Appledashery

by Just Essay

Infitrots

Wooden doors swung open.

Everypony in the saloon looked at the entrance. The bartender paused in wiping her glass clean. Several poker-playing equines looked up from their tables in mid-game. A few drunken souls paused in hobbling to glance over from the dimly-lit corner of the establishment.

Rainbow Dash lingered in the doorframe, reeling slightly in her cloak. She bit her lip upon feeling every set of eyes on her. Adjusting her hood, she shuffled over towards the bar counter. Gradually, the patrons resumed what they were doing, filling the air with a murmuring soundtrack.

When Rainbow reached the first of many stools, she turned to look at the patrons at large.

Most of them were random faces that she couldn't be helped to recognize. However—at every other table or so—she spotted familiar shades of lavender, pink, yellow, and white. An elegant Rarity leaned against a piano, garbed in suggestive laces and feathers. Across from her, a surly Fluttershy with an eyepatch stared deeply into her mug. A drunken Twilight Sparkle lingered near the far wall, hiccuping and smiling dumbly.

"... ... ..." Rainbow turned to looked over the counter.

"So, stranger... what will it be?" chirped a familiar voice.

Rainbow opened her mouth, but lingered.

The bartender looked up, her blue eyes blinking under a bubbly tuft of curly pink mane hair. She paused in wiping the counter. "What are you looking at, filly?" She snorted. "You're supposed to walk out of here crocked, not the other way around!"

Rainbow tightened her jaw muscles. She leaned in. "I guess your name isn't Pinkie Pie, is it?"

"Pffft. If you're looking for a working girl, that's somewhere down the street, lady." The bartender gestured at the musty interior. "This here's a clean establishment!"

"Mrmfff.. yeah... I bet."

"Look, are you gonna have a drink or aren't you?"

"Whatever," Rainbow muttered, turning to glare across the saloon once again. No single pony had a horn or wings. "Just gimme something cold... with ice."

"That's more like it." The salmon pony scurried behind the counter. "Ice cold cider coming up—"

"No!" Rainbow barked, forcing the patrons to glance at her yet again. "Anything but cider..." Rainbow shuddered. "Just... just cold water."

The bartender raised an eyebrow. Nevertheless, she eventually nodded. "Oki doki loki..."

As she trotted off, Rainbow sat on a stool, shuddering "Now that's creepy..." She turned and looked out the entrance from which she came.

In the dark alleyway outside, brieft gusts of wind blew at dust and debris. A poster bearing Flim and Flam's faces rolled in and out of view, disappearing beyond the brickwork.

Rainbow exhaled heavily. "Okay... so Shindig's dream is a giant flying city... which is not made of clouds." Her nostrils flared. "Which is totally stupid, by the way." She looked back inside the saloon. "And it's full of ponies that Applejack knows." She blinked. "Except me." She looked left and right again, once more not spotting any equine with an azure blue coat. "Just why is that? Because I'm actually here? Or..." She gulped. "Do I just not mean that much to her?"

"Here you go, stranger." The bartender with Pinkie's mane slid an ice cold glass of water over to the mare. "You... uh... enjoy talking to yourself, now, ya hear?" With that, she shuffled nervously away.

Rainbow gripped the container and raised it to her lips. "But why are all of Applejack's friends and family appearing anyways? Is she... dreaming against Shindig's dream? Imagining upstream, so to speak?"

She took a sip of the glass, reveling in the cool, cold taste. However, she paused.

"... ... ...wait, why would I even need to feel parched?" Rainbow squinted. "I mean... this is a dream, isn't it?" She shuddered in place, her hood rustling across the back of her head. "What in the heck is going on here, anyways?"

Just then, a loud commotion rolled through the nearby alleyway. Several patrons glanced out ahead of Rainbow Dash. She swiveled about as well—just in time to see—

"Lemme go! Lemme go!" A portly stallion grunted, thrashing about in a disheveled suit as several more ponies wrangled him in from outside. "This has gotta be some kind of a mistake!"

"It's no mistake, ya money-grabbing punk!" One of the stallions shoved his head against the wall as he and his buddies roughly restrained him. "We saw you robbing from other ponies two platforms down! You're in league with the Blue Jay!"

"Who in the heck is the Blue Jay?!"

"Hey!" The bartender shouted. "Trotston! Merrytail! What in the blazes is the meaning of this?!"

