Stu Leaves grimaced, glancing left and right at the floating structures and abandoned buildings all around. He nearly flew into a shelf of polished rock—only for Rainbow Dash to dive down and nudge him out of harm's way. Exhaling with relief, he gave her a nervous smile before following the pegasus in a steep climb.
Rainbow Dash scaled an enormous granite structure depicting two alicorns in a romantic embrace. She flew after the flitting geodesic sphere as it took them down a chasm formed by jagged geometric castles, then over a plateau of glossy black marble.
At last, in the middle of the grand stone plane, Epcot lowered to the floor, then materialized into equine form.
Rainbow Dash and Stu Leaves touched down on either side of her.
"Yup!" Epcot grinned, strolling in a wide circle. "This should just about do it!"
"What have we got here, Epcot?" Rainbow asked. "Is this the location of the others' sims?"
"Nope!"
Stu blinked. "No?"
"I can't make the doorway to that open, silly!" Epcot grinned at the two. "I'm just a chaperone! A construct, remember?"
Rainbow sighed. "Then what was the friggin' point in bringing us here?"
"Well, you've gotta mold the dreamscape with your own imagination to get anywhere," Epcot said. "And sometimes I find—both for alicorns as well as for mortals like Starswirl—that the best way to dream stuff up is to have a blank slate!"
"A blank slate?"
"Uh huh!" Epcot tilted her head up into the bright sky. "And it so happens that this particular part is due for some lights out."
Stu and Rainbow peered directly up. They watched as several converging continents floated slowly, converging, blocking out the pulsating dimensions beyond.
Suddenly, in the span of seconds, the marble plane was cast in darkness.
The only light came from the luminescent seams in Epcot's uniform, as well as her sparkling purple eyes. "Now, then..." A wide set of grinning teeth reflected the other two ponies. "...how about some Illuminations?"
"I..." Stu's voice shuddered. "I don't see how this is going to help..."
"For Figment's sake, ponies! It's not that hard!" Epcot giggle-snorted. "We all have sparks, imaginations! That's how our minds create creations!"
Stu was about to retort when Rainbow Dash began pacing between them. "A spark you say..." Rainbow tapped her chin, squinting across the pitch black landscape. "Something tells me that's right up my alley."
"Huh?" Stu blinked.
Epcot leaned into the stallion. "I think she's seen beyond the waves."
"Can somepony please help me out? Cuz I'm really lost," Stu muttered.
"We all are. But I think that's the point," Rainbow said. "Looking for Applejack and the others isn't about scaling the mountains of the dreamscape. It's about piercing the walls between our sims. We gotta reach out to them. Ya feel me?"
"O...kay...?"
"Hmmmmm..." Rainbow Dash blinked. "Tell me, Stu, what's a song that only a pony living today would know."
"Why a pony living today?"
"Because that way I wouldn't be banging on the door to any dead alicorn's fantasy."
"Uhhhm..." Stu scrunched his face, then gasped. "Winter-Wrap Up!"
"Right... so..." Rainbow Dash trotted in a circle, silent.
Stu Leaves fidgeted. "Do you... even have a musical instrument?"
"No, but..." Rainbow glanced behind her. In the light of Epcot's eye-glow, she saw her own flicking tail. Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes, seethed, then reached back. Pop! She pulled her tail completely off.
Stu's jaw dropped.
Without wasting a breath, Rainbow flung the tail lengthwise in front of them. Each colorful shade split into even smaller hues, until they lay out in eighty-eight pieces, levitating before them. Rainbow stomped her hoof, allowing dust to rise from the dark floor. She then leaned forward and blew at the dust, causing it to coalesce in a round shape of staunch ebony. Within seconds, an ethereal piano stood before them with rainbow keyboards.
"But..." Stu gawked. "...how?"
"She's a natural, for sure!" Epcot squee'd.
"I know what this stuff looks like," Rainbow said. "But I'm no musician." She glanced over at the stallion. "You ever play the piano?"
"Actually..." He trotted over and stood before it. "...been a while since I tickled the ivories in Cloudsdale."
"I bet it never leaves you."
"In this place? I'm surprised I still have my brain." Stu took a deep breath. "Okay... the first few notes?"
"Why not."
The stallion's hooves wandered over the keys, producing melodic notes.
Rainbow more mumbled than sang: "Three months of winter's coolness, and awesome holidays..."
Just then, a brisk wind blew at the two ponies. They gritted their teeth, shielding themselves from a wave of soot and dust.
"Is it falling apart—?!" Stu stammered, attempting to scoop up the billowing ebony of the piano.
"No! It's fine! It's fine!" Rainbow shouted against the maelstrom. "Just keep at it!"
Stu played more notes.
Rainbow sang into the tumult, "We've kept our hoofsies warm at home, time off from work to play! But the food we've stored is running out, and we can't grow in this cold—"
Stu joined in, his mane billowing as a bright light formed in the fissure. "And even though I love my boots this fashion's getting old!"
A crack of thunder rolled, splitting the heavens in two. The darkness was gradually replaced by an invading hue of cold blue electric light.
"Nnnngh..." Rainbow wheezed. "What is that?"
Epcot floated past them, humming. "You made the call... and the call's been answered!" She grinned back at them. "Now might be a good time for jumping!"
Stu and Rainbow exchanged glances. With a sharp breath, Rainbow shook her rear. The piano dissolved, her tail snapping back in place as she galloped straight ahead. Stu Leaves glided alongside her.
Almost immediately, the fissure shrank, but both ponies dove through—dragging Epcot along with them—before it could collapse on its own.
"Wheeeeeeeee—" FLASH!