"So, um, Pinkie, now that we made it over to Fantasyland... uh... which ride did you want to go on f-"

"TEA CUPS!!!"

Fluttershy didn't have more than a split-second's chance to respond before Pinkie seized her by the arm and hauled her to the gate in front of Mad Tea Party. The line was relatively short — it wasn't the busiest season of the year — but Fluttershy felt her confidence drain as she looked at the spinning cups and felt a sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"Well, come on! Let's get in line!"

"Gee, Pinkie, I don't know... I've been good at handling fast rides ever since our trip to Equestrialand, but..." Fluttershy's voice inched down to a whisper. "I'm not sure I can handle all that spinning very well."

"Aw, Fluttershy! I can help you with that, silly! We'll get in line and I'll tell you what to do! It's so much fun!"

"If you say so..." She hesitantly followed Pinkie down the ramp to the back of the line. She stared out onto the platform where the riders were currently disembarking. Most seemed okay, but a few looked a little wobbly, and Fluttershy started to feel that queasiness again until Pinkie plopped a hand on her shoulder.

"Okay Fluttershy, listen up! The way to not get dizzy on this ride is- oh no, the line's moving! Quick!"

Fluttershy was pulled forward again as Pinkie's hand dropped from her shoulder to her forearm, and the two girls dashed to the bottom of the ramp to be assigned to their cup. Before Fluttershy could even comprehend what had happened, they were seated in the ride and the door to their vehicle was shut. She instantly felt the jitters.

"Okay!" Pinkie jumped right back into where she left off. "Like I was saying, the way to not get dizzy is-"

"Ohhhh!" Fluttershy interjected, having looked down at the wheel at the center of the cup, which had a large arrow and the words "Turn This Way To Go Faster!" in three spots along the center. "So it's all through this wheel? If we don't turn it, it won't go so fast?"

"FLUTTERSHY!"

"Oh, sorry. Go on," she said as she looked up sheepishly.

"It won't spin as fast if you don't turn the wheel that way, but it'll still spin, silly! What's more important is-"

The loudspeaker suddenly blared with Alice's voice, which, mixed with the music, made hearing Pinkie basically impossible. "Welcome to the Mad Tea Party, where everything is quite... mad! To ensure your safety, please remain seating with your hands, arms, feet and legs inside while your teacup is spinning. And please do watch your children." Fluttershy started to tune out as her mind wandered off to ponder the resemblance between the "Alice" voice and Rarity's.

"Well, it's off to the Tea Party! Please say hello to the Mad Hatter!" the voice concluded as Fluttershy snapped back to reality.

"...on me. Got it?" Fluttershy suddenly realized with horror that she'd missed Pinkie's explanation.

"What? Oh no! I didn't hear anything you just said!"

"What?! Alright, let me start over-"

Unfortunately, just then, Fluttershy could feel the platform start to move, and the teacup began to spin clockwise. "Oh no..."

"FLUTTERSHY!" Pinkie shouted, and Fluttershy obligingly snapped to attention even as the cup began to speed up. "Focus. On. Me. Okay! Just keep your eyes on me and I won't move! If you're focused on me, you won't notice anything else as much!"

"Okay... I trust you..." Fluttershy kept her eyes trained on Pinkie, who was holding in place even as she let her own eyes wander around and enjoy the experience. Fluttershy's confidence began to rebuild as the background faded out of existence. It's just a simple game of concentration. Nothing to it.

Unfortunately, that concentration was broken when Pinkie noticed something behind the gate, which was at Fluttershy's back at the moment, and leaned over dramatically to wave. "HI SUNSET! HI TWILIGHT!"

Caught off guard, Fluttershy turned to see them without thinking and completely disoriented herself. She only caught a blurry glimpse of the two other girls waving before flipping back around. "Pinkie!" she hissed.

"Whoops!" Pinkie exclaimed nervicitedly as she resumed her original position. Fluttershy felt her heart rate start to fall a bit even as the spinning continued, her eyes closely locked on her friend. Once she felt sufficiently relaxed, she let herself slowly begin to take in the larger view around her, and realized she was able to look around without feeling ill. Keeping her eyes focused on Pinkie had helped her mentally register that, even as the world moved around her, she was still simply seated in one place. It wasn't real motion sickness like Applejack had had on the boat; it was just her expectation of it. And now that she knew, she simply let that fear go.

After another minute, the spinning began to slow and come to a gentle stop. Pinkie leaned forward. "Weeeelllllll...?"

"I, uh... I guess it wasn't so bad after all!"

"There you go! Told ya I would help you through it." She opened the door to the cup and bounced away, and Fluttershy followed.

"Hi Pinkie! Hi Fluttershy!" Twilight said as the two crossed through the exit gate. "How was it?"

"You didn't look so good out there, Fluttershy, are you feeling alright?" Sunset asked.

"Well..." Fluttershy replied. "I wasn't at first, but I got through it. And I couldn't have done it without Pinkie Pie!" She threw her arm around Pinkie's shoulder.

"Aww, it was nothing." Pinkie smiled.

"I hope I didn't ruin the ride for you by making you sit so still."

"Of course not! It's not like I was gonna stand up while it was spinning anyway, it'd be crazy for me to do that again! And helping you made it all worth it." The two giggled and hugged.

"So where to next?" Fluttershy asked.

"Let's do it again!"

"Uhhhh...." Fluttershy's eyes widened momentarily, but then she perked back up. "Why not?"

Next Chapter: Astro Orbitor (Sunset Shimmer & Rarity) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 12 Minutes