Upon hearing that simple, heartfelt greeting, Applejack could no longer hold herself back. Almost at once, she practically leaped across to Caramel's bed and flung her forelegs around him, wailing joyfully into his shoulder as tears began to overflow from her eyes. Caramel let out a half-stifled grunt of pain as the relieved mare hugged him tightly, the soreness in his back still not having diminished since he had regained consciousness; but even though Applejack was being a little rougher with him than she realised, he couldn't care less if it felt like he was being run through with a lance – to be in her hearty embrace gave him a feeling of warmth far deeper than he had ever felt in all his life. Without a single word, he wrapped his own hooves around her barrel and nuzzled softly against the side of her head.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity – a very warm and touching one at that – Applejack slowly resurfaced, still choking back tears as she gazed into the tan-furred stallion's eyes with an expression of deep guilt and remorse. At first, Caramel wasn't sure how to react; but before he could ask what was wrong, the orange-coated mare immediately lost control of herself and cut him off with a hard slap against his chops, causing him to flinch slightly.
“Don't ever do that to me again, Caramel!” she burst out hysterically. “Do ya realise how scared Ah was when that tree branch fell on top o' y'all?! Or how much it broke mah heart when Ah heard ya might never make it back onto yo' own four hooves again?!” She paused for a few moments, shakily drawing deep breaths to try and calm herself, though plainly without success. “Ah couldn't go anywhere near any o' them apple trees 'cause Ah was so terrified fo' ya! Ah kept gettin' nightmares ever' time Ah fell asleep! Ah couldn't even eat very much – an' all because Ah feared Ah was gonna lose y'all!” and she collapsed into helpless sobbing once again.
Caramel's heart sank as he thought back to the accident with the fallen branch. Had he really hurt Applejack that badly? For a brief moment, he couldn't help wondering if maybe he could have done things a little differently that day, so that neither pony would have had to suffer the consequences. But no matter how hard he tried to find an answer, he could only draw a complete blank.
“Yes, I do realise that,” he replied at last, “and I'm really, really sorry. It's just that...well, if I hadn't let myself get struck by that branch, you would have done so yourself, and I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you. I'd already been through that once before when my best friend died and my mother lost her memory.” He paused pathetically. “I know you probably won't understand where I'm coming from with this, but you've actually meant a lot to me since...well, since long before I moved to Ponyville.”
Applejack was stunned. “Ah have?!”
Caramel looked away, embarrassed. “Yes,” he affirmed meekly, a small tear of his own welling up in one eye. He felt certain now that he had ruined his friendship with the orange-coated farm pony, and whatever response she was about to make, he wasn't looking forward to it. “Please don't hate me for this.”
“Hate y'all?! Caramel, that's just ridiculous!” exclaimed Applejack, noticeably dismayed. “How could Ah possibly hate y'all fo' savin' mah life?!”
This threw Caramel for a loop. He abruptly jolted his head round to look at her again, his mouth agape. “What...?”
“That branch was meant fo' me! It's as y'all said – if y'all hadn't pushed me aside at the last minute, Ah'd be long dead by now!” The orange-furred mare's face then took on a mask of shame, and in a quiet, sad, guilty tone, she added, “'Sides, Ah'm in no position to be beatin' you up over the whole thing – not after how dishonest Ah've been.”
“What do you mean, 'dishonest'?” objected Caramel, visibly perplexed. “I thought you said you represented the Element of Honesty.”
“Ah do,” said Applejack, looking away, “but Ah never said that meant Ah couldn't twist the truth. Matter o' fact, that's exactly what Ah did when y'all first arrived on Sweet Apple Acres.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she should have told him several months ago. “Caramel...Ah 'member y'all from mah foalhood.”
Caramel's eyes widened, and he could do little more than stare upon Applejack in almost speechless disbelief. “You...but...I...why didn't you tell me so in the first place?!” he blurted out.
“Because Ah was scared, Caramel,” explained Applejack glumly. “Ah knew y'all were the colt Ah befriended in Manehattan 'cause Ah...well, 'happened' to stumble across a photo of us when Ah was just a filly; but Ah was afraid that y'all might not remember me. Even if ya did, ya might 'ave been mad at me fo' leavin' y'all behind when Ah returned back 'ere ta Ponyville, an' either way, ya might have just turned yo' back on me just as Ah'd done to y'all.”
