Flim and Stu tumbled together—hoof in hoof—until Flim flung Stu off with a pronounced grunt.
Stu flipped and landed nimbly between the seat aisles with agile pegasus grace. Dragging his hoof across the floor, he snarled and galloped straight forward. He lifted off... only to land flat on his chest. "Oooof!" He grimaced—more at his own ineptitude than the pain. "Oh right. Forgot." He wheezed. "No wings..."
"You...!" Flim stood up on a pile of torn chairs, frowning across the rubble-strewn battlescape of the ampitheatre. "You're a part of the problem! Why'd you have to support that crazy mare?!" He swung a hoof through the air. "We could have thrown you into oblivion the very moment you trespassed upon the dream, ol' chap! But instead, we chose to be merciful."
"You call any of this merciful?!" Stu barked.
"We gave you paradise!" Flim shouted, stomping a hoof. "We gave you everything you ever wanted!"
"What I want..." Stu snarled, pointing at the stage. "...is for you to leave innocent ponies alone! Especially my friends!" He looked towards the stage. "I know that what you have right now feels perfect! I can only imagine it feels comfortable and right. But it's not!" Stu's eyes squinted. "I had that feeling too, but it wasn't real! It wasn't honest! And Rainbow Dash helped me break through! Now you have to break through, Applejack!"
Apple Jewell clung to Shindig, her frightened eyes locked on the stallion. "Break... through...?"
"The honest Applejack I know wouldn't settle for this!" Stu exclaimed. "She'd realize that something wasn't right and she'd do everything in her power to—" Flim flung a clump of debris into Stu's side. "Ooof!"
"Frederick!" Shindig gasped.
"Don't look, mother!" Flim bounded over the rubble and broken bits of concrete, charing Stu's figure. "I shall deal with this riff raff!"
"Unhoof us first!" Shindig said, frowning as she struggled to break free from the tendrils of manipulated dreamscape. "Then we'll discuss who is or isn't riff raff!"
Apple Jewell was trembling at this point.
"Don't be afraid, my darling," Shindig said, caressing the Princess with her wingfeathers. "All of this will... c-come to light, somehow..."
"I'm not afraid. I'm... I'm..." Apple Jewell's green eyes darted across the stage. She spotted the likes of Big Mac, Twilight Sparkle, Braeburn, and Rarity battling the guardians of Philanthropy. "... ... ...I'm trapped. I feel... feel..."
A loud roar emanated from below the stage.
Apple Jewell turned to look. She gasped.
"Haaaaaaaugh!" Flim was flinging a broken steel pipe down at Stu's skull.
Stu threw his forelimbs up, blocking the bludgeon with crossed hooves. He squirmed on the floor of the ampitheatre, struggling against the weight of Flim's weapon.
"Give it up... Red Rook!" Flim snarled. "It's just a matter of time before my brother defeats that loyal imbecile you've frolicked in here with!" His horn glowed. "And then we're sealing you outside the dream for good."
The pipe in his grasp morphed to a lashing hydra's head. The thing's reptilian jaws hissed and bit at Stu's fetlock, spilling blood.
"Aaaaaugh!" Stu shrieked in pain, writhing.
Flim glared through a disheveled mane, his eyes seeing red. "You... and every other pretender who's defiled this realm will be cast through the door! Let's see your heroics rise up after that, you vanglorious shining knight—"
Swissssssh—CLANG! A steaming sphere flew in and ricocheted off the back of Flim's skull.
"Aaaaugh!" He stumbled forward, losing his grip of the shape-shifting bludgeon "Hellfire!"
Stu gnashed his teeth, yanked the yelping hydra-head off his bloodied hoof, and flung it straight at Flim's cranium.
The wriggling serpentine mass wrapped around Flim's neck like a noose. The stallion stumbled backwards, hissing for breath.
"Grnnngh!" Stu cartwheeled forward, landed in reverse, and bucked both rear legs into Flim's chest.
"Ooomf!" Flim fell back—crashing through several seats. He rolled off, stumbling to get back up, his horn fluctuating in a dark miasmic glow.
Stu winced, teetering sideways on three good limbs. The steaming sphere materialized beside him, with the cute mare perching on a chunk of rubble.
"You okies, Leavies?" the chaperone asked, violet eyes wide.
"Yes... thanks for the assist, Epcot..." Stu's nostrils flared. "I could hug you for a lot of things."
"Aren't there a whole bunch of punches to be made between here and now?"
"Yes..." Stu spat, then thundered angrily towards Flim. "Lots... and lots of punching." He reeled back, then lunged forward. "Haaaaaaugh—!"
Flim looked up—blinking—and promptly wished he hadn't. WHACK! The only thing that flew faster than his grunting voice was his teeth.