A Dash of Gold

Chapter 1: Pony Overhaul

Rainbow Dash stretched out on her cloud bed and flexed her forepaws, preparing for her morning workout. With a zoom, she raced out the door over the skies of Ponyville, taking 90° turns every which way to get her wings to wake up. Once she was satisfied she’d worked up a proper sweat, she fluffed up a cumulonimbus and started beating it. With all the speed and power she’d worked so long to garner, the little sparks it sent flying over her manes and face were felt but promptly disregarded.

“If the sparks bother ya, you’re just not hitting it fast enough,” she’d always been told. The blue pegasus panted a little, nothing like a good warm-up before breakfast.

Then she realised she’d forgotten she was meeting Pinkie Pie for breakfast today. True to her name, she dashed off for the library with a trademark rainbow trail in her wake. As she landed, she noticed almost the whole town had gathered near town hall.

Apparently some big-shot pony had come to town to make an announcement.

“Rainbow Dash! You have to see this!” Twilight got excited when she spotted her friend in the back, and a certain pair of pink hooves pushed the confused Pegasus right to the front of the mass. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide as she recognised the figure. It couldn’t be. White mane, awesome costume… Fleetfoot? Here?

“Yes, you heard me right,” the Wonderbolt announced, ”This Tuesday you will get the chance to show your stuff in front of me, Soarin’ and one of our personal trainers. The best performer will have the honour of receiving an initiation training as a show pony from the Wonderbolts and to perform as the warm-up act to our performance on the annual Feather and Hoof show!”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. Warm-up to the Wonderbolts, that was pretty much the best way to get noticed by the elite, and the training meant she could measure her routine to theirs, learn some of their infamous secret training setups. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Fleetfoot wrapped up her explanation.

“So, everypony put their best hoof forward, all comers are welcome: flyers, magicians, comedians. We want only to be entertained.”

The rainbow-maned mare went giddy with excitement. She was so giddy, she forgot she hadn’t had breakfast yet. Thankfully, her stomach groaned loud enough for all to be informed of the fact. The grumbling even drew the attention of the white-maned superstar. While the rest of Ponyville clamoured around the notice she’d put up at town hall, Fleetfoot strolled over to who she’d gathered was her biggest fan.

“Ah, you I remember. It’s Rainbow Dash, isn’t it? I take it I’ll be seeing you at the try-outs?” she asked.

“You bet! I’ll put on a show you’ll never forget!” Rainbow Dash boasted despite her growling stomach.

The Wonderbolt chuckled as she passed by. Her light blue eyes gleamed without the goggles to keep them hidden. She had the big, cute eyes one expected more of Rarity’s sort than a stunt flyer.

“From what I’ve heard from the team, I’m sure you will.”

She beamed at the compliment.

“Got any pro tips I could use?”

Fleetfoot gave it some thought.

“Try to do something new so you don’t look like a one-trick pony, don’t come flying on vapour, and err… try to clean yourself up a little.” She winked at that last comment before putting her goggles back on.

And with that, the Wonderbolt was off to the skies.

“Clean myself up? What does she mean by HAIYAAH!” Rainbow Dash nearly screamed when she saw her reflection in a window: face matted with sweat and raindrops, hair a frizzy mess and one eyelash was still smouldering like a fuse from her thundercloud sparring.

“Oh,” she dropped her head in shame.

“Rarity! I need your help!” Rainbow Dash called out, rushing into the fashion shop. ”There’s this try-out for the Wonderbolts next Tuesday and it’s like the biggest thing ever and I need to look awesome please help me!”

How exactly she managed to get all that into one sentence without requiring a second breath was beyond the unicorn’s understanding. It must have had something to do with her athletic training, or living where the air is thin. Rarity took some paper and a crayon and led the way outside.

“Well, you could put on your Shadowbolt costume, I know it would complement your Sonic Rainboom perfectly.”

Rainbow Dash floated after her, exasperated.

