//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Bullies Become Friends // Story: Clusterbuck to City Hall // by Caddy Finz //------------------------------// Octavia and Caramel awoke the next morning next to each other after what they felt was the best night of their young lives. Just as Octavia had always wanted, her first time was with a stallion who cared deeply for her. She even learned that it was Caramel's first time as well which just made it all the more special. Still though, as comfortable the pair was sleeping next to each other, it was now getting close to ten o'clock in the morning and there was much work to be done. The night prior also marked that last day of Caramel's paid vacation and he would need to prepare for his shift which would start that afternoon. Octavia would also have a full day ahead of her. The Quills and Sofas store agreed to give her as much time off as she needed as she was running for a political position but she still could not afford to burn much daylight. "Good morning, Caramel." Octavia chimed as her coltfriend finally opened his eyes. "Hey, babe." Caramel greeted. "Last night was amazing." "I know. I loved every second of it too. We should...w-we should do this again sometime. Very soon." "You know it. I'll be behind you all the way with your campaign too. I'll be getting back to work today but I'll be there whenever the PD doesn't have a choke hold on me." "Heheh. Tubular. I'll need to be getting out and about myself but first I'll have to freshen up a bit. After all, what we did last night didn't exactly do wonders for my mane. I'll need to meet up with Vinyl and some others who want to help us out too." "How about I give you a lift home then?" "Oh you're just the sweetest, you know that?" "Heheheh, I try." After a quick cup of (actual) coffee, Caramel drove Octavia back to her apartment so she could get to work on her campaign. After saying their their goodbyes, Octavia trotted up to her door before turning around to say one last thing before the two parted for the day. "Love you." Octavia said to her coltfriend as he shifted into reverse. "Love you too, babe." Caramel replied, beginning to lose his concentration causing him to back into a nearby mailbox. "Not again!" Local resident Berry Punch yelled. "This is the fifth time this month!" "If I make the mayor's office, I assure you that problem will come to a swift end!" Octavia called over. "Well then you've got my vote!" Caramel then made his way to the police station in the center area of the town where he would put on his uniform and start his shift. Octavia entered her apartment, her eyes half lidded as she focused her train of thought on the events of the previous night. Being in a state of daydreaming, she failed to notice Vinyl with the phone hovering in her aura along with a clipboard and a large notebook. "Oh hey Applejack, she just trotted in." Vinyl said to the local farm pony on the other end. "I'll get some details from her and I'll call you back, okay? Heheheh, yeah she's taken a liking to that cute cousin of yours. Caramel's a pretty rad guy and they've really hit it off. Okay AJ, I'll catch ya later." Click! "Hey Tavi, how was your time with your coltfriend last night?" Octavia did not respond as she was too preoccupied with pouring herself a glass of orange juice at the kitchen counter. It was evident to Vinyl that Octavia's mind was elsewhere when she continued to pour the juice even when the glass over flowed. "Uh, you do know that glass is full, right?" Vinyl asked, confused as to what was making her friend act so strange. "Yo, Octie! I'm not gonna be the one cleaning that up just so you know!" Still no response from the daydreaming Octavia. Even as the carton had been completely emptied of it's contents, she continued to hold it over the glass. Vinyl was not sure weather her friend had taken something that even she wouldn't take but she knew her all too well and knew of a trick to getting her attention even in her current state. "Tavi, I burned your cello!" Vinyl lied. "I'll fucking kill you!" Octavia screamed in response as she grabbed a nearby bottle, smashed it over the counter and proceeded to make stabbing motions while staring daggers at Vinyl. "Ha! You always fall for that one!" "Pffft, hahahaha! Vinyl, I can't believe you got me again! It gets me every time!" "Heheheh. Well now that I got your attention, what gives with the whole zombie act there? What did you do last night? Your mane is a mess too." "What did I do last night??" "Yeah, Tavi. What did you do at your coltfriend's place?