"Today's your lucky day, Whiterag!" A doppelganger of Filthy Rich turned towards the bartender, grinning. "We've caught ourselves a featherling! This punk's got the Blue Jay written all over him!"

"Yeah!" Another stallion beamed. "We're gonna fetch us one heck of a reward! It'll feed all our families well past Coronation Day!"

"Look, I don't even know how I got here!" the stallion sputtered, tossing his brown mane back as he gnashed his teeth. "Could I just talk to somepony in charge?"

"Heh... brother, you don't want to speak to the ones in charge."

Rainbow leaned forward, squinting. At last, a breath left her. "....Donut Joe?"

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

"And it's full of ponies that Applejack knows." She blinked. "Except me."

She looked left and right again, once more not spotting any equine with an azure blue coat. "Just why is that? Because I'm actually here?

I'm thinking "yes".

Mainly because I'm thinking that AJ is a bit more aware of what's going on than Miz Shindig or her conivving, no-account sons realize.

I mean, she is the Bearer of ther Element of Honesty, after all.

(and if there's one thing that this whole set-up isn't, it's honest!)

Or..." She gulped. "Do I just not mean that much to her?"

Oh, Rainbow. I think you know Applejack way better than that, darlin'.

Remember? By her own words in Applebuck Season, Applejack is, and I quote, "The loyalest of friends and the most dependable of ponies", end-quote.

I think that she's just trying to give you a hint that she's still her, she senses you're with her in this place, and she's waiting for you to come to the rescue.

Rainbow leaned forward, squinting. At last, a breath left her. "....Donut Joe?"

Well, at least one of Rainbow's companions has shown up in this one. and will hopefully be reunited with her...and the others.

I just hope that things don't go majorly south for her and them before they can get to AJ, rescue her, upset Shindig's apple-cart (pardon the pun), get themselves (and certain others (you know who they are, I think)), shatterer this foolishness, and get thremselves all out of this nightmare-scape!

Speaking of...what the heck happened to EPCOT? I haven't seen her the last few chapters.

Heh, I just thought of something. I said something about the Element of Honesty earlier on in this post. So wouldn't it be something else if, where Applejack and Rainbow are concerned, their Elements manifested around their necks and put a short and sharp end to Shindig, Flim and Flam's l'il "Coronation" party?

That, to my mind, would be mega-sweet, and poetic justice.

To say nothing of hilarious!

[Jay_Baker]

Wow can't wait to see what's next

[Avid Fiction]

Yay! She found one of the dreamers!

This place bothers me. I don't know what it is. I can't wait for them to get out of this nightmare and back to the real world.

5665958

I agree. I think that Applejack is very much aware of what's happening, but can't do anything about it.
Or...
She's already been taken and everything will be in vain. Hmhm...

Doran!! Get lost! We already know that Applejack will be fine. Otherwise there would be no cuddles later that were promised.

Sorry folks. Ignore him. He just enjoys misery.

Can't wait to see what happens next.

[RoboRed]

"Okay... so Shindig's dream is a giant flying city... which is not made of clouds." Her nostrils flared. "Which is totally stupid, by the way."

I disagree. This is several levels of "kickass".

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5666167 I'm thinking that you're right, on both counts.

I also think that she's waiting for the Cavalry (AKA Rainbow and company (but especially Rainbow (there's gotta be a reason for the "Blue Jay" thing, I'm thinking)) to show up and help her put a permanent halt to the crazy dreams (delusions?) of Shindig and Sons.

I don't know who Doran is, but I totally agree with you. Things are gonna work out just fine.

Oh, don't worry, I am. I know a grumpy downer when I "see" one.

And me, neither!

Man, this is getting good!

Now all Rainbow and Joe have to do is find Mulia, Stu and Gustav, storm the castle, rescue AJ, ruin Shindig's l'il "Cider Utopia", and get everypony (including the three crazy ones) back to the real world, and everything will be even more sunshine and rainbows than usual.

But what does anyone here want to bet that AJ will have more than a few very choice words for her soon-to-be-former "hosts" once she, and they, and everyone else, are fully awake and back in the real world?

I'm taking wagers.

5666188 Well, just remember that she's used to floating cities like Cloudsdale, which are made of clouds. So, naturally she would think that this thing is stupid.

