//------------------------------//
// Do You Even Lift (For Cab Fare)? 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	"Oh wow!"  Bon Bon grinned wide, peering over the edge of the chariot window where she was seated.  The high urban winds beat against her cheeks and mane.  "Oh wow wow wow wow wow wow!"

"Girl, relax," Lyra droned.  She sat next to Vinyl in the stretched wagon's passenger compartment facing Bon Bon, Rainbow Dash, and Caramel.  The chariot swayed slightly as a group of four pegasi drew it skyward with briskly flapping wings.  "It's just a sky taxi."

"Oh Lyra."  Bon Bon smirked.  "Don't pretend that you're not thrilled about this!  When do we ever get to fly above the rooftops of Ponyville back home?"

"Flight is overrated," Lyra yawned.

"Speak for yourself," Rainbow said with a smirk.

"Omigosh!  Look!"  Bon Bon pointed out the window with a peach hoof.  "I can see Freemane Street from here—"

A yellow aura of telekinesis tugged Bon Bon back into her chair.

"Sit down," Lyra grumbled, her horn dimming.  "Celestia on a bike, girl.  Don't you know the first thing about flight safety?"

"Hmmmm..."  Bon Bon smiled coyly.  "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were extra-concerned for me, Lyra."

"Pfffft.  Don't be silly, B-Squared.  If you fall out the window and become a bloody stain against the wagon's paint job, then Vinyl and I get sued out of our uteri."

"I doubt her safety restraints would loosen that easily," Vinyl droned.  "Still, it's okay to be stupidly concerned for her, Lyra."

"Mrmmmmffff..."  Lyra folded her forelimbs.

"Ooooh!"  Bon Bon cooed again.  "See those structures atop the hotel casinos?  They look like whole entire buildings!"

"Their super expensive VIP suites," Vinyl said.  "Too high class even for me to afford."

"Some of them even have fountains and burning braziers!"

"Yeah."  Vinyl nodded as the wagon gradually lifted.  "You have to be—like— an oil baron from Saddle Arabia to afford that kind of crud.  Too opulent for my tastes."

"I didn't know you had a limit, Vinyl," Lyra said.

Vinyl shrugged.  "Everypony has limits."

"You just have more than others."

"Let's just say I value a simple life too much to complicate it with diamond studded nothings."

"Heh... more power to ya."

"Oh look..."  Rainbow Dash pointed through the wagon's sun roof.  "We're so high up, we're catching the sunlight."

"Huh?"  Lyra craned her neck, staring up through the transparent sheet.  "Let me see."  Just as she said that, a bright glint of golden light slammed across her glinting eyes.  "Ohhhh!  Ack!  Hisssssss!"

"Oh, now that feels delightful," Bon Bon said with a smile.  She inhaled, feeling the warmth draw over her from the sunlight peering through the circular space between the clouds of Upper Las Pegasus and the tall tower piercing it.  "I wonder how the pegasi manage to keep such a circular entrance staying so consistently in one piece?"

"No doubt through reinforcing the circumference by hoof morning, noon, and night," Rainbow said.  She eyed the sliver of blue skylight above the overcast.  The hint of cloudstone structures peeked through the mists.  "There's still no machine that can replace good ol' fashion pegasus weather flying when it comes to keeping the clouds in shape."

"Well, I can't wait to see the hovering platforms!" Bon Bon said.  "Or the lofty cloudstone buildings beyond!"

"Take a good look.  We're getting close enough," Rainbow said.  "Already it looks a lot smaller than Cloudsdale—but hey—who's counting?"

"From what I'm told, a good half of Upper Las Pegasus is accessible to non pegasi," Vinyl said.  "That's quite the feat."

"Oh, totally.  Just don't wander too far from the platforms," Rainbow said.  "It'd super suck to fall all the way to the desert floor below."

"I presume it happens a lot," Lyra said, smirking.  "Judging from the number of morons who come here to lose their fortunes."

"Eh."  Rainbow shrugged as the wagon swayed slightly.  "Who knows."  She looked aside.  "How you holding up, Caramel."  A blink.  "... ... ....Caramel?"

"I'm d-d-doing f-f-fine..."  Caramel hugged himself hunched up in his seat between Rainbow and Bon Bon.  He stared straight forward, eyes like saucer as his teeth chattered.  "I'm n-n-not sc-scared of the d-deathly pl-plunge beneath us or anything!"

"Caramel.  Girl... just chillax," Rainbow said with a calm smirk.  "This is the safest way to travel."

"If you s-say s-so..."

"I—like—fly more than I walk.  And you don't see me as a talking corpse, do ya?"

"Mmmmmm..."  Caramel's eyes darted around as his ears folded.

"Okay, Caramel," Vinyl spoke up.  She adjusted her shades, craning her neck.  "The taxi pullers will be parking us soon.  You'll be on solid flooring in just a little bit."

"Y-yeah... b-but we'll still be m-miles high!"

"It's not miles," Rainbow droned.  "If it was miles, you'd turn to liquid as soon as you landed from a fall."

"Eeeep!"  Caramel froze completely, white as a sheet.

Bon Bon sighed, rolling her eyes.  "You might want to work a bit on your counseling skills, Rainbow."

"Right.  Got it."  Rainbow cleared her throat, squinting at the round, looming summit to the space needle above them.  "Let's find a dress shop quick... nurture her back to the land of the living."