Appledashery

by Just Essay

Eyes Lifted

"My good stallion, if you bite your lip any harder, it's going to bleed," Gustave said.

"I... I-I can't help it..." Stu Leaves cast the twentieth worried look over his shoulder since he and his four companions left the front gates to Shindig Tower. "Something about this... all of this feels wrong..."

Entire throngs of uniformed guards were gathered around the heart of Philanthropy, their angry eyes plastered upon the posse. And yet—even as Stu and the others trotted two blocks away—not a single officer came galloping after them, or even tried to stop their casual escape. Soon, the group made their way onto the adjacent platform. There, under the shadow of night, they snuck into the lower alleys.

"There's no way that Shindig would be giving up her 'Cider Princess' that easily," Stu said.

"Maybe not," Mulia remarked. "But you heard Rainbow Dash. There was no other way we could have gotten out of that situation."

"I'm sure I would have busted more than a few heads if she only let me!" Donut Joe grunted, helping Stu along.

"Oh please." Mulia gazed lethargically his way. "You live a life of making pastries. What could would you have done in a serious melee?"

"This isn't my real self, sweet cheeks! It's my dream self! With enough mettle, I'm sure we would have clobbered them!"

"Ah... but must we forget this is not our dream," Gustave remarked. "I'm certain Shindig's forces would have overwhelmed us without much difficulty."

"Well, we're never going to know, are we?!" Donut Joe frowned. "We just left Rainbow up in there to be skinned alive!"

Epcot galloped towards the group after having just checked ahead of them. "There's an abandoned warehouse about a block to the north! I'll show you the way!"

"Much appreciated, Epcot," Stu mumbled.

"And for what it's worth, you shouldn't have to worry about Rainbow Dash," Epcot said, smiling. "Or Shindig. As a matter of fact, I think Rainbow is now the safest that she's ever been!"

Stu shuddered, limping along. "As much as I want to believe that, I can't." The stallion gulped. "I want Applejack rescued as much as Rainbow Dash does, but there's more in that Tower than the Queen to contend with."

"Hmmmmm..." Epcot tapped her chin, pausing to think.

"'Hmmm?'" Mulia blinked her way. "What kind of a 'hmmmmm' is that?"

"A slightly more itchy one," Epcot said, her gray muzzle scrunching. "Something's... different about the citizens of Philanthropy all of the sudden."

"Different?" Gustave asked.

"And yet... they're all the same." Epcot's ears twitched. "I think... I've sensed this feeling before." Her tail flicked beneath her dress. "Yes... yes... the ravine..."

"Huh?" Stu blinked.

"We may still be able to help Rainbow! And Applejack!" Epcot grinned brightly. "Even from here!"

"I... I'm confused," Stu Leaves said.

"It's okay!" Epcot skipped and cavorted ahead. "I am too! Heeheehee!"

The group exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed the chaperone into the abandoned warehouse.

---

Ch-Chtank! Queen Shindig yanked a lever with her telekinesis. She turned and looked across the elevator to see Rainbow Dash flinching.

"Is something the matter, Blue Jay?" Shindig droned.

"Just..." The pegasus shuddered inside her corset. "...h-half expecting one of these levers to drop a steam anvil on my head or something."

The elevator car shook and slowly lifted up the center of the tower with a prolonged hiss. All the while, Shindig arched an eyebrow at the petite mare. "Did I or did I not give you my word?"

"Forgive me, but you've got something of a nasty reputation," Rainbow muttered.

"I could say the same thing about you, vagabond," Shindig sneered. She straightened the edges of her gown and tilted her chin up. "Throughout the entire legacy of Philanthropy, you've been nothing but an unpredictably violent disturber of the peace."

"Lady, you've never even once met me," Rainbow grumbled. "You sure you just believe that because it's what you've been told?"

"You mean to insist that you have not brought ruin to aerial patrols and zeppelin trading routes?"

"Buck, no!" Rainbow barked. "Before I showed up in this place, I never once even heard of a 'Blue Jay!'" She flicked her tail, frowning. "This is just some cruel joke that the dream threw me in! Same with Stu Leaves and the Red Rook."

Shindig blinked.

