//------------------------------// // The Elements Ethereal // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Slowly, one after another, Stu Leaves' eyes opened. He wished that they hadn't. Before him stretched a grungy room, barely lit, lined with rust and grime. Crooked jail bars framed a dank cell dripping with moisture and mildew. Rats scurried along the foundations while the whimpers of ponies lingered in the distance. With a slight groan, the stallion shifted forward, only to hear the clink of chains. That's how he realized that he was bound to the wall, his forelimbs stretched and dangling from iron fetters. He grunted, writhing slightly, then slumped against his restraints with a sigh. His peripheral vision caught a hint of shapes. He tilted his head aside, and that's when he saw three familiar figures lying unconscious on the hard floor. Despite theire battered condition, they weren't nearly as severely restrained as he was. "Hey... Hey!" Stu Leaves hissed. Only when he moved his lips did her realize how bruised his muzzle was. "Grnnngh... Joe... Mulia... Gustave..." He shook and trembled within his restraints. "Can... can any of you move? They... they seem to have did a number on me here..." "It's for their good as much as yours, buddy boy," said a perfectly healthy voice. "You've gotten them in enough trouble as it is." Stu froze. Slowly, icily, he tilted his head up. The bright figures of Flim and Flam came into focus. They stood before him, occupying the space in the jail cell's doorframe. A group of guards lingered on the other side of the grim interior. "But you needn't fret about that much longer," said Flam. "Your days of getting into trouble will end soon. And so will theirs." "You..." Stu Leaves' face hung between a grimace and a frown. "What have your Queen done to Applejack?!" he spat. "Please, my good stallion, don't bring Mommy Dearest into this," Flim said. "Why shouldn't I?!" Stu growled. "She brought Applejack into this! She brought innocent ponies—" "—ponies, a griffon, and a mule." Flame raised a hoof. "All from broken families, might I add." He strolled past the quietly shifting bodies of Mulia, Joe, and Gustave. "Take these dandy fellows, for instance. This one's parents died in a fire. This birdy lost his wife and kids to a manticore attack. And Mr. Joe? Pffft... born in a cemetery and will die in a cemetery." "How..." Stu squinted. "How could you possibly know that about them?" "It's rather simple!" Flim said with a grin. "Mother knows all about the mortals we've... invited to our festivities. And you know what? We gave them all a far better, far more enjoyable, far happier life here in Cider Space!" "We even gave you a better life, ol' chap," Flam added with a scathing glare cast in Stu's direction. "The very moment you came here, you were like a fish out of water. Well, we gave you quite a comfortable pool worth swimming in." "But did you settle for what was made especially for you?" Flim shook his head. "Noooooo..." "I didn't settle for it because it wasn't real!" Stu barked. "Rainbow Dash showed me! She helped me find my hooves again so we could take down self-righteous idiots who had taken our best friend!" "Oh, please..." Flam rolled his eyes. "If you cared about your friend so much, you would let her be." "After all, she's as happy as she'll ever be!" Flim added, ginning brightly. "As the Cider Princess, she has a family! A family that's whole!" "Just to think..." Flam waved a hoof. "To no longer have to deal with the terrible pain of missing one's parents." "Such painnnnn..." Flim melodramatically cooed. "Are you nuts?!" Stu's voice reached an angry pitch. "Applejack is no wilting violet! Yes, what happened to her as a filly may be terrible, but she's a better pony for it! She's strong! She's dependable!" Stu gritted his teeth. "You can't j-just reject what's best about a mare and try to turn her into something she never wanted to be!" "And that's where you're wrong, boyo," Flam said, trotting forward with a frown. "Just what would you know about the pain that festers in our beloved sister's heart? Oh yes... Mother sees. Mother sees all." "And we're going to make our sister's dream come true," Flim added. "In a way that you and her so-called-friends never could." "She's not your sister," Stu snarled. "Nor is she your marefriend," Flam said with a smirk. "But—if you had stayed in that wintry cabin long enough—maybe you wouldn't have had to fret over that anymore." "And who robbed that from you, huh?" Flim pointed. "Who got you into the place where you are now?!" Stu Leaves fumed and fumed. He hung his head. "Now do you see who the true villain is, my good sir?" Flam asked. "Yes..." Stu clenched his teeth. "...I see that it's the ponies who've given up all that was good and Equestrian about themselves by forfeiting honesty." Flim and Flam raised their eyebrows. Stu tilted his head up, frowning. "And, I'm sorry, but I'm not about to give up on loyalty." He smirked ever so slightly. "I've hung out with too awesome company to ever conceive of that..." Flam's nostrils flared. "Then you have indeed signed your death warrant." He spun about. "Come, Flim, ol' chum. We've got a coronation to prepare for." "You'll see your beloved friend again," Flim added in a sing-song tone. "When it comes time for her to oversee your execution." The two siblings trotted into the dungeon hallway, where the sounds of sobbing voices echoed. Stu spoke up. "Hey! If this is such a perfect dreamworld, then how come you've got so much suffering?" Flim and Flam stopped on a dime. They spun to look at Stu with eerily coordinated twirls. "There will always be suffering," Flam said. "In the real world as much as here." "Our job—until the day we die—is to make sure Mommy Dearest never experiences it ever again." Flam tipped his hat. "And you speak so highly of loyalty..." Clang! The guards slammed the cell doors shut and escorted the brothers away. Stu hung in silence, aching.