Appledashery

by Just Essay

Death Becomes Her

"Grnnnngh!" Rainbow Dash struggled against the unearthly tendrils holding her to the floor of the room. "You friggin' creeps! Gnnngh! Have you gone totally bonkers?!"

Flim turned around, gazing boredly at the mare. "Oh, yes. I suppose there's this to deal with, yet."

"Quite," Flam added with half-a-yawn.

"You'd even turn on your own mother?!" Rainbow barked. "How desperate are you?!"

"We're doing this for our dear mother," Flim said. "Our dream is her dream... and her happiness."

"And the one thing keeping us from getting her and father to reunite is you," Flam added, pacing closer to the restrained pegasus. "You thought you could pierce through the veil covering Apple Jewell and disturb the Queen of Philanthropy." His eyes narrowed. "Well, you were sadly mistaken."

"We've covered every eventuality when we built this marvelous dreamscape!" Flim exclaimed, gesturing towards the lengths of the room. "We surpassed every construct of the alicorns who abandoned Cider Space and built a paradise where our parents can live forever in peace and harmony!"

"And we did it all by ourselves," Flam said. He chuckled slightly. "Well... with a little help from Silver Shill."

"A mere stepping stone to greatness," Flim added. "We'll drop him the very moment we've restored our father's spirit to the subconscious realm."

"Indubitably."

"You guys have all your screws loose," Rainbow wheezed through clenched teeth. "Your dad's time had come! There's no bringing him back! He wouldn't even be a ghost! Just a shade of something long gone!" Her brow furrowed. "You're not giving your Mom paradise, just another one of your hollow dreams!"

"Now that's a matter of perspective if I ever did hear one," Flam said. "And a very narrow-minded one at that."

"I simply cannot believe that you are willing to sacrifice Applejack's very livelihood so that your mother can live out a gross fantasy!" Rainbow frowned. "And against her will, too!"

"Not true." Flam pointed. "Mother desires this more than anything."

"She simply... forgets from time to time," Flim added. "As old ponies tend to do."

"Thankfully we're here to oversee her peace and prosperity." Flam grinned. "Quite like many nursing homes in the real world!"

"Only a great deal more luxurious."

"Indeed."

Rainbow shook her head. "I don't know what's more pathetic, that you've deluded her into accepting this pathetic 'gift,' or that you've fooled yourselves into thinking it's actually a good thing."

"You could certainly learn a thing or two about generosity, Blue Jay," Flam said, pacing closer while glaring at her. "All we've done is give. But you? You come to take away. And not just from Mother... but from your friend."

"You melon fudges are going to take her life away!" Rainbow's voice cracked.

"A life without loving parents, toiling endlessly on a paltry apple farm, with little to no reward for all her labors?" Flim remarked. "You really want her to stay a slave to herself, and for what purpose? So she can feel as though she's filled the empty gap in her heart?"

"We've seen deep into the mare's heart, my little pony," Flam said. "There's nothing you can give her. As a friend, you should know when to step back and allow the true geniuses to make her dreams come true."

"And it's here, our fine feathered friend," Flim remarked, gesturing around the room. "Here, she gets to be the princess she's always wanted to be since foaling." He smiled. "All that's left is for her to find a prince..."

"Or a knight in shining armor!"

"Yes! To kiss her awake!" Flim chuckled. "Quite on the nose, this 'Applejack,' but that's what made her so worthy of choosing above the other three."

"Simplicity at its finest."

"And most malleable." Flim flapped a hoof over his chest. "A heart like no other."

"She will seal the barrier behind father once he's been fished from the ether," Flam said. "And this dream we've carefully constructed will never collapse again."

"It won't happen, you hear me?!" Rainbow snarled. "I won't let you freaks get away with it!"

"I really don't think you're in a position to make any sort of declarations, madame!" Flam flung his hoof through the air.

The energy bands pulled Rainbow across the room and suspended her from the ceiling, just in front of the brass-laden door. Flim trotted up, pulled a few valves, and opened the black portal with a venting of steam from the many-many pipes.

Flam continued: "In fact, I don't think you'll be in a position to do anything at all." His eyes flickered. "For eternity!"

"Guys, wake up!" Rainbow hissed. "None of this could possibly work! Too much stuff has fallen apart! It's gonna explode in your faces, and by then you'll lose more than just your dad! Your mother will get dragged down along with this whole mess!"

"Bold words," Flam said. "Maybe somepony in the real world will put it on your tombstone, assuming anyone finds your vegetable body on the surface."

Flim leaned in with a smile. "Loyal to a fault. How charming."

"Let's see how well that lights your path in the realm of the dead." And with a final exhale, Flam flung his hoof.

The energy bands rippled outward, tossing Rainbow.

With a gasp, she went twirling—toppling—through the blacker-than-black doorframe...

...and into the abyss.

THUD! The dreamscape door slammed behind her...

And then she heard nothing, saw nothing...

Was nothing.

Comments

[Skunkiss]

That is your chance to get back for them with your own army of the dead, Rainbow!

