//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Mission Accomplished // Story: Forgotten in Manehattan // by Locomotion //------------------------------// It took ages for Caramel and Big Macintosh to find Applejack, and by then, it was getting rather late in the day. To add to Caramel's unease, the orange-coated mare was hotly arguing with two Pegasus mares in the town square over how quickly they should melt the snow. “Uh......maybe we should come back later?” the tan-coated young stallion suggested, trying his best to sound helpful. But Big Macintosh wasn't buying it; “Nope,” he stated firmly. “The longer we spend waiting on Applejack, the less chance we have of wrapping up winter on time.” Even so, Applejack was so busy arguing that it was difficult for either stallion to get a word in edgeways. Such was their verbal jousting that the three mares quickly caught the attention of the mayor, who quickly stepped in to break it up. “What in Equestria are all of you arguing about?!” she demanded. “This sort of silliness is why we were late for spring last year, and the year before that – and the year before that!” Secretly, Caramel was stunned. Had Ponyville really had a history of late springs? Was that the reason Applejack had been so edgy about him losing some of the other grass seeds just a few days ago? “I was hoping my amazingly inspirational speech would urge everyone to do better than last year,” continued the mayor crossly, “but now it looks like we're going to be later than ever. I mean, just look at this catastrophe; the ice scorers have made the ice chunks too big to melt! The nest designer is horrendously behind – we need several hundred, and she's only made one – and don't get me started on all the clouds in the sky, the icicles on the trees......this isn't good – not at all!” “An' it's gonna be all to pieces disastrous if we can't get our seeds all planted!” cut in Applejack sharply. Caramel cringed at the mention of the seeds. It was all very well trying to melt the snow more quickly so as to plant the seeds, but there was little point in trying anything of the sort when so many of them had been buried under a massive snowdrift – and all because he had been so hasty in trying to avoid a repeat of his first day in Ponyville. At last, Big Macintosh stepped in; “Uh, AJ?” he ventured. Applejack gritted her teeth in frustration when she heard her brother trying to grab her attention. Somehow, it didn't take more than a wild guess to work out what he was here for; “Good gravy!” she burst out angrily. “Caramel lost the grass seeds again, didn't he?!” “Eeyup,” affirmed Big Macintosh gravely. Caramel, on the other hoof, hung his head with shame and didn't say anything; all he wanted at this point was for the earth to suddenly open up beneath him and swallow him whole. So much for trying to prove himself on Winter Wrap-Up, he thought as a fresh argument broke out. Once again, the mayor tried her best to appease the townsponies, but nopony paid her any heed. “STOP!!!” Immediately, everypony stopped arguing and turned to face the source of the voice – and the almost continuous tweeting that accompanied it – trying to grab their attention. In front of them stood the same unicorn mare whom Caramel had seen struggling with the maverick snowplough earlier. After murmuring a quick word of apology to the bird she had enchanted as a makeshift “klaxon”, she immediately addressed the crowd; “I know you all want to complete your jobs on time, but arguing is no way to go about it. What you need is organisation – and I'm just the pony for the job...” The lavender-coated mare was as good as her word. Soon the Winter Wrap-Up teams were hard at work once again; but this time, they performed their tasks with greater precision and efficiency than they had done previously. Instead of starting from various different angles, the snowplough teams and ice scorers all started from the same side of their fields and lakes, and worked their way across as a complete unit. This not only sped up the clearing of the snow and the breaking of the ice, but also allowed more ponies to focus their efforts into other areas; those on the Weather Team could now spare more ponies to clear snow from the rooftops and fly south to escort the birds back to Ponyville, and since the Plant Team required fewer snowploughs to clear the fields, Applejack and Big Macintosh could now reassign others to plant the crops in the snowplough teams' wake. In this way, they managed to clear the winter weather away three times quicker than they had ever done before. By the time dawn broke over Ponyville, the last of the snow and ice had been melted, the various creatures that lived in and around the area were out and about once again, and the trees and meadows were blossoming with flowers. With their important work finally over, the citizens of Ponyville returned to their homes feeling a great sense of accomplishment – against all the odds, Winter Wrap-Up had been completed right on schedule for the first time in several years. But where other ponies felt proud of their achievement, Caramel still felt rather disappointed in himself for having nearly jeopardised the whole