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow at Octavia as the latter smiled sheepishly and blushed as she looked down at the floor. Vinyl knew that her friend was a terrible liar so getting the truth out of her would not be very difficult. "Stuff." Octavia replied. "Oh? What kind of stuff?" Vinyl asked suspiciously to which Octavia responded by nervously giggling and fidgeting with her hooves on the floor. Vinyl then placed her hoof on Octavia's chin and brought her face back up to the same level of her own. "Did he wrap it up?" "Yes Mom, he did." "Did you feel like all woes as you know them ceased to exist instantaneously and the pleasure center of your brain would explode at the speed of light?" "Well I wouldn't go that fa-er...yes, Vinyl. It did feel like that. It was like it was just meant to be. I could even say it was a magical evening. We were jus- wait Vinyl why are you crying?" "Because, Tavi I *sniff* I've done a lot of thinking about what you said before. My first *hic* time was a one night stand with some guy I barely knew. I never saw him again after that. It was just...it was meaningless. That and every other time after. All these stallions I've gotten with and none of them really cared..." "Vinyl I...I never meant to make you feel bad. All I meant by that was that I wanted my first time to be special. I wasn't trying to put you down for what you do." "I know Tavi, I know. I just couldn't help but think about it a lot. It actually makes sense!" "Well...its never too late to 'start over'. Just because you've done it before doesn't mean you can't start waiting for the mr. right." "Does it even work like that?" "It does if you say it can, Vinyl." "You know what, Tavi? You're right. I'll do it. I'll hold off on getting laid and wait for a guy I can fall in love with!" "That's the spirit!" "Thanks, Tavi! I feel so much better!" "Good, Vinyl. You Know I never meant to hurt you. I'm proud of you for making that decision too!" "S'all good, Octavia. As nice and sappy as this moment is right now though, I was just talking to Applejack on the phone." "Oh, Caramel's cousin? What'd she have to say?" "They're doing a career day thing at the local school and Cheerilee said we could join in on it. Filthy's gonna be there with his filly so she said it would be a good way to teach the foals about the different political parties. Plus, Its a good way to get yourself out there into the public eye. It's in just over an hour so we can't dawdle." "Great! Let's get going then!" "And just where the hell do you think you're going looking like that?" "Huh?" "You're gonna wanna get yourself cleaned up, Tavi. Trust me." "Oh...right, Eheheheh." Meanwhile It was now just past one o'clock in the afternoon and Caramel had just begun patrolling his route with his cousin Big Macintosh in the passenger seat of their squad coach. As the large red stallion carefully sipped from a boiling hot cup of coffee, he noticed something off about Caramel's driving. Knowing that he had just come back to work after taking his paid vacation, Macintosh wanted to ask about how it went anyway but the first order of business was to get his younger cousin to pay better attention to the road. "Hey cuz, yah might wanna watch it." Big Mac said. "Yer goin' dang near fifty in a thir-the center line! Yer takin' up half the other lane! That light's red! Watch the Celestia damn car!!" "Huh? Wha?" Caramel said, finally snapping out of his daze. "Oh fuck!" Screeeech! Caramel had noticed a motorist stopped at the light and slammed on the brakes just in time. He saved the coach a second trip to the repair shop in it's only seven months on the road but at a cost as a new and very painful problem had arisen." "Eeeyyyowww!" Big Mac screamed as the panic stop cause him to spill the hot coffee all over his lap. "Ah'm in Tartarus! Why, Caramel why?!" "Mac I swear, I can't begin to describe how sorry I am!" Caramel said as him and his cousin sat at a park bench, where Mac held an ice pack on his scalded lap. "Ah know cuz, Ah know." Mac replied seeming to have calmed down. "But what the fuck has gotten into you?! Its like you were daydreamin' when you were supposed to be watchin' the damn road!" "I'm sorry buddy. Its just that...well, something kinda...happened last night." "If yer on somethin' Ah'll see to it that yer kicked off the force." "What? Oh no no no no no, I swear I'm not, Mac!" "Well then what?" "Me and Octavia. We...went all the way last night." "Did ya now? well that explains the drivin' like an airhead." "Again Mac, I'm so sorry." "It's alright, Caramel. So how was it?" "It was the best night of my life! It was like nothing I ever felt before! Like, we started making out, went to my bedroom and we just went at it for over an hour! We couldn't stop ourselves until we just dropped!" "Oh, on that note...Uh, 'scuse me fer a sec. Ah gotta make a phone call." Big Macintosh then painfully waddled over to a nearby pay phone with the ice pack still in hoof, inserted a bit and dialed the number. After a moment of ringing, the pony on the other end answered. "Hey, Flutterbaby?" Mac said. "Hey honey, we still on fer later tonight?...uh huh...well babe, we're gonna have to just cuddle tonight...eeyup...uh, spilled some coffee on me...the fellas are pretty burned up...eeyup, Ah'm okay...awe thanks, sugar...see ya tonight. Love ya." Click! After hanging up the phone, Big Macintosh waddled back over to the bench to rejoin his cousin who was now feeling worse tenfold about the burn he had caused him to sustain. The two stallions just sat and pony watched in silence for several minutes until Mac decided to continue the conversation and emphasize that Caramel just partook in an activity the night before that he will not be able to for at least a week. "So what were ya sayin' about last night again?" Nearly all the parents, older siblings and honorary family members of the foals had showed up for career day at the school. Different ponies with all sorts of different jobs ranging from firefighters to would-be politicians were to give a small