//------------------------------//
// Black, Gray, White, and Purple 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash's ears twitched to the sound of rummaging hoofsteps.  She stirred... stirred some more... and finally sat up.  She found herself seated on the back of the hotel suite's piano.

"Bonus points for finding a creative spot to crash," Vinyl Scratch's voice said.

Rainbow looked towards her and instantly regretted it.  Stabbing sunlight from beyond the windows silhouetted Vinyl's figure.  "Grnnngh..."  Rainbow facehoofed, rubbing her eyes.  "I... uh... I don't even remember how I ended up here..."

"Presumably after you tucked Caramel into bed, nice and clean."

"Hmmmm?"  Rainbow blinked and blinked.  "Oh... uhm... yeah."  One ear quivered after the other.  "How... how did you know?"

"Because I checked up on him," Vinyl said, fiddling with her equipment cases.  "I checked up on all of you.  It's nice what you did for Caramel.  Poor pony gets extra... extra depressed whenever she realizes how filthy she is."

"Just... couldn't help myself."  Rainbow cleared her throat.  "And Lyra and Bon Bon...?"

"Migrated their separate ways to their separate bedrooms."  Vinyl cleared her throat.  "I know.  The irony is not lost to me either."

"That... you..."  Rainbow gulped.  "Vinyl?"

"Yes...?"

"Don't you ever sleep?"

"No."

"No?"

"I nap."

Rainbow blinked.  "What's the difference?"

"So long as I can consistently and—without fail—take a twenty minute nap every three hours, then I'm good to go."

"For realsies?"

"Mmmmhmmm."

Rainbow swung her legs around until she sat on the edge of the piano.  "Then what do you do otherwise?"

"I stay awake."

"So... aside from thirty minute naps every three hours... you're constantly awake?"

Vinyl nodded with a shrug. "It's what my body requires, and it allows me to get stuff done."

"Wow..."

"Don't get me wrong." Vinyl glanced over, adjusting her shades.  "It's taken me years to get this rhythm going.  And—if I miss a single nap session—I'm screwed up for days."

"Is that why you were such a no-show before and after the dance session last night?"

Vinyl nodded.  "I had to take a nap right before and right after."

"Talk about a challenge."

"It's worth it in the long run, though."  Vinyl cocked her head to the side.  "But I wasn't the only pony who was a no-show at the end of the session last night."

Rainbow gritted her teeth, wincing.  "Yeah... sorry about that..."

"Vanishing back home in Ponyville is one thing," Vinyl said.  "We can relatively guess where you might turn up.  But here?  In Las Pegasus?"

"Yeah.  I get it."  Rainbow gulped.  "It was selfish of me."

"And—considering how drunk you may have been—downright stupid."  Vinyl sighed.  "I know Bon Bon and the rest have painted this as some sort of intervention... but I doubt you want us trying to do the real deal, Rainbow.  Please... we care about you.  Don't high-tail it off like that again."

"My bad."

Vinyl exhaled, returning to her equipment.  "I know that—at best—we may be drinking buddies these days, but we care about you."

"And that's a snazzy thing to hear, Vinyl," Rainbow said.  "Especially from you."

"Oh?"

"I always thought you were pretty hardcore before.  But now learning that you never sleep?"

"I don't sleep.  I—"

"You nap, I got it.  But still... that's... that's pretty amazing..."

Vinyl shrugged.  "It's a living."

"Must be a pretty lonely living."

"Hmmm?"

"Staying awake so much?"  Rainbow gulped.  "You gotta face your own thoughts constantly."

"I welcome it," Vinyl said.  "I can come up with idea... work on stuff more."

"It never weighs you down?"

"What are you getting at, Rainbow?"

Rainbow sighed.  "I just... I just wonder how you do it, Vinyl."  She fought a lump in her throat.  "...how you manage to go on for so long being alone."

"I've got you girls," Vinyl droned.  "I've got my fans... my agents and my record dealers.  I don't see how I'm 'alone.'"

"You know what I mean."

Vinyl lingered in place.  "... ... ...you mean without locking my lips with another pony?"

"It's more than that, Vinyl," Rainbow said with a dull smile.  "It's about... y'know... sharing your heart and spending the rest of your life with somepony you care about."

Vinyl shrugged.  "Just not my thing."

"You don't ever regret that?"

"Do you regret wanting it so badly?"

Rainbow bit her lip.

Vinyl sighed.  "There are times when I feel lonesome, yes.  But my friendships fill that void in my heart.  As for intimacy—it's a very good idea, don't get me wrong.  But it's... hardly ever executed properly.  Ponies... put so much unnecessary emphasis on coupling and romance... only to be let down."

"Were you let down once?"

"I tried dating at one time."  Vinyl gazed off.  "It didn't work for me because... I just wasn't interested."

"You weren't?"

The DJ shook her head.  "Don't get me wrong.  The other pony was kind, considerate, amiable.  But none of that made a difference.  I simply... was not interested in getting closer.  And I was only making things worse for my partner by constantly dragging out a relationship that was never going anywhere.  So, I eventually broke the whole thing off.  It was for the better.  Ever since, I told myself that I would only start a relationship if I had a genuine interest in being romantically close with another pony.  Guess what?  It never happened.  And eventually I reasoned with myself that..."  She shrugged.  "...it's just not my thing."

"Wow, that's pretty interesting."  Rainbow gulped.  "...I envy you, Vinyl.  You know that?"

Vinyl glanced over.  "What for?"

"Because, if you think about it, I've... more or less been living like you for over two years.  If I just learned to accept the way things are, then maybe I'd be at peace with myself."

"But can you remove your innate desire to be with another pony?"

Rainbow winced.

Vinyl looked over.  "Just because life tosses you lemons, it doesn't mean you have to change who you are.  Occasionally I have waves of unhappiness, Rainbow Dash.  Do I find ways to change?  Yes... but not without sacrificing my own principals.  Just because I'm a happier and more accomplished pony without a significant other doesn't mean you should follow a mold that isn't yours.  Someday, somehow, you will match up with the mare of your dreams... and I hope to be around to see it because that kind of stuff is worthy of song."

Rainbow sniffled.  "You really think so?"

"You keep following the most natural path, and eventually you'll reach your destination."  Vinyl adjusted her shades.  "Take it from a mare who reaches it everyday.  The journey is worth it.  Just don't get too freaked out from the stumbling blocks along the way."

"Yeah, well... I stumble a lot.  I mean a lot a lot."

"Doesn't make you any less cool in my eyes, and it's a pleasure to have you around."

"Thanks, Vinyl.  You're too spectacular for words."

"Yeah, well, save them for the next thirty to forty minutes."

"What, you got a jam session?"

"No, a nap session."  Vinyl trotted off to her bedroom.  "And if I'm any more late for it, then you'll promptly forget this conversation in place of the monster that will have spawned."