//------------------------------// // And When It Becomes a Reality // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// The ride passed a procession of alicorns, trotting up as they took turns ceremoniously drinking cider from Starswirl's black goblet. One after another, the intoxicated immortals made their way to a series of long cushioned beds lined with glowing beams of mana. There, they fell into blissful slumber, and Rainbow watched in dumb awe as their bodies vanished, becoming trailing shadows of purple and blue colors. "The alicorns discovered that, by filling the enchanted Chalice with ambrosia and drinking the contents thereof, their essences entered a dimension of pure thought. As it turned out, they were becoming one with the magical leylines that bound them to immortality in the first place! It was like merging into traffic on the spiritual highway of sentience! Heehee! Soon, they discovered that being on the spiritual plane was far more fortuitous than remaining on the physical, so there they stayed. And there... they built their greatest and most glorious masterpieces of the mind..." The ride moved through yet another large screen, this time broadcasting a wide angled lense that recorded breathtaking shots of rolling mountains, spacious planes, and floating plateaus. Elaborate palaces, upside-down castles, and beautiful hanging gardens stretched as far as Rainbow Dash's twitching mortal vision could comprehend. Alicorns morphed into various ethereal shapes and forms as they danced and glided and chased each other across the heavenly gardens and impossibly complex architecture. "In cider space, they built their greatest inventions, realized their most cherished dreams, and constructed ideas and sculpted concepts and molded imaginations that the physical plane could never realize!" Epcot said, her eyes sparkly and dreamy. "And then, over time, as they meditated and grew accustomed to their immortality, they became one with that perpetual hum of the universe, and transcended the barriers of their own thought." "Wait wait wait..." Rainbow Dash wrenched her eyes off the glimmering palaces afloat in the ether and gawked at the chaperone seated next to her. "What do you mean? The alicorns... disappeared?" "Hmm?" Epcot blinked at her. She giggle-snorted. "Of course! I forgot. You're a mortal. You couldn't possibly know these things." She tapped the pegasus' fuzzy blue muzzle. "Booop!" Rainbow frowned and pushed Epcot's hoof away. "Seriously! Where did they go?" "It is not for myself to know any more than you, I'm afraid." Epcot's pale muzzle hung in a brief, melancholic slump. "I am just a mere construct, sculpted out of thought like so many beautiful creations of the alicorn dreamers. I've scoured the shimmering ends of subconscious mindscapes for eons, and I haven't met a single lucid alicorn." "They..." Rainbow winced. "Th-they left you alone in this place?" "Oh, it's not so bad, really!" Epcot grinned. "What better place to roam than in a wonderland chock full of endless rolling masterpieces?" She gestured at the epic megastructures looming just beyond the ride's reach. "Every genius work of art ever dreamt of by alicorns have been mine to oversee and preserve. And yet..." She nevertheless sighed. "...what I wouldn't give to know where they are, how they are fairing, what secrets from beyond they might be learning." She turned to smile gently at the pegasus. "You see, immortals can never really die. True, they can become dormant, but their minds become the essence of something else, a foundation to all dreams and imagination. If they weren't out there somewhere, suspended in perpetual slumber, then Cider Space would vanish in an instant! Oh, I very much doubt that the mortal plane would fair very well either! Heeheehee!" "You know... uh... EPCOT," Rainbow's voice cracked. "Some alicorns stayed behind." She gulped. "Celestia. Luna. Some pretty pink princess pony in a faraway castle..." "Hehehe! Well of course they did! For Figment's sake!" Epcot rolled her purple eyes, smiling. "They owed their transcendence to Starswirl—a mortal—didn't they? It's not like the alicorns could completey abandon the physical plane! I mean, that would just be smelly and mean!" "Er... right..." Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane. "But, y'know, about this Cider Space..." "Mmmhmm? Mmmhmm?" "Some mortals totally hijacked it in order to—like—craft their own dream world. I mean..." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "You say that it's been a bridge of sorts into some spiritual plane of existence? Like... a transcendant highway or something that the alicorns built?" "Indeedy-do!" "Could this place be used to contact the dead? Dead mortals, I mean?" "Jee..." Epcot tapped her chin. "I never once thought of that. Granted, I've never met a mortal before until you." She leaned in close, sniffing Rainbow's muzzle. "You're not dead, are you?" "Err..." Rainbow lightly shoved the mare back until she had her personal space again. "...sometimes I wonder. Ahem. But look, this much I know: a bunch of bad guys—for whatever good intentions—kidnapped some other mortals and dragged them in here. One of them is a friend of mine. On top of that, another friend of mine dove in here to find her. Do you... I-I mean..." Rainbow fumbled with the awkward question. "Do you recall seeing anypony else sailing through this place?" "You know, come to think of it, I thought I did feel a glitch in the dreamscape! Like little burps in thought—a construct that had to reset itself, only to be normal by the time I had zipped over there at the speed of gasps to observe it." Epcot shrugged. "Then again... heehee... if a new pocket in the dreamscape has opened, then it's not my power to pierce through it." "What do you mean?" "Why, I'm only a chaperone, silly filly! An experimental pony chaperone of tomorrow!" She smiled proudly. "I am just a construct, not a dreamer. If a new sim has opened up in Cider Space, it's beyond my power to explore it! Though I might be able to sniff up the trail if I got close enough." "So, like... how can you get close enough?" "I can't. But you can!" Epcot pointed with a grin. "Me...?" "But of course! If you can dream it, you really can do it!" "I..." Rainbow bit her lip. "I can barely do basic Algebruck without getting a migraine." She gestured at the flashing sights beyond the edge of the moving ride. "How can I expect to take a flight through an alicorn dreamscape." "Well, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, now would it?" Just then, the ride went dark once more as it passed through a futuristic, metal corridor. A loud rushing sound built higher and higher in intensity. Then, with flickering lights, a series of buttons illuminated across the console that made up the ride's doors. The images were labeled "Omega Centauri," "Mesa Verde," and "Sea Castle Resort." "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow fidgeted in her seat. "LAUNCH SYSTEM INITIATED" flashed in front of them in bright red lights. Rainbow felt the ride shaking and vibrating from its core. Epcot sing songed: "Attention passengers, you are invited to choose your own flight path to the future! Please look at the lit panels below you! Choose one of the destinations!" She winked. "Everypony can choose. Majority rules." "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh huh..." Rainbow's ears folded back.