//------------------------------// // Thirty Pieces // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "You mean..." Stu Leaves leaned in to push the door open. "...there's somepony out there!" "Yes!" Rainbow slapped his hoof, forcing him to hobble back. "He's got a whole stagecoach and everything!" "Guh..." Stu rubbed his fetlock, wincing. "Well, maybe he works for Shindig! Let's go ask him if he knows anything about the cider—!" "What?! Are you dense?!" Rainbow hissed through her teeth. She crouched and leaned away from the door, whispering. "Don't you think it's a little bit coincidental that he shows up right after we arrive and Applejack gets conked out by the drink?" "Uhhhh..." "Over here!" Rainbow yanked Stu by the forelimb. Wings flapping, she led him towards the far side of the cluster of metal carts resting in front of the metal warehouse doors. "What are we—?" "Shhh!" Rainbow shoved Stu behind the carts and squatted low beside him. "I wanna see what he's come here to do..." "But... b-but..." Stu trembled, looking towards the middle of the factory. "AJ—" "He's just one dude! If he does something evil, you and I can kick his flank!" "We can?" "I can kick his flank." Rainbow glared, peering through the handles of the metal carts. "Now shush. I mean it." Stu Leaves bit his lip, keeping as still as he could. With a cold squeak, the tiny door to the outside world opened. A frail, gangly stallion shuffled inside. He craned his neck, glancing all around the factory. Rainbow side-shuffled further from view. Stu nervously matched her movements, keeping quiet. "Hello?!" the stallion called out, his voice echoing across the concrete walls. "Anypony there?" He stepped forward into the hollow of the building. The sunlight through the windows illuminated a slick-gray mane and a pale white coat. Two silver coins for a cutie mark peeked out from beneath a pair of raggedy blue overalls. Wide-framed glasses adorned his face and two tiny blue pupils blinked from within the spectacles' enormous lenses. "Huh... well, then. Whaddya know?" He chuckled to himself in a soft, feeble voice. "Right on time." Rainbow Dash squinted. She followed his line of sight, ultimately resting on Applejack's limp figure. The stallion shuffled slowly across the large, large room. Instead of heading towards Applejack, he approached the enormous iron doors and their many padlocks. Whistling again, he fiddled a hoof through his pockets. There was a jingling sound as he pulled a set of keys out and began unlocking the padlocks one by one. Stu's muzzle fell open. He glanced nervously at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow kept staring, her brow furrowed as she slowly crept towards the edge of the line of carts in order to get a better look. At last, once all of the padlocks were unlocked, the stallion reached up for the enormous metal latch that was still holding the doors in place. He took half-a-minute to lift it, which was no easy feat. The stallion grunted and trembled the whole time. But, at last, he was able to swing the thing loose. He paused for breath, then gripped the handle of the center door with his teeth. Trotting backwards, he rolled the thing open with a loud scraping sound. When he was done, and he let go of the door with a thud, Rainbow could hear with greater clarity a series of static electrical buzzes and pops. Something bright and blue fluctuated from within, filling the entire warehouse with an eerie, otherworldly aura. "Whew!" The stallion wiped his brow and immediately trotted inside the previously-locked chamber. "Hello, everypony!" His nonchalant voice echoed from within. "Guess what! You've got company! Heheh..." There was a bit of fumbling to be heard, followed by a light record scratch. Suddenly, the entire factory hummed with an untold suite of classical music. Violin strings and clarinets wafted beautiful between the walls. Stu craned his neck out with a gawking expression. At the sound of hoofsteps, Rainbow Dash seethed through her teeth and yanked the gasping pegasus back. Within milliseconds, the stallion came shuffling back out, rolling a gurney right behind him. This time he did move straight towards Applejack. Locking the gurney in place, he knelt down and—very gently—hoisted the mare over his shoulder. "Whoah... you're a young one, aren't ya? Heh..." With tiny grunts, he lifted her onto the plush bed-on-wheels. He stretched her hooves down by her side and made sure no limb was cutting off blood supply from another. "There we go... nice and comfortable, hmm? Heheh... You'll be just fine. The brothers want all of their mother's guests to relax, after all." Humming to the music, he pushed the gurney—and Applejack—slowly into the chamber beyond the doors. From within, the stallion could be heard shuffling lightly. At last, Rainbow Dash crawled out from behind the obscuring line of carts. Her wings flapped so that she soundlessly approached the crack in the doors. Stu hovered close behind her, following her lead. Rainbow came around the open space, craning her neck. Her ruby eyes reflected fluctuating beams of electricity, and it caused her ruby pupils to shrink. "...the buck?" In the corner, a record player spun a black disc, but that wasn't even remotely was Rainbow was staring at. Occupying the entire southeast wall of the building was an enormous... apparatus. Rainbow Dash had a hard time coming up with a mental name for it. It appeared to be a series of sparkling tesla-coils and electrical wires, all framed by a convoluted array of round metal tanks and pipework. It almost resembled a cider mill, in a way, especially once Rainbow spotted tall vertical tubes filled with bubbling yellow liquid. But how the thing could possibly produce cider was beyond Rainbow Dash, for situated in the center—housed in a chamber of translucent glass—was an old mare with a familiar red perm. In her yellow hooves was a ceramic urn, ornamented all over with various floral designs. The earth pony's eyes were closed, so that she appeared to be in perpetual slumber. That wasn't all. The room was full of gurneys—six total—arranged geometrically before the apparatus. Each of the "beds" were framed with metal tubes and copper wires, and the corners of the gurneys were equipped with glowing black crystals. The two beds closest to the apparatus—and the mare within—were seating a pair unconscious stallions. Both had shiny red manes, though one sported a mustache. While Rainbow Dash recognized the mare from the billboard immediately outside Shindig's farm, she finally understood that the stallions were the same as those featured in all the family photos inside Shindig's farmhouse. The occupants of the other gurneys spread across the chamber, Rainbow Dash didn't recognize. They were a heterogenous group too: a portly unicorn with a peach coat and dirty brown hair, a female mule with a brown mane and blue pearls around her neck, and—finally—a male griffon with bright white and charcoal brown plumage. The sixth gurney was where Applejack now lay. The stallion was busy locking her in place, then grasping several crystals from a bag. He blew into each of the dark shards, causing them to glow. "Heh... I may not understand magic, but trust me, lil' lady..." He placed them on all four edges of the bed Applejack's body was laying in. "...these will keep you in good health. After all, there's no telling just how long you'll be a guest of Shindig Soils." He leaned back, tapping his chin in thought. "Hmmm... orange coat... blonde mane... freckles. Oh!" The stallion chuckled to himself. "Of course! You must be the apple squeezer! That fulfills the 'beverage' quota, so you must be the last guest! Well, splendid! You shouldn't have to wait for long!" He turned around, squinting. "Now, where did I put that backup cider? Better retrieve the chalice while I'm at it—" He froze, staring at Rainbow Dash and Stu Leaves. Rainbow Dash and Stu Leaves glared back. "Eh heh heh..." He sweated visibly, squirming. "...whoops?" "FWOOOOOSH!" Rainbow Dash soared forward, shoving the stallion until they slammed over the record player in the corner, shattering the music completely.