//------------------------------// // Challenges // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash marched into the dining car, wobbling slightly from the jerks in the coach. She found a narrow bar surrounded by tiny eating tables, and she sat on a stool. A server on the other side finished washing a plate and leaned over. "What can I get for you, Miss?" "Yes. Hi. I'm... uhm..." Rainbow rubbed her head. "...I'm part of some... Platinum Card Dining Plan thingy?" "Ah..." The stallion smiled. "You're with DJ-P0N3's party!" "Yeesh..." Rainbow grimaced, still rubbing her head. "Does the whole friggin' railroad know about us?" "Every employee on board is thoroughly informed about VIP passengers so that we may more properly facilicate your comfort and—" "Yeah yeah, whatever. So I hear you don't serve alcoholic beverages on board." "I'm afraid not, ma'am. It's regulation." "Well... do you have anything... apple-flavored at all?" "Most definitely!" He raised a hoof and spun towards the miniature refrigerator. "A tall glass of apple juice, coming right up." "Yeah... that'll do..." Rainbow slumped so that she rested her head in her hooves. "That'll do that'll do that'll do..." Not long after, another set of hooves trotted into the place. A body sat on the stool right beside her. "Uhm... a pineapple smoothie, if you don't mind. Platinum Card holder. Coach Three?" "Sure thing! I'll have that for you in a jiffy!" "Mrmmmfff..." Rainbow muttered without looking, "Heya, girl." "Heya, Rainbow." Caramel smiled as he rubbed his hooves together. "Vinyl says in about an hour we'll reach the desert! Should be a sight to see!" "I've seen it," Rainbow Dash grumbled into her fetlocks. "It's full of buffalo." "Uhm..." Caramel fidgeted in his stool. "...and there'll be mountains as well." "Seen them. Also full of buffalo." "Oh... well then..." Caramel looked down at the bar counter, wincing. "Oh dear..." "Look, Caramel..." Rainbow sighed, sitting up. "I know that you and the other girls are trying to do something super nice for me. I really do. It's just..." She fidgeted. "...the place where I'm at in life... I... I-I just can't make myself happy on a dime!" "Well, why do you think we're taking you some place fun and spontaneous?" Caramel broke a meager smile. "We're trying to perk you up." "Sometimes, there is no 'perking up,'" Rainbow muttered. "And I'm too... me to bother faking it." "We're not asking you to fake anything, Rainbow Dash." Caramel brushed his bangs back. "Just... have some faith, y'know? Maybe something really... really wonderful is going to happen to you out in Las Pegasus and bring some light into your life!" "Not all of us have a super awesome envelope to look forward to opening, Caramel." "Heeheeheehee..." Caramel's cheeks turned rosy as he glanced down at his fiddling fetlocks. "I promise. I won't ramble on anymore about that." "Just what is it, anyway?" "Uhm..." Caramel cleared his throat. "...the latest response from Canterlot Central Medical in regards to my first few payments." "Oh?" Caramel looked back in silence. Rainbow blinked. Her ears twitched. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh..." She cleared her throat. "Well, uhm... congratulations in advance?" "Mmmmm..." Caramel exhaled through a nervous smile. "Here's hoping." Plink. A tall glass of apple juice was placed down before Rainbow Dash. "Here you go!" The server then slid a pineapple smoothe over towards Caramel. "And for you too, sir." "Ma'am," Rainbow corrected. The stallion blinked. "Huh?" Rainbow waved. "Never mind. Carry on." "Just holler if you need anything!" And he shuffled off to do the dishes. Rainbow rotated the glass of apple juice around in her grasp. "So... uh..." She looked aside. "...assuming everything falls through, just... how long will you be gone for?" "Hmmm?" "I don't know much, but I hear it takes a long friggin' time." Caramel nodded. "Preparing for it takes even longer." He gulped hard. "I... I-I started taking enchanted supplements f-five years ago." "Five years?" Rainbow blinked. "Isn't that around the time you and your parents—?" Caramel tensed slightly. "Erm. Right. Got it." Rainbow stared into her drink. "That... uh... that's commitment right there, girl." "Yeah." Caramel gulped. "But... you know... it always takes commitment." Rainbow looked at him. He looked back. "Getting somewhere you know you belong... even if you feel somewhat... comfortable on the outside... in the dark." He slowly shook his head. "But I'll be darned if I just let this life drift past me... and never be in a place where I can truly be happy... because I will have sacrificed who I am for some... diluted comfort. A false peace." He sighed, his eyes shut. "Sometimes the stuff you're tempted to settle for is the most painful." "Hmmmff..." Rainbow nodded. "So, in other words... you'd say that making the effort to cross the distances necessary until you're happy is harder. A challenge?" Caramel opened his eyes, and they were moist. "Changing can be very scary, Rainbow Dash. The only thing that helps is having friends... friends who know you inside and out." He exhaled. "That's... what we're trying to do here with you, Rainbow. We're trying to help you change. Because... we know that you're awesome... and you deserve to be someplace else... somepony else than where you've been stuck for so long." Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. I guess... I could get behind that." She looked at Caramel, then at her apple juice. With a sudden shuffle, she swapped their drinks entirely. With a smirk, she raised the pineapple smoothie. "Here's to change... an awesome challenge if there ever was one." "Hehehe..." Caramel raised the apple juice. "And here's to trips with even awesomer destinations." "Amen." They toasted. Clink. And Rainbow took a mighty sip of the smoothie. That's when brain freeze did a waltz with her hangover. "Aaaaaaaaaaaagh... jeeeeeeez..." Rainbow hung her head and pounded the bar counter. "Grnnnngh..." "Oh snap!" Caramel winced, nearly spitting out apple juice. "Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" "Grrrrrrngh... just... getting... awesomerrrrrrrrrr..."