“No! I can’t use the Sonic Rainboom for this, this is for the Wonderbolts!” She took a deep breath as she caught her heart racing again. ”They’ve already seen me do it. I have to do something new. I’ve already got a good idea with kicking clouds, but… I need to look better, it has to be perfect.”

At that point, she noticed the little set-up in Rarity’s garden, and a few unfinished sketches Rarity had made of some new dresses lying on her chair. There were barrels of something a little thicker than water, a table lined up with bottles containing all sorts of perfumy compounds, and three little fillies mixing things up and checking recipes. Apple Bloom had somehow managed to get her chair smelling like lavender, Sweetie Belle had gotten her paws a lime-ish green, and Scootaloo was busy negotiating with a pint-sized raincloud. The negotiations weren’t going too well for her, but then that’s what happens when one tries to get the other side tied up in rope .

“Err… what are they doing here?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes in confusion.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called, making sure to first tie the cloud up somewhere steady. ”We’re making new soaps and perfumes for the beauty parlour.”

“Huh? You’re letting them make stuff somepony has to actually use?” the winged mare asked her friend.

Rarity, for her part, just sat down and started drawing.

“Well, they have shown that they can make potions and salves that work. They’ve been going around all of Ponyville for months now trying to find their special talent, and they always seem to get in trouble when there’s no one to watch them. So I thought: why not let them try something with a responsible adult supervising? It’s not like they can do any real harm with perfumes and soaps. And even if they make a mistake, these things are always thoroughly checked before being used on anypony,” the unicorn explained.

“Isn’t it great, Dash? Zecora let us borrow her recipe book for some new stuff they can use in the parlour.” Apple Bloom smiled widely.

“Uh huh.” Dash leaned in close to her drawing friend. ”What’s the catch?”

“No catch, darling,” Rarity whispered. ”It’s just that they’ve been getting into some very bad situations lately, and I didn’t want them to feel down about it. After all, they’re only trying to get a cutie mark, no sense in punishing them for that. Besides: this way I get to work on my designs with a little controlled chaos to inspire me, and they can do something they enjoy without endangering anypony. It’s perfectly safe. Say, if you’re worried about your appearance, why not get a makeover?”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, ”we could give you a shine or a new colour, you name it!”

“I-I dunno…”

She considered it, if haltingly. But then the big pleading eyes of the little fillies bored into her heart, and she realised that just like Fleetfoot couldn’t deny her some decent tips, Dash couldn’t deny her fans this opportunity. And besides, at least it wasn’t somewhere public, like the spa, where everyone could see her getting pampered.

She sighed.

“Fine. But only if you promise I won’t look silly when you’re done.”

“We promise! Cutie Mark Crusaders Beauty Specialists! Yay!” came the synched call, upon which the mare found herself in the hooves of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, carrying her off and plunking her unceremoniously into a bath tub that wasn’t even connected to any pipes. However, it was properly decorated with a circle of lavender flowers, as one would expect.

“Wait, why do you have a bath tub in your back yard?” came the obvious question.

“Don’t you remember those dresses I made for the Grand Galloping Gala? That tub came with the kitchen sink, dear, but it clashed with my curtains,” came the not-so-obvious reply, ”I only ever use when I need to make more dyes or if the spa’s closed.”

A tug on the rope around the raincloud yielded a cold shower for the blue mare. Rarity looked up from her sketches when she noticed her friend’s clicking teeth and got the water warmed up with a little twinkle of her horn.

“Now then, the first thing you do is get rid of all the dirt and grime,” Rarity started.

“Hey, I’m a clean pony! I wash myself all the time!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“I know you are, dear, but dirt can be tricky. All that hard work can leave you sweaty and sticky. So why don’t you just relax in that tub, and girls: give our friend a proper scrub!”

The girls needed no further encouragement, and promptly went to work on all the hard-to-reach spots with a set of soaped-up sponges. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as the rough scrubbing went over her back and wings, the little fillies pressing her to the tub’s edge.

“I’m telling you, you don’t need to wash my back!”

