!