Appledashery

by Just Essay

Slice of Sky

"Are ya sure you won't stay?" Fetters asked, standing next to the old mare and the stallion as all three familiar figures gazed out of the warehouse.

"Oh, I'm sure," Rainbow Dash said, wrapping a brown cloak around herself. "I've got... uh... a whole bunch of Blue Jaying to do, y'know?"

"Well, that's mighty fine if ya think yer healthy enough." Rose Letter squinted, rasping in Granny Smith's trademark drawl. "But if anypony of Shindig's ask, we ain't never saw ya!"

"Yeah, I get it. I owe you big time for hiding me." Rainbow smirked and shook a hoof from under her cloak. "And for the threads."

"Still, for what it's worth," Fetters said, waving a tiny hoof as she smiled. "Best of luck! Yer an inspiration for all of us down here!"

"Eeeyup!" The stallion waved.

"Right. I'll... uh... try and make you proud!" Rainbow waved back.

Shadows drifted over the wind-swept walkway. Rainbow looked straight up. She saw a trio of gyrocopters soaring overhead. At that same time, she heard a slamming door. She turned to look back at the warehouse.

The door was shut. All three ponies were gone.

"Mmmmm..." Rainbow's nostrils flared. She wrapped a hood over her colorful head and trotted up an inclined plank being hung from massive chains. "...here's hoping Applejack fantasizes often about machine guns. I'm gonna need all the oomf I can get..."

---

When Rainbow Dash reached the mid-level platforms of the floating city, she paused by several chain-linked junctions, gawking out from beneath her hood. There was virtually no sign of the violent pursuit that had pierced the air streams just hours previous. If there were any shredded gyrocopter parts lying about, they were nowhere to be seen. Rainbow imagined that they must have been swept up. But even if that was the case, it didn't explain just how... placid the entire city felt.

Ponies trotted back and forth, smiling and jubilant, talkative and merry. They gathered around on floating street corners, pausing to gossip and giggle over the various going-ons of the day. Rainbow spotted mares in frilly dresses with tight corsets and long skirts. She also saw stallions in straight-laced suits, sporting beards, mustaches, and a crazy assortment of derby hats.

Hearing a noise to her left, she glanced aside. A workhorse tossed several crates into a wagon before casually walking off the platform's edge. He plunged swiftly into the canyon... only to re-emerge seconds later with steam jets affixed to his flank. Levitating, the earth pony attached himself to the wagon and carried it off to the lower packing districts.

Rainbow Dash blinked. She slowly trotted forward, her ears twitching from beneath her hood. At the sound of music, she glanced to her left.

A floating stage levitated off a nearby platform, carried aloft by propellers and several chains attached to the distant walls. A choir of mares and stallions sang while a conductor waved his forelimbs, his back to an applauding audience of aristocratic equines.

A voice shouted behind Rainbow's back. She shuffled around, peering from beneath her hood.

A mustached stallion stood on a box at the corner of two floating bank buildings and loudly addressed a crowd of families gathered before him. "There is no entrance fee whatsoever, Fillies and Gentlecolts!" He pointed at a banner featuring a familiar blonde mare's beautiful face and freckles. "Each and every living citizen of Philanthropy is allowed in the Citrus Stadium on the morning of the Cider Princess' Coronation two days from now! All you need is to dress appropriately, and then you can check yourselves in at the door! All courtesy of the most industrious sons of Shindig: Frederick Flim and Felix Flam!" The ponies gathered before him clapped and cheered.

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "Philanthropy..."

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" chirped a young voice from the other side of the sun-lit platform. "After a Close Scrape With Justice, the Notorious Blue Jay is Still at Large! Read about the Shindig Sons' proposed plan to stop this masquerading menace once and for all!"

"Pffft..." Rainbow twirled about. "Now there's a paper desperate to sell bits--" Her eyes blinked. "Apple Bloom?"

The newsy tilted her cap up, squinting curiously at the mare. "Huh? Who's 'Apple Bloom?'"

"Er... Fetters, I mean," Rainbow said. "How'd you get up here so quickly?"

"Look, lady, the name's Scraps." The filly's yellow face scrunched into a frown. "Do you wanna buy a paper or not?"

"Er... no thanks. I'm uh..." Rainbow backtrotted. "...I'm caught up to day, sort of--"

Whump! She bumped into a gown'd mare navigating the sidewalk. "Hmmph! Excuse you!" the mare huffed.

"Er... s-sorry..." Rainbow spun about, adjusting her hood. "I didn't see you there..." She gawked. "...Rarity?!"

The mare frowned, fanning herself with a bare hoof. "Well, I'd say!" She tossed her purple mane back and glared. "It's certainly a rarity to run into such riff-raff!"

