Appledashery

by Just Essay


Blue Pages, Red Pages

About a full hour into scrounging about Serenity Shindig's living room, Rainbow Dash was battling numbness. She rubbed her forelimbs together when Stu Leaves wasn't looking, struggling to get a pinprick stab or two of tingling from her nerves. She knew that there was ample amounts of Zecora's medicine waiting for her in the back of the wagon, but there was no time to waste. Not with Applejack's fate in the balance.

So, gnashing her teeth, Rainbow Dash dug through the mountains of rubbish. She sighed in frustrating, wondering just what it was that inspired the two sons of Shindig to be so incredibly sloppy with their resources. She imagined a manic pair of siblings so hell-bent on salvaging their parents that they threw everything to the wind, burning bridges behind them... or at least leaving them in disrepair.

She hated them. She despised them. And yet, as the hour wore on, and the initial shock of seeing Applejack's unconscious body began to fade, a part of her began to understand them. There was a part of her that—every night—excused her tears to the deep, deep desire to see her own dad again, to hear his words. It was an impossiblity; she had known that for a long time. But—to think—that some crazy hocus pocus could conceivably make it possible to bring the spirit of a dead loved one back...?

Rainbow Dash frowned. Her breathing grew more passionate, intense, as she felt the anger rising once again. She wasn't about to give in to sympathy, especially for such conniving miscreants. Life was simple—or at least it used to be. In the days before her crush on Applejack melted into a full-blown obsession, all that mattered to Rainbow was flying faster than the wind and having hooves strong enough/quick enough to uppercut any moron who deserved it. But, lately, things were getting... complicated. Rainbow couldn't tell if it was all a direct consequence of her secret love, or if the universe just suddenly decided that it liked toying with her.

Once more, she found herself... strangely wishing Lancie was there. He was a curse, a blight upon her life. And yet, he held a strange intuition that solaced her, that made her creep on towards the next absurd objective with ardent curiosity. Though Rainbow Dash knew it was a lost cause, she held secret confidence in him—that he was a soul who had all the answers, though he wasn't about to share them all. And she knew that, respected it. Sometimes the most secret lives were the ones truly deserving the title of "awesome."

With a sigh, Rainbow Dash picked up a postcard. It featured a picture of Canterlot mountain, with the royal spires looming along the edge of its majestic, waterfalling cliffs. Silently, she turned the card over, and something she saw made her raise an eyebrow.

Scribbled in neat hoofwriting: "Check Ponyville: Golden Harvest, Applejack, Cup and Carrot Cake. Possible candidates for the heir."

Rainbow's lips pursed. "...heir?"

"Rainbow!" Stu Leaves exclaimed.

"Gah!" Rainbow spun about, nearly dropping the postcard. "Wh-what is it?"

"I found something!" Stu beamed, hovering across the dark-lit, dusty interior. He held a black-bound book in his hooves. "Or... at least I think I do!"

"Well, let's see it."

Stu Leaves flipped the book open. "August Twelfth... August Twentiet... August Twenty-Eighth..." He looked up, eyes bright. "Yes! I-I do believe this is a journal that they've kept!"

"They? You mean Frederick and Felix?"

"Well, they talk about 'Mother' and 'Father' a lot." He flipped to a page early on. "Ahem... 'Today, we've made an important ally. Silver Shill: quite the dapper fellow, if not a few bushels short of a harvest. He's trusting and naive. We can easily get him to do a clerk's paperwork for the next excavation. But, more importantly, assuming we find the Chalice in the next dig, then he'll make a wonderful test subject. Frederick agrees. We only hope—if the legends hold true—that he doesn't feel compelled to stay in there forever. But, it could work to our advantage, assuming it inspires in him complete and unwavering fealty—'"

"Yeah, okay, I get it." Rainbow frowned. "Flip towards the last entry. That's where the juicy stuff has gotta be!"

"Ahem... r-right..." Stu fumbled, flipping towards the end of the book. He bit his lip, eyes scanning the pages. "'This is Felix, writing for Frederick this time. My older brother is overwrought with emotion, and I can't blame him. Tomorrow is either going to be the start of a glorious chapter in our mother's existence, or the end of something that was once quite majestic. Unlike Freddie, I'm quite chipper and full of hope. We've come too far to fail now. What stands to be done is forming the bridge between our mother's sphere and the Alicorn dreamscape itself. But, now that we've found the energy core, that shouldn't be difficult. The hard part is being patient and having faith, for once we are conked out like a couple of bachelors on a Friday night, it'll be up to our trusty little Silver Shill to scrounge up the applicants. Only one of them will be the heir, but mother should be able to determine that once she or he enters the fold along with the rest of the group. We've only got one shot at this, and we shan't let Mother down. Consequences in the real world be damned. The Equestrian government can hunt us down to the ends of the earth, for all we care. But if... if..." Stu's eyes twiched as his lips pursed.

"What?" Rainbow gasped, leaning forward. "What is it?"

Stu bit his lip. "Uhhh... 'If sacrificing the soul of a worthy applicant is all it takes to anchor Father deep within Mother's sphere, then it will be worth it. I'll settle for a shell of a stranger over the eternal tranquility of the ones who foaled us anyday. I know Freddie's conscience is less inclined to dwell on it, but that's precisely why I narrowed the applicants down to ponies, mules, and griffons whose parents had already long passed away. That way, there'll be less family members to miss the one whom we barter for Father's soul. And, besides, if they were in our place...'" Stu looked up, his face pale. "'...surely they would understand as well.'"

Rainbow Dash exhaled, her ears folded back. "They're... they're going to sacrifice one of the four to..." She grimaced. "...to lasso the spirit of Shindig's dead husband?"

"Do you think that's even possible?!" Stu exclaimed.

"Do you think I friggin' care?!" Rainbow growled. "That means there's a one-in-four chance of their slaying Applejack! And not—like—her body... but her soul?!"

Stu shook his head. "These ponies are mad. We've got to get her out of there, Rainbow, before they manage to do anything from inside that... that..." He shuddered. "...whatever they're in."

Rainbow rubbed his cheek. "Hmmm... energy core..."

"Huh?"

She motioned with her hoof. "Gimme that book for a second."

"Sure thing." He passed it to her.

Rainbow flipped a few pages towards the middle, pausing every now and then to squint at the scribbled paragraphs. "... ... ... " She flipped some more, then stopped, her eyes twitching. She leaned forward, reading right off the page. "'Success. Felix and Silver Shill came back from Fillydelphia. Apparently they intercepted an auction of the Black Market before it got to Manehattan where surely Don Canter and the other mob bosses would have bought everything up. At first, when I heard about all the bits they lost, I wanted to wring their necks. But then Felix took me aside and showed me just what he and Silver Shill won with their bids. Now we have a source of energy for the cider engine, by Jove! Felix said with his usual jubilant outburst. I had a hard time believing him at first, seeing that it was just a seemingly innocuous chunk of black rock...'" Rainbow's breath left her. When it came back, she had skipped ahead a few lines. "'...but, indeed, from the tests we have run, I now believe whole heartedly that this can keep mother's chamber running smoothly, and it will maintain the dreamscape once she's taken a sip of the Chalice and gone to commune with Father's spirit...'" Her head lifted up.

"Rainbow Dash?" Stu blinked curiously. "Rainbow, what is it?"

Rainbow bit her lip. In a flash, she dropped the book and soared speedily out the front door. Fwooosh!

"Rainbow Dash!" Stu gasped, then awkwardly flapped his wings to catch up with her.