Maybe Dead Daddy really SHOULD pay his sons a visit and give them some well earned spanking

[Sharp Quill]

Death Becomes Her

A Bruce Willis movie.

At this point, I've been tossed back and forth so much that I'm inclined to just go on autopilot until the arc finishes. Despite what just happened, after all, we know that Dash and AJ will be just fine.

Okay, one last hypothesis: if Philanthropy can be fished out of this "ether," then so can Rainbow Dash. It's not clear what AJ has to do with sealing the barrier, and apparently she is not going to be possessed or otherwise be harmed, apart from being forced to live this phony life, but how much does anyone want to bet it shall be AJ who fishes a soul out of the realm of the dead, and she might not fish for the correct soul?

Oh, and one last question: if they never intended to leave this dreamscape, then why did they bother to preserve their bodies indefinitely back in the mortal realm? If their continued existence in the dreamscape depends on their mortal bodies, then how can they be sure their bodies will be preserved for eternity? What happens if something happens to the shard? That farm isn't going to sit undisturbed till the end of time. Ponies will notice it has been abandoned.

[Lord Dragon]

5850017 Sí Señor.

[Lightning Bearer]

I got a little gift for Flim and Flam.

ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kVegmoTXL._SX522_.jpg

ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kVegmoTXL._SX522_.jpg

[Mister Saxon]

Respawn in 5...

[Fishberry]

I... am a very bewildered doe.

[FloydienSlip]

Huh.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Rainbow shook her head. "I don't know what's more pathetic, that you've deluded her into accepting this pathetic 'gift,' or that you've fooled yourselves into thinking it's actually a good thing."

This, right here.

You tell 'em, Rainbow!

5850017 Just one problem with that: she's not dead.

And when she gets out of there (and she will; you just know that she will), she's gonna be one very pissed off Pegasus.

On that last, I totally agree with you.

5850103 well put, all of that.

Especially this bit:

Despite what just happened, after all, we know that Dash and AJ will be just fine.

This. So much this.

but how much does anyone want to bet it shall be AJ who fishes a soul out of the realm of the dead, and she might not fish for the correct soul?

Quite a bit.

And I'm reverse-betting that it's Rainbow that she pulls out of there.

Any takers on this bet with me?

Flim leaned in with a smile. "Loyal to a fault."

Oh, dude, you have absolutely no idea how right you are on that one.

Can we say, as I have the last few chapters: "Loyalty Incarnate"?

But you and your sleazebag brother are gonna find out soon enough.

With a cyan blue hoof to the kissers, at mach speed!

Oh, and one last thing:

"A life without loving parents, toiling endlessly on a paltry apple farm, with little to no reward for all her labors?" Flim remarked. "You really want her to stay a slave to herself, and for what purpose? So she can feel as though she's filled the empty gap in her heart?"

"We've seen deep into the mare's heart, my little pony," Flam said. "There's nothing you can give her. As a friend, you should know when to step back and allow the true geniuses to make her dreams come true."

In response to this, in the words of the Immortal Bard:

"Oh, what fools these mortals be!"

[Sharp Quill]

5851067

And I'm reverse-betting that it's Rainbow that she pulls out of there.

That's what I meant. By "correct," I meant what Flim and Flam would consider correct. So no reverse-betting required.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5851132 Ah, okay. I guess I misunderstood what you meant, then.

Well, when AJ pulls Dash out, we'll see how they, as the old saying goes, "Like them Apples!"

'Cause I really don't think that those two dead-heads know our dear AJ as well as they seem to think that they do!

[zaponator]

Yeah, shit's right fucked.

[Leftover of Saikano]

"And it's here, our fine feathered friend,"

Silly Flim. The Blue Jay has no feathers right now.

[LucyHorseThing]

"Yes! To kiss her awake!"

I wouldn't necessarily mind that...

[Dash32]

I feel like that whole kiss her awake thing was a hint

[DrEggnog]

"A life without loving parents, toiling endlessly on a paltry apple farm, with little to no reward for all her labors?" Flim remarked. "You really want her to stay a slave to herself, and for what purpose? So she can feel as though she's filled the empty gap in her heart?"

"We've seen deep into the mare's heart, my little pony," Flam said. "There's nothing you can give her. As a friend, you should know when to step back and allow the true geniuses to make her dreams come true."

I'm surprised Rainbow didn't completely lose it at this part. I pictured her screaming in all caps till she was read in the face.

Sharp Quill below:

Despite what just happened, after all, we know that Dash and AJ will be just fine.

Yeah, this was a problem I had with the arc earlier on, which made it feel like a big waste of time, but now I've gotten in on the fun.

[arancaytar]

Okay, two things.

a) Shit.
b) When this is over, I hope Flim and Flam end up trapped in the dark void for all eternity.

[bronyheat]

Oh boy, she just got tossed into the Chaos portal. Hopefully Dashie stashed a Gellar Field generator on her fuzzy blue frame. Then again she's very much a headbutt first and let Celestia sort 'em out kinda pony; she might make fast friends with some stranded orks.