operation. If only he'd been a bit more careful with his saddlebags, he might not have lost a whole field's worth of grass seeds; then that would have been one less issue for the Plant Team to worry about. He sat alone in the hay loft of the Apple Family barn, brooding over what an absolute nuisance he had been, and quietly wishing there was some way in which he could have made up for his mistake. “Caramel? What are ya doin' 'ere of a' places?” The tan-furred stallion peered over the edge of the loft to see Applejack gazing up at him with an expression of deep concern. He looked away, trying to hide his expression of shame. “Ah, nothing much – just staying where I know I won't be a burden on you guys,” he sighed glumly. “Burden?” repeated Applejack, noticeably taken aback. “Why in the hay would y'all think that o' yourself?” “As if I needed to explain myself in the first place!” replied Caramel bitterly. “I've let everypony down big-time – twice lost enough grass seeds for a whole field, couldn't save a snowplough from being buried if my life depended on it...let's face it, this place would have been a whole lot better off without some idiot like me messing things up,” and he buried his face in his arms, too ashamed to even think about what Applejack's reply might be. The orange mare continued to stare upon him with an expression of deep dismay. How in the world could Caramel be so pessimistic and self-deprecating over such a tiny......well, not exactly a tiny incident, but still – was there any need for him to put himself down like this? More to the point, what was it that had caused such negative emotions inside the young stallion – was it merely the stress of Winter Wrap-Up? Or was it something to do with his past? Somehow, she was convinced that it had to be the latter; but even now she was still afraid of bringing it up for fear of Caramel turning tail on her for all time, so she decided, rather unwisely, not to say anything about it. Instead, she climbed up into the loft and rested a gentle hoof on her foalhood friend's withers. “Who says you've let us down, Caramel?” she soothed. “Y'all actually did pretty well, considerin' how differently we handle Winter Wrap-Up around 'ere – okay, so perhaps ya lost a snowplough an' several grass seeds...” “Perhaps?!” repeated Caramel, frustrated. “I nearly caused a whole town to run late letting spring arrive! How can anypony look back on such buffoonery and not be angry with the idiot who was responsible for the whole thing?!” If Applejack was surprised earlier, she was now utterly shocked. This clearly wasn't the Caramel she knew. “You – an idiot?!” she burst out. “How can y'all look back on a successful day's work an' put yourself down so strongly just fo' not gettin' it right firs' time?!” “Because,” replied Caramel bluntly, and shifted himself round so that he wouldn't have to look at Applejack. But the orange mare wasn't going to let him drop the subject that easily; almost before the young stallion had stopped moving, she carefully stepped over him and lay down by his side. Caramel, of course, was in no mood to be lectured, and at first he had a good mind to turn his back again so as to avoid being chewed out – but then Applejack gave him a soft, understanding yet slightly hurt smile, and he grudgingly relented. “Caramel, Ah can see yo' disappointed in yourself fo' not doin' as well as y'all 'ad hoped – ta be honest with y'all, Ah'd 'ave probably felt the same way if Ah were in yo' horseshoes – but there's no need to beat yourself up about it. This sort'a thing happens to the best of us, an' not just at Winter Wrap-Up either. Ah take it Big Mac told ya about last apple-buckin' season?” Caramel nodded weakly; but even though he knew what Applejack was talking about, he still didn't feel any better about himself. “But...the way you were talking yesterday, it sounded like you expected me to get it right first time,” he said unhappily. Now it was Applejack's turn to look ashamed. “Oh...that,” she murmured, her smile fading as she remembered how cross she had been at hearing about the lost grass seeds. No wonder Caramel was in such a low mood right now. “Ah'm awful sorry, Caramel. Ah was just so stressed about the whole Wrap-Up business that Ah ended up takin' it out on...well, pretty much anypony who happened ta be nearby.” Caramel stayed silent. “We'd never managed to complete a single Winter Wrap-Up on time fo' mo' than a century,” continued Applejack meekly. “Ah was kinda worried about bein' late again if we din' work fast enough – an' that's what was gettin' me so agitated, la'k.” She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “If y'all hadn't slipped up, what with me tryin' ta rush things forward an' all, some other pony would've done, an' Ah'd 'ave still lost mah temper. It's only thanks to Twilight an' her organisational skills that nopony else has.” “So...you're not mad at me for losing the grass seeds?” “Well...maybe a li'l annoyed,” admitted Applejack sheepishly, “but there were plenty mo' where they came from. Ah'm just glad yo' safe an' well; if y'all had been buried under that avalanche, there'd 'ave been no way Ah could'a found another one of y'all.” Before