So that was why she had been so ambiguous as to whether or not she remembered him! But something still didn't quite add up in Caramel's mind; Applejack had confessed to having deliberately left him in the dark, and that she had done so out of fear rather than spite, but there was still one query she hadn't answered. “But why did you leave me?” he asked. “If it's because I was a bad friend, I'm...”
“No, Caramel, it wasn't,” interrupted Applejack. “Y'all were a wonderful friend – heck, ya could be forgiven fo' thinkin y'all were even mo' than that...”
Caramel blinked, and a light blush spread across his face. Was this really happening to him?
“...it's just that...when Ah woke up that mornin', Ah noticed this rainbow pointin' me back towards home, an' that was when Ah realised that mah destiny was at Sweet Apple Acres. Ah never even stopped ta think about what Ah'd be leavin' behind until about halfway back, but by then it was a bit late fo' me to come runnin' back to Manehattan an' tell y'all where Ah was headed.” Applejack's eyes were slowly starting to fill with tears again, but she still managed to finish her story; “Ah felt la'k such a moron fo' havin' left y'all alone, Caramel, an' Ah never stopped thinkin' about you even after Ah got home. Some nights, Ah'd gaze up at the stars an'...just wish that y'all would come back to me; but then Ah kept thinkin' that...ya might still hold a grudge against me.” She didn't say any more, but the look of shame in her eyes and the accompanying spillage of tears spoke volumes for her sorrow.
By now, Caramel's head was swimming in such a vast sea of emotions that he didn't know what to think or feel. Even now that Applejack had poured her heart out and confessed everything to him, he still couldn't get to grips with the fact that she had effectively betrayed her element by acting as if she didn't recognise him, even though she hadn't openly stated anything of the sort. Only when he noticed the remorse in her disgraced expression did he manage any kind of response – but when he did, it wasn't what Applejack had been expecting.
“Me, hold a grudge against you?” he retorted with a wry grin. “No way would I want to do that, Applejack – especially not after how you provided me with warmth, food, drink and shelter last winter. Heck, if I'd decided to walk out on you immediately I woke up, I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in that blizzard!”
Applejack didn't seem very convinced, however. “But...how do Ah know y'all weren't just doin' this because ya felt ya had to?”
“Well, it's partly that, I suppose – but that's besides the point,” insisted Caramel, taking hold of one of her front hooves in his own. “Up until you came into my life, Applejack, I didn't have anypony who cared for me other than my own mother. You were the first real friend I'd ever had – you'd given me something that's generally taken for granted by ponies more fortunate than I was back then, and I'm forever grateful for it.” His smile faded, and he took a deep breath. “In fact, that's partly why I wanted to talk to you before that accident.”
“How come?”
“Well...I'd been thinking lately about...how long we've been friends, and...well...” Caramel paused again, suppressing a nervous gulp. “...I've kinda realised that you mean a lot more to me than that.”
Now it was Applejack's turn to freeze over in disbelief. Her heartbeat began to increase, and her cheeks went a deep shade of red. Was he really implying what she thought he was?
“I......I've fallen in love with you,” confessed Caramel, his own face reddening again. “I think it must have started just after Winter Wrap-Up, but I didn't recognise it as being love at the time, hence why I went out on all those dates with...”
“Hang on a second, partner,” cut in Applejack, finally breaking her stunned silence, “you...after all Ah said an' did, you actually...” but her voice trailed away before she could finish.
“None of those mares I went out with had quite the same effect on me as you do. Besides, if 'all Ah said an' did' isn't reason enough for me to feel the way I do, I don't know what is.”
Applejack gazed into his eyes, the corners of her mouth slowly starting to turn upwards as she detected an aura of warmth and sincerity that seemed to surround his expression. “So......y'all forgive me?”
“Already had done many years ago, Applejack,” affirmed Caramel with a soft smile.
At last, Applejack managed to bring herself to smile in return. “You wanna know somethin' Caramel?” she said softly. “Ah feel the same about y'all as you do me.”
“Wait – really?” gasped Caramel, his face brightening up.
“Ah sure do. Must 'ave been that near miss with the fallen branch that made me see the light – but yeah, friendship don't even begin to describe how Ah feel fo' ya.”
