//------------------------------//
// Applefillery 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	"Just... a little... m-more..." Rainbow Dash grunted, raising her hooves straight up.

Straining, Donut Joe stood up beneath her, lifting the mare by his bulky shoulders.  Working together, they raised Rainbow Dash high enough to reach a window set within the shadowed side of the Midnight Reflection nightclub building.  Rainbow's wheezing breaths echoed against the tight alleyway walls surrounding the pair.

"Aaaaaaand got it!"  Rainbow Dash opened the window from the outside—although barely.  The sounds of music and raucous laughter wafted out of the establishment.  Rainbow looked over her shoulder with a weary grin.  "There ya go, Epcot.  Make us proud."

"YES."  The steaming sphere flew through the narrow crack in the window pane, disappearing within the nightclub.

Rainbow hopped down, brushing herself off as she stood with Donut Joe besides a back door.  "Yeesh.  Guess I take for granted how awesome it is to have wings that can flap instead of just glide."  She looked up at how breathless Donut was.  "For realsies, you're a big guy.  Why so gas'd?"

"C-cuz rolling dough all day isn't exactly a proper workout," Joe stammered.  "I may be big, but 'fit' is another thing.  That's Pierre, the pizza tosser in Canterlot's Diamond District!"

"Yeah, but..." Rainbow shrugged.  "This is a dream, ain't it?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So why can't you be not 'unfit?'"

"Well, why can't you have normal feather'd wings that let you hover in place?"

"Touche."  Rainbow craned her neck, glancing out into the shadowed alleyway bordering the Midnight Reflection nightclub.  "We'd better figure out what makes Shindig's sim tick or else we won't be getting anywhere fast."

"Well, at least we've got an edge!" Joe exclaimed.

"Yeah, what?"

He pointed.  "You!"

Rainbow blinked.  "Me?"

"I mean... you've gotta be the Blue Jay for a reason, right?  Some major super duper mega bandit?  Like... how ironic is it that of all the characters you could be, you're the biggest thorn in the Queen's side?"

"Just my luck, I guess."

"I bet it's more than that!  Wanna bet you and I are in this position for a reason?"

"I sorta figured that Applejack's friends got us to meet," Rainbow said.  "Or, at least, the projection of her friends and family..."

"Then perhaps she knows that you're here!"

"Who, Applejack?"

"And she wants to be saved!"  Donut smirked.  "And she knows just who's up for the task!"

Rainbow Dash stared down the grungy alleyway.  "I dunno.  Just the idea that she's somehow... conscious is both inspiring and scary."

"Almost makes me wonder if she's looking after the other pegasus."

"Hmmm?"  Rainbow blinked, then glanced back at Joe.  "Oh, you mean Stu?"

"Who else?"

Rainbow sighed, staring straight up at the platform that formed a roof to the seedy district they were in.  "I've been wondering about that myself, actually," she muttered in a worrisome tone.

Just then, they heard a clicking sound.  Both ponies looked at the back door.

It opened from the inside, and Epcot stuck her glittery mane out, followed by an even more glittery smile.  "I've got some good news and some bad news!"

"Lay it on us," Rainbow said as she and Donut Joe followed the chaperone inside.

"The good news is, this is totally where your two friends are!" Epcot whispered merrily.  "The bad news is... they're selling cider at ten bits per plastic cup..."