Appledashery

by Just Essay


Cider in the Sky

The first thing Rainbow Dash heard was a persistent hissing sound. A brisk, cold wind blew at her bangs, tickling her ears.

"Grnnghhff... guh..."

She stirred, trembled. Slowly, one hoof at a time, she stood up.

"Ummffh... Epcot?" she muttered. "Stu?"

There was no reply. In the distance, she heard bells ringing, followed by foghorns and the murmurs of unseen ponies.

She tried opening her eyes, only to be stabbed by a blazingly bright light.

"Gaaugh... mrmmfff..."

She raised a hoof up to rub her fuzzy muzzle. Along the way, it bumped into something.

"Huh?"

She felt her head. A pilot's cap fitted snugly around her skull, obscuring her mane. A pair of flying goggles descended from the article.

"What the..." She became aware of an unmistakable weight on her flank. She reached back and realized that her body was clad in a brass-buttoned corset. Metal rigging formed a complex array along her spine, complete with dozens of tiny steam pipes. "...buck?!"

She took a good look at herself, her ruby eyes finally adjusting to the light. Brown straps wrapped around her limbs, and the ends of her hooves were covered in tweed.

"Am I..." Rainbow couldn't help but grimace. "...wearing leather?"

A horn rippled through the air again. She heard a stallion's voice crackling, echoing through the air. "Just two days! Two days, folks! And then the Cider Princess' Coronation is at hoof!"

Thuderous cheers rolled in Rainbow's direction.

She looked straight ahead, and her jaw dropped.

A city skyline floated before her. Rainbow Dash wasn't just imagining it: the skyscrapers truly were bobbing up and down, carried aloft by propellers and massive pipes venting steam along every foundation. Lengthy chains of thick iron dangled between the buildings, ultimately attaching them to craggy mountainfaces. Rainbow realized that the cities hovered in the hollow of a massive canyon, its enormous walls stretching to the north and south of the urban oddity. Sunlight shone through the crevice, illuminating white polished brick and cinder structures with brass-laden support struts. In the very heart of the levitating city, a thick phalanx of towers shot skyward, its crooked height covered all over in serpentine, criss-crossing pipework, much like—

"A cider mill..." Rainbow blinked. Her head tilted down, as did her gaze.

She saw platforms dangling between the cities. Ponies in ornate, fashionable suits and dresses trotted back and forth across the balconies and courtyards. Romantic couples nuzzled each other besides green hedges. Parents escorted their giggling foals between shops and restaurants.

Far beyond, Rainbow spotted what looked to be balloons and darting seagulls. Only upon prolonged inspection did she realize that they were equines piloting miniature zeppelins and gliders. Some of the fliers even ascended as high as the upper skyscrapers, retracting their machines' leather wings so that they could land and drop off supplies. The larger dirigibles gathered in the center of the city, landing on large square platforms and unloading what looked to be barrels of cider.

"AJ?" Rainbow Dash stammered, blinking. "What kind of a dream is this—?" Just then, she silenced herself, recalling a scant memory from reality. When she was in Shindig's home, she had seen a small scale model of a city, complete with large pinwheels and complex pipework. "This isn't Applejack's dream," she muttered. Her ears folded back. "This is Shindig's..."

Faint music fought against the puttering ambience of the steam-powered city.

Rainbow Dash craned her neck to look. She caught a good glimpse of a central courtyard surrounded by massive sksycrapers. Along the tall buildings, several tall banners hung, rippling in the wind. These banners all depicted an elegant mare's smiling face. There was no doubt that it was the most gorgeous illustration of a pony that Rainbow Dash had ever seen. She soon realized why.

"Applejack...?!" Rainbow trotted towards the edge of the platform she had awoken on. No matter how long she gawked, it couldn't change the fact that the majestic illustration had an umistakable pair of emerald eyes, a tell-tale smattering of freckles, and a golden blonde mane hiked up in a royal updo. "...I... I don't get it. What... why...?"

FWOOOSH! With roaring engines, a steam-powered gyrocopter levitated up, hovering parallel to where Rainbow Dash stood. Two ponies in police uniforms glared her way with flickering goggles. "Is that her?!" the pony in the rear seat stammered.

"Yeah, that's her, alright!" the pilot in the front muttered. He pumped his hoof in the air.

FW-FWOOOSH! Two more gyocropters levitated, surrounding Rainbow Dash's platform on all sides. One officer spoke into a megaphone, shouting: "HALT, BLUE JAY! NOT ANOTHER MOVER!"

"BY ORDER OF QUEEN SERENITY SHINDIG, BLUE JAY, YOU ARE HEREBY UNDER ARREST FOR YOUR INNUMERABLE CRIMES AGAINST THE EMPIRE!"

"DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESIST!"

Rainbow Dash gulped. "Hoboy..."