Caramel could reply, the orange-coated mare gently wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled fondly against the side of his head. As she did so, he felt his heart to skip a beat, while a strange tingling feeling coursed its way down his spine – it was as if somepony was transmitting a strong electric current through his body, except that it felt strangely pleasant. The young stallion froze, unsure of what to make of this new sensation; though he had been given the occasional comforting hug from his mother, something he missed dreadfully, it had never had such an effect on him as this. All the same, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it – if anything, it seemed to melt away his shame and self-pity altogether. Instead of brooding any further over why he was feeling this way or how he could have done better with Winter Wrap-Up, he returned the embrace with a hearty smile. “Thanks, Applejack,” he whispered. “I guess I needed that after such a hard day's work.” “No problem, Caramel,” answered Applejack. “La'k Ah said, y'all did very well fo' a firs-timer, an' Ah'm plum grateful fo' yo' help.” She paused, glancing out of the barn doors. “Anyways, what say we move on from the whole thing an' go join the others at the Spring Has Sprung Celebration?” Caramel smiled again. “Yeah, why not?” he agreed, and cheerfully followed Applejack out of the barn and back towards Ponyville... Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, that must've been pretty awkward fo' ya, Caramel,” she mused. “Still, at least ya made it through Winter Wrap-Up without a repeat of what happened when ya first arrived here.” Her smile faded; “Ah don't think Ah could've lived with mahself if Ah'd lost you again.” “Yeah, but if I'd been a bit more careful about getting clear of the snowplough, we wouldn't have had to worry about the grass seeds,” added Caramel unhappily. “Never mind, Caramel,” soothed Applejack. “The important thing is that y'all managed to avoid bein' buried. 'Sides, y'all know what they say – no use cryin' over spilt milk...or seeds, in this case.” At this point, Caramel could only smile. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he agreed. “But you know what bugs me about that hug you gave me back then?” “What?” “That should have been my 'moment of realisation', so to speak,” explained Caramel, mildly annoyed with himself. “But how do I react to these feelings I've been...well, feeling? Try and make advances towards you as I should have done? No, sir – I just had to take it in completely the wrong way!” and he slapped a hoof to his face with an exasperated sigh. Applejack looked perplexed. “What do ya mean?” “Basically I took it to mean I was a sort of 'lonely heart', if you like – that it was time I started looking for a marefriend.” Caramel sighed again and rested his right temple against his hoof. “I never realised for one second that I had the mare of my dreams right there by my side at that very moment – that would have saved me a lot of heartache and embarrassment if I had.” Only then did the orange-coated farm pony catch onto what Caramel was talking about. “An' there Ah thought ya might've lost interest in me!” she teased. Deep down, Caramel failed to see the funny side of it, but he tactfully kept his opinions to himself. “Well, even if I had, none of the other mares in Ponyville would have grabbed it quite so easily,” he observed. “I must have gone out with about a dozen or so, but I never really felt a chemistry with any of them, so eventually I decided to just let them go.” He paused for a while, blushing awkwardly as he thought back to all the mares he had dated after Winter Wrap-Up. Perhaps it was a mercy that while some of them had been less than impressed with his decisions against pursuing a relationship with them – many had retaliated by describing him as a jerk, and one or two had even rejected him with a harsh slap to his face – others had been far more understanding, and respected his wishes without the slightest hint of dudgeon. One in particular, a Pegasus sky-dancer named Sassaflash whom he had dated on Hearts and Hooves Day and for three days afterwards, had not only accepted that maybe she wasn't the right mare for him, but had also agreed to remain on friendly terms with him. Applejack smiled softly. “Yeah, but y'all ain't exactly the only one to 'ave gone through that kinda phase,” she observed. “Look at Rarity, fo' example; she'd been tryin' fo' Celestia knows how long to find who she thought would be her perfect stallion, but none of 'em ever seemed ta fit the bill. Even Trenderhoof was way mo' interested in me than her!” Caramel could only cringe as he remembered what Applejack had told him about Trenderhoof hitting on her prior to the Ponyville Days Festival. “In fact, it was only about a year ago that she realised that the one whose heart she really belonged to was Spike,” finished Applejack with another smirk. “Yeah, but the big difference is that she actually managed to work that out of her own accord,” Caramel pointed out. “It took another good friend to help me come to a similar conclusion myself – something you could literally describe as 'Lucky', I might add...”