• Published 4th Dec 2013
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Appledashery - Just Essay



Rainbow Dash lives an exciting life and is swiftly becoming the most daring, awesome pegasus in all of Equestria. She would gladly give it all up, though, just to confess her love to Applejack.

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Not So Serene

Rainbow Dash felt a very familiar chill run down her back as she entered a very familiar room and gazed upon a very familiar door. The frame of it was lined with brass pipes, hissing vaguely in a persistent exhale of steam.

"Tell me, my little pony..." Queen Shindig trotted towards the abominable door in question. She gazed upon it with a dull expression, her jaw muscles tight and firm. "Have you ever lost anypony close to you?"

"I... uhm..." Rainbow cleared her throat, gazing down at the floor. "Yeah. I've... lost two ponies close to me, as a matter of fact."

Shindig glanced over. "Friends? Family?"

Rainbow tilted her ruby eyes up, glaring. "The same two ponies everyone loses eventually."

Shindig nodded gravely. Her head tilted towards the doorframe once more. "Would you like to have them back?"

"I think I'm a lot cooler with moving on," Rainbow said, cocking her head aside. "And making the best out of the life I have live." Her brow furrowed. "Isn't that what we all gotta do? Isn't that the grown up thing?"

Shindig took a deep breath. "And what if you lived for so long with a special somepony that they practically became your life," she said. "So that existing without them would no longer be existing at all."

"I wouldn't know about that," Rainbow said.

"Wouldn't you?" Shindig gave her a sharp glance. "You've gone to great lengths to save that which you consider a 'friend.'" Her eyes glinted in the distant lanternlight, matching the sheen of the adjacent brass pipes. "I've only ever fought that hard for one soul in my life, and I've named this great city after him."

"And yet, as much as I care..." Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "...love the one I'm giving my all for, I'm not about to give somepony else's all."

"I don't quite read you."

"Sacrifice!" Rainbow grunted. "A ritualistic gutting of the soul or what-crap!" she spat. "I care for my friends, but the most I'd ever give up is myself. Bringing other souls into it?! Especially without their consent?" The mare frowned hard. "Very uncool."

"And just who do you think I'm sacrificing, Blue Jay?"

"Who else?!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Applejack! The one you call Apple Jewell! The Cider Princess!"

Shindig's muzzle hung agape. "And why in Celestia's Green Earth would I wish to sacrifice my very own daughter?!"

"Okay, for one, we're not on Celestia's Green Earth," Rainbow exclaimed. "For another, she's no more your daughter than I am your friggin' son! And third..." Rainbow growled, "I know all about the plan! So cut the act!"

"The act..."

"Silver Shill filled me in on it all!" Rainbow paced before the Queen. "You... Flim... Flam... you all arranged this 'interview thingy' with the various cuisine experts of Equestria! That's how the likes of Gustave, Mulia, and Joe got mixed in all of this! And that's how you came upon choosing Applejack for your... s-sacrifice thingy!"

"I assure you, young one," said Shindig, "My daughter intends to lend her glorious powers of rule in a completely consensual manner. Through her grace, all that was once lost will be restored. I can be with my beloved Philanthropy again—"

"Pffftyeah!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Once that crazy black door thingy sucks all the life juice from her!"

Shindig gestured at the brass pipework. "Admittedly, this portal is the only means by which I've been able to commune with the remnants of my beloved's spirit. But all the Cider Princess intends to do is facilitate a bridge between Philanthropy and the ciy named after him." She narrowed her eyes. "This... 'sacrifice' that you speak of? What makes you so certain that such an endeavor would cost Apple Jewell's priceless life?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "It's one life exchanged for another!" She gestured wildly at the walls. "Here in Cider Space, the fabric between realities are super thin! I know this because the super adoracute chaperone left by the alicorns who mod'd this place told me!" She fumed. "In the real world, doing such a crazy thing with the spirits of ponies would be next to impossible. But here? Where the spirit is strained to death—like a noodle—who knows?! It's open game on morality, and I'm not gonna stand for it one bit!"

"I am starting to see now that you're not a villain after all," Shindig droned. "But merely a confused miscreant."

"You certain I'm not the one who's confused?" Rainbow paced closer to the mare. "You brought me for a reason. Obviously you know something is up."

Shindig said nothing. Her gaze merely fell to the floor.

"What are you so afraid to ask that it'd make you go silent all of the sudden?" Rainbow squinted. "Just how much do you trust your sons?"

"With my life," Shindig said.

"And how many lines do you think they'd cross in order to maintain that trust?" Rainbow asked. "You know, there's loyalty," she said. "And then there's just plain stupid."

"Sadly, Blue Jay, you won't be around long enough to know the difference between them both."

The hairs on the back of Rainbow's neck stood on end. She spun towards the entrance of the room, and her eyes reflected a pair of steam rifles being aimed at her body. "Ahhhh... sonuva..."

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