"You mean you're name's not...?" Rainbow's voice stopped as soon as her eyes tilted up.

The white pony had no horn on her forehead. "Unf! Stop staring or I shall call the coppers on you!" The mare shuffled off, nose tilted up. "Hooligan!"

"Uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash peered about, blinking nervously.

Across the street, she spotted Twilight Sparkle--sans horn--sitting at a table and chatting with another Granny Smith. Two blocks down, a Fluttershy without wings slid out of a book store, trotting alongside yet another Rarity. Across the way, a pair of Big Macintoshes were carrying a dresser in from a wagon and into a three story floating building.

Rainbow's ears drooped. "I... uh..." She tightened her hood and shuffled into the nearest alleyway, shuddering under the cover of shade. "...I think I'm gonna need some cold water..."

Comments

[Sheendough]

Seems like AJ's struggling to get free from Shindig's sim.

[Bulbajer]

I'd like to place an order for 64 Apple Blooms please.

[Tchernobog]

5662235 Actually, now that I think of it, it's getting closer to Inception than anything. The dreamer's subconscious "populates" the dream, while someone else is the 'architect' of what the dreamer sees. In this case, Shindig and the brothers seem to be taking over AJ's dream. The fact that most of the ponies are ponies AJ knows leads me to believe it's hers, at least.

[RoboRed]

...Whut.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5662235 Well, she is one strong-willed mare, so I don't doubt it one bit.

And I'll bet every apple on the Acres, and every bit in Equestria that she will, too!

Oh, yeah, "Queen" Shindig and those conniving sons of hers are in for one hell of a shock once Dash gets to AJ, wakes her up, and they suddenly find themselves with two very pissed off Elements of Harmony on their hooves.

'Cause if there's one thing that I know for sure that Applejack hates with a passion, it's dishonesty.

And liars.

And those three are both!

[Avid Fiction]

FINALLY caught up! This is rather intriguing, yet utterly confusing at the same time.

WHAT'S GOING ON????

Now to play the waiting game

[Sharp Quill]

Wait till Rainbow Dash encounters the other Blue Jays.

[Sheendough]

5662280 Did it really take you this long to figure it out? I thought the way Mulia's city collapsed in on itself was a dead givaway.

[Tchernobog]

5662764 Oh it was obvious from the start they were doing their own dreams, but in this case, this is a merger of two separate dreams - AJ sees the ponies, the brothers seed the setting.

[Sheendough]

5662768 Ah, I see. I thought you somehow you missed the shoutout. Now I get that the structure itself is reminiscent of Inception.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Hey, ya know what would really turn this story on it's head? Some quantum entanglement/dimension hopping. Alternate versions of the same dream and all that.

Also, I would kill to see epcot pop outta nowhere and ask "Heads, or Tails?"

Probably not gonna happen though. It appears that the only people present are those that AJ holds near and dear (As well as Shindig and sons, for obvious reasons).

Which begs the question, where are the dream RD's?

[FloydienSlip]

This is very odd and I don't know what to think.

[Wolfie 03]

5663231 That... is a good question. If this IS AJ's dream and Shindig and her sons are taking over but it's still full of ponies AJ cares about, where ARE the Rainbow Dashes? ..... Is this similar to Stu's dream of wanting AJ but not AJ? Odd indeed...

[TwilightUCrazy]

Calling it: This is Applejack's dream; to be rescued like a princess by her knight in shining armor. Who is that knight?

...4 realzies?

[Lightning Bearer]

Earth pony master race.

[Leftover of Saikano]

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere

I still support the idea of making a videogame of this story.

[Fishberry]

This is... um... Yes!

This is...

... okay. Nope.

Got nothin'.

[Fishberry]

5664831

Oh, you too?

Heh. I think I commented about that as well.

[Aatxe360]

5662242

Here they are:
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eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif eridanipony.com/images/smilies/GuvHU.gif

5663231
5664460

Pinkie Pie is missing as well. Maybe with her fourth wall abilities, that would seem too overpowering. And it would become terrible for RD if Pinkie saved AJ instead. Maybe Pinkie Pie knows all of this already and is reading over JE's shoulder. Nah.

[Jay_Baker]

No Rainbow Dash's?......interesting

[Phoenix Kitten]

5663231 old is old, buuuut
your comment reminded me of a picture
derpicdn.net/img/2013/8/6/393241/large.jpeg

[arancaytar]

"Look, lady, the name's Scraps." The filly's yellow face scrunched into a frown. "Do you wanna buy a paper or not?"

This dream is entirely filled with background ponies looking like AJ's family, then?