Rainbow squinted her ruby eyes. "What, does that surprise you?"

"I heard of the Red Rook's recent battle in downtown Philanthropy," Shindig muttered in a low tone. "For all of the violence he wrought on the forces that my sons commanded, not once did he harm a hair on my daughter's fair head. It was... uncharacteristically merciful."

"I know, right?" Rainbow looked up at the alicorn. "Shindig, we don't want to ruin anypony's life! We just want Applejack back!"

"The Cider Princess..."

"Yes! Call her what you want—she doesn't belong here! She belongs in the real world!" Rainbow stomped a hoof. "And I sure as Tartarus ain't about to let you sacrifice her to bring back the dead!"

Shindig blinked. Hard. Turning her head, she gazed directly at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow leaned back, raising a hoof slightly. "You... you've got no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"I... am most... certainly confused." Shindig squinted. "Sacrifice my own daughter? The Cider Princess?! Are you mad?"

Rainbow stared at her.

The Queen stared back.

With a sigh, Rainbow turned towards the elevator doors. "I think one of us doesn't have her facts straight...

"Or... perhaps... two of us." Shindig gulped hard. The car jolted to a stop, and the doors opened to a long, ornate hallway lined with candles. "Come..." She shuffled forward, lighting the dim corridor with her horn. "...I've something to show you."

"Is it the Cider Princess?" Rainbow's voice cracked.

"All things in due time..."

"Grrnngh..."

Comments

[RoboRed]

Clearly, she's at the point where she doesn't even realize it's a dream anymore. That, or she's faking it. I'm siding with the former.

[Teraphim]

5837561
Or perhaps Flim and Flam have a different plan in mind. They don't seem like the types to put family before a chance to profit. And if mommy dearest got in the way, why not trap her in a dream shell as well.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5837561 I'm leaning toward a bit of both, myself.

5837600 And that seems the most highly probable. At least to me, as well.

*grumbles* And they were the ones who had the unmitigated nerve to lecture Stu on loyalty while he and the others were locked up in the dungeons.

I don't know about anyone else here, but I've got a word for that: hypocrite.

[Lightning Bearer]

What the heck is Epcot up to?

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

"I... I'm confused," Stu Leaves said.
"It's okay!" Epcot skipped and cavorted ahead. "I am too! Heeheehee!"

We all are, Epcot. We all are.

[Aatxe360]

*Confusion!*

[Mister Saxon]

So now I'm wondering what Shindig was thinking when she opened that door of darkness

[Fishberry]

I wonder if Philanthropy has any string gum!

That stuff is really great, heehee!

i-mockery.com/shorts/bigleaguechew/6.jpg

[Sheendough]

I'm imagining Shindig's voice like the Animaniacs' teacher: "now conjugate with me!".

[Tchernobog]

Something smells fishy here. If the plan is to bring back the dead... specifically, Shindig's husband, aka a stallion... why would the vessel be a mare?
Compounding the fact that Shindig herself seems to be in the dark about this not being real...

Methinks the Twins know they can't bring Philanthropy back. And instead, want to keep mommy dearest as long as they can... and thus, will use a vessel to move Shindig's soul to Applejack's body.

[Autumn Rush]

5838457

Good theory, but if that's the case, and if that was their plan all along, what was the point in inviting Gustav and Donut Joe to this soiree?

[Tchernobog]

5838495 More brainsbatteries to power the 'true' dream of Philantrophy? >_> i dunno. But Shindig not knowing tosses a monkey wrench in a lot of theories.

[Leftover of Saikano]

We all will be hitting ourselves in confusion.

[Scohinyha Sanka]

5838495

Perhaps their plan was to bring the father back first but right after Gustav and Donut Joe had been brought in their dream world did they realize they couldn't bring back the death and they went for plan B Which Tchernobog just mentioned.

[zaponator]

Curiouser and curiouser...

[DrEggnog]

People in the comments seem confused but I'm way more clear headed than I was early in this arc.

[arancaytar]

"And yet... they're all the same." Epcot's ears twitched. "I think... I've sensed this feeling before." Her tail flicked beneath her dress. "Yes... yes... the ravine ..."

Oh please don't tell me this next plan involves an army of fractured Applejacks.