[Sheendough]

5665958 I'm thinking that maybe AJ doesn't want to think about Rainbow because she knows that she'll never stop thinking about her. Maybe she has a blue feather under her hat.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5666335 Hmmmm. Like maybe, she's got just as much a "thing" for Rainbow, as Rainbow does for her, but just doesn't want to admit it, or is too nervous to?

You might just have a point there.

A very good point, indeed.

Again, that, as that one song says, is "one of those things that makes you go "hmmmmmm"".

Hmmmm, maybe,

Guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?

[Bulbajer]

Maybe we haven't seen Rainbow because her doppelganger would have a specific role to play, rather than just random ponies?

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Hmmm... So officers recognize RD's fellow dreamers as followers of "The Blue Jay", an alleged criminal mastermind who has been causing trouble for Shindig.

Except they recognize RD as Blue Jay, which doesn't make sense because she's only been here (as far as we know) for less than a day. And since AJ is most likely in the same state the others were, she can't be consciously affecting the dream, only subconsciously on a limited scale. Therefore, Shindig and sons are either consciously aware that their sim has been invaded and are actively adjusting it to counter the dreamers, or else they're paranoid and had these measures established in case of unforeseen intrusions.

Either way, I get the feeling that RD needs to gather the others and smack some scheming noggins before rescuing her favorite Apple.

[Fishberry]

I'm not sure what's going on, and I may be entirely off-kiester here, but what I think is happening is that Shindig is using dopplegangers of Applejack's friends in order to dilute her memories of them.

Think of it like a game of 'broken telephone', or like people who have never seen the show basing a character's personality off of another author's portrayal who never saw the show, either.

She's trying to dissolve Applejack's attachments to her life by diluting her memories of ponies she knows by conflating memories of her real friends with memories of an innumerable number of dream versions, so it's easier to rip her away from her body.

Why earth ponies? Applejack is an earth pony. So all ponies are earth ponies. Rares and Twi were never unicorns. Shy was never a pegasus, nor Rainbow Dash. Her wings materialized as steam-powered,, artificial constructs. Convincing Applejack that elements of her memories are fictional is an excellent way to invalidate those memories as fantasy in her dream-consciousness.

I'm also betting the coronation event is some sort of ruse. Whatever is intended to happen, it won't do anything good for Applejack, and the clock is ticking.

I think Rainbow Dash means too much to Applejack, and Shindig wasn't able to corrupt those memories. So what is Shindig doing about those memories? Perhaps she's trying to convince her Rainbow Dash never existed to begin with, or maybe she's using the promise to be reunited with Dashie as a ruse to fool Applejack into doing something against her best interests.

I also think she was somehow aware that Rainbow Dash was coming, and that Dashie is heading into some sort of trap. Donut Joe has just been apprehended. Clearly Shindig is aware they are there and understands she needs to isolate them, because she is trying to present this fantasy world to Applejack (Apple Jewel) as reality and the intrusion into this Sim by AJ's friends is threatening to spoil the whole illusion.

Tank the tank. It would be epic. Gotta happen.

Asdfjh holy crap this is the longest comment I've ever posted.

[Leftover of Saikano]

A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender asks, "Why the long face?"

It seems they are all earth ponies, and even Rainbow seems to lack natural wings. But a poster with the faces of Flim and Flam is mentioned, and them not being unicorns is not mentioned. Same when Donut Joe's face is revealed. So, can we have some non-earth ponies? Will Gustave have his natural wings?

[Aatxe360]

"... ... ...wait, why would I even need to feel parched?" Rainbow squinted.

Because somewhere you are shedding tears as you fly through a desert and that is an unacceptable loss of hydration. Good thing that mare is equipped with specially-packaged and magical hydration vials. You just need to finish that water and the other one might realize how difficult the journey will be if she dies of dehydration.

I see that we found Pinkie Pie. She's trying really hard to be inconspicuous to RD. For PP to be an unknown factor is redundant, but knowing someone was looking after both Applejack and Rainbow Dash is touching. She knows how much this means to RD to let AJ get hurt, but she is also aware of how capable RD is. She is there "just in case." And she might still be needed. It gives me justification to like PP more than fear her. I don't care if I'm wrong, this is how I would like to imagine it.

I'm getting better at grabbing other's attention. Is that a good thing since I am better at reacting than acting?

[arancaytar]

Incoming fight scene!

Raze this bar, raze this bar, one, two, three, four!