Appledashery

by Just Essay

Freckles In the Dark, One Drawl Circles

Rainbow Dash shuddered. Her eyes clenched shut under a fresh sheen of sweat.

"Mrmmfnngh..."

Her tail flicked, and a wave of cold winds brushed over her mane and coat.

Shivering, the mare turned over on the bare rock.

"Hmmfff..."

Her front hooves kicked blindly at nothing, then reached out.

At last, she scooped up something soft and pillowy. Without thinking, the mare hugged the item to her chest.

A tiny squeak came out, and Rainbow felt something warm and wet against her chest.

"Mmmfff...?" Her eyes squeaked open.

Apple Bloom's dead face nuzzled up against her chest. Blood dribbled out her nose, staining Rainbow's coat.

"Aaaahh!" Rainbow shrieked, instantly flapping her wings. She took off from the ground, hovering, spinning in a circle.

"Whoah! Hello!" Lancie hopped up from where his stone figure had curled up under the starlight. He looked across the plateau's bleak space. "What's the matter now?"

Rainbow panted and panted.

Where Apple Bloom's bloody corpse had been, there was now a series of dull rocks—loosely shaped like a crumpled foal's body. A series of orange hooves shuffled up from the shadows, and a pair of angry eyes glared up at Rainbow.

"Didja think that I would forget? Not all of us are such dumbflanks, sugarcube... if ya even deserve bein' called that!"

Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth and planted two hooves over her ears.

Applejack's voice came in loud and clear: "The whole trip was plum worthless to begin with, Rainbow Dash! If ya really loved me..." She trotted beneath Rainbow's shadow in the starlight, looking up and frowning. "...you woulda stayed back in Ponyville! By my side! Just like my friends did!"

Rainbow seethed and seethed, shaking her head.

"Just like Stu Leaves did!"

"Rrrrrggghhh!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and glided off, frowning into the darkness.

"Sparky? Yooohooo?!" Lancie waved frantically, then scampered over rocks and shoals, trying to keep up with her. "Where you off to?! You can't fly now! You're leaving behind your potion... your saddlebag... your magically talking chunk of handsome stone! Hey! Get back here, blast it!"

"Oh, what, are ya gonna listen to him now?!" Applejack barked, somehow always at an even pace with Rainbow no matter how swiftly she flapped her wings. "What's he ever done for you that I haven't?! Has he defended yer honor when everypony else rightly rolled their eyes at what a massive jerkbad ya are?! Has he forgiven ya for yer pranks and insults and selfish disappearin' acts?!"

Rainbow clenched her skull, shaking her head and hyperventilating.

The next drawling breath was somehow at muzzle level:

"Have ya ever had dirty, sweaty dreams about him?"

"Rrrrgh—shut up! Shut up just shut up!" Rainbow bucked and thrashed at the air.

Lancie watched from below, gawking. "Uhhhh... Sparky?" Loud shrieks echoed in the distance. The statue spun around, grimacing slightly. "This... isn't exactly the best place to make a lot of noise." He cleared his throat. "Big thundering nasties, remember?"

Rainbow spun towards him, panting.

Applejack stood above the statue, making a "slitting" motion with her hoof. "In yer sleep. He'll do it, too! Trust me, darlin'."

Rainbow clenched her teeth. "Only..." She huffed, puffed, shuddered. "...you're not you..."

Lancie cocked his head to the side. "Eh...?" He glanced all around, then pointed at himself. "You talking to me?

"I am everythang you could never be... could never have..." Applejack's eyes flared like emerald torches. "You don't deserve friends. You don't even deserve fake friends."

"You are not you!" Rainbow hollered. "You aren't—" She jerked in place, eyes welling up with tears. "... why do you have to be so awesome, anyways, huh?!"

"Uhhh... Sparky—?"

Thud! Rainbow landed on all fours in front of Lancie, but she was peering over him. "Who died and made you the best dang thing to ever happen in Ponyville ever?! Huh?!" Rainbow snarled. "The real Applejack wasn't raised by no scrubs! She'd never treat me like crud!"

"But that's what you want, isn't it?" Applejack grinned lustfully, slinking back into the darkness. "A real mud-draggin' earth pony to treat ya like the worm ya are..."

"Sparky... Rainbow Dash..." Lancie tapped her fetlock. "I... uh... I don't think all of the venom got rinsed out of you like you said it did—"

"Rrrrgh!" Rainbow shrugged him off, marching forward as she spat at the orange mare. "Get out of here! Scram! Don't make me pull the horseshoes off, ya creep!"

"Oooooh... such big words, Rainbow Crash! As if you could ever be this made towards me..." Applejack held her hat over chest, batting her eyelashes. "Me... the mare you want to be yer saucy marefriend and yer lovin' Momma all in one."

Rainbow Dash panted, eyes wide as a cold sweat ran over her.

"Awwwww... want somepony to tuck ya in bed? Sing lullabyes to ya? Pamper ya? Make yer worthless rainbow-branded butt feel all special and warm and loved?" Applejack's nostrils flared. "What hogwash." She plopped her hat back on her head and receded into the darkness. "Face it, yer Poppa got off lucky, dyin' the way he did..."