“Well, if that’s true, why’s my sponge turning black?” Scootaloo held her sponge up after a few scrubs and rubs over that supposedly clean back. There were black flecks of what looked like charcoal coming off of the surface. That was probably from crashing down a chimney last Thursday.

“That’s nothing, I’ve got some green things!” Sweetie Belle displayed what looked like green specks populating her sponge. That might have been some flour she’d gotten on her when she tried to help Pinkie Pie, but how it had turned green was a mystery. Might be the Quarray Eels from her last run on Ghastly Gorge.

“How the hay’d you get a pineapple in your wings?” Apple Bloom pondered as she took out a large piece of fruit that had somehow remained unnoticed between the blue feathers. That one... left her quite stumped.

Rainbow blushed as she got turned around and her hooves and belly were scrubbed the same way. She never knew that all her flying on Weather Patrol and stunt practice got her quite so littered. When all the dirt and grime left her tub water looking an unappetising brown, Rarity pulled the plug and had the fillies give the blue mare another once-over with the raincloud. She kept the soapy water in a few separate buckets, in case Applejack needed a mild pesticide. ‘Give a hoot, don’t pollute,’ as Twilight would say.

Rainbow Dash, visibly shaken, didn’t object much when the girls got some towels and, with their usual enthusiasm, dried her off in their best impression of a steamroller.

“There, I should think you feel better now, dear?” Rarity tried.

“Right now I’m thinking I need to get outta here,” came the dizzy response.

She was slowly guided to a spare chair and sat down, before two cucumber slices blocked her vision and a warm, wet towel was wrapped around her muzzle.

“Don’t make me too pretty now, I still wanna look cool,” Rainbow Dash warned the self-proclaimed beauty experts.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have you looking like you did in Flight School,” Rarity assured her.

Granted, Dash was feeling a lot better with all the pesky dirt off her, and the towel and cucumbers did make her face feel less worked. Being a dedicated athlete, she never really put much thought into her appearance. 'Working awesome means being awesome means looking awesome,' that’s the extent to which she worried about her looks. That and her dressing in style, but that’s where she drew the line.

“So now what do we do about her looks?” Sweetie Belle tried.

“Make her look like those ponies in fashion books?” tried Scootaloo.

“No!” exclaimed the now veggy-eyed pegasus pony, ”No makeup, no fluff, no silly glitter, just make me…I dunno, look even fitter.”

Rarity pondered.

“Apple Bloom, do you know anything that might help?”

The little yellow filly went to the table and got a bottle of what looked like oil. She read the label and checked the recipe book.

“Golden Gleam. Made from walnut peels, Zap Apples and fresh kelp. Gives your coat a mighty shine. I reckon this’ll do just fine.” She handed the bottle to Rarity, who made sure to check the instructions.

“For full effect, spread all over. Dilute for manes and tail, one tenth with essence of clover… Leave to rest for one full hour, then relish as it displays your power. Well, Dash, want to give it a try?”

The pampered pegasus shrugged in her seat. She wasn’t at all sure of it, but she was willing to take a risk with this much at stake. She couldn’t afford to pass up this opportunity just on account of something silly as her appearance. Besides that, for some reason she was feeling a little nauseous after the bath, and felt like she should lie still for a while to get it to pass. She had an odd sort of anxiety that made her want to fly at top speed and lie down at the same time. So really, she was in no position to object. She nodded before her fear took over.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle took charge in getting Rainbow Dash oiled up, floating rags skilfully and evenly distributing it over her body while the other two Crusaders got the stuff ready to put on her mane and tail. It felt pretty good on her arms and legs, and a little dabbing at her face once her pores had opened up somewhat. The cucumbers stayed on just to make sure those eyes didn’t look puffy when all was said and done. The oil made her feel quite warm all over, then her manes and tail got the same treatment with the slightly diluted shampooing oil. When all was said and done, Rainbow Dash had a healthy shine all over, though the oil made her look more of a chestnut brown colour than her usual blue.

“There now, you’ll look great as long as we respect the timing.”

“That’s great, now can we please stop this silly rhyming?” came the near-desperate plea. Nopony seemed to mind.