presentation of their career. The teacher Miss Cheerilee had asked that Octavia and Filthy gave theirs at the same time, making for a difficult challenge. The two rivals had no other choice than to work together professionally and pretend to be okay with it in order to avoid looking bad to any potential voters in the room. "Thank you, Thunderlane." Cheerilee said after the black stallion who worked as a meteorologist finished his presentation. "That was very informative. Okay, last but not least, we have Diamond Tiara's Father and Mr. Rich and his opponent Miss Octavia here to talk with us about politics!" "Diamond, you never told me your teacher was a cute one!" Filthy said, making Cheerilee blush and Diamond Tiara facehoof out of embarrassment. "Anyways kids, as you may know, I'm running for mayor in the equblican party against Miss Octavia here who is running as an equemocrat. Now, when the election happens and after I'm sworn in as mayor, there are so many things I'll be doing. Like signing bills into law, managing the town budget, overseeing tax distributions and other such things. Now let me tell you a few things about the equblican party. As a member of it, I would help stimulate the economy by giving tax breaks to ponies who own businesses as an incentive to help them grow their company and even hire more workers thus meaning that the few leftover bits just might find their way down to the average pony joes. This is called trickle down economics." Suddenly, several of the fillies and colts in the class began to giggle at Filthy's description of economic theories, thinking that it literally meant rich ponies trickling money out of themselves all over the bottom ninety-nine percent. Filthy, thinking nothing of the foalish giggling then politely gestured to Octavia indicating that he was finished and that she now had the floor. Thank you, Mr. Rich." Octavia said through her teeth as she plastered a big grin on her face with all the strength she could muster. "Of course. Anytime, miss." Filthy replied, wearing a similar non genuine toothy grin. "Right. Now, as he said before, I am running in the equemocrat party. The difference is that I'm more liberal meaning that I wish to keep society on track with the ever changing times rather than keeping it in one place or even reverting it back to ways of the past. Not only that but our economic methods are the exact opposite. We tend to financially help the lower and middle class majority. That stimulates the economy by giving incentive to spend money on things they need which in turn, creates more business providing opportunities for more jobs to be created." "That's very interesting, Octavia." Cheerilee said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "We're running short on time now but if anypony has an questions for these two, feel free to raise your hoof in the air." This was a classroom full of ponies who had barely reached age eleven so naturally they knew little to nothing about what the grown ups in the front of the room were talking about. Because of this, none of them were interested in asking questions so not a single hoof went into the air. Cheerilee then dismissed the class and Octavia and Filthy wasted no time galloping out and replacing their smiles with scowls as they made their way to their vehicles. "Hey dad, can I ride home in the car with you today?" Diamond Tiara asked her father. "Awe gee, sorry sweetie." Filthy replied. "I got a lot of stops to make on the way home and I'll be a while. Lots of boring places that you won't like. How about you just take the bus?" "B-b-but..." Without another word, Filthy was out of sight as his sports coupe disappeared in a cloud of dust leaving his daughter all alone yet again. Diamond Tiara had only one friend in Silver Spoon but even they had not been very close as of late. Having just missed the bus, the little pink filly began the long trot home which would be on the complete opposite side of town. She was prepared to trot alone and stay at home alone for several hours which had become the norm until a familiar voice broke the silence behind her. "Diamond Tiara?" The voice of another filly said. "Ya feelin' alright?" Diamond Tiara turned around to see three fillies she knew from school. These fillies who called their little group the Cutie Mark Crusaders were often picked on by Diamond Tiara but recently begun to notice her depression and decided to reach out with their genuine concern. "Oh, hey blank fla-er I mean Applebloom." Diamond Tiara replied. "I've had better days." "Aw cheer up, Diamond." The orange little pegasus Skootaloo said. "I'm sure that if your dad becomes mayor, you two could spend lots of time together when he's at work. I'm sure he'd take you with him." "No. I-I don't want him to win. He can't win! For my sanity's sake, he can't be mayor!" Diamond Tiara was now on the verge of sobbing right in front of the three fillies that she had always tried to look tough in front of. What they once thought was a rich snob of a heartless bully was reduced to a sad lonely little filly who needed a friend more than ever. The Cutie Mark Crusaders could not bear to even see Diamond Tiara of all ponies in the emotional state she was in. "Diamond?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Would you like it if we walked you home?"