"Shut up..." Rainbow whimpered, teeth clenched.

"Heheheh... if he saw ya today... and that yer ten times lamer than he ever was?" Applejack guffawed, disappearing beyond the veil of night. "...he'd have done to himself what yer Ma shoulda done before she even foaled ya—"

"I said shut up!!!" Rainbow flew forward, shrieking.

"Whoah—" Lancie reached for her.

But it was too late. Rainbow flew off the side of the megastructure. It was only when her body started plummeting that she gasped, flailing in a world devoid of starlight. The mare flapped her wings, flipped around, then ricocheted off the plateau's edge.

"Ooof!"

She bounced, rolled, then flung her hooves up. The mare's fetlocks caught craggy rock and pebbles, and the friction slowed her down until she dangled pendulously from the face of the stone formation.

"Mmmmff... grnnghh..." Rainbow hissed and panted, aching all over. She coughed up dust and rock sediment, finally letting loose a pathetic groan. "Unnnngh... I friggin' hate spiders..."

"You okay down there, Sparky?!"

"Mmffff... yeah... yeah..."

"Then fly up already!" A tiny gray shape stood out against the starlight over the summit above. "Come up here so I could smack you!"

"Just... just a second..." Rainbow wheezed, her body aching. "I'm... I'm not doing so g-good..."

"Well you should have told me, you idiotoramus!" Lancie snarled. "My skin's forming fresh cracks and fissures—and it's all because of you!"

"Just... just gimme a moment to..." Rainbow gulped and clenched her eyes shut. "To..."

Just then, a loud banshee shriek warbled across the skies.

Rainbow's ruby eyes flew wide open. She tilted her head up. "... ... ...tell me you heard that too."

"I'm afraid so, Sparky. Told you that all of this mad raving was going to attract somet—" Lancie froze in mid speech. He tilted his stone chin up, gazing up at a patch of starlight that was blotted about above them both. "Huh. Well, this is gonna leave a mark."

SWOOOOOOOSH! Something immense swooped down on leathery wings and snatched Lancie up in a long, sharp beak. With a muffled yelp, the beast flew up and into the nebulous night sky.

Rainbow gasped wide. "Lancie...!!!"

Comments

[RoboRed]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....this certainly changes things...

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Oh boy.

Shit just got real.

Again.

Man, I hope that that spider venom gets completely out of Dash's system soon.

'Cause if it doesn't.........

[destinedjagold]

A...pterodactyl? Are we going dinosaurs here?

[MidnightReflection]

Huh. This bodes well.

"But that's what you want, isn't it?" Applejack grinned lustfully, slinking back into the darkness. "A real mud-draggin' earth pony to treat ya like the worm ya are..."

"Sparky... Rainbow Dash..." Lancie tapped her fetlock. "I... uh... I don't think all of the venom got rinsed out of you like you said it did—"

Listing Breeze taunting us once again... and Lancie reverting to actually calling Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash.

[Aatxe360]

6330852

Romulus or one of my brood.

[destinedjagold]

6330901

Romulus

Highly unlikely...

one of my brood.

Probably... o.o

[viofriedsevey]

Got eem.

[Lightning Bearer]

Out of the sadistic (masochistic?) frying pan and into the fire. My big concern is that the statuette-napping creature might be a dragon, or some other creature loyal to Aatxe. If so, Big Boss' collection of draconequus parts just got one hell of an addition.

[Jern]

I'm still holding on to hope that the hallucinations are a result of the venom and not the potions. If they stay this bad poor Dash is going to have to make a hard decision once she gets back to Ponyville if they are a result of the potions.

[Leftover of Saikano]

And a pterodactyl out of the blue snatches something important away. Oh, good old Dragon Ball is more entertaining than Dragon Ball Z.

[Hestia]

My heart is going to be in pieces by the end of this story. What "Applejack" is saying honestly hits like a blow to the face. Poor Rainbow Dash.

And of course Lancie has to be kidnapped on top of all this crazy.

[Kiwi Brony]

"Sparky... Rainbow Dash..."

You know things are getting bad when Lance calls her by her real name

[zaponator]

6330852
The entire last chapter was full of dinosaurs. Terrible lizards, remember?

[Nightmare Loopy]

Holy..... sht. Just....
（＊〇□〇）……！

600 and 51 chapters. What. The. H*ll.

Wow.

I honestly have no words.

[Phoenix Kitten]

6333218 I have 13.
Holy shit! Your avatar fucking terrified me at the end of this chapter!

[LucyHorseThing]

*rapidly clicks next chapter button*
*screen pops up then-*
thewindowsclub.thewindowsclubco.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blue-Screen-of-Death-Windows-10.png
i.ytimg.com/vi/0X5v0l2lzXo/maxresdefault.jpg

[Dash32]

Well shit

[DrEggnog]

This just gets darker and meaner by the chapter. I hate Fake AJ like I hate few characters.

[DIRKWITHAGUN]

i audibly fucking gasped. how dare they take away the Best Character!