Appledashery

by Just Essay

Apple Figments

Consciousness returned to Rainbow with a wet, moist cloth to her forehead. The pegasus stirred with a slight trilling sound. A rough mattress lay beneath her.

"There there, young'n... you took one mighty big tumble," whispered a hoarse voice. Rainbow felt the cloth gliding soothingly across her fuzzy forehead. "Just rest up now and we'll get ya back on yer hooves sooner than you think."

"MMmmm..." Rainbow's lips pursed. "Apple... Applejack...?"

"Hmmm?" The cloth lifted from her forehead for a moment. "There used to be apples here, darlin', but no more. I ain't ever heard of no 'applejack.'"

Rainbow's left eye opened, then her right. A wrinkled green figure squatted beside her, bathed in candlelight.

With a gasp, Rainbow shot up in bed. "Granny?! Granny Smith?!"

"Eh?" The gray-mane'd mare cocked her head aside, squinting. "Who, now?"

"You're Granny Smith!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Granny, where's Applejack?!" She instantly winced, feeling pain running up and down her body, sandwiched in the tight leather-and-brass corset. "Unnngh..."

"Now what did I just tell ya, speedy?" Granny Smith smirked, laying Rainbow Dash back across the mattress. "Ain't no sense in trottin' about if yer all rattled up inside!"

"I... I don't understand..." Rainbow panted, gazing aside. She spotted piles of empty crates, beds of hay, and a table full of metal nick-nacks all across a rustic warehouse. In the corner, where she lay, was a desk with books, ledges, and a smattering of family photos featuring the floating city. "If you're not Granny Smith, then... then who are you?"

"Rose Letter," the mare said. "Just an ol' mare stuck down here in the Packaging District. Still. Eheheh..." The mare groaned slightly as she got up, her old bones creaking. "...funny that you should be spittin' the word 'apple' out, left and right. We sure did used to sell them thangs. Harvest 'em too. But... but that was long before Shindig's sons took over."

"Flim... Flam..." Rainbow gulped. Then her brow furrowed. "Wait... what do you mean by 'we?'"

Just then, a door burst open at the far end of the warehouse. Two figures trotted in from the brightly lit canyon air: a tiny filly and a massive stallion.

"Rose! Good news!" chirped a familiar young voice. Rainbow spotted a yellow coat beneath a pinstriped red-and-white dress. "The Gearshift Sisters wanna buy our latest stock! All we need to do is make the delivery by sundown and we can afford to eat next week!"

"Why, butter my biscuits and throw me to the seagulls!" The elder pony cackled. "That be the darnedest, happiest news I heard all week! Way to go, Fetters!"

"Well, it wasn't all my doing," the little filly giggled. "Most of the thanks goes to Billy Club here for puttin' on his stallion charm."

"Heheh..." The large pony winked. "Eeeyup."

"Apple Bloom?" Rainbow wheezed. "Big Macintosh?"

The little filly looked over. "How's our guest?"

"Oh, must have hit her head really hard," Rose Letter said. "She woke up, spoutin' nonsense about apples and 'Granny Smith.'"

"Apples, huh?" The filly trotted over, bearing Apple Bloom's unmistakable red mane and amber eyes. "Well, I'm afraid you showed up a tad bit too late, Blue Jay. But that's okay! We're gonna take care of you! Ain't nopony gonna know you're here!"

"Eenope," the stallion shook his head, standing in a brown workshirt with black breeches.

"You... you guys..." Rainbow rolled over to her side, propping her head up. "...really don't know the names 'Apple Bloom' or 'Macintosh?'"

"Why?" Fetters leaned back, blinking. "Is that the name of a steam vendor or somethin'? Cuz we know all the lower districts left and right and we ain't ever heard those names!"

"I'm tellin' ya, child, she's weary in the noggin'," Rose Letter said, gesturing with a hoof. "She probably dun even know who she is."

Fetters gasped wide. "You mean you've forgotten that you're the Blue Jay!"

"The who now?" Rainbow winced.

"The Blue Jay! Who else could ya be?" Fetters pointed. "Rainbow mane... blue coat... raspy voice..."

"Watch it," Rainbow droned.

"Heehee... you're like a flyin' trademark! I think it's just awesome how you never re-dye yer features, considerin' how many wanted posters are plastered all over town with yer face on it."

"Wanted... posters...?"

"Eeyup!" chirped the stallion.

Rainbow squinted. "Wanted for what?"

Fetters smirked. "Are ya serious? Ya dun remember all those times ya raided Queen Shindig's Royal Warehouses? Steelin' all them provisions and givin' them to the lower districts?"

"Let her rest, darlin'," Rose Letter said. "Maybe if she done forget all that, then she won't be pickin' up the habit again anytime soon." The old mare sighed, shuffling through paper ledgers on a desk. "Best she dun learn the hard way not to cross Flim and Flam... like we did."

"But... but she's so awesome!" Fetters pouted. "The way she sticks it to the Mare!"

