Appledashery

by Just Essay


Epic To a Fault

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Flam were having some sort of fight.

"RAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Flam's burning horn carved a melting path through falling skyscraper debris. At the other end of the tunnel, a calmly hovering pegasus waited, her ruby eyes reflecting his barreling approach. "For Mother's sake, I vanquish thee!" He fired a beam of energy down the collapsing tunnel, morphing steel and glass into a cylindrical swarm of scorpions and spiders.

The foamy sea of arachnids closed in on Rainbow Dash, suffocating her from all sides. Before Flam's eyes, the wriggling mass solidified into a sphere of stone, then flattened out—forming a wheel. The wheel spun, then turned about, revealing Rainbow Dash "surfing" on the back of the ancient disc.

"You really do shout too much." Rainbow smirked. Rainbow punched.

WHAM! "OOFA!" Flam flew back from the blow, smashing through a wall of plaster and brick.

Rainbow's eyes glinted. She sneered—and her muzzle morphed into a hard beak. Razor-sharp talons glinted in the sparse sunlight as she took on the form of Romulus, spearing her way through the massive collapse of material as she punched, slashed, and smacked Flam through wall after wall of the falling skyscraper. Wham! Smack! Whap! Pow!


Another shockwave flew through the wildly dangling platforms of Philanthropy. The Ponyvilleans and the guards paused fighting altogether, turning to gawk at the scene several blocks away. The last collapsing skyscraper was so intense that it dropped the platform altogether. A quartet of chains ripped apart, and gigantic iron links flew wildly in every direction, creating creaters and sinkholes throughout the precariously hanging urbanscape.

One such chunk of metal flew into a skyscraper looming above the ampitheatre. Donut Joe and Mulia Mild scampered across the stage, dodging sharp lengths of steel and shrapnel.

"Goodness me!" Mulia stammered, her eyes darting between Apple Jewell, Shindig, and the intense brawl between Stu and Flim. "She's going to bring the whole city down at this rate!"

"Nah, I don't think so!" Donut Joe said in a gruff voice.

"But... but surely you see how she is—"

"Trust me, Mulia." Donut smirked. "If there's any dame who can stick it to these bozo's, it's Rainbow Dash." He winked, patting the mule's shoulder while nevertheless protecting her from the elements. "Just sit back and watch the fireworks."


SMASSSH!

Rainbow Dash—back in pegasus form—came bursting out of the dust cloud left in the wake of the sundered platform. She ascended higher and higher, staring all about the battered lengths of the dangling city, squinting past its multiple steampipes and spinning pinwheels.

At last, she heard a sharp echo behind her. She turned to see Flam sailing upwards, telekinetically dragging huge bushels of dust and debris along with him.

"This isn't over yet, Blue Jay!" he hollered. "I am my family's hoof of vengeance!"

"Oh! There you are!" Rainbow grinned. "Hey, didja like the griffon thing? The griffon thing I just did?"

"Silence!" Flam spat, doing a backflip. The dust beneath him molded together, forming a gigantic fire-breathing dragon in time for him to land—saddling its neck. "This ends now!"

"Dragons?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Prepare to burn you insignificant waste of—"

FWOOOOSH! Rainbow Dash sailed up and—with one buck—reduced the entire draconian serpent to raindrops.

"Aaaaaa—!" Flam flailed, plunging.

GRIP! Rainbow grabbed him by the neck. "You know what your problem is, Felix?" She grunted, spun, and flung him through a series of collapsing smoke-stacks. P-P-POW!

Flam jolted, twirled, and landed awkwardly on the rooftop of an apartment complex. He winced, squinting up through the settling soot and smoke.

Rainbow Dash hovered straight down, her forelimbs crossed as she gave him a bored glare. "You've spent all your life dreaming." Her eyes narrowed even harder. "Me? I've been living. Guess what gives who an edge here, ya melon fudge?"

Nevertheless, Flam gnashed his teeth. He hopped up, telekinetically scooped up a chunk of rooftop, and flung lump after lump at Rainbow Dash in the form of huge granite boulders. "Haaaaugh! Rrrrrgh!"

Rainbow Dash calmly flew backwards from the approaching projectiles. She shook her wings, shedding row after row of blue feathers. Right as the boulders reached her, she clapped her forelimbs together, coagulating the feathers into a stone gray earth mare with dull eyes.

"Rocks." Maud breathed.

Rainbow hugged her from behind as Pinkie's sister effortlessly punched, bucked, and headbutted each incoming boulder. Pebbles showered down on the rooftops of Philanthropy, causing Flam to wince and shield himself with a wave of telekinesis.

Rainbow Dash capitalized on the moment. She spun around, grunted, and flung Maud Pie with all her might. The mare barreled down towards Flam, twirled like a hoofball, and enlarged by a factor of ten. By the time the body had reached Flam, it had morphed completely into a burly minotaur wearing a neck tie.

"OH YEAH!" Iron Will landed, swinging a folding chair full-force into Flam's face.

WHANNNNG!

"Aaaaaugh!" Flam flew off the rooftop, smashed through two collapsing skyscrapers...


...and returned to the ampitheatre, grinding through several seats and knocking Stu and Flim off their hooves.

Both stallions collapsed to the concrete, thoroughly winded. Stu still winced and struggled from the pain of his bloodied limb. Because of this, Flim was the first to get up. Thoroughly throttled, he nevertheless manage to share a glance with Flam.

"Flim, ol' chum..."

"Yes... brother of mine?" Flim wheezed.

"Everything's collapsing. We have one last ace up our sleeves." Flam's eyes narrowed. "If we can't bring the Cider Princess to the door..."

Flim gasped. "But... but..." He winced, looking in the direction of the collapsed buildings. "...that dream will fall apart if... if we do what you're proposing—"

"It doesn't matter!" Flam shouted, hobbling up to his hooves. Both stallions shuddered to hear the rocketing sound of Rainbow Dash's epic approach. "All that's important is that we restore what's lost to Mother!"

Flim trembled. He looked up at the air distorting from the speeding pegasus.

"Are you with me or aren't you, brother?!" Flam shouted.

Flim shuddered. "You keep her distracted." He frowned. "I'll bring the door here."

Flam spat, cracking his joints as he stood up. "Thatta boy." He turned to face Rainbow Dash. "Let's finish this."

Stu overheard it. He overheard everything. With a sputtering gasp, he flung his jaws to the air and shouted. "Rainbow Dash! No! Stop Flim! You gotta stop—"

POWWW! All sound cut out from the noise of Rainbow Dash plowing into Flam. Stu and everypony else winced from the wave of dust. Rainbow and the mustached unicorn continued their fight across the ampitheatre. In the meantime, Flim ran towards the very edge of the stage, took a deep breath, and summoned the brightest glow yet to his horn.

And just like that, the air around the platform grew deathly cold.