Applejack's face inched closer and closer to that of her lover as she spoke until, by the time she had finished, there was only a tiny gap between the two Earth ponies' lips. They both remained still for a few seconds, enjoying the smell of each other's breath brushing against their noses; Caramel savouring the aroma of freshly harvested apples while Applejack heartily took in a minty scent. Then, in an instant, both felt their hearts practically leap for joy as their lips met, eliciting deep moans of pleasure as their first kiss deepened further and further. But even when they finally pulled apart for air, Caramel still wasn't finished.
“Well, Applejack,” he said in a seductive tone, “looks like I've only one problem left.”
“What would that be?”
The tan-furred young stallion smiled warmly and wrapped his hooves around the orange-coated mare. “Nothing serious,” he reassured her. “It's just that...well, now that I've got my arms around you, I'm going to hug you, and kiss you, and never let go...”
“...an' ya never have, Caramel,” finished Applejack fondly, back in the present day. “Ya never have.”
Caramel smiled warmly in reply, and gave his foalhood friend turned lover an affectionate nuzzle. No more did he feel ashamed of himself for being such an accident-prone moron, or guilty for having lost two very important ponies in his life through no fault of his own – all he cared about at this very moment was that he was reunited, and had even found love, with a dear old friend of his, and equally importantly, his whole life had improved hundredfold from the lonely, unappreciated social leper he used to be. “I sure haven't,” he mused softly. “And you know what – I couldn't be more grateful for it.”
“Nor could Ah,” agreed Applejack, gently pecking him on the cheek. “Ah'm so glad ya came back to me after all those years – Ah dunno how Ah would'a gotten by without y'all in mah life.”
“I know,” murmured Caramel. “I missed you too – more than you could even begin to realise,” and he gave Applejack a soft kiss on the lips.
By now, the moon had risen and was glowing a beautiful milky white against the now deep blue blanket of sky that hung above the orchard, while stars twinkled softly all around it, making for a romantic, picturesque scene. Once again, silence reigned over the two ponies as they sat side by side among the apple trees, peacefully enjoying each other and the stillness around them. For what felt like the first time in a long while, Caramel felt deeply contented with the way his life was going, and as Applejack wrapped an arm around him and nuzzled fondly against his neck, he could only smile gratefully up at the stars.
But after a few minutes of pure bliss, a thought occurred to him that rang a discordant tone with his otherwise thorough peace of mind – a tone that sounded very much like the one remaining pony in his life who, just like he himself had been for many years, had probably been terribly alone and forgotten in Manehattan. With this in mind, he gently straightened himself up and turned to face his marefriend. “Applejack,” he spoke up quietly, “I know I said I'd never leave you or the rest of the Apple Family ever again, but...” He paused impressively. “...there's one more loose end that I need to tie before I can truly move on from all this.”
“What'd that be, Caramel?” asked Applejack, slowly waking herself from having dozed off on Caramel's shoulder.
“My father,” explained Caramel simply. “When I ran away, I pretty much left him behind in the same way as you did to me. I need to go back to Manehattan for a week or so and see if I can reconcile with him...if that's okay with you, that is. I promise I'll come back to you immediately after I'm done.”
Applejack smiled encouragingly. “Course it's okay with me,” she conceded. “Ah think that's mighty sensible of y'all, sugarcube.”
Caramel returned the smile in kind. “Thanks, Applejack. That means an awful lot to me.” He then stood up, stretching out his arms in front of him; “Ah well, back to the farmhouse, I guess.”
“Eeyup – an' the most ridiculous story about Discovery you'll ever hear,” put in Applejack with a smirk.
The tan-furred stallion raised an eyebrow in his confusion. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Ain't ya heard? Discovery went an' backed up his apple cart a li'l too far when he were tryin' to unload 'em into the cellar,” chortled Applejack, visibly amused.
“Ooh dear, I hope he's...” but before Caramel could finish, he too saw the funny side of Discovery's mishap and started laughing with Applejack as the two Earth ponies made their way back to the farmhouse. And to think that, just a few hours ago, he had been mocking the tan-coated Manehattanite for being so accident-prone! Boy, was Caramel going to have fun winding him up that night...