"I'm... some sort of Robin Hay character?" Rainbow blinked. "Who's idea was that?"

"Well... yers, I'm bettin'!" Fetters blinked. "Yer a real inspiration to all of us livin' down in the Packing District."

Rainbow rubbed her forehead, wincing. "So... you guys are here, but under different names. And I'm here as... some sort of awesome bandit character." She gulped. "What if... what if Shindig, Flim, and Flam aren't the only ones dreaming here?" Rainbow squinted at the group. "I think I might be staring at a bit of Applejack..."

"Heh... ya weren't kiddin' when you said she was loopy, Rose," Fetters said. "I guess those coppers gave her a real run for the money."

Rainbow sat up. "You guys seriously haven't heard anything about an 'Applejack?'"

"Eenope."

"Sorry, darlin'," Rose said. "Can't say that we have." Her wrinkly face frowned. "'Course, we all know about an Apple Jewell."

"Apple... Jewell...?"

"Yeah! Y'know!" Fetters chirped. "The Queen's new, gorgeous heir?"

"... ... ..."

"Pfft! The Cider Princess, ya silly pony!" Fetters stuck her tongue out. "Didn't you steal from her royal wardrobe twice in the last week? Heehee! Just in time to sour the coronation too!"

"Apple Jewell..." Rainbow fell back on the mattress. She clenched her teeth. "Ahhhhh jeez..."

Comments

[MoonMirror]

Calling it, sonic rainboom reminds AJ who she really is and points her home from the dream. Just like when she got her cutiemark :3

[Tchernobog]

5655906 That's a pretty good guess. Probably not far off the mark!

[RoboRed]

5655906
This is good theory.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5655906 I'm hoping that it does, too.

And that they can all get out of this crazy dreamscape before it's too late!

Welp, just have to wait til the next chapter to find out!

Hopefully, that will be tomorrow.

[Sharp Quill]

Chapter begins with a Back to the Future reference.

Apple Jewel could be a Refraction reference. That is who Applejack becomes when her destiny is altered by the erasure of Rainbow Dash.

[FloydienSlip]

"Apple Jewel," huh? Any chance of Lone Star making an appearance?

[BabySkittleMonster]

I agree with Rainbow. 'Ah, jeez...'

[Wolfie 03]

5656152 5656210 I thought Apple Jewel was from that Trenderhoof episode? Simple Ways? When Rarity went nutty and acting 'country' while Applejack went to remind her of her love of fashion by becoming Applejewel.

[Bulbajer]

I'm surprised; it doesn't look like AJ's parents will be making an appearance after all.

[Lightning Bearer]

Wuh-oh.

[Aatxe360]

Applejack is somewhere in there doing her dream about talking with Shindig about the farm somewhat oblivious that there are things ahoof. This will only come crashing down if the chaos shard messing with the machine is removed. Whether others will be hurt in the process is unknown. How many of the others might want to keep their place in this simulation even if they don't know the entire story?

I have a feeling that Silver Shill might make another appearance.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Well, at least we know AJ is definitely in this sim. Now for the million bit question: Where are the rest of the dreamers?

[Leftover of Saikano]

But it wasn't a dream. It was a place! And you, and you, and you, and you were there! But you couldn't have been, could you?

[314]

Olay, this is a chapter from forever ago, but I can't not comment because I FINALLY saw a reference no one else did.

Rainbow Dash being Blue Jay, a vigiliante that robs from the rich and gives to the poor is a reference to Inkheart/Inkspell/Inkdeath.

[Phoenix Kitten]

Everytime I see the first comment posted date go down by a week I squee a little.
lets me know I'm making catch up progress.

[Folomo]

"These punks must have been 'foaled' 'dreamed' yesterday."

Too evocative not to comment this

[Folomo]

6441926
First post is just 70 weeks old, I think I still have some reading in my future

[Snowdrifter]

5950041

It may be unintentional, but there's also a villainess in the Champions universe called 'Bluejay', who flies with power armor she doesn't really know how to operate, does crimes for the thrill/publicity and only keeps enough loot to live well, donating the rest.

Blonde with green eyes, wears a winged blue costume.

Totally a coincidence. Yep.

[arancaytar]

Fetters smirked. "Are ya serious? Ya dun remember all those times ya raided Queen Shindig's Royal Warehouses? Steelin' all them provisions and givin' them to the lower districts?"

She robbed from the rich and she
Gave to the poor
Stood up to the mare and she
Gave her what for
Our love for her now
Ain't hard to rehash
The hero of Ponyville
The mare they call Dash

Edit: Of course that's already a thing. https://alkonium.deviantart.com/art/The-Hero-of-Cloudsdale-319069256

"I'm... some sort of Robin Hay character?" Rainbow blinked. "Who's idea was that?"

Robin Hay? Robin Hay?

ROBIN HOOF.

Goddammit.

[arancaytar]

"I think I might be staring at a bit of Applejack..."

It wouldn't be the first time you stared at her bits, I mean.