Appledashery

by Just Essay

Whoah, Whoah, Coaster-Mania, Fighting to Survive

"No."

Bon Bon's eyes sparkled. "But Caramel..."

"No."

"It's safer than riding the taxi coach to get here!"

Nevertheless, Caramel held his ground, unwavering—at least until the coaster roared over their heads again, and he scrunched down with an audible squeak.

The five stood directly before the entrance to a roller coaster constructed at the very top of the tower. The track ran a circular path around the upper ring. It was evidently designed to give passengers a frightening view of the desert landscape looming far below. Pony voices shrieked in the air, mixed with terror and laughter.

"We came up all this way to get in line!" Bon Bon pouted. "Won't you join us?" Her lower lip protruded as her ears drooped. "Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase...?"

"I'd rather die an ordinary d-death, thank you very much," Caramel wheezed.

"Cheese and crackers, princess," Lyra droned, marching into the queue line. "Wait here and become an old maid all you want. I'm going to go up and piss myself rotten with joy!horror."

"Me too," Vinyl said, trotting after the other unicorn. "Only... with considerable less urine."

"I'll be sure to cry at the funeral for each and every one of you!" Caramel called after them.

"Awwwwwwwwwww..." Bon Bon sighed, trotting after the other two mares in a slouch. "And here I was hoping we'd all have fun in our vacay together... SNIFF... oh well."

Caramel stood with his forelimbs folded. "She can boo hoo all she wants. A mare... h-has her priorities."

Rainbow stood next to him, blinking. "So your priority is to be stiff as a board?"

Caramel blinked. "Huh?"

"Loosen up, girl," Rainbow droned. "That's what we're here to do, huh?"

"Actually, we came here to loosen you up."

"Takes one rattling screw to know another."

"Errr..."

"Look..." Rainbow smirked. "What Bon Bon said has an ounce of truth to it." She paused as the cars roared overhead yet again, echoing with screams and giggles. "If this thing wasn't super safe, then they wouldn't have built it up here."

"Yeah, well..."

"You always wonder what it's like to fly every day... well, maybe this will give you a taste of it." Rainbow winked. "It's all about the thrill, girl."

"Really?"

"Thrill and fright are two different things. Fright is something you conquer. Thrill is something you learn to live with. And once you've conquered this coaster, you can put another notch under your belt."

"I... I dunno..." Caramel bit on his lip.

"And, besides, aren't you gearing yourself up for enough fright at Canterlot Medical or whatever? Seems like coasters ain't much to spit on."

"... ... ..."

"Well, I'm gonna find a seat myself," Rainbow said, trotting into the coaster's lofty entrance. "Just to see what it's like for non-winged ponies to get their groove on."

Caramel fidgeted and fidgeted...

---

Minutes later...

"Okaaaaaaaaaay..." Caramel inhaled and exhaled and inhaled and exhaled. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this." Squeeeak! A plush lap-bar lowered over his body. His pupils shrank. "OhmycelestiaIcan'tdothis!"

"Eugh..." Lyra groaned, seated behind Caramel and Rainbow Dash. "Who invited Prissy Plots?"

"Be glad that Rainbow talked her into it!" Bon Bon said, sitting next to Lyra. "The more the merrier."

"If you say so."

Bon Bon smiled. "Remember, Lyra. If you get freaked out, you can just hold my hoof."

"Hmmmf... whatever."

"You okay up there, Caramel?" Vinyl asked from two rows back.

"Mmmmmmmmmm..." Caramel clenched his eyes shut.

"Hey. It's cool!" Rainbow patted his forelimb as the coaster rattled into position, facing the rest of the circular, winding track. "Just a few laps around, and—before you know it—it'll be over! You'll just dig the adrenaline. I know it."

"Okay..." Caramel took a few deep breaths. "I'll dig it." He forced his eyes open and wide. "I can conquer any frights!"

"Thatta girl!" Rainbow said with a grin. The coaster lurched, rolling forward at an increasing speed. "Here we go! Woohooo! Get ready!"

"Woooo! Yeah!" Bon Bon cheered.

"Alright! Alright!" Caramel raised his forelimbs and smiled wide. "Bring it on!"

---

Even more minutes later.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh..." Caramel sat, hunched over the toilet of a public bathroom. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ptoooie..."

Rainbow Dash sighed, standing behind him in the stall and holding his mane back. "There there, big cat. You... uh... you did good." A crooked smile. "You survived..."

"So... m-many... circles..." he whimpered, his coat taking on a green tint. "Mmmmnnnghhh... th-thanks... Rainbow Dash..."

"Hey. Don't mention it, buddy."

"Bet you... mmmm... ptooie... never dreamt you'd be doing something like this..."

Rainbow sighed through a tired smile. "Kinda sorta, in my fuzziest of dreams... but with a different mare, of course."

"Mmmmm... s-sorry..."

"Don't be sorry. Just... y'know... be empty."

"Braaaaulghkkkkt!"

Rainbow winced, tugging at his mane as he heaved. "That's... more like it."

Comments

[Hestia]

Poor Caramel.

[Phoenix Kitten]

Yeah... leave the adrenaline fix to the adrenaline junkies. I'm happy with my feet planted firmly on the ground thank you very much.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Can't help but suspect that this chapter mildly reminded JE that he hasn't scratched the Disney Itch in a while.

[Sonikah]

The only roller coaster I've ever been on was Space Mountain.
I got whiplash.

[FloydienSlip]

Roller coasters are great, especially the ones in pitch black.

[Paleobrony]

Poor Caramel...

One of my many parental screw-ups was talking my just-barely-tall-enough daughter onto riding the GhostRider at Knotts. She was absolutely terrified for the whole ride, and it took me ages to earn her trust again. Seven years later, I still feel bad about it and find myself randomly apologizing to her for that day.

[DrEggnog]

There there, big cat.

Rainbow Sexbang?
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/778/446/081.gif
P.S. This chapter was thoroughly sweet and enjoyable.

[CommanderCuddle]

patiently waits for shit to hit the fan

[PropMaster]

7093355 You win! Nice reference catch.

[Leftover of Saikano]

You survived, Caramel, unlike the other ponies. That's why they are not mentioned.

[zaponator]

Caramel's adorable. I totally dig this focus on him and Rainbow we've gotten.

[krakentoa]

At: "... rotten with joy!horror." : parser error.
"you can hold my hand ": Lyra might hold only your heart, and be ignorant of it. It'll take awkward talks to get through her thick skull of vulgarity into the hopefully not empty interior. Bring a duster.

[Dash32]

I honestly don't know how I've never gotten sick on a roller coaster. Just lucky I guess my mom on the other hand freaking puked when we rode the teacups at Disney World when I was a kid.

[michaelb958]

7095584 "joy!horror" probably isn't a parser error, actually. Read it right-to-left: it means "horror, of the joy kind". (It's fairly standard syntax among fanfic-writer types, or so I'm told.)