//------------------------------//
// A Rather Arduous Wait 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	The city of Philanthropy wasn't the only thing that was collapsing.  The sky too gave way, and the ravine and the vast expanse beyond it.  The whole dreamscape was ripping apart in every direction, revealing an ethereal madness of dark ultraviolet light beyond the fragile fabric of reality.

Buildings peeled off their foundations, ribboning off into these tiny fissures and crevices in thought.  Helpless citizens—both innocent constructs and vile pawns—were yanked off their hooves and sent screaming into the void.  Soon, every dangling platform within the ravine was being stripped clean of every aspect of the simulation, until the centermost platform—the one with the ampitheatre—flimsily remained.

Mulia Mild gulped.  She and Donut Joe and Gustave le Grande all clung together while staring at the frightful darkness closing in from all sides.

"Most of the dream is already gone!" Epcot exclaimed, her voice ringing through the turbulent air.  "Soon, there'll be nothing left to stand on!"

"Then what will happen to us?!" Gustave asked.

"You aren't a fabrication of the dream," Epcot explained.  "Once Philanthropy dissipates completely, we'll be flung back into the heart of Cider Space.  I expect the force of that ejection will be enough to wake mortals like you."

Mulia exhaled in relief.  "Oh, thank Celestia!"

"But..." Donut Joe blinked.  "What about Applejack?"

At precisely that moment, Rainbow Dash got up, shaking off the cobwebs of her most recent scuffle with Flam.  She turned and took one look at the dark door.

The object's black frame sunk deeper into the stage's surface, as if it was a dark knife carving through the remaining matter of Philanthropy.  Not too far away, Shindig and Apple Jewell stood, their hooves still anchored to the sparsely remaining dream fabric.  Before Rainbow's eyes, Flim and Flam joined side by side.  The brothers trotted swiftly over towards Apple Jewell.

"What is the meaning of this, Frederick?!  Felix?!" Shindig hollered.  "What would compel you to summon the door here?!"

"You will be one with father, mother," Flam said.  "One way or another."

"Come, sister."  Flim placed his hoof on Apple Jewell's shoulder.  "Your destiny awaits."

"Rrrrgh... No!"  Rainbow sailed at the two.

Both brothers spun from Apple Jewell.  Combining their magic, they fired a dense wave of energy at the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash slammed straight into the rippling forces.  Nevertheless, she propelled herself forward, fighting the sheer onslaught from the two unicorns.  "Mmmmfnngh... what... what gives?!" She wheezed for breath.  "I th-thought I'd become a super dreamer or some crap!"

"The dream fabric is ripping apart all around us," Epcot said.  "You haven't much of the same power left!  And neither do they!"

"We won't let you have her!" Flim stammered, sweating and straining visibly as he fought to maintain the magical output through his horn.  "We've worked too hard to make this moment happen!"

"Sons..." Shindig spoke.  Suddenly, she was walking free, no longer anchored to the floor.  She paced around the two unicorns as they resisted Rainbow Dash's approach.  "...if this is truly about Philanthropy, my husband, then you will stop this at once."

"She's... st-starting to fade, brother!" Flam hissed.  "We have to be quick about this!"

"Trust us, mother!" Flim added.  "This is for your own good!"

"I do not see any good in this," Shindig said.  She teetered slightly, rubbing her head as her own coat started to peel off like a layer of pastel dust.  "I... I only see nothing but darkness.  You were trying to save me... and I understand that now. But your father..."  She grimaced, her face rippling away to reveal a more distraught muzzle underneath.  "Blessed Celestia, my beloved is gone.  And the farm... and this..."  She shook her head, tearing up.  "This shouldn't be.  None of this should.  My daughter... I haven't got a daughter.  I..."  She looked Apple Jewell's way.  "...you.  Who are you even...?"

"It's over, you jerks!" Rainbow's voice cracked as the force field holding her back started to fade.  She inched forward, her wings blurring.  "You couldn't pull a fast one over your mother forever!  How'd you even expect her to be happy in the end?!"

"You don't understand.  This was going to save her life!" Flam snarled.  "One soul for another!"

"To bring back the spirit of Father so that they could commune together!" Flim added.

"But that's not how it works!" Rainbow Dash shouted.  "You can't bring back the spirit of the dead!  You can only embody it—by living the way you know would make them proud!"  She spat.  "That's why in this world and the next you both will be nothing more than a pair of pathetic losers!"

"We haven't lost," Flam hissed, his horn starting to short out.  "Oh no... we haven't lost at all!"  He then cut the magic out completely, spun around, and grabbed Apple Jewell's gasping body.

Rainbow Dash broke through the field and flew at him.

But it was too late.  As his last act, he twirled and flung Apple Jewell straight at the door.  Within a second, he was being slammed into the ground by Rainbow Dash.  She looked over, saw Apple Jewell flying into darkness, and screamed.  "No!"