“I’m sorry, darling, force of habit. I find it makes things go so much faster.” Rarity turned a conveniently placed hourglass. ”You just lie back like that and when we’re done you’ll look just perfect. “

“But won’t this stuff wear off before next Tuesday?”

“Nope,” Apple Bloom replied, ”it says here that once it’s had a chance to seep in, it’ll keep showin’ for at least three weeks. And that’s if you really scrub yourself every day.” The filly yawned and blinked her sleepy eyes. The excitement, for once, had actually gotten to her. Her yawn proved contagious, too.

“Okay, good. I’d hate to go through all this trouble for nothing. I’ve already promised Applejack I’d help her at the farm, get some good kicking practice.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all yawned simultaneously, the excitement seemed to have gotten to all of them now. That, or the hops bells they’d handled with their bare hooves, despite Rarity’s warning. Hops will do that to a pony.

“Whoa, you’re not gonna fall asleep on me and leave me hanging here, are ya?” Rainbow Dash’s hoof was almost at the cucumber slice, but Rarity stopped her and placed another dab of the oil on her eyelids instead. She was not about to have another major goof-up by leaving the stuff on for too long.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow. I’d never let anything as trite as an afternoon nap jeopardise a friend’s dream. Besides: it’s been ages since I’ve had this sort of quiet with Sweetie Belle around. This is a perfect opportunity to do some finishing up. You rest now, and I’ll keep an eye on the time.”

Rarity called forth a parasol to open over her friend, just in case, and got to fleshing out some new designs as her little sis and her friends slept off the activities of the day. Judging by the sheer amount of bottles they’d made, those fillies had taken classes on industrial production. Still, at least they wouldn’t run around and cause a mess.

Soon enough, the hourglass ran out, the little fillies woke up, and they got to work with a wet rag to get the stuff off. Rainbow Dash kept her eyes closed, nervous about the result. Sitting still for so long was not something she did often, and she was feeling a more than uneasy in her stomach. Her heart raced as she mentally prepared herself for it to end. They got done in a matter of moments, but when she finally opened her eyes, the blue mare was feeling downright sick of nerves.

They looked genuinely shocked at what had come off and what had remained on her, apparently. Rainbow Dash extended one hoof as Rarity haltingly levitated a mirror her way.

“Oh my, Rainbow Dash....” she let that trail off. Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had their faces stuck on ‘stunned’.

“The mirror,” Rainbow Dash asked. She hoped this wouldn’t be another debacle for the three fillies, that this wouldn’t be a repeat of all the potion abuse she’d seen and heard of them.

“The mirror!” she asked again, commandingly this time. Rarity gave her the mirror with a slight shake in her gait. Dash clasped it in between her hooves, eyes firmly shut again to prepare.

The pegasus braced herself. She took a deep breath and looked at her face, then down at the rest of her.

“I… look… awesome!”

She jumped out of her seat as she admired her new self. Apparently ‘Golden Gleam’ wasn’t just any sort of oil: it was a dye. The stuff had given her body a shiny golden coat, while her mane and tail were likewise turned golden with darker streaks of her rainbow pattern along the length, making her look like something in between a fashion model and a superhero. Every little piece of her, every little crease, looked positively glowing, the muscles she’d worked so long to develop really outlined in the new hue. Scootaloo grinned and looked back at the bottle, determined to get the same coat for herself, adult supervision or no.

“Look at me! I’m golden! I’m literally golden! Wait, does this have any side effects? Am I gonna turn orange if I eat a carrot?”

Rarity shook her head.

“No, Zecora wouldn’t let us use any tricky recipes. This will last for quite a while, more than enough to look stunning during the try-outs.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, all of you.” Rainbow Dash got off the ground and nearly cried with joy at her new look.

“You’re more than welcome, dear. Just… make sure you don’t get overconfident?” Rarity warned with a gentle smile.

“I won’t, I promise. And I won’t forget this, not ever. I can’t wait to show Applejack my new look!” and with that, she took off with a golden wave trailing behind her.